Response to: "Cancer risk due to contamination: Consideration from market basket survey in Qatar"

Abstract

We welcome the comments on our article entitled “A market basket survey of As, Zn and Se in rice imports in Qatar: Health implications” (Rowell et al., 2014). The commenter opens up the debate on what constitutes a safe level of arsenic in rice and other staple foods. The available scientific information remains inconsistent on this matter.

Our study concluded that the current dietary intake of As from rice consumption in Qatar is not a significant route of As exposure. This observation relates to current guidelines designed to protect against arsenic intoxication, both acute and chronic. The levels of exposure estimated for Qatar’s locally available rice grains were well below concentrations associated with acute adverse health effects (5 μg/day-kg BW) (ATSDR, 2007), and chronic effects 2.1 μg/day-kg BW (WHO, 2008). Additionally, the daily intake method used and the benchmark values of PTDI (Provisional Tolerable Daily Intake) for As take into account the lifetime ingestion without appreciable health risk (WHO, 2008).