Human urinary arsenic excretion after one-time ingestion of seaweed, crab, and shrimp

Abstract

We studied chemical speciation of arsenic compounds in urine samples by using HPLC with inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry detection. We examined urinary arsenic excretion patterns and the arsenic species excreted from nine human subjects who ingested seaweed products and crab (or shrimp). Fast urinary excretion of unchanged arsenobetaine was seen after ingestion of crab and shrimp, which contain arsenobetaine as the major arsenic species. In contrast, the arsenosugars, which comprise the major arsenic species in seaweed, are metabolized and have a longer retention time in the human body. When nine volunteers ingested the commercial seaweed product nori, both the urinary arsenic excretion pattern and the excreted arsenic species varied from individual to individual, and as many as six metabolites could be detected. It seems that arsenosugars are not decomposed by stomach acid and that reactions involving enzymatic and (or) microbial activity in the human body may be responsible for the metabolism of arsenosugars.