Transport of arsenolipids to the milk of a nursing mother after consuming salmon fish

Chan Xiong; Michael Stiboller; Ronald A Glabonjat; Jaqueline Rieger; Lhiam Paton; Kevin A Francesconi

doi:10.1016/j.jtemb.2020.126502

Transport of arsenolipids to the milk of a nursing mother after consuming salmon fish

J Trace Elem Med Biol. 2020 Apr 9:61:126502. doi: 10.1016/j.jtemb.2020.126502. Online ahead of print.

Authors

Chan Xiong¹, Michael Stiboller², Ronald A Glabonjat³, Jaqueline Rieger³, Lhiam Paton⁴, Kevin A Francesconi³

Affiliations

¹ Institute of Chemistry, NAWI Graz, University of Graz, 8010 Graz, Austria. Electronic address: chinaxc@tju.edu.cn.
² Institute of Nutritional Sciences, Food Chemistry, University of Potsdam, 14558 Nuthetal, Germany.
³ Institute of Chemistry, NAWI Graz, University of Graz, 8010 Graz, Austria.
⁴ TESLA (Trace Element Speciation Laboratory), Department of Chemistry, University of Aberdeen, Aberdeen AB24 3UE, Scotland, UK.

PMID: 32344278
DOI: 10.1016/j.jtemb.2020.126502

Abstract

Objective: We address two questions relevant to infants' exposure to potentially toxic arsenolipids, namely, are the arsenolipids naturally present in fish transported intact to a mother's milk, and what is the efficiency of this transport.

Methods: We investigated the transport of arsenolipids and other arsenic species present in fish to mother's milk by analyzing the milk of a single nursing mother at 15 sampling times over a 3-day period after she had consumed a meal of salmon. Total arsenic values were obtained by elemental mass spectrometry, and arsenic species were measured by HPLC coupled to both elemental and molecular mass spectrometry.

Results: Total arsenic increased from background levels (0.1 μg As kg^-1) to a peak value of 1.72 μg As kg^-1 eight hours after the fish meal. The pattern for arsenolipids was similar to that of total arsenic, increasing from undetectable background levels (< 0.01 μg As kg^-1) to a peak after eight hours of 0.45 μg As kg^-1. Most of the remaining total arsenic in the milk was accounted for by arsenobetaine. The major arsenolipids in the salmon were arsenic hydrocarbons (AsHCs; 55 % of total arsenolipids), and these compounds were also the dominant arsenolipids in the milk where they contributed over 90 % of the total arsenolipids.

Conclusions: Our study has shown that ca 2-3 % of arsenic hydrocarbons, natural constituents of fish, can be directly transferred unchanged to the milk of a nursing mother. In view of the potential neurotoxicity of AsHCs, the effects of these compounds on the brain developmental stage of infants need to be investigated.

Keywords: Arsenolipids; HPLC/HR-ESMS; HPLC/ICPMS; Human milk; Salmon fish.

Grants and funding

I 2412/FWF_/Austrian Science Fund FWF/Austria