Arsenic in Chinese Crayfish: Speciation Analysis, Cooking-Induced Stability, Bioaccessibility, and Dietary Risk Assessment

TL;DR

This study examines arsenic in crayfish from the Yangtze River, analyzing its forms, how cooking affects it, and potential health risks.

Contribution

The study provides new insights into arsenic speciation, cooking effects, and health risks in crayfish from the Yangtze River basin.

Findings

Arsenic in crayfish is mostly low-toxicity organic forms like arsenobetaine.

Boiling in saline water reduces inorganic arsenic content by 28.2%.

Inorganic arsenic has high bioaccessibility, exceeding acceptable carcinogenic risk thresholds in some cases.

Abstract

Arsenic (As) contamination in aquatic products is a significant public health concern. This study presents a holistic investigation into the speciation, processing stability, bioaccessibility, and health risks of arsenic in crayfish from the Yangtze River basin. The analysis of 60 samples revealed total arsenic (tAs) concentrations ranging from 53.6 to 419.9 μg/kg, with a mean of 109.3 μg/kg. Arsenic occurred predominantly as low-toxicity organic species, with arsenobetaine accounting for 41.3% of tAs on average, while inorganic arsenic (iAs) constituted only 11.6% (mean 12.5 μg/kg). Evaluation of common cooking methods demonstrated that arsenic speciation remained largely stable, with no increase in toxic iAs forms. Notably, boiling in saline water led to significant leaching, reducing iAs content by 28.2%. In vitro gastrointestinal digestion revealed a markedly high bioaccessibility of iAs (81.0–99.3% in the intestinal phase), far exceeding that of tAs (50.4–74.6%). Health risk assessment based on the latest U.S. EPA parameters indicated negligible non-carcinogenic risk across all exposure scenarios. However, the estimated carcinogenic risk for high-intake consumers of high-iAs samples exceeded the acceptable threshold of concern. These findings are expected to provide essential data for understanding the health risks posed by arsenic in crayfish and to support accurate food safety evaluations.

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