Urinary and dietary analysis of 18,470 Bangladeshis reveal a correlation of rice consumption with arsenic exposure and toxicity

摘要

Background: Recent data suggest that rice consumption may be a source of arsenic exposure. Objective: We utilized data from the Health Effects of Arsenic Longitudinal Study (HEALS) in Araihazar, Bangladesh, to evaluate the association of steamed rice consumption with urinary total arsenic concentration and classical arsenical skin lesions in the overall study cohort (N=18,470) and in a subset of the cohort with urinary arsenic metabolite data available (N=4,517). Methods: General linear models with standardized beta coefficients were used to estimate the associations between steamed rice consumption and urinary total arsenic concentration and urinary arsenic metabolites. Logistic regression models were used to estimate prevalence odds ratios and their 95% CIs for the associations between rice intake and prevalent skin lesions at baseline. Discrete time hazard models were used to estimate discrete time hazard ratios and their 95% CIs for the associations between rice intake and incident skin lesions. Results: We observed positive associations between consumption of steamed rice and creatinine-adjusted urinary total arsenic (β=0.041, 95% CI: 0.032-0.051) and urinary total arsenic with statistical adjustment for creatinine in the model (β=0.043, 95% CI: 0.032-0.053). Additionally, we observed a significant trend in skin lesion prevalence (p-trend=0.007) and a moderate trend in skin lesion incidence (p-trend=0.07) associated with increased intake of steamed rice, especially among individuals with low exposure to arsenic from drinking water. Conclusions: This large population-based study suggests that rice intake is a source of arsenic exposure. Better regulation of arsenic exposure in humans from sources beyond drinking water is needed.