Arsenic toxicity, biomarkers of exposure and risk assessment among different aged young population from endemic areas of West Bengal, India

Arsenic exposure and associated risks in various age groups, including toddlers (1-6 years), children (7-11 years) and adolescents (12-17 years) have been evaluated through ingestion of drinking water (134 and 23.1 mu g/l), rice grain (209 and 180 mu g/kg) and vegetables (206 and 80.6 mu g/kg) from two respective arsenic exposed villages namely Jamdani in Gaighata and Bade Khantura in Habra-I block from the North 24 Parganas district of West Bengal. 'Spearman correlation' found a significant association between arsenic intake particularly from drinking water and biomarkers exposure. Statistical analysis, employing 'ANOVA' followed by 'Bonferroni correction', demonstrated a strong correlation between age and arsenic deposition in biomarkers. Notably, age-dependent drop in urinary arsenic level and rise in hair and nail was observed among the studied age groups. Based on the SAMOE (Risk Thermometer), drinking water poses the highest risk for Jamdani (class 5) than Bade Khantura (class 4), while rice grains and vegetables both were classified as risk class 4 for the studied age groups. The cumulative estimated-daily-intakes (EDICumulative) of arsenic in central tendency exposure (CTE) for Jamdani and Bade Khantura were observed to be 1.09 x 10-2 and 2.7 x 10-3 mg/kg bw/day; 1.01 x 10-2 and 2.53 x 10-3 mg/kg bw/day; 9 x 10-3 and 2.46 x 10-3 mg/kg bw/day for respective age groups. Likewise, the EDICumulative for possible reasonable maximum exposure (RME) for two villages were observed to be 1.67 x 10-2 and 5.18 x 10-3 mg/kg bw/day; 1.56 x 10-2 and 4.91 x 10-3 mg/kg bw/day; 1.42 x 10-3 and 4.76 x 10-3 mg/kg bw/day for respective age groups. Furthermore, arsenic exposure was higher in all the age groups from Jamdani compared to Bade Khantura and calculated health risk (cancerous and non-cancerous) was more in toddlers followed by children and adolescents. It is highly recommended to prioritize the consumption of arsenic-safe drinking water and ensure access to a nutritious food supply to effectively combat the arsenic toxicity.