Contrasting Arsenic Exposure in Cornwall and Myanmar Rice

Abstract

Chronic exposure to arsenic leads to health risks such as: cancers, skin lesions, cardiovascular disease, neuro-toxicology, and diabetes (ATSDR 2007). Arsenic has been found at high concentrations in water/food sources throughout the world (WHO 2010). This leads to people being exposed to arsenic through consumption of food and water. Therefore; it is important to understand how much arsenic can be found in various food and water sources. The aim of this project was to analyse the concentration of inorganic arsenic in rice consumed in Cornwall and Myanmar.Total arsenic [As] and inorganic arsenic [iAs] were analysed using an Ion Chromatograph coupled with an Inductive Coupled Plasma-Mass Spectrometer (IC-ICP-MS).Myanmar rice (n = 16) was found to contain a mean (±SD) of 54 ±40 ng/g total As, of which 38 ±28 ng/g was iAs. These concentrations are much lower than [As] in rice from surrounding nations. China and the EU currently set regulations for iAs in rice at 200 ng/g. Myanmar rice having relatively low concentrations of arsenic will be important for the development of the rice export sector in Myanmar. A joint study by the University of Manchester-British Geological Survey-Public Health England to understand arsenic exposure from various sources (water, food, and soil) in UK populations, has provided household rice samples from Cornwall to be analysed for [As] in rice. The mean (±SD) [iAs] was found to be 100 ±69 ng/g, although higher concentrations were found in non-basmati rice particularly brown rice. n = (106). At a typical UK rice consumption rate of 19 g rice/day and a typical adult with a body-weight of 70 kg, the mean iAs consumption rate would 27 ng/kg-bw/day. This is lower than the reported lower bound for the lung cancer BMDL01 of 300 ng/kg-bw/day (EFSA, 2014). Data on [As] in rice should be combined with [As] from other sources, for better health risk models to be created.

Date of Award	1 Jan 1824
Original language	English
Awarding Institution	The University of Manchester
Supervisor	David Polya (Supervisor)