<br/>Chemical analysis of urine and toenails are the main methods that have been used to assess exposure to arsenic and other contaminants from rice consumption.  Arsenic speciation of urine is necessary to distinguish between non-toxic arsenobetaine and toxic inorganic arsenic (iAs) and the organic metabolites monomethylarsonic acid (MMA) and dimethylarsinic acid (DMA).  Humans methylate inorganic arsenic to MMA and then DMA and this is thought to be a detoxification process.  An individual’s methylation capacity is important and various methylation ratios, eg %MMA, MMA/iAs, have been related to increased risk of disease.  Despite concerns of over exogenous contamination, toenails have been widely used to assess exposure to a range of nutrient and contaminant elements. Analysis involves a washing step, acid digestion and ICP-MS analysis.  Our laboratory has performed &gt;10,000 toenail analysis over the past decade, which provides valuable meta-data on the range and distribution of these trace elements in the population.  Toenail arsenic concentrations have been correlated to urinary arsenic levels and frequency of rice ingestion.<br/>

Chemical analyses in support of studies of the health implications of rice consumption

255th National Meeting (2018)

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