If you have seen or heard the current reports about tests that found arsenic in apple juice, you could be wondering whether it might be perilous to juice revellers. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration issued a statement attempting to reassure patrons that almost all of the arsenic in juices and other foods was of the supposed "organic" form, which the agency said was "essentially harmless." But fresh systematic proof and public info issued by another federal agency cast doubt on that finding.

Concerns about arsenic in beverages heightened after Mehmet Oz, M.D, a heart surgeon and host of The Dr. Oz Show aired a slice saying results of lab tests he commissioned that discovered Ten of three dozen apple juice samples tested contained total arsenic levels exceeding the Ten parts per bill ( ppb ) Fed limit for total arsenic levels in public drinking water.

The Oz test findings are just the most recent of a few tests for arsenic in juice conducted during the last three years. As we reported previously, tests by varsity analysts and other laboratories say they have spotted levels of total arsenic in apple juices that were up to three to five times higher than the Ten ppb public drinking water limit set by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency ( EPA ), which is a limit that the FDA imposes for bottled water. The FDA doesn't set such limits for arsenic in other beverages, though in a Sept. 18 letter to FDA Commissioner Margaret Hamburg, U.S. Sen. Charles Schumer has called on the agency to do that.

As an element of our continuing series of stories about contamination of food and consumer goods with lead, cadmium and other heavy metals, we are currently investigating the hazards posed by dietary exposures to arsenic and should be bringing you additional info soon on this difficulty and what can be done to reduce your risks of exposure. Meanwhile, these are some facts to help cut thru bafflement about the sorts of arsenic you could be exposed to in what you drink and eat :

What exactly is arsenic?
Arsenic is a metalloid, meaning it shares properties of metals and non-metals. It can be discovered in rock and soil, with trace amounts in some areas and heavy concentrations in others. Bear in mind that "naturally occurring" arsenic does not translate to "harmless." On the list of 275 unsafe substances at dangerous waste sites, the federal Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry ranks arsenic as number one, based mostly on hazards to folk living around those sites.

When arsenic leaches from such rock formations into groundwater, it can contaminate water utilised for drinking and irrigating crops. But arsenic in addition has been employed for many commercial purposes. For many years arsenic-containing pesticides were commonly used in orchards, vineyards and cotton fields. Even though the utilising of lead arsenate insecticides was banned in the U.S. In the late 1980s, arsenic remains in the soil, so past use of those insecticides can lead to contamination of fruit now grown in those orchards. Concerns also have been raised about the likely continuing use of arsenical insecticides in other nations, including China, which now supplies the bulk of apple concentrate utilized in the U.S.

Arsenic also has been an ingredient in a wood preservative, chromated copper arsenate ( CCA ), employed in pressure-treated lumber usually found in outside decks or children's playground gear. Though CCA was banned for just about all U.S. Residential use in 2003, it's still used industrially and can even make a contribution to arsenic in groundwater when recycled as mulch. Through all of these routes and more, arsenic can enter the food chain.

What's the most important difference between organic and inorganic arsenic?
Arsenic can mix with other elements to form compounds that are divided into two forms : inorganic arsenic compounds and organic arsenic compounds. When used to explain arsenic, the word "organic" has nothing do with the term that appears on labeling for foods that meet USDA licensed organic standards.

When arsenic ties to elements like sulfur, oxygen and chlorine, it forms inorganic arsenic compounds. Inorganic arsenic is a known human carcinogen and is the form found in drinking water, lead-arsenate insecticides and CCA.

Organic arsenic compounds are made when arsenic ties to molecules containing carbon. Marine animal can contain an organic sort of arsenic called arsenobetaine, which is often believed non toxic to humans. But much less is known about the health effects in humans of other sorts of organic arsenic, and products containing them have raised enough concerns they're no longer being sold. EPA in 2006 took steps to stop the employment of herbicides containing organic arsenic because of concern about their potential to transform into more noxious inorganic arsenic in soil and then contaminate drinking water.