Organoarsenic Drugs over Time: The Pharmacokinetics of Roxarsone in Chicken Meat

Lindsey Konkel is a New Jersey–based journalist who reports on science, health, and the environment. About This Article open Citation: Konkel L. 2016. Organoarsenic drugs over time: the pharmacokinetics of roxarsone in chicken meat. Environ Health Perspect 124:A150; http://dx.doi.org/10.1289/ehp.124-A150 Published: 1 August 2016 PDF Version (284 KB) Related EHP Article Arsenic Species in Chicken Breast: Temporal Variations of Metabolites, Elimination Kinetics, and Residual Concentrations Qingqing Liu, Hanyong Peng, Xiufen Lu, Martin J. Zuidhof, Xing-Fang Li, and X. Chris Le Although “market basket” studies have revealed the presence of arsenic in packaged chicken,1,2 little is known about the concentrations of individual arsenic species found in these birds and how they are metabolized. In this issue of EHP, researchers determined the levels of arsenic metabolites present in chicken breast after feeding the birds an arsenic-based animal drug called roxarsone.3 There are many different species (chemical forms) of arsenic, some more toxic than others. Exposure to inorganic species has been associated with cancer and other adverse health effects in humans.4 “We wanted to measure the presence of each arsenic species and describe the elimination kinetics of roxarsone metabolites. Our findings can help guide human exposure assessments,” says senior author X. Chris Le, an environmental chemist at the University of Alberta in Canada. Although roxarsone and other org...
Source: EHP Research - Category: Environmental Health Authors: Tags: Featured News Science Selection August 2016 Source Type: research