Potential Exposure to Arsenic and Other Elements from Rice in Bangladesh: Health Risk Index

Abstract

This study evaluates the potential exposure to arsenic (As) and other elements in rice from two severely arsenic (As)-impacted districts (Comilla and Chandpur) of Bangladesh. Rice samples were collected from 99 households and analyzed for this purpose. The mean concentrations of As, Cd, Co, Cr, Cu, Mn, Ni, Pb, and Zn in rice were 187 μg/kg, 40 μg/kg, 16 μg/kg, 819 μg/kg, 1.8 mg/kg, 7.3 mg/kg, 549 μg/kg, 61 μg/kg, and 8.9 mg/kg, respectively. Food and drinking water contribute 20.2, 0.27, 0.24, 6.9, 20, 100, 5.3, 1.6 and 100 μg of As, Cd, Co, Cr, Cu, Mn, Ni, Pb, and Zn per kg bw daily, respectively. Drinking water contributes 92% of the total dietary intake of As to adults whereas food contributes 90-100% for other elements. The estimated health risk index (HRI) for As, Cd, Cr, Cu, Pb, Mn, Ni, and Zn are 67.4, 0.27, 2.3, 0.54, 0.41, 0.73, 0.27, and 0.33, respectively. The results show that As and Cr in food and drinking water pose significant health risks to the study population as the values of HRIs were greater than 1.