Arsenic and lead in foods: a potential threat to human health in Bangladesh

Abstract

The non-carcinogenic and carcinogenic risk of arsenic and lead to adults and children via daily dietary intake of food composites in Bangladesh was estimated. The target hazard quotients (THQs), hazard index (HI) and target carcinogenic risk (TR) were calculated to evaluate the non-carcinogenic and carcinogenic health risk from arsenic and lead. Most of the individual food composites contain a considerable amount of arsenic and lead. The highest mean concentrations of arsenic were found in cereals (0.254 mg kg^–1 fw) and vegetables (0.250 mg kg^–1 fw), and lead in vegetables (0.714 mg kg^–1 fw) and fish (0.326 mg kg^–1 fw). The results showed the highest THQs of arsenic in cereals and lead in vegetables for both adults and children which exceeded the safe limit (> 1) indicating that cereals and vegetables are the main food items contributing to the potential health risk. The estimated TR from ingesting dietary arsenic and lead from most of the foods exceeded 10⁻⁶, indicating carcinogenic risks for all adult people of the study area.

Keywords:

• arsenic
• lead
• food composites
• health risk
• Bangladesh

Acknowledgements

The authors are thankful for the kind help received from members of Dhaka University, Bangladesh during the field sampling.