Determination of dietary intake of total arsenic, inorganic arsenic and total mercury in the Chilean School Meal Program.

摘要

Dietary intakes of total arsenic (tAs), inorganic arsenic (iAs) and total Hg (tHg) in lunch and breakfast servings provided by the Chilean School Meal Program (SMP) were estimated, using the duplicate-portion variant of the total diet study. Lunch and breakfast samples were collected from 65 schools throughout the country in 2006. The population sample was a group of girls and boys between 6 and 18 years old. tAs concentrations were measured via hydride-generation AAS. tHg concentrations were measured via cold-vapor AAS. The estimated iAs intake was 12.5% (5.4 mug/day) of the Provisional tolerable daily intake (PTDI) as proposed by the FAO/WHO, and the tHg intake was 13.2% (1.9 mug/day) of the PTDI as proposed by the FAO/WHO. It is therefore concluded that tAs, iAs and tHg intakes from meals provided by the SMP do not pose a risk to student health.