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Even the low levels of non-essential elements exposure common in the US may have health consequences especially early in life. However, little is known about the infant’s dynamic exposure to essential and non-essential elements. This study aims to evaluate exposure to essential and non-essential elements during infants’ first year of life and to explore the association between the exposure and rice consumption. Paired urine samples from infants enrolled in the New Hampshire Birth Cohort Study (NHBCS) were collected at approximately 6 weeks (exclusively breastfed) and at 1 year of age after weaning (n = 187). A further independent subgroup of NHBCS infants with details about rice consumption at 1 year of age also was included (n = 147). Urinary concentrations of 8 essential (Co, Cr, Cu, Fe, Mn, Mo, Ni, and Se) and 9 non-essential (Al, As, Cd, Hg, Pb, Sb, Sn, V, and U) elements were determined as a measure of exposure. Several essential (Co, Fe, Mo, Ni, and Se) and non-essential (Al, As, Cd, Hg, Pb, Sb, Sn, and V) elements had higher concentrations at 1 year than at 6 weeks of age. The highest increases were for urinary As and Mo with median concentrations of 0.20 and 1.02 µg/L at 6 weeks and 2.31 and 45.36 µg/L at 1 year of age, respectively. At 1 year of age, As and Mo urine concentrations were related to rice consumption. Further efforts are necessary to minimize exposure to non-essential elements while retaining essential elements to protect and promote children’s health.

dibenzop- furans (PCDD/Fs) in humans comes from food intake. PCDD/Fs, are a family of potential endocrine disruptors and have been associated with different chronic diseases such as diabetes and hypertension. However, studies assessing the relationship between dietary exposure to PCDD/Fs and adiposity or obesity status in a middle-aged population are limited. Objective: To assess cross-sectionally and longitudinally the associations between estimated dietary intake (DI) of PCDD/Fs and body mass index (BMI), waist circumference, and the prevalence/incidence of obesity and abdominal obesity in a middle-aged population. Methods: In 5899 participants aged 55–75 years (48% women) living with overweight/obesity from the PREDIMED-plus cohort, PCDD/Fs DI was estimated using a 143-item validated food-frequency questionnaire, and the levels of food PCDD/F expressed as Toxic Equivalents (TEQ). Consequently, cross-sectional and prospective associations between baseline PCDD/Fs DI (in pgTEQ/week) and adiposity or obesity status were assessed at baseline and after 1-year follow-up using multivariable cox, logistic or linear regression models. Results: Compared to participants in the first PCDD/F DI tertile, those in the highest tertile presented a higher BMI (β-coefficient [confidence interval]) (0.43kg/m2 [0.22; 0.64]; P-trend, nstituto de Salud Carlos III (ISCIII), through the Fondo de Investigacion para la Salud (FIS) - European Regional Development Fund PI16/01120 PI17/00764 PI17/01183 PI17/00855 PI17/01347 PI17/00525 PI17/01827 PI17/00532 PI17/00215 PI17/01441 PI17/00508 PI17/01732 PI17/00926 PI19/00957 PI19/00386 PI19/00309 PI19/01032 PI19/00576 PI19/00017 PI19/01226 PI19/00781 PI19/01560 PI19/01332 PI20/01802 PI20/00138 PI20/01532 PI20/00456 PI20/00339 PI20/00557 PI20/00886 PI20/01158, CIBER Fisiopatologia de la Obesidad y Nutricion (CIBEROBN), Especial Action Project entitled: Implementacion y evaluacion de una intervencion intensiva sobre la actividad fisica Cohorte PREDIMED-Plus grant, European Research Council (ERC) European Commission 340918, La Caixa Foundation 2013ACUP00194, Junta de Andalucia PI0458/2013 PS0358/2016 PI0137/2018, Center for Forestry Research & Experimentation (CIEF) PROMETEO/21/2021, MICIN/AEI/FEDER, UE CEX2021-001234-M, SEMERGEN grant, ICREA under the ICREA Academia program, Agencia de Gestio d'Ajuts Universitaris de Recerca (AGAUR FI) 2021FI_B 00145

Arsenic exposure during pregnancy may increase the risk for intellectual deficits in children, but limited data exist from prospective epidemiologic studies, particularly at low arsenic exposure levels. We investigated the association between prenatal maternal urinary arsenic concentrations and childhood cognitive abilities in the Health Outcomes and Measures of the Environment (HOME) Study. We used anion exchange chromatography coupled with inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry detection to measure arsenic species content in pregnant women's urine. The summation of inorganic arsenic (iAs), monomethylarsonic acid (MMA), and dimethylarsinic acid (DMA) refers to ∑As. We assessed children's cognitive function (n = 260) longitudinally at 1-, 2-, and 3-years using Bayley Scales of Infant and Toddler Development, at 5 years using Wechsler Preschool and Primary Scale of Intelligence, and at 8 years using Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children. We observed a modest decrease in mental development index and full-scale intelligence quotient at ages 3 and 5 years with each doubling of ∑As with estimated score (ß) differences and 95% confidence interval (CI) of -1.8 from -4.1 to 0.5 and -2.5 from -5.1 to 0.0, respectively. This trend was stronger and reached statistical significance among children whose mothers had lower iAs methylation capacity and low urinary arsenobetaine concentrations. Our findings suggest that arsenic exposure levels relevant to the general US population may affect children's cognitive abilities.

Concerns have been raised regarding toxic-element (arsenic, cadmium, lead, and mercury) contamination of commercially available infant foods around the world. Young children are vulnerable to the effects of toxic elements, based on higher absorption levels and potentially poorer detoxification capacities. Toxic-element exposures in early life exact high societal costs, but it is unclear how much dietary exposure to these elements contributes to adverse health outcomes. Well-designed epidemiological studies conducted in different geographical and socioeconomic contexts need to estimate dietary toxicant exposure in young children and to determine whether causal links exist between toxicants in children’s diets and health outcomes. This commentary outlines the methodological considerations and data needs to advance such research.

Lead (Pb), mercury (Hg) and fluoride (F) exposure during childhood is of concern owing to their toxicity. Also, evidence suggests that high and low exposure levels to manganese (Mn) and selenium (Se) during this vulnerable period are associated with an increased risk of adverse health effects. A reduced growth is associated with high Pb and F exposure; however, little is known about their impact on children's body size, and there is a lack of consensus on the effects of Hg, Mn, and Se exposure on children's anthropometric measures. This is particularly true for childhood metal co-exposures at levels relevant to the general population. We investigated the joint effects of exposure to a metal mixture (Pb, Mn, Hg, and Se in blood and F in plasma) on 6-11-year-old US children's anthropometry (n = 1,634). Median F, Pb, Mn, Hg, and Se concentrations were 0.3 μmol/L, 0.5 μg/dL, 10.2 μg/L, 0.3 μg/L, and 178.0 μg/L, respectively. The joint effects of the five metals were modeled using Bayesian kernel machine and linear regressions. Pb and Mn showed opposite directions of associations with all outcome measured, where Pb was inversely associated with anthropometry. For body mass index and waist circumference, the effect estimates for Pb and Mn appeared stronger at high and low concentrations of the other metals of the mixture, respectively. Our findings suggest that metal co-exposures may influence children's body mass and linear growth indicators, and that such relations may differ by the exposure levels of the components of the metal mixture.

Infants and young children commonly consume apple-based products, which may contain high concentrations of inorganic arsenic (iAs). As yet, iAs exposure from ingesting apple products has not been well-characterized in early childhood. Therefore, we investigated the association between urinary arsenic concentrations and intake of apple products in one-year-old infants participating in the New Hampshire Birth Cohort Study. A three-day food diary prior to collection of a spot urine sample was used to determine infant’s consumption of apple products. The sum of urinary iAs, monomethylarsonic acid, and dimethylarsinic acid, referred to as ΣAs, was used to estimate iAs exposure. A total of 242 infants had urinary arsenic speciation analyzed without indication of fish/seafood consumption (urinary arsenobetaine < 1 μg/L) and with a completed three-day food diary. Of these, 183 (76%) infants ate apples or products containing apple. The geometric mean urinary ΣAs among the 59 infants who did not consume any type of apple product was 2.78 μg/L as compared to 2.38, 2.46, 2.28, and 2.73 μg/L among infants who exclusively consumed apple juice (n = 30), apple puree (n = 67), apples as whole fruit (n = 20) or products mixed with apples (n = 21), respectively. Differences in urinary ΣAs associated with apple consumption were not statistically significant in generalized linear models adjusted for urine dilution, rice consumption, and household water arsenic. Thus, while infants in our study frequently consumed apples and apple products, we did not find evidence that it increased iAs exposure.

Green, Andy J. et al., One of cadmium’s major exposure routes to humans is through rice consumption. The concentrations of cadmium in the global polished (white), market rice supply-chain were assessed in 2270 samples, purchased from retailers across 32 countries, encompassing 6 continents. It was found on a global basis that East Africa had the lowest cadmium with a median for both Malawi and Tanzania at 4.9 μg/kg, an order of magnitude lower than the highest country, China with a median at 69.3 μg/ kg. The Americas were typically low in cadmium, but the Indian sub-continent was universally elevated. In particular certain regions of Bangladesh had high cadmium, that when combined with the high daily consumption rate of rice of that country, leads to high cadmium exposures. Concentrations of cadmium were compared to the European Standard for polished rice of 200 μg/kg and 5% of the global supply-chain exceeded this threshold. For the stricter standard of 40 μg/kg for processed infant foods, for which rice can comprise up to 100% by composition (such as rice porridges, puffed rice cereal and cakes), 25% of rice would not be suitable for making pure rice baby foods. Given that rice is also elevated in inorganic arsenic, the only region of the world where both inorganic arsenic and cadmium were low in grain was East Africa.

The Environmental Influences on Child Health Outcomes (ECHO) Program will evaluate environmental factors affecting children’s health (perinatal, neurodevelopmental, obesity, respiratory, and positive health outcomes) by pooling cohorts composed of >50,000 children in the largest US study of its kind. Our objective was to identify opportunities for studying chemicals and child health using existing or future ECHO chemical exposure data. We described chemical-related information collected by ECHO cohorts and reviewed ECHO-relevant literature on exposure routes, sources, and environmental and human monitoring. Fifty-six ECHO cohorts have existing or planned chemical biomonitoring data for mothers or children. Environmental phenols/parabens, phthalates, metals/metalloids, and tobacco biomarkers are each being measured by ≥15 cohorts, predominantly during pregnancy and childhood, indicating ample opportunities to study child health outcomes. Cohorts are collecting questionnaire data on multiple exposure sources and conducting environmental monitoring including air, dust, and water sample collection that could be used for exposure assessment studies. To supplement existing chemical data, we recommend biomonitoring of emerging chemicals, non-targeted analysis to identify novel chemicals, and expanded measurement of chemicals in alternative biological matrices and dust samples. ECHO’s rich data and samples represent an unprecedented opportunity to accelerate environmental chemical research to improve the health of US children.

Exposure to toxic and non-toxic metals impacts childhood growth and development, but limited data exists on exposure to metal mixtures. Here, we investigated the effects of exposure to individual metals and a mixture of barium, cadmium, cobalt, lead, molybdenum, zinc, and arsenic on growth indicators in children 4-5 years of age., The authors would particularly like to thank the staff from Hospital San Agustin in Aviles for their valuable support and all the participants enrolled in the INMA-Asturias cohort for their generous collaboration. This research was funded by grants from, CIBERESP (PhD-employment-contract and fellowship for short stays abroad-2019), ISCIII: PI04/2018, PI09/02311, PI13/02429, PI18/00909 co-funded by the European Regional Development Fund (FEDER), “A way to make Europe"/"Investing in your future”; Obra Social Cajastur/Fundación Liberbank, and Universidad de Oviedo. A.J.S.P. and M.R.K. are funded by the following projects P01ES022832, RD83544201, R25CA134286, and P42ES007373. A.J.S.P. is also funded by CIDEGENT /2020/050. We thank Katherine Thieltges from Edanz (https://www.edanz.com/ac) for editing a draft of this manuscript.

Prenatal arsenic exposure is associated with an increased risk of lung cancer along with multiple non-carcinogenic outcomes, including respiratory diseases in arsenic-contaminated areas. Limited epidemiologic data exist on whether in utero arsenic exposure influences lung development and subsequent respiratory health. We investigated the association between gestational arsenic exposure and childhood lung function in the New Hampshire Birth Cohort Study. Urinary arsenic speciation including inorganic arsenic (iAs), monomethylarsonic acid (MMA), dimethylarsinic acid (DMA) and arsenobetaine was measured in maternal urine samples collected during pregnancy and spirometry was performed in offspring at a median age of 7.4 years. Forced vital capacity (FVC), forced expiratory volume in the first second of exhalation (FEV1), and forced expiratory flow between 25% and 75% of FVC (FEF25-75) standardized z-scores were assessed in linear models as dependent variables with the log2-transformed summation of urinary arsenic species (ΣAs = iAs + MMA + DMA) corrected for specific gravity as an independent variable and with adjustment for maternal smoking status, children’s age, sex and height. Among the 358 children in the study, a doubling of ΣAs was associated with a −0.08 (s) decrease in FVC z-scores (95% confidence interval (CI) from −0.14 to −0.01) and −0.10 (s) (95% CI from −0.18 to −0.02) decrease in FEV1 z-scores. The inverse association appeared stronger among those mothers with lower secondary methylation index (urinary DMA/MMA), especially among girls. No association was observed for FEF25-75 z-scores. Our results suggest that gestation arsenic exposure at levels relevant to the general US population during the vulnerable period of lung formation may adversely affect lung function in childhood.

During pregnancy, women are commonly exposed to several endocrine-disrupting chemicals, including persistent organic pollutants (POPs). These compounds can transfer to the fetus through the placenta. Prenatal POP exposure is related to altered fetal genital and reproductive tract development. However, the relationship between exposure to POP mixtures and anogenital distance (AGD) is poorly investigated. This study investigated the association between prenatal exposure to POP mixtures and AGD in 8-year-old children., The authors would particularly like to thank all the participants for their generous collaboration and the staff from Hospital San Agustin in Aviles for their effort. This study was funded by grants from, CIBERESP (PhD-employment-contract and fellowship for short stays abroad-2019), ISCIII: PI04/2018, PI09/02311, PI13/02429, PI18/00909 co-funded by FEDER, “A way to make Europe”/“Investing in your future”, Obra Social Cajastur/Fundación Liberbank, and Universidad de Oviedo. Antonio J. Signes-Pastor is currently funded by CIDEGENT/2020/050. We thank Katherine Thieltges from Edanz (https://www.edanz.com/ac) for editing a draft of this manuscript.

This study was funded by grants from Spanish Institute of Health Carlos III-Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness (INMA Network G03/176, CB06/02/0041, and FIS-FEDER: PI03/1615, PI04/1436, PI08/1151, PI04/2018, PI04/1509, PI04/1112, PI04/1931, PI05/1079, PI05/1052, PI06/1213, PI06/0867, PI07/0314, PI09/02647, PS09/00090, PI09/02311, MS11/0178, PI13/1944, PI13/2032, PI14/00891, PI16/1288, and PI17/00663). Miguel Servet-FEDER: MSII16/ 00051, CP14/00108 & PI16/00261 (Co-funded by European Regional Development Fund “A way to make Europe”), FEDER funds, MS13/00054. Generalitat de Catalunya-CIRIT 1999SGR 00241, JCI2011–09771–MICINN, Generalitat Valenciana (Conselleria de Sanitat048/2010 and 060/2010 and FISABIO-UGP 15-230, 15-244, and 15-249). Generalitat de Catalunya-CIRIT 1999SGR 00241, and Fundació La Marató de TV3 (090430). Alicia Koplowitz Foundation (2017). Universidad de Oviedo. FISS-PI13/2429. Fundación CajasturLiberbank. Department of Health of the Basque Government (2005111093 and 2009111069). The Provincial Government of Gipuzkoa (DFG06/004 and DFG08/001). The Fundación Roger Torné. ISGlobal is a member of the CERCA Programme, Generalitat de Catalunya. Mònica Guxens is funded by a Miguel Servet fellowship (MS13/00054) awarded by the Spanish Institute of Health Carlos III (Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness). Antonio J. Signes-Pastor and Margaret R. Karagas are funded by the following projects P01ES022832, RD 83544201, R25CA134286 and P42ES007373., Signes-Pastor, A.J., Vioque, J., Navarrete-Muñoz, E.M., Carey, M., García-Villarino, M., Fernández-Somoano, A., Tardón, A., Santa-Marina, L., Irizar, A., Casas, M., Guxens, M., Llop, S., Soler-Blasco, R., García-de-la-Hera, M., Karagas, M.R., Meharg, A.A.

Lead (Pb), mercury (Hg) and fluoride (F) exposure during childhood is of concern owing to their toxicity. Also, evidence suggests that high and low exposure levels to manganese (Mn) and selenium (Se) during this vulnerable period are associated with an increased risk of adverse health effects. A reduced growth is associated with high Pb and F exposure; however, little is known about their impact on children’s body size, and there is a lack of consensus on the effects of Hg, Mn, and Se exposure on children’s anthropometric measures. This is particularly true for childhood metal co-exposures at levels relevant to the general population. We investigated the joint effects of exposure to a metal mixture (Pb, Mn, Hg, and Se in blood and F in plasma) on 6-11-year-old US children’s anthropometry (n = 1,634). Median F, Pb, Mn, Hg, and Se concentrations were 0.3 μmol/L, 0.5 μg/dL, 10.2 μg/L, 0.3 μg/L, and 178.0 μg/L, respectively. The joint effects of the five metals were modeled using Bayesian kernel machine and linear regressions. Pb and Mn showed opposite directions of associations with all outcome measured, where Pb was inversely associated with anthropometry. For body mass index and waist circumference, the effect estimates for Pb and Mn appeared stronger at high and low concentrations of the other metals of the mixture, respectively. Our findings suggest that metal co-exposures may influence children’s body mass and linear growth indicators, and that such relations may differ by the exposure levels of the components of the metal mixture.

Early-life exposure to inorganic arsenic (i-As) may cause long-lasting health effects, but as yet, little is known about exposure among weaning infants. We assessed exposure before and during weaning and investigated the association between solid food intake and infants’ urinary arsenic species concentrations. Following the recording of a comprehensive 3 day food diary, paired urine samples (pre- and post-weaning) were collected and analyzed for arsenic speciation from 15 infants participating in the New Hampshire Birth Cohort Study. Infants had higher urinary i-As (p-value = 0.04), monomethylarsonic acid (MMA) (p-value = 0.002), dimethylarsinic acid (DMA) (p-value = 0.01), and sum of arsenic species (i-As + MMA + DMA, p-value = 0.01) during weaning than while exclusively fed on a liquid diet (i.e., breast milk, formula, or a mixture of both). Among weaning infants, increased sum of urinary arsenic species was pairwise-associated with intake of rice cereal (Spearman’s ρ = 0.90, p-value = 0.03), fruit (ρ = 0.70, p-value = 0.03), and vegetables (ρ = 0.86, p-value = 0.01). Our observed increases in urinary arsenic concentrations likely indicate increased exposure to i-As during the transition to solid foods, suggests the need to minimize exposure during this critical period of development.

Rice accumulates 10-fold higher inorganic arsenic (i-As), an established human carcinogen, than other grains. This review summarizes epidemiologic studies that examined the association between rice consumption and biomarkers of arsenic exposure. After reviewing the literature we identified 20 studies, among them included 18 observational and 2 human experimental studies that reported on associations between rice consumption and an arsenic biomarker. Among individuals not exposed to contaminated water, rice is a source of i-As exposure — rice consumption has been consistently related to arsenic biomarkers, and the relationship has been clearly demonstrated in experimental studies. Early-life i-As exposure is of particular concern due to its association with lifelong adverse health outcomes. Maternal rice consumption during pregnancy also has been associated with infant toenail total arsenic concentrations indicating that dietary exposure during pregnancy results in fetal exposure. Thus, the collective evidence indicates that rice is an independent source of arsenic exposure in populations around the world and highlights the importance of investigating its affect on health., Graphical abstract

Background In utero exposure to individual metals may impact fetal growth, though little is known about the effects of exposure to metal mixtures. Therefore, we investigated joint effects of in utero exposure to a mixture of As (arsenic), Mn (manganese), and Pb (lead) on newborn outcomes in a United States population. Methods Concentrations of As, Mn, and Pb were determined in maternal postpartum toenail samples, a biomarker of in utero exposure, from 989 maternal-infant pairs (492 females and 497 males). Newborns' anthropometric characteristics, including head circumference, length, and weight, were obtained from medical records. The joint effects of the three metals were modeled using Bayesian kernel machine regression and linear regression. Both sex-combined and sex-stratified statistical analyses were performed. Results We observed an inverted-U-shape association between maternal toenail Mn concentrations and newborn head circumference, particularly among female infants. Concentrations of Pb were related to reduced head circumference, weight, and length, especially among females at lower concentrations of the other metals. Overall, toenail As concentrations were related to reduced head circumference, especially among males, and an increase in birth length and weight among females. We found little evidence of As interactions with other metals within the mixture. Conclusions Our findings suggest that in utero metal mixture exposures may influence birth outcomes, and that such relations may differ by infant sex.

Arsenic in rice grain is dominated by two species: the carcinogen inorganic arsenic (the sum of arsenate and arsenite) and dimethylarsinic acid (DMA). Rice is the dominant source of inorganic arsenic into the human diet. As such, there is a need to identify sources of low-inorganic arsenic rice globally. Here we surveyed polished (white) rice across representative regions of rice production globally for arsenic speciation. In total 1180 samples were analysed from 29 distinct sampling zones, across 6 continents. For inorganic arsenic the global $$\tilde{x}$$ x ~ was 66 μg/kg, and for DMA this figure was 21 μg/kg. DMA was more variable, ranging from $$\tilde{x}$$ x ~ $$\tilde{x}$$ x ~

This systematic review summarizes the current evidence related to the reliability of toenail total arsenic concentrations (thereafter “arsenic”) as a biomarker of long-term exposure. Specifically, we reviewed literature on consistency of repeated measures over time, association with other biomarkers and metal concentrations, factors influencing concentrations, and associations with health effects. We identified 129 papers containing quantitative original data on arsenic in toenail samples covering populations from 29 different countries. We observed geographic differences in toenail arsenic concentrations, with highest median or mean concentrations in Asian countries. Arsenic-contaminated drinking water, occupational exposure or living in specific industrial areas were associated with an increased toenail arsenic content. The effects of other potential determinants and sources of arsenic exposure including diet, gender and age on the concentrations in toenails need further investigations. Toenail arsenic was correlated with the concentrations in hair and fingernails, and with urine arsenic mainly among highly exposed populations with a toenail mean or median ≥1 μg/g. Overall, there is a growing body of evidence suggesting that arsenic content from a single toenail sample may reflect long-term internal dose-exposure. Toenail arsenic can serve as a reliable measure of toxic inorganic arsenic exposure in chronic disease research, particularly promising for cancer and cardiovascular conditions.

Inorganic arsenic (i-As) is a non-threshold human carcinogen that has been associated with several adverse health outcomes. Exposure to i-As is of particular concern among pregnant women, infants and children, as they are specifically vulnerable to the adverse health effects of i-As, and in utero and early-life exposure, even low to moderate levels of i-As, may have a marked effect throughout the lifespan. Ion chromatography-mass spectrometry detection (IC-ICP-MS) was used to analyse urinary arsenic speciation, as an exposure biomarker, in samples of 4-year-old children with relatively low-level arsenic exposure living in different regions in Spain including Asturias, Gipuzkoa, Sabadell and Valencia. The profile of arsenic metabolites in urine was also determined in samples taken during pregnancy (1st trimester) and in the children from Valencia of 7 years old. The median of the main arsenic species found in the 4-year-old children was 9.71 mug/l (arsenobetaine-AsB), 3.97 mug/l (dimethylarsinic acid-DMA), 0.44 mug/l (monomethylarsonic acid-MMA) and 0.35 mug/l (i-As). Statistically significant differences were found in urinary AsB, MMA and i-As according to the study regions in the 4-year-old, and also in DMA among pregnant women and their children. Spearman's correlation coefficient among urinary arsenic metabolites was calculated, and, in general, a strong methylation capacity to methylate i-As to MMA was observed.

Inorganic arsenic (Asi) is a chronic, non-threshold carcinogen. Rice and rice-based products can be the major source of Asi for many subpopulations. Baby rice, rice cereals and rice crackers are widely used to feed infants and young children. The Asi concentration in rice-based products may pose a health risk for infants and young children. Asi concentration was determined in rice-based products produced in the European Union and risk assessment associated with the consumption of these products by infants and young children, and compared to an identical US FDA survey. There are currently no European Union or United States of America regulations applicable to Asi in food. However, this study suggests that the samples evaluated may introduce significant concentration of Asi into infants’ and young children’s diets. Thus, there is an urgent need for regulatory limits on Asi in food, especially for baby rice-based products.

Manganese (Mn) is an essential nutrient; however, overexposure can be neurotoxic. Recent evidence suggests that exposure to Mn from drinking water could be neurotoxic; however, research is hampered by the lack of consensus on a reliable biomarker of Mn exposure. Naturally high concentrations of Mn can occur in groundwater, particularly for private, unregulated water systems. This study aimed to investigate the association between exposure to Mn from drinking water with a relatively low Mn content (median of 2.9 μg/L; range, undetectable-8,340 μg/L) and Mn in toenails from women collected at two time points: during and after pregnancy. Mn concentrations in the paired toenail samples gathered during the second to third trimester of pregnancy and 2 weeks postpartum were correlated (r = 0.47, p 0.001, n = 596). Among women consuming drinking water Mn in the highest tertile (i.e., 9.8 μg/L) significant positive correlations were found between water Mn and toenails Mn (r = 0.31 and r = 0.38, for toenail samples collected during pregnancy and postpartum, respectively), whereas little to no correlation was observed at lower water concentrations. Overall, our data suggest that maternal toenail samples are a reliable environmental Mn exposure biomarker and reflect exposure from drinking water.

Summary: The diet is emerging as the dominant source of arsenic exposure for most of the U.S. population. Despite this, limited regulatory efforts have been aimed at mitigating exposure, and the role of diet in arsenic exposure and disease processes remains understudied. In this brief, we discuss the evidence linking dietary arsenic intake to human disease and discuss challenges associated with exposure characterization and efforts to quantify risks. In light of these challenges, and in recognition of the potential longer-term process of establishing regulation, we introduce a framework for shorter-term interventions that employs a field-to-plate food supply chain model to identify monitoring, intervention, and communication opportunities as part of a multisector, multiagency, science-informed, public health systems approach to mitigation of dietary arsenic exposure. Such an approach is dependent on coordination across commodity producers, the food industry, nongovernmental organizations, health professionals, researchers, and the regulatory community. https://doi.org/10.1289/EHP3997

There has been an increasing realisation that young infants are exposed to elevated concentrations of the carcinogen inorganic arsenic, relative to adults. This is because many infant food products are rice based, and rice is ~10-fold elevated in inorganic arsenic compared to most other foods. The European Commission (EC) has acted on this concern setting stricter standards for infants, 100 μg of inorganic arsenic per kg of food (100 μg/kg), as compared to adults (200 μg/kg), for rice based foods, a law that was brought into place in 1st January 2016. Here we investigate how this law has impacted on inorganic arsenic in baby food products in the UK market, and compare the findings to previous baby food surveys taken before and just after the law came into place. We find that for a wide range of UK infant products that the new regulations are being adhered to, with all samples surveyed, being under 100 μg/kg inorganic arsenic. The prevalence of pure rice products had decreased in the UK, and there appears to be careful sourcing of the rice used in these products to ensure conformity with regulations. There has been an increased presence of mixed cereal products, with rice and maize as the main ingredient, appearing on the UK market, with varying rice contents for infant porridges, cakes and mueslis, with the latter being a relatively innovative product for infant foods. There was a highly significant correlation (P

Rice bran, a by-product of milling rice, is highly nutritious but contains very high levels of the non-threshold carcinogen inorganic arsenic (i-As), at concentrations around 1mg/kg. This i-As content needs to be reduced to make rice bran a useful food ingredient. Evaluated here is a novel approach to minimizing rice bran i-As content which is also suitable for its stabilization namely, cooking bran in percolating arsenic-free boiling water. Up to 96% of i-As removal was observed for a range of rice bran products, with i-As removal related to the volume of cooking water used. This process reduced the copper, potassium, and phosphorus content, but had little effect on other trace- and macro-nutrient elements in the rice bran. There was little change in organic composition, as assayed by NIR, except for a decrease in the soluble sugar and an increase, due to biomass loss, in dietary fiber.

Inorganic arsenic (i-As) has been related to wide-ranging health effects in children, leading to lifelong concerns. Proportionally, dietary i-As exposure dominates in regions with low arsenic drinking water. This study aims to investigate the relation between rice and seafood consumption and urinary arsenic species during childhood and to assess the proportion of urinary i-As metabolites. Urinary arsenic species concentration in 400 4-year-old children living in four geographical areas of Spain, in addition to repeated measures from 100 children at 7 years of age are included in this study. Rice and seafood products intake was collected from children's parents using a validated food frequency questionnaire (FFQ). At 4 years of age, children's urine i-As and monomethylarsonic acid (MMA) concentrations increased with rice product consumption (p-value = 0.010 and 0.018, respectively), and urinary arsenobetaine (AsB) with seafood consumption (p = 0.002). Four-year-old children had a higher consumption of both rice and seafood per body weight and a higher urinary %MMA (p-value = 0.001) and lower % dimethylarsinic acid (DMA) (p-value = 0.017). This study suggests increased dietary i-As exposure related to rice product consumption among children living in Spain, and the younger ones may be especially vulnerable to the health impacts of this exposure also considering that they might have a lower i-As methylation capacity than older children. In contrast, seafood consumption did not appear to influence the presence of potentially toxic arsenic species in this population of children.

Early childhood inorganic arsenic (i-As) exposure is of particular concern since it may adversely impact on lifetime health outcomes. Infants’ urinary arsenic (As) metabolites were analysed in 79 infants by inductively coupled plasma—mass spectrometric detection (IC-ICP-MS) to evaluate i-As exposure pre- and post-weaning. Levels of i-As in rice-based weaning and infants’ foods were also determined to relate to urinary As levels. Higher As levels, especially of monomethylarsonic acid (MMA) and dimethylarsinic acid (DMA), were found in urine from formula fed infants compared to those breastfed. Urine from infants post-weaning consuming rice-products resulted in higher urinary MMA and DMA compared to the paired pre-weaning urine samples. The European Union (EU) has regulated i-As in rice since 1st January 2016. Comparing infants’ rice-based foods before and after this date, little change was found. Nearly ¾ of the rice-based products specifically marketed for infants and young children contained i-As over the 0.1 mg/kg EU limit. Efforts should be made to provide low i-As rice and rice-based products consumed by infants and young children that do not exceed the maximum i-As level to protect this vulnerable subpopulation.

A hydroponic experiment was carried out to investigate the effect of phosphorus (P) nutrition on arsenic (As) uptake and translocation within the seedlings of rice cultivars. The experiment occurred in three stages: I 5 days of acclimatization (nutritive solution); II 10 days under P (0.0 and 0.09 mM) and As (0.0 and 100 mM) treatments; III 5 days under recovery. The As exposure had significant effect reducing dry weights of shoots or roots, resulted in elevated concentrations of As in shoot tissues. BR-IRGA 409 showed the highest susceptibility to As in biomass production and root system parameters regardless the P level. This cultivar showed contrasting responses of As translocation to shoot tissue dependent on P levels, with the highest As concentration under low P and lowest under normal P levels. P nutrition was most striking on plants recovery for all cultivars under As exposure. Clearer separation of cultivars for phosphorus use efficiency (PUE) occurred at lower shoot P contents, that was, at higher levels of P deficiency stress. IRGA 424 showed higher PUE as compared to the others cultivars. Our results go some way to understanding the role of P nutrition in controlling the effects of As in rice shoots.

This study investigated total arsenic and arsenic speciation in rice using ion chromatography with mass spectrometric detection (IC-ICP-MS), covering the main rice-growing regions of the Iberian Peninsula in Europe. The main arsenic species found were inorganic and dimethylarsinic acid. Samples surveyed were soil, shoots and field-collected rice grain. From this information soil to plant arsenic transfer was investigated plus the distribution of arsenic in rice across the geographical regions of Spain and Portugal. Commercial polished rice was also obtained from each region and tested for arsenic speciation, showing a positive correlation with field-obtained rice grain. Commercial polished rice had the lowest i-As content in Andalucia, Murcia and Valencia while Extremadura had the highest concentrations. About 26% of commercial rice samples exceeded the permissible concentration for infant food production as governed by the European Commission. Some cadmium data is also presented, available with ICP-MS analyses, and show low concentration in rice samples.

About 100 million rural people in Asia are exposed to arsenic (As)-polluted drinking water and agricultural products. Total and inorganic arsenic (t-As and i-As) intake mainly depend on the quality of drinking and cooking waters, and amounts of seafood and rice consumed. The main problems occur in countries with poor water quality where the population depends on rice for their diet, and their t-As and i-As intake is high as a result of growing and cooking rice in contaminated water. Workable solutions to remove As from water and breeding rice cultivars with low As accumulation are being sought. In the meantime, simple recommendations for processing and cooking foods will help to reduce As intake. For instance, cooking using high volumes of As-free water may be a cheap way of reducing As exposure in rural populations. It is necessary to consider the effects of cooking and processing on t-As and i-As to obtain a realistic view of the risks associated with intake of As in As-endemic areas.

This laboratory experiment systematically examines arsenic, iron, and phosphorus solubilities in soil suspensions as affected by addition of phosphorus fertilizer under different redox potential (Eh) and pH conditions. Under aerobic conditions, As solubility was low, however, under moderately reducing conditions (0, − 150 mV), As solubility significantly increased due to dissolution of iron oxy-hydroxides. Upon reduction to − 250 mV, As solubility was controlled by the formation of insoluble sulfides, and as a result soluble As contents significantly decreased. Soluble Fe concentration increased from moderate to highly anaerobic conditions; however, it decreased under aerobic conditions likely due to formation of insoluble oxy-hydroxides. A low pH, 5.5, led to increased soluble concentrations of As, Fe, and P. Finally, addition of P-fertilizers resulted in higher soluble P and As, even though the concentration of As did not increased after an addition rate of 600 mg P kg − 1 soil.

Several agricultural fields show high contents of arsenic because of irrigation with arsenic-contaminated groundwater. Vegetables accumulate arsenic in their edible parts when grown in contaminated soils. Polluted vegetables are one of the main sources of arsenic in the food chain, especially for people living in rural arsenic endemic villages of India and Bangladesh. The aim of this study was to assess the feasibility of floriculture in the crop rotation system of arsenic endemic areas of the Bengal Delta. The effects of different arsenic concentrations (0, 0.5, 1.0, and 2.0 mg As L(-1)) and types of flowering plant (Gomphrena globosa and Zinnia elegans) on plant growth and arsenic accumulation were studied under hydroponic conditions. Total arsenic was quantified using atomic absorption spectrometer with hydride generation (HG-AAS). Arsenic was mainly accumulated in the roots (72 %), followed by leaves (12 %), stems (10 %), and flowers (

The presence of inorganic arsenic (iAs) in rice and rice-based foods has been highlighted in recent publications. In the past few years, several studies have demonstrated that contents of total As (tAs) and iAs depend on rice type. Brown/wholegrain rice has higher iAs than white/polished rice because iAs follows the order husk/hull >> bran > endosperm. Current “all-natural” tendencies are making brown rice very popular among adults; however, the safety of fashion products should be carefully checked and proved before their use in the infant diet. Workable solutions to limit As in paddy rice by screening/breeding rice cultivars with low As accumulation are being sought but are not yet fully implemented. Meanwhile, simple recommendations for rice processing in the manufacturing of infant foods will significantly help in reducing As exposure in infants worldwide. The main conclusion is that only white/polished rice with proven low iAs content should be used in the manufacture of infant/baby foods.

UNLABELLED Rice can easily accumulate arsenic (As) into its grain and is known to be the highest As-containing cereal. In addition, the As burden in rice may increase during its processing (such as when cooking using As-polluted water). The health risk posed by the presence of As in cooked rice depends on its release from the matrix along the digestive system (bioaccessibility). Two types of white polished long-grain rice, namely, nonparboiled and parboiled (total As: 202 and 190 μg As kg(-1), respectively), were cooked in excess of water with different levels of As (0, 10, 47, 222, and 450 μg As L(-1)). The bioaccessibility of As from these cooked rice batches was evaluated with an in vitro dynamic digestion process. Rice cooked with water containing 0 and 10 μg As L(-1) showed lower As concentrations than the raw (uncooked) rice. However, cooking water with relatively high As content (≥ 47 μg As L(-1)) significantly increased the As concentration in the cooked rice up to 8- and 9-fold for the nonparboiled and parboiled rice, respectively. Parboiled rice, which is most widely consumed in South Asia, showed a higher percentage of As bioaccessibility (59% to 99%) than nonparboiled rice (36% to 69%) and most of the As bioaccessible in the cooked rice (80% to 99%) was released easily during the first 2 h of digestion. The estimation of the As intake through cooked rice based on the As bioaccessibility highlights that a few grams of cooked rice (less than 25 g dry weight per day) cooked with highly As contaminated water is equivalent to the amount of As from 2 L water containing the maximum permissible limit (10 μg As L(-1)). PRACTICAL APPLICATION Studies on As bioaccessibility are needed for determining human As intake from rice for use in accurate risk assessments to establish updated legislation regarding maximum level of As in food. High As bioaccessibility from parboiled rice (consumed by the majority of the people in South Asia), and the findings of high As levels in discarded rice gruel (fed to livestock), has implications for human and animal health.

It seems there is a positive correlation between rice content and arsenic level in foods. This is of extraordinary importance for infants below 1 y of age because their diet is very limited and in some cases is highly dependent on rice-based products; this is particularly true for infants with the celiac disease because they have no other option than consume gluten-free products, such as rice or corn. Arsenic contents were significantly higher (P < 0.001) in gluten-free infant rice (0.057 mg kg−1) than in products with gluten, based on a mixture of cereals (0.024 mg kg−1). Besides, especial precaution must be taken when preparing rice-based products at home, because arsenic content in Spanish rice was high, with levels being above 0.3 mg kg−1 in some cases. Practical Application: From the data presented in this manuscript, it seems imperative that legislation on maximum residues of arsenic in food should be available as soon as possible to protect consumers worldwide. Research is needed to identify or breed rice cultivars with low accumulation of arsenic in the grain; otherwise the rice percentage in infant foods should be reduced.