Abstract
A simplified questionnaire was developed to assess inorganic arsenic (iAs) intake level in a Japanese population. The two page questionnaire included photographs of single serving sizes of rice and cooked hijiki (Hizikia fusiforme: brown algae), and asked subjects about the number of servings of rice and cooked hijiki, two predominant dietary sources of iAs in Japan, they consume in a day. Daily intake of iAs was estimated for 72 Japanese subjects using the questionnaire together with data of iAs content in rice and hijiki seaweed, and the estimated intakes were compared with actual iAs intakes of the subjects as measured for a duplicate diet using liquid chromatography–inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry. A highly significant correlation was found between the estimated and measured intakes (r = 0.65, p < 0.001); however, the slope of regression indicated a systematic error in the intake estimation. Possible sources of error are discussed herein. It was concluded that this approach is promising if minor improvements are made to the questionnaire.
Highlights
The 72 subjects of this study were a subset of a subject group who participated in a study aiming to establish an association between inorganic arsenic (iAs) intake and urinary iAs and metabolite concentration [9]
The questionnaire was printed on both sides of a sheet of paper, and the two sides asked in Japanese about the subject’s consumption of rice and cooked hijiki, respectively, on the day of duplicate diet sampling
We developed a simple questionnaire for estimating iAs intake of subjects by asking about consumption of rice and hijiki for possible application in epidemiological research
Summary
Lung, and bladder cancer has been found in regions of the world where the groundwater is contaminated with iAs [1]. This cancer risk has become concerning for people in noncontaminated regions who ingest iAs through their diet in the form of foods that contain naturally occurring iAs. Epidemiological studies to fully characterize the cancer risk to people in noncontaminated regions are warranted. Total arsenic concentration in well water was used as a proxy for iAs intake in epidemiological studies of cancer in regions with contaminated groundwater; for the assessment of dietary iAs intake in noncontaminated regions, a different approach is required
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