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The effect of rice-cooking water to the daily arsenic intake of Bangladeshi people was investigated. At the first field survey, uncooked rice and cooked rice of 29 families were collected. Their arsenic concentrations were 0.22+/-0.11 and 0.26+/-0.15 mg/kg dry wt, respectively. In 15 families, arsenic concentration in rice increased after cooking. Good correlation (R(2)=0.89) was observed between arsenic in rice-cooking water and the difference of arsenic concentration in rice by cooking. In the second survey, we collected one-day duplicated food of 18 families. As a result, we estimated that six of 18 families likely used the arsenic contaminated water for cooking rice even they drank less arsenic-contaminated water for drinking purpose. We also conducted rice-cooking experiments in the laboratory, changing arsenic concentration in rice-cooking water. Clear linear relationships were obtained between the arsenic in rice-cooking water and the difference of arsenic concentration in rice by cooking. Factors that affect arsenic concentration in cooked rice are suggested as follows: (1) arsenic concentration in uncooked rice, (2) that in rice-cooking water, (3) difference in water content of rice before and after cooking, and (4) types of rice, especially, the difference between parboiled and non-parboiled rice.

More and more people in Bangladesh have recently become aware of the risk of drinking arsenic-contaminated groundwater, and have been trying to obtain drinking water from less arsenic-contaminated sources. In this study, arsenic intakes of 18 families living in one block of a rural village in an arsenic-affected district of Bangladesh were evaluated to investigate their actual arsenic intake via food, including from cooking water, and to estimate the contribution of each food category and of drinking water to the total arsenic intake. Water consumption rates were estimated by the self-reporting method. The mean drinking water intake was estimated as about 3 L/d without gender difference. Arsenic intakes from food were evaluated by the duplicate portion sampling method. The duplicated foods from each family were divided into four categories (cooked rice, solid food, cereals for breakfast, and liquid food), and the arsenic concentrations of each food category and of the drinking water were measured. The mean arsenic intake from water and food by all 18 respondents was 0.15 +/-0.11 mg/d (range, 0.043 - 0.49), that by male subjects was 0.18 +/- 0.13 mg/d (n = 12) and that by female subjects was 0.096 +/- 0.007 mg/d (n = 6). The average contributions to the total arsenic intake were, from drinking water, 13%; liquid food, 4.4%; cooked rice, 56%; solid food, 11%; and cereals, 16%. Arsenic intake via drinking water was not high despite the highly contaminated groundwater in the survey area because many families had changed their drinking water sources to less-contaminated ones. Instead, cooked rice contributed most to the daily arsenic intake. Use of contaminated water for cooking by several families was suspected based on comparisons of arsenic concentrations between drinking water and liquid food, and between rice before and after cooking. Detailed investigation suggested that six households used contaminated water for cooking but not drinking, leading to an increase of arsenic intake via arsenic-contaminated cooking water.

The objectives of this study were to develop a Bangla version of the World Health Organization Quality of Life questionnaire (WHOQOL-BREF), and assess its reliability and validity on an adolescent population in Bangladesh. In total, 187 boys (mean age 14.6 years +/- SD 2.1) and 137 girls (15.2 +/- SD 2.0) from residential areas, and 157 boys (13.8 +/- SD 2.1) and 121 girls (13.4 +/- SD 2.1) from slums in Dhaka were interviewed using a questionnaire, which included a Bangla translation of the WHOQOL-BREF. Thirty-eight randomly selected adolescents from the original interviewed group were re-administered the same questionnaire 1 week later. On the whole, the Bangla version of WHOQOL-BREF showed good internal consistency and test-retest reliability. In comparisons between residential and slum areas, discriminant validities were observed in the total and environmental domain of both genders and in the social relationship domain of males. Furthermore, discriminant validities of physical and psychological domains were observed in gender comparisons. These results suggest that the Bangla version of WHOQOL-BREF is valid and reliable in assessing the quality of life of adolescents in Bangladesh.