THE ARSENIC "DEBATE"-A MISPLACED SAFETY CONCERN

In to day's world man suspects that every thing he comes into contact with, can be dangerous and with modern style of living, the number of chemicals used in thousands of consumer products is increasing every day. Many of these have been studied for their safety and clearance for use given based on available scientific data. However with widely divergent conclusions thrown up by such studies, no firm conclusion can be drawn regarding the safety of any chemical that comes into contact with human being or consumed through foods. To cite an example both Saccharine and Cyclamate were hailed, when they were introduced as sugar substitutes, as "God sent" and enjoyed wide scale acceptance, especially by the consumers who are sugar "intolerant"! A few years later both were implicated in many health disorders by toxicologists leading to their ban in many countries. This trend was reversed later after finding the earlier studies faulty and unreliable and to day both these sugar substitutes are allowed in many countries!

Recent uproar regarding Arsenic content in Apple juice is another example of misplaced concerns on the part of some consumers and activists, in spite of the fact that arsenic is a common contaminant in air since time immemorial. Finding fault with regulatory agencies for not banning the Apple juice is totally misconceived and deserves contempt and pity! Probably those who find danger in every food they eat must think of migrating to another planet where they may get the ideal living condition aspired by them. Life on earth is based on a balance of risks and benefits associated with any endeavor and one has to get reconciled to this truth. It is true that ingestion of Arsenic by humans at high doses can be dangerous and this trace mineral is implicated in development of cancer of Lungs, Bladder, GI Tract and Skin, especially when consumed through water containing more than 50 micro grams (ug)per liter. This is the reason why only a low level of 10 parts per billion of Arsenic is allowed in drinking water.

Arsenic concentration in air can be about 0.02 to 4 nano gram (ng) per cubic meter in rural areas where air is considered relatively pure. This can go up to 200 ng per cubic meter in urban areas where industrial emissions and other factors can contribute to higher Arsenic concentration. It can go as high as 1000 ng in areas near smelters. Sea water contains arsenic as high as 1000 to 2000 ng per liter while ground water may also have same levels of this toxic metal. There are reports that water sources near volcanic rocks, sulfur mineral deposits can have Arsenic as high as 3000 ug per liter! Normally soil samples contain about 1-40 mg of Arsenic per kg. While discussing about the toxicity of Arsenic it is to be noted that inorganic Arsenic is more dangerous and out of the average consumption of Arsenic through the food, about 20-300 ug/day, 25% is the inorganic version. There is the million dollar question as to why no agency has set an upper limit for Arsenic that can be considered safe when ingested through food and probably this may be exercising the mind of many people who entertain apprehension on this score.

It is true that long term exposure to Arsenic, especially at high levels is injurious but setting up an upper limit for safety for every food is not considered practical. Water is a critical material consumed in large quantities, 2-3 liters a day and greater precaution is necessary in avoiding unsafe levels. Therefore such limits have been incorporated in potable water standards. One of the reasons for giving priority to water is that most Arsenic present in water is inorganic in nature and hence more dangerous. In contrast Arsenic present in foods is organic type with considerably less toxicity. So far no food product has been reported to have Arsenic content more than that set for water and therefore the apprehension on this score may be misplaced.

According to present data available Sea foods including fish contribute about 77% of the Arsenic exposure by average person while cereal products, vegetables, meat products and dairy products account for 10%, 6%, 4% and 3% respectively. Further the present safe Arsenic intake level is 15 ug per kg body weight per week (PTIW) while through all sources the average intake is reported to be less than 7 PTIW as per some studies. Rice is one of the food materials, suspected to have a tendency to absorb Arsenic from the soil because of profuse water use and rice products originating from the US and France have been reported to contain 0.24 to 0.28 mg per kg posing some concern at one time. Use of Arsenic containing crop protectants in the field also has been implicated in accumulation of the metal in paddy crops. Fortunately in high rice consuming countries like India and Egypt, the Arsenic levels in the rice are never known to be above 0.1 mg per kg. While continued monitoring of foods for Arsenic level is necessary to pre-empt any possible poisoning episode in future, consumers should not be unduly worried about Arsenic at least for the time being.

V.H.POTTY
http://vhpotty.blogspot.com/
http://foodtechupdates.blogspot.com

ARSENIC LACED CHICKEN!-POULTRY INDUSTRY ON THE MAT

Arsenic evokes fears among the consumers as it is one of the earliest poisons known to humans. It is unbelievable how such a poisonous substance is allowed to be used by the poultry industry purely for increasing the visual quality of meat. It is claimed by the industry that including arsenic in the poultry feed also fights infections among the birds though there are many other safer substances available for preventing infectious diseases. Of course there is excellent chance that practice of using arsenic compounds like Roxarsone in poultry feeds by more than 70% of the broiler growers in the US may be banned in the near future considering that the excreta from such birds containing high levels of arsenic contaminates ground water. According to WHO more than 57 million people in the world have access to only water that contains more than 10 ppb arsenic, the safe limit set by the global agency. How far the poultry industry has contributed to this unfortunate situation is any body's guess!

Elemental arsenic and arsenic compounds are classified as Group I carcinogens by the European Union as elevated levels of these poisonous substances, especially for prolonged periods, can lead to cancer of bladder, kidney, prostate, skin and nasal cavity. Though testing of blood, urine, hair and nails can reveal arsenic levels in human body, the test results cannot be depended upon to predict the effect of arsenic at levels detected by one or two tests. According to knowledgeable scientists arsenic can elevate the production of Hydrogen Peroxide in the tissue leading generation of active Oxygen radicals with potential to damage the DNA. This in turn can lead to cancer over long periods of exposure. As per some estimates there are more than 80 million people across the world, exposed to drinking water sources containing between 10 and 50 ppb arsenic and incidence of cancer is high among these population. In the US alone 20% of wells yield water with high arsenic concentration. Water treatment technology to day has the wherewithal to remove arsenic and probably such treatment regimes are protecting people from arsenic epidemic.

Recent announcement about voluntary suspension of use of arsenic laced feed by the FDA of the US comes after years of controversy over the widespread poultry industry practice of giving chicks arsenic-laced feed to combat infection and give their flesh a pinker hue. Surprisingly use of arsenic containing feed is confined only to the US and why this was being allowed could be due to the lobbying power of the industry on the government. It may be recalled that there has been persistent demand by scientists and environmentalists to ban it nationally because of their concerns about food safety and the environmental impact of arsenic in poultry waste getting into soil and streams.

Some progressive players in the poultry industry have already phased out its use seeing the writings on the wall without waiting for any government action but the current move by FDA to put in place a "voluntary suspension" mode for the arsenic-laced drug is based on findings that there were elevated levels of arsenic, a proven carcinogen, in birds fed the substance. Roxarsone, the most conspicuous brand based on arsenic, has been a standard component of chicken feeds since the 1940s as the industry claims that it ensures "growth promotion, feed efficiency and improved pigmentation in chickens." Poultry industry, probably, can justifiably argue that the US population, consuming chicken meat, produced from flocks raised on arsenic containing feeds during the last seven decades, is not affected by cancer more than those in other countries not permitting arsenic in poultry feeds!

The turn around in the stand by the FDA came after it was realized that the drug containing the less harmful organic form of arsenic in Roxarsone got converted into more harmful inorganic form, which is known to cause cancer. It is a mystery as to why the FDA came to the conclusion regarding its safety after finding that 100 broiler chickens fed Roxarsone had elevated levels of inorganic arsenic in the their livers. Both the FDA and industry aver that though arsenic is carcinogenic, the levels detected in the chickens were very low and there's no health risk for people to continue eating Roxarsone-treated poultry! .It is sad that the overseeing agency that controls poultry industry in the US had closed its eyes to this irrational and unsafe practice of the industry during the last seven decades under the guise that the chicken meat obtained from arsenic fed birds contain less than the prescribed limit of this poisonous substance. How far the data can be trusted is any body's guess because of the hold industry has on government agencies in that country. The manufacturers of 3-Nitro, an arsenic based organic drug for use in poultry feeds had the good sense to voluntarily suspend its sale realizing the seriousness of the concerns expressed by many consumer organizations. Hopefully a national ban (voluntary), expected to be put in place soon, will ensure that arsenic containing feeds will become part of history pretty soon.

V.H.POTTY
http://vhpotty.blogspot.com/
http://foodtechupdates.blogspot.com

ARSENIC "LACED BABY" FOODS?-ALARMING SITUATION?

Food industry these days are facing multiple challenges from many quarters and the most serious issue concerns the real mindset of the captains of food industry vis-a-vis consumer welfare. While there is widespread view that food industry is playing only lip sympathy to consumer safety without really caring about the same, the situation is further complicated by the ever expanding knowledge about the food that makes the life of the industry more miserable. Recent findings by Swedish food scientists that baby foods fed to young infants of less than 6 months in Europe contain deadly trace minerals like Arsenic are startling indeed. Industry cannot be faulted entirely because they have been following well laid down standards which now are being challenged.

The limits of poisonous metals like Arsenic, Lead, Cadmium etc present in foods have been set a few years ago without much of a thought about their impact on young infants. Breast feeding, considered most desirable way of protecting the health of the baby, has become the standard norm for mothers and since mother has the necessary wherewithal to filter these poisonous minerals, baby can be expected to have zero exposure to them. However industrially processed baby foods, made from raw materials coming from different sources with varying content of heavy metals, cannot escape being tainted to some extent and such products cannot stand in comparison to breast milk. The main concern is that infants up to six months age depend heavily on milk based foods and if breast milk is not available they have to depend on the commercial products exposing them to poisonous minerals continuously with enormous damage potential.

That almost all major manufacturers of baby foods have been cited for presence of Arsenic and other heavy minerals is a cause for great concern. It is a good thing that safety agencies in Europe have woken up to this new development and probably new norms will be evolved on a priority basis. While Arsenic can cause significant DNA damage, Cadmium is implicated in neurological and kidney damage. Rice has been found to be the main culprit as far as Arsenic is concerned and since manufacturers were focusing on keeping this mineral at levels less than stipulated under law, infant foods based on rice invariably have presence of Arsenic. It is only now industry is being asked to strive to eliminate Arsenic altogether which may not be easy. Procuring rice from sources where Arsenic level is very low, may be the only option for the industry.

To read the conclusions of the Swedish researchers is indeed scary and according to them feeding infants twice a day on manufactured baby foods such as rice porridge can increase their exposure to arsenic by up to fifty times when compared to breast feeding alone. Exposure to other toxic metals such as cadmium, can increase by up to 150 times in some of the foods, while lead increase may be up to eight times more. With the recent Tsunami disaster in Japan and the collapse of two of the nuclear reactors releasing deadly radiation all around, further problem may await the industry. It may be desirable for FAO and WHO to undertake urgent studies immediately as to how agricultural crops are going to be affected by the radiation leak. Many countries including India have put an embargo on import of any food from Japan, fearing for the worst though Japan is not a major exporter of foods in the global market.

One of the favorable outcomes of the above findings may be creation of increased awareness amongst mothers about the risks involved in rearing their infants on commercial products while they possess the needed "elixir of life" in the form of breast milk.

V.H.POTTY
http://vhpotty.blogspot.com/
http://foodtechupdates.blogspot.com