Arsenic

[pal]

I had a heavy-metals-panel blood test. Mercury and aluminum were not detected, but arsenic was detected. I repeated the arsenic blood test and it was detected again. This was after approximately a 12-hour fast. Arsenic supposedly has a short half-life in blood of about 4-6 hours; so I’m surprised it was detected twice at 7 and 8 ug/L. I think some others here have also had heavy-metal testing given E4s sensitivities to heavy-metal toxicity; let me know if anyone else had arsenic detected.

I’m trying to determine what is causing this. One possibility is sardines, which I know a number of you also eat. I eat Crown Prince’s wild-caught skinless and boneless BPA-free sardines in olive oil, labeled a product of Morocco. While sardines are supposedly low in mercury, there are some articles suggesting they may be higher in arsenic. Another possibility is the public water supply; so I’ve switched to bottled water for now. Salmon is also a possibility, but I don’t think I had eaten it recently prior to the re-test. I limit rice and apple juice for the most part and don’t think they are the cause.

Let me know if you have any suggestions on what to do. Also, if you think this is something I should not be concerned about, I’d would be very interested in your thoughts.

Here’s a website discussing the risks associated even with low-level exposure to arsenic:
http://www.dartmouth.edu/~toxmetal/InSm ... index.html
(video focuses on well water, but other parts of the site discuss exposure via food)

Here’s some info on arsenic in food including sardines:

http://www.care2.com/greenliving/arsenic-foods.html

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20934728

http://multimedia.food.gov.uk/multimedi ... is8205.pdf

Other info:

http://www.atsdr.cdc.gov/csem/csem.asp?csem=1&po=9

http://www.mayomedicallaboratories.com/ ... code=80375

[Julie G]

Pal, that is concerning, especially because you can't figure out the source. My first thought would be your municipal water supply. Ask for a copy of their annual report. Another idea (on top of yours) would be rice. Some has shown to have relatively high levels, especially products using organic brown rice syrup.

I dug up my test, performed by Dr. Perlmutter, and my arsenic (at the time) was 2.4 ppb, which I think is comparable to 2.4 ug/L. He Found anything above 5.1 ppb to be worrisome. I would consider re-testing after a week or so of eliminating possible offenders. Sorry you have to deal with this; scary.

[KatieS]

Pal, Should you consider urine and even the updated hair arsenic testing?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arsenic_poisoning
Sounds like you have discovered the culprit, sardines from Morocco.

[pal]

Julie, thanks so much for digging up your test results and for the info. re the >5.1 ppb level. There is arsenic in my municipal water below the legal limit (10 ppb), but above health guidelines, which are listed as 0 ppb. I was filtering my water, which apparently you can do for arsenic, but I'll need to double-check the filter quality.
http://www.nrdc.org/water/drinking/qarsenic.asp
In the meantime I'm drinking lots of Pellegrino!

I ordered a home-test kit and I'll try to directly check the water and the sardines, if possible. I've pretty much steered clear of rice and related products plus apple juice because of all the reports re arsenic in them. I agree it makes sense to re-test in a week or so.

Kitano, thanks so much for weighing in on testing. Agreed, it sounds like it would be good to test urine and hair. It seemed like it was harder to find an urine test online that I could order directly without a doctor. I think arsenic is often not detected in blood tests because of arsenic's short half-life in blood. But in my case since it was actually detected, I'll probably re-test with the same test to see if I can get it down to zero. I just found a hair test that tests for all kinds of elements, which may be worth doing to hopefully get a sense of the length of exposure:
http://www.walkinlab.com/home-lab-test- ... -data.html
(It does, however, indicate that hair samples can be contaminated by shampoo, etc.)

Here's a very helpful database, which you may want to check to see what's in your own municipal water:
http://www.ewg.org/tap-water/whats-in-yourwater.php
Just type in your zip code and you'll get a lot of good info.

EDIT: Unfortunately the database contains data only from 2004 to 2009. So it's still important to get your most recent annual water quality report from your local water company. The ewg database contains more information and is in a better format than my local 2013 water report. So it may be helpful to look at both.

Also, here's a report re various bottled water. Note, the results vary for a particular brand depending on where you purchased the bottled water:
http://www.nrdc.org/water/drinking/bw/appa.asp

EDIT: Although there is a date stamp of 7/15/2013 at the bottom of the bottled-water report, it looks as though the survey is actually older from 1999. Here's a more recent survey from 2011 by a different entity, the Environmental Working Group:
http://www.ewg.org/research/ewg-bottled ... ecard-2011

[Gina99]

Pal, the only way to remove contaminants from drinking water is RO. At home I RO the water and keep it in the refrigerator and seem to drink more that way. Thanks for posting the links on bottled water. When traveling I often think twice about what the water source is. Interesting that some of the lowest rated public supplies also produce bottled water. Wonder if any are RO first?


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[pal]

Thanks Gina for the recommendation re reverse osmosis. In case this is of help to anyone else, here's a buying guide re filtering systems including reverse-osmosis systems: http://www.ewg.org/report/ewgs-water-fi ... ying-guide

Yes, it's interesting that Pepsi's Aquafina water uses the City of Houston water for some of its bottled water. City of Houston water is ranked as one of the worst at #95. In the 1999 study, they detected contaminants in the Houston-sourced Aquafina. It's strange because Aquafina supposedly uses reverse osmosis as part of the so-called purification process. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aquafina

[Lovemysonshine]

Hey Pal!
I know it’s been some years...but did you ever figure this out? Did you do any additional testing?

I had a heavy-metals-panel blood test. Mercury and aluminum were not detected, but arsenic was detected. I repeated the arsenic blood test and it was detected again. This was after approximately a 12-hour fast. Arsenic supposedly has a short half-life in blood of about 4-6 hours; so I’m surprised it was detected twice at 7 and 8 ug/L. I think some others here have also had heavy-metal testing given E4s sensitivities to heavy-metal toxicity; let me know if anyone else had arsenic detected.

I’m trying to determine what is causing this. One possibility is sardines, which I know a number of you also eat. I eat Crown Prince’s wild-caught skinless and boneless BPA-free sardines in olive oil, labeled a product of Morocco. While sardines are supposedly low in mercury, there are some articles suggesting they may be higher in arsenic. Another possibility is the public water supply; so I’ve switched to bottled water for now. Salmon is also a possibility, but I don’t think I had eaten it recently prior to the re-test. I limit rice and apple juice for the most part and don’t think they are the cause.

Let me know if you have any suggestions on what to do. Also, if you think this is something I should not be concerned about, I’d would be very interested in your thoughts.

Here’s a website discussing the risks associated even with low-level exposure to arsenic:
http://www.dartmouth.edu/~toxmetal/InSm ... index.html
(video focuses on well water, but other parts of the site discuss exposure via food)

Here’s some info on arsenic in food including sardines:

http://www.care2.com/greenliving/arsenic-foods.html

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20934728

http://multimedia.food.gov.uk/multimedi ... is8205.pdf

Other info:

http://www.atsdr.cdc.gov/csem/csem.asp?csem=1&po=9

http://www.mayomedicallaboratories.com/ ... code=80375

[Lisa G]

Hey Pal!
I know it’s been some years...but did you ever figure this out? Did you do any additional testing?

Hi Lovemysonshine and welcome to the ApoE4 forum. Glad you are joining us. Arsenic is an interesting one! When I had all my heavy metals testing done, I came up extremely high in arsenic -- and only that one. I could never figure it out either, except that we had a home in Maine that had an arsenic filter on the water system. But we were only there 3 weeks a year, so I didn't think it was the cause. In case you haven't explored the site too much, I wanted to direct you to some resources that are helpful. You may appreciate taking a look at the primer as it is a great place to start and written by a physician in laymen's terms. There is also a "How-To" Guide that makes your journey around the site much more efficient. You may be interested in checking out the "Our Stories" forum to share your own story and learn about fellow members. Finally, I've found the search function to be an awesome way to research questions you may have as most likely, someone has asked the question before and there are several threads of information regarding that topic. You may have used that function already to ask your question to Pal!
Again, welcome to the community. Please don't hesitate to tell us a little about yourself in the "Our Stories" and continue commenting on posts! We love active members!

[Lovemysonshine]

Hi Lisa!

Thank you so much for the direction! I will go take a look at the resources you shared.

When you did your arsenic, how did you test? What was your result if you don’t mind me being nosy.

Did you ever retest?

[Lisa G]

Hi. I'll have to go into my medical folder and check it out so give me a day or so! I don't mind giving you my result!
Talk soon.