Assessing the human risk to arsenic through dietary exposure- a case study from West Bengal, India

• Published in: Journal of environmental biology 2021-03, Vol.42, p.353-365
• Main Authors: Bhattacharyya, K, Sengupta, S, Pari, A, Halder, S, Bhattacharya, P, Pandian, B J, Chinchmalatpure, A R
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Arsenic; Arsenic content; Cancer; Carcinogens; Contamination; Cooking; Diet; Dietary intake; Distilled water; Drinking water; Environmental science; Exposure; Food; Food chains; Food composition; Food contamination; Food contamination & poisoning; Food webs; Groundwater; Health risks; Questionnaires; Quotients; Reproduction (copying); Risk assessment; Water pollution
• ISSN: 0254-8704; 2394-0379
• DOI: 10.22438/eb/42/2(SI)/SI-231

Aim: The aim of the present study is to assess the risk of dietary exposure to arsenic in selected contaminated areas of five districts (North 24 Parganas, South 24 Parganas, Nadia, Murshidabad and Malda) of Gangetic West Bengal of India. Methodology: The total diet study was carried out by sampling twenty major food items from ten contaminated and one non contaminated market of each district. The arsenic content of each individual food items, composite samples from market basket study as well as the duplicate diet study was analyzed and the risk of dietary exposure to arsenic through the consumed food items and drinking water was computed by Per cent Provisional Tolerable Weekly Intake (PTWI), Hazard Quotient (HQ) and Target Cancer Risk (TCR). Results: Results reveal that more than fifteen food items have arsenic content much higher than the threshold level of intake and can substantiate dietary risk. The cooking of the composite food items using arsenic free water reduced the arsenic load vis-a-vis cooking using contaminated water of the locality (47.1,41.3, 43.8, 34 and 35.7% for Nadia, South 24 Parganas, North 24 Paraganas, Malda and Murshidabad respectively). The non-contaminated areas also have substantial arsenic exposure through the food web. Duplicate diet study among 30 families of Nadia district reveal significant arsenic concentration (0.03-1.57 mg/kg), daily arsenic intake (0.026-1.949 mg/kg/day), %PTWI (20.07-1515.59), HQ (0.18-13.65) and TCR (5.64x10'4-4.30x10'2), and thereby demand a thorough investigation. Interpretation: The use of contaminated water for drinking as well as cooking purpose serves as a major pathway for the entry of the carcinogenic arsenic in human system. Some of the major dietary crops like lentil, green gram, tea etc had less arsenic accumulation and thereby emerged somewhat tolerant. The study also revealed that the use of distilled (free of arsenic) water can lower the load of arsenic, which can be a silver lining to solve the situation through Governmental drive for safe water in the locality by rendering the risk parameters somewhat benign.