Health risk assessment of As due to rice ingestion based on iAs distribution and actual consumption patterns for the residents in Beijing: a cross-sectional study

As a well-known human carcinogen, arsenic (As) could pose various detrimental health effects to humans mainly through the exposure pathway of food ingestion. In comparison with other foods, rice can accumulate more arsenic due to its tissue specificity. Thus, it is of great significance to assess the health risk of As due to rice ingestion. However, the study on risk assessment from exposure to As in rice is still in an early stage and lack accuracy to date. In this study, after obtaining the rice exposure behavior patterns based on a questionnaire survey, a total of 160 rice samples, which consisted of 4 types (i.e., japonica, indica, glutinous and brown rice), rice from 4 areas and consumed by most of the population in Beijing, were collected. On the basis of the actual intake rate and the species weighted average concentration of consumed rice, average daily exposure dose and health risks of inorganic As (iAs) from rice ingestion were assessed for the population among different genders and ages in Beijing. The results show that japonica rice and rice from Northeast China had higher As content, with the same value of 0.064 mg kg(-1). And, they were the most popular rice consumed by people, with the intake rates of 75.50 g d(-1), and 67.91 g d(-1), respectively. The proportion of iAs to total As (tAs) was 58.34%, with a range of 43.18-71.88%. The average daily dose of iAs for the population was 1.15 x 10(-4), which mainly came from japonica rice and the rice from Northeast China ingestion. In comparison with the acceptable non-cancer risk, which had a HQ value of 0.38, the carcinogenic risk of the population in Beijing was 1.73 x 10(-4) on average. Furthermore, males had higher carcinogenic risk (1.88 x 10(-4)) than females (1.62 x 10(-4)), and the people in the age of 45-55 suffered from the highest carcinogenic risk (2.22 x 10(-4)), which mainly was attributed to the japonica rice and the rice from Northeast China. This study strengthened that appropriate dietary patterns should be paid more attention in order to control the health risk due to As exposure.

Automated summary

The study assessed the health risks of inorganic arsenic (iAs) from rice ingestion among different genders and ages in Beijing. Results showed that japonica rice and rice from Northeast China had higher arsenic content and were the most popular types consumed. The study also revealed that males had higher carcinogenic risk than females and the 45-55 age group had the highest carcinogenic risk, mainly attributed to japonica rice and rice from Northeast China.