Assessing the arsenic-contaminated rice (Oryza sativa) associated children skin lesions

The purpose of this study was to assess the potential risk of children skin lesions from arsenic-contaminated rice (Oryza sativa) consumption in West Bengal (India). Published age- and gender-specific skin lesions data in West Bengal were reanalyzed and incorporated into a Weibull dose-response model to predict children skin lesion prevalence. Monomethylarsonous acid (MMA(III)) levels in urine was used as a biomarker that could be predicted from a human physiologically based pharmacokinetic (PBPK) model. This study integrated arsenic contents in irrigation water, bioaccumulation factors of paddy soil, cooking methods, and arsenic bioavailability of cooked rice in gastrointestinal tract into a probabilistic risk model. Results indicated that children aged between 13 and 18 years might pose a relative higher potential risk of skin lesions to arsenic-contaminated cooked rice (odds ratios (ORs) = 1.18 (95% CI 1.12-2.15)) than those of 1-6 years children (ORs = 0.98 (0.85-1.40)). This study revealed the need to consider the relationships between cooking method and arsenic in cooked rice when assessing the risk associated with children skin lesions from rice consumption. This study suggested that arsenic-associated skin lesions risk from arsenic-contaminated rice consumption would be reduced significantly by adopting traditional rice cooking method (wash until clean; rice:water = 1:6; discard excess water) as followed in West Bengal (India) and using water containing lower arsenic (e.g., <10 μg L−1) for cooking.