Skip to main content

Advertisement

SpringerLink
Log in

Low Arsenic Exposure Risk in Endemic Population, Cohort Study for Consecutive Years

  • Original Paper
  • Published:
Exposure and Health Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

The arsenic intake through drinking water and daily diets and the arsenic concentration in urine of the 84 regular individuals were estimated over the three consecutive years, where the arsenic concentrations of drinking/cooking water were decreased gradually over the years. Study on the same participants over the years minimized the physiological factor(s) controlling arsenic absorption and excretion. Median daily dietary arsenic intake was 164 µg in males and 134 µg in females in Year-I. Arsenic removal filters were supplied to the inhabitants for arsenic-safe water supply and arsenic concentration in drinking/cooking water decreased (p < 0.01) from 91 µg/L (Year-I) to 30 µg/L (Year-II) and 13 µg/L (Year-III). Daily dietary arsenic intake decreased insignificantly in the study Year-II and Year-III in case of males (132, 180 µg) and females (97, 106 µg). iAs intake through diet (male: 140, 121, 162 µg/day; female: 113, 92, 99 µg/day) and the iAs intake doses were higher than EFSA-designated benchmark dose lower confidence limit, even after using arsenic-safe drinking/cooking water. Urine arsenic concentration was estimated at > 50 µg/L irrespective of sex and study years, and was associated (p = 0.05) to dietary arsenic intake. Individuals with skin lesion had more arsenic concentration in urine (p < 0.01) than the participants without skin lesion. Even after using low arsenic-contaminated (< 10 µg/L) water, 41, 28 and 43% participants, respectively, in consecutive years, exceeded the EFSA-designated benchmark dose lower confidence limit. The use of arsenic-safe water in drinking/cooking is not the only safe way to be arsenic safe for the endemic population.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4
Fig. 5
Fig. 6

Similar content being viewed by others

Abbreviations

iAs:

Inorganic arsenic

EFSA:

European Food Safety Authority (EFSA)

References

  • Ahsan H, Chen YU, Parvez F, Argos M, Hussain AI, Momotaz H, Levy D, VanGeen A, Howe G, Greziano J (2006) Health effect of arsenic longitudinal study (HEALS): description of a multidisciplinary epidemiologic investigation. J Expos Sci Environ Epidemiol 16:191–205

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Bae M, Watanabe C, Inaoka T, Sekiyama M, Sudo N, Bokul MH, Ohtsuka R (2002) Arsenic in cooked rice in Bangladesh. Lancet 360(9348):1839–1840

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Basu A, Mitra S, Chung J, Guha Mazumder DN, Ghosh N, Kalman D, von Ehrenstein OS, Steinmaus C, Liaw J, Smith AH (2011) Creatinine, diet, micronutrients, and arsenic methylation in West Bengal, India. Environ Health Perspect 119:1308–1313

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Biswas A, Biswas S, Santra SC (2012) Risk from winter vegetables and pulses produced in arsenic endemic areas of Nadia district: field study comparison with market basket survey. Bull Environ Contam Toxicol 88(6):909–914

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Biswas A, Basu B, Bhattacharya K, Guha Mazumder DN, Santra SC (2013) Species level study on arsenic availability from dietary components. Toxicol Environ Chem 95(3):529–540

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Biswas A, Deb D, Ghose A, Du Laing G, De Neve J, Santra SC, Guha Mazumder DN (2014a) Dietary arsenic consumption and urine arsenic in an endemic population: response to improvement of drinking water quality in a 2-year consecutive study. Environ Sci Pollut Res Int 21:609–619

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Biswas A, Deb D, Ghose A, Santra SC, Guha Mazumder DN (2014b) Seasonal perspective of dietary arsenic consumption and urine arsenic in an endemic population. Environ Monit Assess 186:4543–4551

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Biswas A, Biswas S, Lavu RVS, Gupta PC, Santra SC (2014c) Arsenic prone rice cultivars—a study in endemic region. Paddy Water Environ 12:379–386

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Das D, Chatterjee A, Mandal BK, Samanta G, Chakroborti D (1995) Arsenic in ground water in six district of West Bengal, India: the biggest arsenic calamity in the world, part 2; arsenic concentration in drinking water, hair, nails, urine, skin-scale and liver tissue (biopsy) of the affected people. Analyst 120:917–924

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Das HK, Mitra AK, Sengupta PK, Hossain A, Islam F, Rabbani GH (2004) Arsenic concentrations in rice, vegetables, and fish in Bangladesh: a preliminary study. Environ Int 30(3):383–387

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Deb D, Biswas A, Ghose A, Das A, Majumdar KK, Guha Mazumder DN (2012) Nutritional deficiency and arsenical manifestations: a perspective study in an arsenic endemic region of West Bengal, India. Public Health Nutr 16(9):1644–1655

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • EFSA Panel on Contaminants in the Food Chain (CONTAM) (2009) Scientific opinion on arsenic in food. EFSA J 7(10):1351. doi:10.2903/j.efsa.2009.1351. www.efsa.europa.eu

  • Gallagher D, Visser M, Sepulveda D, Pierson RN, Harris T, Heymsfield SB (1996) How useful is body mass index for comparison of body fatness across age, sex, and ethnic groups? Am J Epidemiol 143:228–239

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Guha Mazumder DN, Haque R, Ghosh N, De BK, Santra A, Chakraborty D, Smith AH (1998) Arsenic levels in drinking water and the prevalence of skin lesions in West Bengal, India. Int J Epidemiol 27:871–877

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Guha Mazumder DN, Ghose A, Majumdar KK, Ghosh N, Saha C, Guha Mazumder RN (2010) Arsenic contamination of ground water and its health impact on population of district of Nadia, West Bengal, India. Indian J Commun Med 35:331–338

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Guha Mazumder DN, Deb D, Biswas A, Saha C, Nandy A, Ganguly B, Ghose A, Bhattacharya K, Majumdar KK (2013) Evaluation of dietary arsenic exposure and its biomarkers: a case study of West Bengal, India. J Environ Sci Health Part A 488:896–904

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Guha Mazumder DN, Deb D, Biswas A, Saha C, Nandy A, Das A, Ghose A, Bhattacharya K, Mazumdar KK (2014) Dietary arsenic exposure with low level of arsenic in drinking water and biomarker: a study in West Bengal. J Environ Sci Health Part A 49:555–564

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Halim MA, Majumder RK, Nessa SA, Hiroshiro Y, Uddin MJ, Shimada J, Jinno K (2009) Hydrogeochemistry and arsenic contamination of groundwater in the Ganges delta plain, Bangladesh. J Hazard Mater 164:1335–1345

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Hughes MF (2006) Biomarkers of exposure: a case study with inorganic arsenic. Environ Health Perspect 114(11):1790–1796

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Kile ML, Houseman EA, Breton CV, Smith T, Quamruzzaman O, Rahman M, Mahiuddin G, Christiani DC (2007) Dietary arsenic exposure in Bangladesh. Environ Health Perspect 115(6):889–893

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Mandal BK, Roychowdhury T, Samanta G, Mukherjee DP, Chanda CR, Saha KC, Chakraborti D (1998) Impact of safe water for drinking and cooking on five arsenic-affected families for two years in West Bengal, India. Sci Tot Environ 218(2–3):185–201

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Marchiset-Ferlay N, Sabanovitch C, Sauvant-Rochat MP (2012) What is the best biomarker to assess arsenic exposure in drinking water? Environ Int 39:150–171

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Meharg AA (2004) Arsenic in rice—understanding a new disaster for South East Asia. Trend Plant Sci 9:415–417

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Mondal D, Polya DA (2008) Rice is a major exposure roite for arsenic in Chakdaha Block, Nadia district, West Bengal, India, a probabilistic risk assessment. Appl Geochem 23:2987–2998

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • NRC (National Research Council) (1999) Health effects of arsenic. Arsenic in drinking water. National Academic Press, Washington DC, pp 83–149

  • Ohno K, Yanase T, Matsuo Y, Kimura T, Rahman MH, Magara Y, Matsui Y (2007) Arsenic intake via water and food by a population living in an arsenic-affected area of Bangladesh. Sci Tot Environ 381:68–76

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Raab A, Baskaran C, Feldmann J, Meharg AA (2009) Cooking rice in a high water to rice ratio reduces inorganic content. J Environ Monit 11:41–44

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Rahman MA, Hasegawa H, Rahman MA, Miah MA (2006) Influence of cooking method on arsenic retention in cooked rice related to dietary exposure. Sci Tot Environ 370:51–60

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Roychowdhury T (2008) Impact of sedimentary arsenic through irrigated ground water on soil, plant crop and h man continuim from Bengal delta; special reference to raw and cooked rice. Food Chem Toxicol 46:2856–2864

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Sengupta MK, Hossain MA, Mukherjee A, Ahamed S, Das B, Nayak B, Pal A, Chakraborti D (2006) Arsenic burden of cooked rice: traditional and modern methods. Food Chem Toxicol 44:1823–1829

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Signes A, Mitra K, Burlo F, Carbonell-Barrachina AA (2008) Contribution of water and cooked rice to an estimation of the dietary intake of inorganic arsenic in a rural village of West Bengal, India. Food Addit Contam 25:41–50

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Signes-Pastor AJ, Mitra K, Sarkhel S, Hobbes M, Burlo F, De Groot WT, Carbonell-Barrachina AA (2008) Arsenic speciation in food and estimation of the dietary intake of inorganic arsenic in a rural village of West Bengal, India. J Agric Food Chem 56:9469–9474

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Weidemann D, Kuo CC, Acien AN, Abraham AG, Weaver V, Fadrowski J (2015) Association of arsenic with kidney function in adolescents and young adults: results from the National Health Nutrition Survey 2009–2012. Environ Res 140:317–324

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • WHO (2005) Technical Publication No. 30 clinical aspects of arsenicosis. In: Caussy D (ed) A field guide for detection, management and surveillance of arsenicosis cases. WHO Regional Office for South East Asia, New Delhi, pp 5–9

  • Williams PN, Price AH, Raab A, Hossain SA, Feldmann J, Meharg AA (2005) Variation in arsenic speciation and concentration in paddy rice related to dietary exposure. Environ Sci Technol 39:5531–5540

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Yuan Y, Marshall G, Ferreccio C, Steinmaus C, Selvin S, Liaw J, Bates MN, Smith AH (2007) Acute myocardial infarction mortality in comparison with lung and bladder cancer mortality in arsenic exposed region II of Chile from 1950 to 2000. Am J Epidemiol 166:1381–1391

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

The first author thanks DST-SERB, Government of India for providing research grants as N-PDF for continuing research works. The present work was supported by a research grant funded by the World Bank under the National Agricultural Innovative Project “Arsenic in Food Chain: Cause, Effect and Mitigation” from the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR), Govt. of India (Ref. No. NAIP/C4/C1005, dated 12.6.2007). The authors express their thanks to Dr. K Bhattacharya, Mr. R. N. Guha Mazumder, Anath Pramanick, Gopal Modak, and Goutam Dutta for their help in the execution of this study. Special thanks are also due to all the patients and villagers for their participation and cooperation in this study. The contents of this article are the sole responsibility of the authors and do not necessarily represent the official views of the funding agencies. This scientific work is the responsibility of the researchers.

Author information

Author notes

  1. Anirban Biswas

    Present address: School of Environmental Studies, Jadavpur University, Kolkata, 700032, India

Authors and Affiliations

  1. D.N.G.M. Research Foundation, Kolkata, 700053, India

    Anirban Biswas & Debendra Nath Guha Mazumder

  2. Department of Environmental Science, University of Kalyani, Kalyani, West Bengal, 741235, India

    Anirban Biswas

  3. Department of Statistics, Acharya Prafulla Chandra College, Kolkata, West Bengal, 700131, India

    Arabinda Das

  4. School of Environmental Studies, Jadavpur University, Kolkata, 700032, India

    Tarit Roychowdhury

Authors
  1. Anirban Biswas
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Arabinda Das
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Tarit Roychowdhury
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Debendra Nath Guha Mazumder
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Anirban Biswas.

Ethics declarations

Conflict of interest

The authors declare that they have no conflicts of interest.

Electronic supplementary material

Below is the link to the electronic supplementary material.

Supplementary material 1 (DOCX 17 kb)

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Biswas, A., Das, A., Roychowdhury, T. et al. Low Arsenic Exposure Risk in Endemic Population, Cohort Study for Consecutive Years. Expo Health 10, 273–286 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12403-017-0260-z

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Revised:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12403-017-0260-z

Keywords

Search

Navigation