title: Total and inorganic arsenic in foods of the first Hong Kong total diet study.
abstract: Arsenic (As) is a metalloid that occurs in different inorganic and organic forms, which are found in the environment from both natural occurrence and anthropogenic activity. The inorganic forms of As (iAs) are more toxic as compared with the organic As, but so far most of the occurrence data in food collected in the framework of official food control are still reported as total As without differentiating the various As species. In this paper, total As and iAs contents of 600 total diet study (TDS) samples, subdivided into 15 different food groups, were quantified by high-resolution inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (HR-ICP/MS) and hydride generation (HG) ICP/MS respectively. The method detection limits for both total As and iAs were 3 μg As kg(-1). As the samples were prepared for TDS, food items were purchased directly from the market or prepared as for normal consumption, i.e. table ready, in the manner most representative of and consistent with cultural habits in Hong Kong as far as practicable. The highest total As and iAs content were found in 'fish, seafood and their products' and 'vegetables and their products' respectively. Besides, this paper also presents the ratios of iAs and total As content in different ready-to-eat food items. The highest ratio of iAs to total As was found in 'vegetables and their products'. It is likely that iAs in vegetables maintained its status even after cooking.
authors.affiliation: a Food Research Laboratory, Food and Environmental Hygiene Department , Centre for Food Safety , Hong Kong , China.
authors.forename: Stephen Wai-cheung
authors.initials: SW
authors.lastname: Chung
authors.forename: Chi-ho
authors.initials: CH
authors.lastname: Lam
authors.forename: Benny Tsz-pun
authors.initials: BT
authors.lastname: Chan
mesh_terms: D001151:Arsenic / Q000737:chemistry*; D005502:Food / Q000145:classification*; D005504:Food Analysis; D005506:Food Contamination / Q000032:analysis; D059022:Food Safety; D006723:Hong Kong; D006801:Humans
chemical_list: D001151:Arsenic
keywords: inorganic arsenic; ready-to-eat food items; total arsenic; total diet study