Skip to main content
PMC home page
Environmental Health Perspectives logoLink to Environmental Health Perspectives
. 2004 Jan;112(1):18–21. doi: 10.1289/ehp.6407

Mean total arsenic concentrations in chicken 1989-2000 and estimated exposures for consumers of chicken.

Tamar Lasky 1, Wenyu Sun 1, Abdel Kadry 1, Michael K Hoffman 1
PMCID: PMC1241791  PMID: 14698925

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to estimate mean concentrations of total arsenic in chicken liver tissue and then estimate total and inorganic arsenic ingested by humans through chicken consumption. We used national monitoring data from the Food Safety and Inspection Service National Residue Program to estimate mean arsenic concentrations for 1994-2000. Incorporating assumptions about the concentrations of arsenic in liver and muscle tissues as well as the proportions of inorganic and organic arsenic, we then applied the estimates to national chicken consumption data to calculate inorganic, organic, and total arsenic ingested by eating chicken. The mean concentration of total arsenic in young chickens was 0.39 ppm, 3- to 4-fold higher than in other poultry and meat. At mean levels of chicken consumption (60 g/person/day), people may ingest 1.38-5.24 microg/day of inorganic arsenic from chicken alone. At the 99th percentile of chicken consumption (350 g chicken/day), people may ingest 21.13-30.59 microg inorganic arsenic/day and 32.50-47.07 microg total arsenic/day from chicken. These concentrations are higher than previously recognized in chicken, which may necessitate adjustments to estimates of arsenic ingested through diet and may need to be considered when estimating overall exposure to arsenic.

Full Text

The Full Text of this article is available as a PDF (119.7 KB).

Selected References

These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.

  1. Chiou H. Y., Hsueh Y. M., Liaw K. F., Horng S. F., Chiang M. H., Pu Y. S., Lin J. S., Huang C. H., Chen C. J. Incidence of internal cancers and ingested inorganic arsenic: a seven-year follow-up study in Taiwan. Cancer Res. 1995 Mar 15;55(6):1296–1300. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  2. Dabeka R. W., McKenzie A. D., Lacroix G. M., Cleroux C., Bowe S., Graham R. A., Conacher H. B., Verdier P. Survey of arsenic in total diet food composites and estimation of the dietary intake of arsenic by Canadian adults and children. J AOAC Int. 1993 Jan-Feb;76(1):14–25. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  3. Gonsebatt M. E., Vega L., Salazar A. M., Montero R., Guzmán P., Blas J., Del Razo L. M., García-Vargas G., Albores A., Cebrián M. E. Cytogenetic effects in human exposure to arsenic. Mutat Res. 1997 Jun;386(3):219–228. doi: 10.1016/s1383-5742(97)00009-4. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  4. Hopenhayn-Rich C., Browning S. R., Hertz-Picciotto I., Ferreccio C., Peralta C., Gibb H. Chronic arsenic exposure and risk of infant mortality in two areas of Chile. Environ Health Perspect. 2000 Jul;108(7):667–673. doi: 10.1289/ehp.00108667. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  5. Hsueh Y. M., Cheng G. S., Wu M. M., Yu H. S., Kuo T. L., Chen C. J. Multiple risk factors associated with arsenic-induced skin cancer: effects of chronic liver disease and malnutritional status. Br J Cancer. 1995 Jan;71(1):109–114. doi: 10.1038/bjc.1995.22. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  6. Izak-Biran T., Schlesinger T., Weingarten R., Even O., Shamai Y., Israeli M. Concentrations of U and Po in animal feed supplements, in poultry meat and in eggs. Health Phys. 1989 Mar;56(3):315–319. doi: 10.1097/00004032-198903000-00006. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  7. Kaufmann S., Wolfram G., Delange F., Rambeck W. A. Iodine supplementation of laying hen feed: a supplementary measure to eliminate iodine deficiency in humans? Z Ernahrungswiss. 1998 Sep;37(3):288–293. doi: 10.1007/pl00007378. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  8. Korsrud G. O., Meldrum J. B., Salisbury C. D., Houlahan B. J., Saschenbrecker P. W., Tittiger F. Trace element levels in liver and kidney from cattle, swine and poultry slaughtered in Canada. Can J Comp Med. 1985 Apr;49(2):159–163. [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  9. Kurttio P., Pukkala E., Kahelin H., Auvinen A., Pekkanen J. Arsenic concentrations in well water and risk of bladder and kidney cancer in Finland. Environ Health Perspect. 1999 Sep;107(9):705–710. doi: 10.1289/ehp.99107705. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  10. Leonhardt M., Kreuzer M., Wenk C. Available iron and zinc in major lean meat cuts and their contribution to the recommended trace element supply in Switzerland. Nahrung. 1997 Oct;41(5):289–292. doi: 10.1002/food.19970410508. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  11. Lewis D. R., Southwick J. W., Ouellet-Hellstrom R., Rench J., Calderon R. L. Drinking water arsenic in Utah: A cohort mortality study. Environ Health Perspect. 1999 May;107(5):359–365. doi: 10.1289/ehp.99107359. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  12. Lubin J. H., Pottern L. M., Stone B. J., Fraumeni J. F., Jr Respiratory cancer in a cohort of copper smelter workers: results from more than 50 years of follow-up. Am J Epidemiol. 2000 Mar 15;151(6):554–565. doi: 10.1093/oxfordjournals.aje.a010243. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  13. Salisbury C. D., Chan W., Saschenbrecker P. W. Multielement concentrations in liver and kidney tissues from five species of Canadian slaughter animals. J Assoc Off Anal Chem. 1991 Jul-Aug;74(4):587–591. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  14. Tao S. S., Bolger P. M. Dietary arsenic intakes in the United States: FDA Total Diet Study, September 1991-December 1996. Food Addit Contam. 1999 Nov;16(11):465–472. doi: 10.1080/026520399283759. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

Articles from Environmental Health Perspectives are provided here courtesy of National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences

RESOURCES