title: Urinary arsenic profiles reveal exposures to inorganic arsenic from private drinking water supplies in Cornwall, UK.
abstract: Private water supplies (PWS) in Cornwall, South West England exceeded the current WHO guidance value and UK prescribed concentration or value (PCV) for arsenic of 10 μg/L in 5% of properties surveyed (n = 497). In this follow-up study, the first of its kind in the UK, volunteers (n = 207) from 127 households who used their PWS for drinking, provided urine and drinking water samples for total As determination by inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) and urinary As speciation by high performance liquid chromatography ICP-MS (HPLC-ICP-MS). Arsenic concentrations exceeding 10 μg/L were found in the PWS of 10% of the volunteers. Unadjusted total urinary As concentrations were poorly correlated (Spearman's ρ = 0.36 (P < 0.001)) with PWS As largely due to the use of spot urine samples and the dominance of arsenobetaine (AB) from seafood sources. However, the osmolality adjusted sum, U-As(IMM), of urinary inorganic As species, arsenite (As(III)) and arsenate (As(V)), and their metabolites, methylarsonate (MA) and dimethylarsinate (DMA), was found to strongly correlate (Spearman's ρ: 0.62 (P < 0.001)) with PWS As, indicating private water supplies as the dominant source of inorganic As exposure in the study population of PWS users.
authors.affiliation: School of Earth, Atmospheric and Environmental Sciences &Williamson Research Centre for Molecular Environmental Science, University of Manchester, Oxford Rd, Manchester, M13 9PL, UK.|Inorganic Geochemistry, Centre for Environmental Geochemistry, British Geological Survey, Nicker Hill, Keyworth, Nottinghamshire, NG12 5GG, UK.|Centre for Radiation, Chemicals and Environmental Hazards (CRCE), Public Health England, Chilton, Didcot, Oxfordshire, OX11 0RQ, UK.
authors.forename: D R S
authors.initials: DRS
authors.lastname: Middleton
authors.affiliation: Inorganic Geochemistry, Centre for Environmental Geochemistry, British Geological Survey, Nicker Hill, Keyworth, Nottinghamshire, NG12 5GG, UK.
authors.forename: M J
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Watts
authors.affiliation: Inorganic Geochemistry, Centre for Environmental Geochemistry, British Geological Survey, Nicker Hill, Keyworth, Nottinghamshire, NG12 5GG, UK.
authors.forename: E M
authors.initials: EM
authors.lastname: Hamilton
authors.affiliation: Inorganic Geochemistry, Centre for Environmental Geochemistry, British Geological Survey, Nicker Hill, Keyworth, Nottinghamshire, NG12 5GG, UK.
authors.forename: E L
authors.initials: EL
authors.lastname: Ander
authors.affiliation: Centre for Radiation, Chemicals and Environmental Hazards (CRCE), Public Health England, Chilton, Didcot, Oxfordshire, OX11 0RQ, UK.
authors.forename: R M
authors.initials: RM
authors.lastname: Close
authors.affiliation: Centre for Radiation, Chemicals and Environmental Hazards (CRCE), Public Health England, Chilton, Didcot, Oxfordshire, OX11 0RQ, UK.
authors.forename: K S
authors.initials: KS
authors.lastname: Exley
authors.affiliation: Centre for Radiation, Chemicals and Environmental Hazards (CRCE), Public Health England, Chilton, Didcot, Oxfordshire, OX11 0RQ, UK.
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Crabbe
authors.affiliation: Centre for Radiation, Chemicals and Environmental Hazards (CRCE), Public Health England, Chilton, Didcot, Oxfordshire, OX11 0RQ, UK.
authors.forename: G S
authors.initials: GS
authors.lastname: Leonardi
authors.affiliation: Centre for Radiation, Chemicals and Environmental Hazards (CRCE), Public Health England, Chilton, Didcot, Oxfordshire, OX11 0RQ, UK.
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Fletcher
authors.affiliation: School of Earth, Atmospheric and Environmental Sciences &Williamson Research Centre for Molecular Environmental Science, University of Manchester, Oxford Rd, Manchester, M13 9PL, UK.
authors.forename: D A
authors.initials: DA
authors.lastname: Polya
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D001151:Arsenic / Q000652:urine*; D003710:Demography; D060766:Drinking Water / Q000032:analysis*; D004781:Environmental Exposure / Q000032:analysis*; D005191:Family Characteristics; D005260:Female; D005843:Geography; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D006113:United Kingdom; D014881:Water Supply; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D060766:Drinking Water; D001151:Arsenic