Roxarsone, Inorganic Arsenic, and Other Arsenic Species in Chicken: A U.S.-Based Market Basket Sample

Abstract

Background: Inorganic arsenic (iAs) causes cancer and possibly other adverse health outcomes. Arsenic-based drugs are permitted in poultry production; however, the contribution of chicken consumption to iAs intake is unknown.Objectives: We sought to characterize the arsenic species profile in chicken meat and estimate bladder and lung cancer risk associated with consuming chicken produced with arsenic-based drugs.Methods: Conventional, antibiotic-free, and organic chicken samples were collected from grocery stores in 10 U.S. metropolitan areas from December 2010 through June 2011. We tested 116 raw and 142 cooked chicken samples for total arsenic, and we determined arsenic species in 65 raw and 78 cooked samples that contained total arsenic at ≥ 10 µg/kg dry weight.Results: The geometric mean (GM) of total arsenic in cooked chicken meat samples was 3.0 µg/kg (95% CI: 2.5, 3.6). Among the 78 cooked samples that were speciated, iAs concentrations were higher in conventional samples (GM = 1.8 µg/kg; 95% CI: 1.4, 2.3) than in antibiotic-free (GM = 0.7 µg/kg; 95% CI: 0.5, 1.0) or organic (GM = 0.6 µg/kg; 95% CI: 0.5, 0.8) samples. Roxarsone was detected in 20 of 40 conventional samples, 1 of 13 antibiotic-free samples, and none of the 25 organic samples. iAs concentrations in roxarsone-positive samples (GM = 2.3 µg/kg; 95% CI: 1.7, 3.1) were significantly higher than those in roxarsone-negative samples (GM = 0.8 µg/kg; 95% CI: 0.7, 1.0). Cooking increased iAs and decreased roxarsone concentrations. We estimated that consumers of conventional chicken would ingest an additional 0.11 µg/day iAs (in an 82-g serving) compared with consumers of organic chicken. Assuming lifetime exposure and a proposed cancer slope factor of 25.7 per milligram per kilogram of body weight per day, this increase in arsenic exposure could result in 3.7 additional lifetime bladder and lung cancer cases per 100,000 exposed persons.Conclusions: Conventional chicken meat had higher iAs concentrations than did conventional antibiotic-free and organic chicken meat samples. Cessation of arsenical drug use could reduce exposure and the burden of arsenic-related disease in chicken consumers.

Food System Policy, Public Health, and Human Rights in the United States

“…Many of these concerns stem from practices common to IFAP, such as the continued use of arsenical drugs in poultry production (110), the use of hormones in beef and dairy production, and the widespread administration of antimicrobials (see the section entitled Antimicrobial Resistance). Animal slaughtering and meat-processing facilities present further multiple opportunities for microbial cross-contamination (77,119), which are heightened by the volume of carcasses and the speed at which they are processed.…”

Isolation and characterization of an aerobic bacterial consortium able to degrade roxarsone

“…In fact, according to U S Environmental Protection Agency (EPA 1988), human problems caused by arsenic can be associated with water and fish consumption but rarely to domestic animals or meat. Nevertheless, a recent study by Nachman et al (2013), in samples from chicken breasts for human consumption in the USA, showed that animals with detectable roxarsone (presumably representing treated chicken) had higher inorganic Arsenic concentrations than chicken without detectable roxarsone.…”

Sustainability of livestock production systems : a comparing conventional and organic livestock husbandry

“…For broilers, two papers were available; one concerned the farm level in Europe (Schiavone et al, 2008), and one the retail level in the USA (Nachman et al, 2013). Schiavone et al (2008) did not find a difference in ochratoxin A concentration in broiler blood and feed.…”

“…Schiavone et al (2008) did not find a difference in ochratoxin A concentration in broiler blood and feed. The USA study showed that the level of inorganic arsenic in conventional chicken breasts was significantly higher (p<0.05) than in organic, due to the use of the drug arsenic containing roxarsone, that is licenced for use in the USA but not in the EU, and possibly due to arsenic concentration in drinking water (Nachman et al, 2013).…”