Background: There have been concerns related to inorganic arsenic (iAs) in rice and the risk of chronic toxicity in human beings, especially children. Rice is a common constituent of pet food, and dogs often eat the same food on a continual daily basis for long periods of time. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to assess the risk of chronic iAs exposure in rice-based diet-fed dogs.
Methods: Hair iAs level was measured in seven rice-based diet-fed dogs (mean age 3.8 years) and in nine dogs that did not consume any rice (mean age 4.4 years), using inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry.
Results: The hair iAs level was significantly higher (P=0.005) in dogs fed a rice-based diet (mean 0.143 µg/g) than in dogs that did not consume any rice (mean 0.086 µg/g), while age and sex did not show associations with hair iAs level.
Conclusion: The results suggest that eating a rice-based diet for long periods of time represents a risk for chronic iAs exposure in dogs.
Keywords: arsenic; dogs; nutrition; rice; toxicology.
© British Veterinary Association 2019. Re-use permitted under CC BY-NC. No commercial re-use. Published by BMJ.