ARS | Publication request: ARSENIC ESSENTIALITY AND ESTIMATION OF A POSSIBLE REQUIREMENT

Submitted to: Meeting Abstract
Publication Type: Abstract Only
Publication Acceptance Date: December 7, 1997
Publication Date: N/A

Technical Abstract: There is considerable circumstantial evidence that arsenic is an essential trace element. Recent studies using laboratory animals suggest that arsenic has an essential role related to methionine metabolism. Most of the studies leading to these conclusions used diets containing less than 10 ng As/g; control diets were supplemented with 0.5 ug As (as either As2O3 or NaAsO2)/g. Limited dose-response studies to determine the requirement of arsenic have been done. An arsenic requirement between 25 ng and 50 ng/g diet was suggested for growing rats and chicks eating a diet containing approximately 4000 kcal/kg. Based on this finding, a calculated arsenic requirement for humans eating 2000 kcal would be 12-25 ug/day. Furthermore, the requirement is probably affected by factors such as methionine or sulfur amino acid content of the diet.