Search

To assess arsenic contaminations and its possible adverse health effects, food samples were collected from Kandal, Kratie and Kampong Cham in Cambodia. The highest and the lowest concentrations were observed in fish (mean 2,832 ng g(-1), ww) collected from Kandal province and cattle stomach (1.86 ± 1.10 ng g(-1), ww) collected from Kratie, respectively. The daily intake of arsenic via food consumption was 604, 9.70 and 136 μg day(-1) in Kandal, Kratie and Kampong Cham, respectively. The arsenic dietary intake in Kandal ranked No. 1 among all the 17 compared countries or regions. Fish consumption contributed the greatest proportion of total arsenic daily intake in Kandal (about 63.0 %) and Kampong Cham (about 69.8 %). It is revealed to be a much more important exposure pathway than drinking water for residents in Kampong Cham. The results of risk assessment suggested that the residents in Cambodia, particularly for people in Kandal province, suffer high public health risks due to consuming arsenic-contaminated food.

To assess the daily intakes of total mercury (THg) and methylmercury (MeHg) and the possible adverse health impacts, different food groups including fish, meat, vegetable and rice were collected from three areas in Cambodia. The concentrations of THg and MeHg ranged from 0.16 to 171 ng g(-1) and not detected (ND) to 82.3 ng g(-1) wet weight (ww), respectively. The concentrations of THg and MeHg in fish were approximately three to four orders of magnitude greater than that in fruit and vegetable. Fish had the highest contribution to the total daily intakes of THg and MeHg. The estimated daily intake (EDI) of THg for the general population in Kampong Cham, Kratie and Kandal was 0.24, 1.38 and 0.22 μg kg(-1) bw d(-1), and 0.11, 0.45 and 0.06 μg kg(-1) bw d(-1) for MeHg, respectively. The dietary daily intakes of MeHg in Kratie and Kampong Cham were greater than the reference dose (RfD) imposed by The United States Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) and in Kratie was also exceed the provisional tolerable weekly intake (PTWI) imposed by World Health Organization (WHO). To our knowledge, this the first study to evaluate the daily intakes of THg and MeHg in Cambodia., (Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)