The influence of diet on intra and inter-individual variability of urinary excretion of arsenic species in Italian healthy individuals

摘要

To study the effect of eating foods with a high arsenic (As) content on the intra and inter-individual variability of urinary concentrations of the As species, daily urine samples were collected for 10 consecutive days from 12 healthy male subjects. A daily food diary was kept throughout the study period. Personal exposure to airborne As was measured once during the study. As~3, As~5, monomethylarsonic acid (MMA), dimethylarsinic acid (DMA) and arsenobetaine were determined in all urine samples by inductive coupled plasma mass spectrometry, and the sum of As~3 + As~5 + MMA + DMA (iAs) by hydride generation-atomic absorption spectrophotometry. Exposure to airborne As was below the limit of detection in all samplings. As~3 was found in only 19.2% and As~5 in only 3.3% of the urine samples, whereas high urinary concentrations of arsenobetaine were observed. With the exception of arsenobetaine, expressed as a percentage, a significant inter-individual variability was observed for all species of As, for iAs and for the MMA/DMA ratio (p < 0.001). Instead, the intra-individual variability was significant only for the MMA/ DMA ratio (p < 0.001). Among foods with a high As content, only a heavy consumption of seafood was shown to influence inter-individual variability of DMA%, arsenobetaine expressed as μg g~(-1) creatinine and iAs. In conclusion, even in populations with a high intake of organic As through foods, the finding of a significant inter-individual but no significant intra-individual variability of urinary species confirms the usefulness of urinary As speciation for biological monitoring of exposure to As.