Total arsenic in selected food samples from Argentina: Estimation of their contribution to inorganic arsenic dietary intake

• Published in: Food chemistry Vol. 210; pp. 96 - 101
• Main Authors: Sigrist, Mirna, Hilbe, Nandi, Brusa, Lucila, Campagnoli, Darío, Beldoménico, Horacio
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: England Elsevier Ltd 01.11.2016
• Subjects: Animals; Argentina; Argentinean dietary intake; Arsenic - analysis; Cattle; Chickens; Drinking Water - analysis; FI-HGAAS; Fishes; Flour - analysis; Food; Food Contamination - analysis; Inorganic arsenic; Meat - analysis; Milk - chemistry; Oryza - chemistry; Solanum tuberosum; Spectrophotometry, Atomic - methods; Triticum aestivum; Argentinean dietary intake; FI-HGAAS; Inorganic arsenic; Food
• ISSN: 0308-8146; 1873-7072
• DOI: 10.1016/j.foodchem.2016.04.072

•Total As was quantified in 117 food samples collected in Argentina.•This method is reliable and suitable for concentrations higher than 20μgkg−1.•The average recovery range for all food was 85–110%.•The primary contributors to i-As dietary intake estimated were wheat flour and rice. An optimized flow injection hydride generation atomic absorption spectroscopy (FI-HGAAS) method was used to determine total arsenic in selected food samples (beef, chicken, fish, milk, cheese, egg, rice, rice-based products, wheat flour, corn flour, oats, breakfast cereals, legumes and potatoes) and to estimate their contributions to inorganic arsenic dietary intake. The limit of detection (LOD) and limit of quantification (LOQ) values obtained were 6μgkg−1 and 18μgkg−1, respectively. The mean recovery range obtained for all food at a fortification level of 200μgkg−1 was 85–110%. Accuracy was evaluated using dogfish liver certified reference material (DOLT-3 NRC) for trace metals. The highest total arsenic concentrations (in μgkg−1) were found in fish (152–439), rice (87–316) and rice-based products (52–201). The contribution to inorganic arsenic (i-As) intake was calculated from the mean i-As content of each food (calculated by applying conversion factors to total arsenic data) and the mean consumption per day. The primary contributors to inorganic arsenic intake were wheat flour, including its proportion in wheat flour-based products (breads, pasta and cookies), followed by rice; both foods account for close to 53% and 17% of the intake, respectively. The i-As dietary intake, estimated as 10.7μgday−1, was significantly lower than that from drinking water in vast regions of Argentina.