Arsenic (As) is a naturally occurring element frequently found in various foodstuffs including rice and cereals, marine organisms, algae, root vegetables, and infant formulas. [1] Chronic exposure to As has been associated with several adverse health outcomes such as cancer, skin lesions, cardiovascular disease, diabetes, and cognitive development problems in children. [2] Inorganic arsenic (comprising arsenite As(III) and arsenate As(V)) is considered as one of the most toxic arsenic species and is categorized as non-threshold Class I carcinogen (IARC, 2012). To mitigate exposure, maximum allowable levels for inorganic arsenic have been established in cereals, infant formulae and baby foods under Commission Regulation (EU) 2023/915.
The recent EFSA risk assessment on small organoarsenic species (EFSA, 2024a [3]) highlighted no immediate health concerns for monomethylarsonic acid (MMA(V)), but raised potential concerns for dimethylarsinic acid (DMA(V)), recommending the development of robust and validated analytical methods to quantify specific organoarsenic species in food. The risk assessment for complex organoarsenic species (EFSA 2024b [4]) in food concluded that arsenobetaine and glycerol arsenosugar were not associated with health risks. However, insufficient data prevented conclusions on other arsenosugars and arsenolipids.
The prevailing European standard method for determining inorganic arsenic in food (EN 16802) encompasses the quantification of other arsenic species. In response, the EN method has been adapted to enable the simultaneous detection and quantification of key small organoarsenic species across diverse food matrices. The following foodstuffs are tested for the presence of the species concerned:
- edible insects, distinguished by their chitin content;
- grain products other than rice, due to their significant contribution to dietary inorganic arsenic exposure;
- novel plant-based protein sources such as lupins and beans;
- seafood, in light of potential regulatory limits on inorganic arsenic in crustaceans, bivalves, and cephalopods.
The analytical method comprises an extraction of the arsenic species contained in the matrix by heating in an acidic and oxidising medium. The species are separated using an anion-exchange column, followed by ICP-MS detection.
The present work supports ongoing regulatory and risk assessment efforts by providing improved analytical capacity for arsenic speciation in a broad range of food products.
1 EFSA ‘Scientific Opinion on Arsenic in Food’. EFSA Journal, no. 10 (2009).
2 https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/arsenic
3 EFSA Panel on Contaminants in the Food, ‘Risk Assessment of Small Organoarsenic Species in Food’. EFSA Journal 22, no. 7 (2024).
4 EFSA Panel on Contaminants in the Food, ‘Risk Assessment of Complex Organoarsenic Species in Food’. EFSA Journal 22, no. 12 (2024).
