Journal Article
Major and minor arsenic compounds accounting for the total urinary excretion of arsenic following intake of blue mussels (Mytilus edulis): A controlled human study
Molin, M; Ydersbond, TA; Ulven, SM; Holck, M; Dahl, L; Sloth, JJ; Fliegel, D; Goessler, W; Alexander, J; Meltzer, HM
Food and Chemical Toxicology
ISSN: 0278-6915
EISSN: 1873-6351
Blue mussels (Mytilus edulis) accumulate and biotransform arsenic (As) to a larger variety of arsenicals than most seafood. Eight volunteers ingested a test meal consisting of 150g blue mussel (680μg As), followed by 72h with an identical, low As controlled diet and full urine sampling. We provide a complete speciation, with individual patterns, of urinary As excretion. Total As (tAs) urinary excretion was 328±47μg, whereof arsenobetaine (AB) and dimethylarsinate (DMA) accounted for 66% and 21%, respectively. Fifteen minor urinary arsenicals were quantified with inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICPMS) coupled to reverse-phase, anion and cation-exchange high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). Thio-arsenicals and non-thio minor arsenicals (including inorganic As (iAs) and methylarsonate (MA)) contributed 10% and 7% of the total sum of species excretion, respectively, but there were large individual differences in the excretion patterns. Apparently, formation of thio-arsenicals was negatively correlated to AB formation and excretion, possibly indicating a metabolic interrelationship. The results may be of toxicological relevance since DMA and MA have been classified as possibly carcinogenic, and six of the excreted As species were thio-arsenicals which recently have been recognized as toxic, while iAs toxicity is well known.
Arsenic; Blue mussels; Thio-arsenicals; Arsenic speciation; Dietary intervention; Human
