Overview
This short communication measured total arsenic by ICP-MS/MS in six plant-based drinks bought in Poland and in the dry raw materials used to make them, then characterized arsenic fractions by size-exclusion chromatography and inorganic arsenic species by anion-exchange HPLC-ICP-MS/MS. Rice and coconut-rice drinks had the most arsenic and the almond drink the least. Arsenite and arsenate were seen in all drinks, but only as chromatograms, without species concentrations.
Key numbers
- Total arsenic in drinks: rice 2.34086 µg/L, coconut-rice 1.26839 µg/L, oat 0.53216 µg/L, almond 0.01616 µg/L (Table 2).
- Raw materials: oat 0.08410 µg/g, soybean 0.03412 µg/g, almond 0.00941 µg/g (Table 2).
Methods (brief)
Each drink type is the mean of three samples measured three times; IRMM-804 rice flour reference material was used for validation. Speciation LOD 0.8 to 1.2 µg/kg and LOQ 2.6 to 4.0 µg/kg.
Evidence Fitness
Small sample (one drink type each, three samples) with no dates or product details. Drink results are per litre and should not be compared with per-kilogram values. The almond drink is a direct almond-beverage measurement; for meal-replacement drinks the paper is only a proxy for meal-replacement-drink, which is not linked. Arsenic species values are figure-only.