Department of Clinical Nutrition, College of Applied Health Sciences in Arras, Qassim University, Buraydah 58883, Saudi Arabia.
Department of Clinical Nutrition, College of Applied Medical Sciences, Jazan University, Jazan 45142, Saudi Arabia.
Nutrients. 2022 May 20;14(10):2136. doi: 10.3390/nu14102136.
Dietary arsenic (As) contamination is a major public health issue. In the Middle East, the food supply relies primarily on the import of food commodities. Among different age groups the main source of As exposure is grains and grain-based food products, particularly rice and rice-based dietary products. Rice and rice products are a rich source of core macronutrients and act as a chief energy source across the world. The rate of rice consumption ranges from 250 to 650 g per day per person in South East Asian countries. The source of carbohydrates through rice is one of the leading causes of human As exposure. The Gulf population consumes primarily rice and ready-to-eat cereals as a large proportion of their meals. Exposure to arsenic leads to an increased risk of non-communicable diseases such as dysbiosis, obesity, metabolic syndrome, diabetes, chronic kidney disease, chronic heart disease, cancer, and maternal and fetal complications. The impact of arsenic-containing food items and their exposure on health outcomes are different among different age groups. In the Middle East countries, neurological deficit disorder (NDD) and autism spectrum disorder (ASD) cases are alarming issues. Arsenic exposure might be a causative factor that should be assessed by screening the population and regulatory bodies rechecking the limits of As among all age groups. Our goals for this review are to outline the source and distribution of arsenic in various foods and water and summarize the health complications linked with arsenic toxicity along with identified modifiers that add heterogeneity in biological responses and suggest improvements for multi-disciplinary interventions to minimize the global influence of arsenic. The development and validation of diverse analytical techniques to evaluate the toxic levels of different As contaminants in our food products is the need of the hour. Furthermore, standard parameters and guidelines for As-containing foods should be developed and implemented.
饮食砷（As）污染是一个主要的公共卫生问题。在中东，食品供应主要依赖于进口食品。在不同年龄组中，砷暴露的主要来源是谷物和谷物类食品，特别是大米和以大米为基础的膳食产品。大米和大米产品是核心宏量营养素的丰富来源，是全世界的主要能量来源。在东南亚国家，每人每天的大米消费量在 250 克至 650 克之间。通过大米摄入的碳水化合物是导致人类砷暴露的主要原因之一。海湾地区的居民主要以大米和即食谷物作为大部分膳食的来源。接触砷会增加患非传染性疾病的风险，如肠道菌群失调、肥胖、代谢综合征、糖尿病、慢性肾病、慢性心脏病、癌症以及母婴并发症。不同年龄组人群因摄入含砷食物及其暴露而产生的健康后果不同。在中东国家，神经发育缺陷障碍（NDD）和自闭症谱系障碍（ASD）病例是令人担忧的问题。砷暴露可能是一个致病因素，应通过对人群进行筛查，以及监管机构重新检查所有年龄段人群的砷含量限制来进行评估。我们进行本次综述的目的是概述各种食物和水中砷的来源和分布，并总结与砷毒性相关的健康并发症，以及确定的修饰因子，这些修饰因子增加了生物学反应的异质性，并提出改善多学科干预措施的建议，以最大程度地减少砷的全球影响。开发和验证各种分析技术以评估我们食品中不同砷污染物的毒性水平是当务之急。此外，还应制定和实施含砷食品的标准参数和指南。
