title: A critical review of arsenic exposures for Bangladeshi adults.
abstract: Groundwater, the most important source of water for drinking, cooking, and irrigation in Bangladesh, is a significant contributor to the daily human intake of arsenic. Other arsenic intake pathways, established as relevant for Bangladeshi adults through this review, include consumption of contaminated edible plant parts and animal-origin food, inhalation of contaminated air, soil ingestion, betel quid chewing, and tobacco smoking. This review qualifies and quantifies these arsenic intake pathways through analysis of the range of arsenic levels observed in different food types, water, soil, and air in Bangladesh, and highlights the contributions of dietary intake variation and cooking method in influencing arsenic exposures. This study also highlights the potential of desirable dietary patterns and intakes in increasing arsenic exposure which is relevant to Bangladesh where nutritional deficiencies and lower-than-desirable dietary intakes continue to be a major concern.
authors.affiliation: School of Engineering, University of Guelph, 50 Stone Road East, Guelph, Ontario N1G2W1, Canada.
authors.forename: Tijo
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Joseph
authors.affiliation: School of Engineering, University of Guelph, 50 Stone Road East, Guelph, Ontario N1G2W1, Canada; Environmental Engineering Division, Department of Civil Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur, West Bengal 721302, India. Electronic address: bkdubey@civil.iitkgp.ernet.in.
authors.forename: Brajesh
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Dubey
authors.affiliation: School of Engineering, University of Guelph, 50 Stone Road East, Guelph, Ontario N1G2W1, Canada.
authors.forename: Edward A
authors.initials: EA
authors.lastname: McBean
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001151:Arsenic / Q000378:metabolism*; D001459:Bangladesh; D004781:Environmental Exposure / Q000032:analysis* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D004785:Environmental Pollutants / Q000378:metabolism*; D006801:Humans
chemical_list: D004785:Environmental Pollutants; D001151:Arsenic
keywords: Arsenic contamination in Bangladesh; Dietary arsenic intake; Human arsenic exposure; Non-dietary arsenic source