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The human health risk associated with arsenic in food in Southeast Brazil was quantified. Based on the most commonly consumed food types in the Brazilian diet, the maximum inorganic As (iAs) daily intake from food (0.255 μg kg−1 body weight per day) is approximately 9% of the Benchmark Dose Lower Limit (BMDL0.5) of 3 μg kg−1 body weight per day set by the World Health Organization (WHO) and Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) Joint Expert Committee in Food Additives (JECFA). When water is included, the contribution of food to the total intake varies from 96.9% to 39.7%. Rice and beans, the main Brazilian staple food, contribute between 67 and 90% of the total As intake from food (46–79% from rice and 11–23% from beans). The substantial contribution of beans to total As food intake is reported for the first time. The broad range of As concentrations in rice and beans highlights the variable and potentially large contribution of both to As food intake in places where diet consists largely of these two food categories.

Concentrations of fourteen trace elements (essential and toxic) in the composite samples (collected from 30 different agro-ecological zones for the first time in Bangladesh) of three highly consumed cultured fish species ( Labeo rohita , Pangasius pangasius and Oreochromis mossambicus ) were measured by inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP–MS). The estimated daily dietary intake (EDI) of all the studied elements was estimated on the basis of a calculation of the amount of fish consumed by Bangladeshi households (mean fish consumption of 49.5 g person −1 d −1 ). The studied fish species pose no risk with respect to the EDI of Cd, Pb, Cr, Ni, Zn, Se, Cu, Mo, Mn, Sb, Ba, V, and Ag. Among the three studied fishes O. mossambicus showed higher content of dietary arsenic (1.486 mg kg −1 ). From the human health point of view, this study showed that the inhabitants in the arsenic-contaminated area, who consume arsenic-contaminated water with fish (especially for O. mossambicus ), are exposed chronically to arsenic pollution with carcinogenic and non-carcinogenic risks.