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Risk assessment of small organoarsenic species in foodBackground to the risk assessment• Risk managers need advice on the safety of food contaminants, such as arsenic, to establish maximum levels in foods that can be present without causing adverse health effects.• Small organoarsenic species are compounds that contain methyl groups, but no other organic groups, bound to arsenic.Monomethylarsonic acid V (MMA(V)) and dimethylarsinic acid V (DMA(V)) are the most abundant of these compounds in food.The highest concentrations are found in rice, algae and seafood.• In 2009, the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) Panel on Contaminants in the Food Chain (CONTAM Panel) assessed the risks to human health related to the presence of arsenic in food.• Because of a lack of data in 2009, EFSA only evaluated the risks for inorganic arsenic but could not assess the risks of small organoarsenic species or complex organoarsenic species such as arsenobetaine, arsenosugars or arsenolipids.What was EFSA asked to do?• The European Commission (EC) asked EFSA to provide four scientific opinions on arsenic in food, taking into account newly available scientific information since 2009, including new studies on the toxic effects of inorganic and organic arsenic.• The first opinion, an updated risk assessment for inorganic arsenic in food, was published in January 2024.The risk assessment of small organoarsenic species is covered by this second opinion.The third and fourth opinions will be finalised by the beginning of 2025 and they will respectively cover the risk assessment of complex organoarsenic species and of the combined exposure to inorganic and organic arsenic.
A Mon, study studied this question.