title: Dietary exposure of the Italian population to inorganic arsenic: The 2012-2014 Total Diet Study.
abstract: Dietary exposure of the Italian population to inorganic arsenic has been assessed in the national Total Diet Study (TDS) carried out in 2012-2014. Within the TDS, food samples (>3000) were collected to be representative of the whole diet of the population, prepared as consumed, and pooled into 51 food groups, thus modelling the Italian diet. Inorganic arsenic was determined by HPLC-ICP-MS after chemical extraction and quantified in all samples. Occurrence data were combined with national individual consumption data to estimate mean and high level dietary exposure of the general population and of population subgroups according to age and gender, both at the national level and for each of the four main geographical areas of Italy. The intakes assessed are in the lower range of iAs exposure estimates in other European countries carried out without the support of the TDS approach. However, taking the lower limit of the BMDL01range established by the EFSA as reference point, the margins of exposure are <2 for the mean intake in infants and toddlers and <1 for the 95th percentile intakes in all younger age groups. Our results indicate the goal to check and further reduce the dietary exposure to inorganic arsenic.
authors.affiliation: Department of Food Safety and Veterinary Public Health, Istituto Superiore di Sanità-Italian National Institute of Health, Rome, Italy. Electronic address: francesco.cubadda@iss.it.
authors.forename: Francesco
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Cubadda
authors.affiliation: Department of Food Safety and Veterinary Public Health, Istituto Superiore di Sanità-Italian National Institute of Health, Rome, Italy.
authors.forename: Marilena
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: D'Amato
authors.affiliation: Department of Food Safety and Veterinary Public Health, Istituto Superiore di Sanità-Italian National Institute of Health, Rome, Italy.
authors.forename: Federica
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Aureli
authors.affiliation: Department of Food Safety and Veterinary Public Health, Istituto Superiore di Sanità-Italian National Institute of Health, Rome, Italy.
authors.forename: Andrea
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Raggi
authors.affiliation: Department of Food Safety and Veterinary Public Health, Istituto Superiore di Sanità-Italian National Institute of Health, Rome, Italy.
authors.forename: Alberto
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Mantovani
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001151:Arsenic / Q000009:adverse effects* / Q000032:analysis; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D004032:Diet / Q000009:adverse effects*; D004781:Environmental Exposure / Q000009:adverse effects*; D005260:Female; D005506:Food Contamination / Q000032:analysis; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007558:Italy; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D018570:Risk Assessment; D013997:Time Factors; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D001151:Arsenic
keywords: Arsenic speciation; Dietary exposure; Inorganic arsenic; Risk assessment; Total Diet Study