Arsenic
(last updated February 2012)
Arsenic is a chemical element found in water, air, food and soil as a naturally occurring substance or due to contamination from human activity.
It has a scary reputation because most people believe it’s deadly even in tiny amounts, but the reality is the amounts we are naturally exposed to in our diet are no cause for concern.
Arsenic appears in organic and inorganic forms. The organic forms are of relatively low toxicity while the inorganic forms present a greater hazard. Because both appear naturally in soil and ground water, small amounts may be unavoidably found in some food and drinks.
Arsenic compounds were more widely used in the past, for example in pesticides and veterinary drugs, but there are currently no registered uses for food crops or for animal production in Australia and New Zealand. Inorganic arsenic is registered for use in timber preservatives and for controlling termites in timber, and arsenic derivatives are used in herbicides for turfs and lawns, and cotton.
Arsenic limits in the code
Some seafood and seaweed products can contain high levels of inorganic arsenic. These products include Hijiki seaweed, ablack seaweed that usually comes in shredded form and is mostly added to other foods such as rice and soups. Hijiki seaweed is not used in sushi products nor as a seaweed wrap. There are limits in the Food Standards Code for inorganic arsenic in seaweed of 1mg/kg. This limit also applies to molluscs, while for fish and crustacea inorganic arsenic is not allowed above a level of 2mg/kg.
FSANZ periodically carries out Australian Total Diet Studies and has examined total arsenic in all foods. We found the levels of organic and inorganic arsenic in our diet are safe. A similar survey is carried out in New Zealand.
FZANZ will continue to monitor and publish our findings on dietary levels of arsenic.