title: Major and minor arsenic compounds accounting for the total urinary excretion of arsenic following intake of blue mussels (Mytilus edulis): a controlled human study.
abstract: Blue mussels (Mytilus edulis) accumulate and biotransform arsenic (As) to a larger variety of arsenicals than most seafood. Eight volunteers ingested a test meal consisting of 150 g blue mussel (680 μg As), followed by 72 h with an identical, low As controlled diet and full urine sampling. We provide a complete speciation, with individual patterns, of urinary As excretion. Total As (tAs) urinary excretion was 328 ± 47 μg, whereof arsenobetaine (AB) and dimethylarsinate (DMA) accounted for 66% and 21%, respectively. Fifteen minor urinary arsenicals were quantified with inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICPMS) coupled to reverse-phase, anion and cation-exchange high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). Thio-arsenicals and non-thio minor arsenicals (including inorganic As (iAs) and methylarsonate (MA)) contributed 10% and 7% of the total sum of species excretion, respectively, but there were large individual differences in the excretion patterns. Apparently, formation of thio-arsenicals was negatively correlated to AB formation and excretion, possibly indicating a metabolic interrelationship. The results may be of toxicological relevance since DMA and MA have been classified as possibly carcinogenic, and six of the excreted As species were thio-arsenicals which recently have been recognized as toxic, while iAs toxicity is well known.
authors.affiliation: Department of Health, Nutrition and Management, Faculty of Health Sciences, Oslo and Akershus University College of Applied Sciences, PO Box 4, St Olavs Plass, NO-0130 Oslo, Norway. Marianne.Molin@hioa.no
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Molin
authors.forename: T A
authors.initials: TA
authors.lastname: Ydersbond
authors.forename: S M
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: Ulven
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Holck
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Dahl
authors.forename: J J
authors.initials: JJ
authors.lastname: Sloth
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Fliegel
authors.forename: W
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Goessler
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Alexander
authors.forename: H M
authors.initials: HM
authors.lastname: Meltzer
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001151:Arsenic / Q000652:urine*; D049872:Bivalvia; D006801:Humans
chemical_list: D001151:Arsenic