TY - JOUR
T1 - Arsenic in the human food chain
T2 - The Latin American perspective
AU - Bundschuh, Jochen
AU - Nath, Bibhash
AU - Bhattacharya, Prosun
AU - Liu, Chen Wuing
AU - Armienta, María Aurora
AU - Moreno López, Myriam V.
AU - Lopez, Dina L.
AU - Jean, Jiin Shuh
AU - Cornejo, Lorena
AU - Lauer Macedo, Luciene Fagundes
AU - Filho, Alfredo Tenuta
N1 - Funding Information:
The authors would like thank CYTED Project Red Temática 406RT0282 Iberoarsen. J.B. and J.-S.J. thank the National Science Council of Taiwan for the financial support. L.C. greatly acknowledges the support provided by the Major Scientific and Technological Research Project , DIEXA CODE 4745-10 (UTA-MAYOR 2010-2011). PB thanks Swedish International Development Agency (Sida-SAREC) (SWE-2001-202) and the Strategic Environmental Research Foundation (Mistra ) for the financial support extended to the KTH-International Groundwater Arsenic Research Group at the Department of Land and Water Resources Engineering, Royal Institute of Technology, Stockholm, Sweden. BN would like to acknowledge University of Sydney for Research Support Grant.
PY - 2012/7/1
Y1 - 2012/7/1
N2 - Many regions of Latin America are widely reported for the occurrence of high arsenic (As) in groundwater and surface water due to a combination of geological processes and/or anthropogenic activities. In this paper, we review the available literature (both in English and Spanish languages) to delineate human As exposure pathways through the food chain. Numerous studies show that As accumulations in edible plants and crops are mainly associated with the presence of high As in soils and irrigation waters. However, factors such as As speciation, type and composition of soil, and plant species have a major control on the amount of As uptake. Areas of high As concentrations in surface water and groundwater show high As accumulations in plants, fish/shellfish, livestock meat, milk and cheese. Such elevated As concentrations in food may result in widespread health risks to local inhabitants, including health of indigenous populations and residents living close to mining industries. Some studies show that As can be transferred from the water to prepared meals, thereby magnifying the As content in the human diet. Arsenic speciation might also change during food preparation, especially during high temperature cooking, such as grilling and frying. Finally, the review of the available literature demonstrates the necessity of more rigorous studies in evaluating pathways of As exposure through the human food chain in Latin America.
AB - Many regions of Latin America are widely reported for the occurrence of high arsenic (As) in groundwater and surface water due to a combination of geological processes and/or anthropogenic activities. In this paper, we review the available literature (both in English and Spanish languages) to delineate human As exposure pathways through the food chain. Numerous studies show that As accumulations in edible plants and crops are mainly associated with the presence of high As in soils and irrigation waters. However, factors such as As speciation, type and composition of soil, and plant species have a major control on the amount of As uptake. Areas of high As concentrations in surface water and groundwater show high As accumulations in plants, fish/shellfish, livestock meat, milk and cheese. Such elevated As concentrations in food may result in widespread health risks to local inhabitants, including health of indigenous populations and residents living close to mining industries. Some studies show that As can be transferred from the water to prepared meals, thereby magnifying the As content in the human diet. Arsenic speciation might also change during food preparation, especially during high temperature cooking, such as grilling and frying. Finally, the review of the available literature demonstrates the necessity of more rigorous studies in evaluating pathways of As exposure through the human food chain in Latin America.
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U2 - 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2011.09.069
DO - 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2011.09.069
M3 - Review article
C2 - 22115614
AN - SCOPUS:84862257729
VL - 429
SP - 92
EP - 106
JO - Science of the Total Environment
JF - Science of the Total Environment
SN - 0048-9697
ER -