Arsenic in foods

[Guest guest]

Hi All,

It seems that sea-foods have considerable levels of arsenic.

``Foods of marine origin are very rich in arsenic. Many species of bony fish

contain

2 to 8 ppm, oysters 3 to 10 ppm and mussels as high as 120 ppm of arsenic.

Chemical

analyses of coastal waters along the UK and the USA have revealed high

concentrations of arsenic in marine animals; 174.0 ppm

in prawns in coastal waters of the UK and 42.0 ppm in shrimps of coastal waters

of

the USA. [...]''

http://nutritionfoundationofindia.res.in/archives.asp?archiveid=72 & back=bydate.a\

sp

``You normally take in small amounts of arsenic in the air you breathe, the

water

you drink, and the food you eat. Of these, food is usually the largest source of

arsenic. Seafood contains the greatest amounts of arsenic, but in fish and

shellfish, this is mostly in an organic form of arsenic called arseonbetaine

that is

much less harmful. Some seaweeds may contain arsenic in inorganic forms that may

be

more harmful.''

http://www.atsdr.cdc.gov/toxprofiles/phs2.html

``The total consumption of food for which there are occurrence data available

are

shown in Table 2.1. Most of the arsenic in our food comes from fish and other

seafood (Table 2.2).''

http://europa.eu.int/comm/food/food/chemicalsafety/contaminants/scoop_3-2-11_hea\

vy_metals_report_en.pdf

For the above reference, most of the arsenic is in:

Weekly Intake (µg/week) by the Mean Adult Population Mean across multiple EU

countries

=============

Fish: 702

Seafood: 61

Fruit+Veg: 31

Cereals: 30

Beverages: 23

Meat: 13

Dairy: 9

-- Al Pater, PhD; email: old542000@...

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