Assessing and managing the health risk due to ingestion of inorganic arsenic from fish and shellfish farmed in blackfoot disease areas for general Taiwanese

This paper assesses health risks due to the ingestion of inorganic arsenic from fish and shellfish farmed in blackfoot disease areas by general public in Taiwan. The provisional tolerable weekly intake of arsenic set by FAO/WHO and the target cancer risk assessment model proposed by USEPA were integrated to evaluate the acceptable consumption rate. Five aquacultural species, tilapia (Oreochromis mossambicus), milkfish (Chanos chanos), mullet (Mugil cephalus), clam (Meretrix lusoria) and oyster (Crassostrea gigas) were included. Monte Carlo analysis was used to propagate the parameter uncertainty and to probabilistically assess the health risk associated with the daily intake of inorganic As from farmed fish and shellfish. The integrated risk-based analysis indicates that the associated 50th and 95th percentile health risk are 2.06 × 10−5 and 8.77 × 10−5, respectively. Moreover, the acceptable intakes of inorganic As are defined and illustrated by a two dimensional graphical model. According to the relationship between Cinorg and IRf derived from this study, two risk-based curves are constructed. An acceptable risk zone is determined (risk ranging from 1 × 10−5 to 6.07 × 10−5) which is recommended for acceptable consumption rates of fish and shellfish. To manage the health risk due to the ingestion of inorganic As from fish and shellfish in BFD areas, a risk-based management scheme is derived which provide a convenient way for general public to self-determine the acceptable seafood consumption rate.