Speciation and excretion patterns of arsenic metabolites in human urine after ingestion of edible seaweed, Hizikia fusiforme

Chemical speciation of arsenic in human urine was performed by HPLC separation with ICP-MS detection in order to investigate the urinary excretion patterns of arsenic metabolites after one-time ingestion of an edible seaweed, hijiki (Hizikia fusiforme). A Japanese male volunteer ingested one serving of ca. 15 g (dry weight) of hijiki (containing ca. 0.9 mg of arsenic), and urine samples were collected at 3-5 h intervals for the following 3 days. As a result, different urinary excretion patterns were observed between inorganic and methylated arsenicals. Toxic inorganic As(V) and AS(III) were detected in the urine 3 h after ingestion. The highest concentrations of As(V) and As(III) were observed at 6 and 15 h after ingestion, respectively. In contrast, methylated arsenic species in the urine. such as monomethylarsonic acid (MMA), dimethylarsinic acid (DMA), and arsenobetaine (AB), began to increase 10 h after ingestion and provided the highest concentrations at 21 h after ingestion. These results indicate that a large amount of As(V) from hijiki is excreted rapidly in urine and some part of it is reduced to As(III) in the human body. AS(III) may then be converted to non-toxic methylated arsenic species and excreted in urine later than inorganic ones. It can be concluded from these experimental results that detoxification of arsenic occurs in the human body through the rapid urinary excretion of toxic arsenicals or by conversion to organic methylated ones after ingestion of hijiki.