Arsenic is a naturally occurring substance found in water, air, food and soil. There are two types of arsenic – organic and inorganic. It is widely accepted that inorganic arsenic is poisonous. Though there are claims that organic arsenic can be too, the official FDA stance is that organic arsenics are essentially harmless. Because both types of arsenic are found in soil, there will likely be low (usually completely safe) levels of arsenic in any type of food or drink that grows from the ground. This includes, of course, fruits like apples, and can thus affect things like fruit juices.
The FDA has set an “action level” of 10 parts per billion of inorganic arsenic in apple juice. This is the same level that has been set for water. If a single lot that is tested has more than 10 ppb of inorganic arsenic, it’s held back and there’s a 60-day review. The vast majority of juices have trace amounts of arsenic in them. The World Health Organization estimates that more than 200 million people around the world are chronically exposed to arsenic at levels above their approved standard.
There haven’t been very many comprehensive studies of arsenic in apple juice. One by Consumer Reports in 2012 found levels they deemed unacceptable – 10 percent of the samples they tested were above 10 parts per billion for inorganic arsenic. This was before the FDA had set the 10 ppb standard for juices. In 2013, the FDA conducted its own study and found that 100 percent of the apple juices it studied had less than 10 ppb for inorganic arsenic.
Arsenic can be found in pretty much all soil that food is grown in because arsenic-based pesticides were used regularly until the 1970s, when more effective substances became available. Because of this, trace levels are still around today. Even if you find a juice that has little to no arsenic in it, buying from the same company won’t work because companies get their juice from all over. Even if a company only buys concentrate from one supplier, that supplier probably gets their juice from all over. Buying organic doesn’t change things either, because there’s really nothing that can be done to fix the soil.
When the FDA tests for arsenic, they first test for total arsenic in the sample. If it’s too high, they retest for inorganic arsenic. The FDA is currently evaluating whether the organic forms of arsenic are bad as well, but they rarely find more than trace amounts of that type anyway. In their 2013 analysis, 95 percent of their samples were below 10 ppb for total arsenic.
Consumer Reports commissioned a study to try and determine whether people who drink apple juice had higher arsenic levels than people who don’t. The results, released in 2008, showed that people who reported apple juice consumption had an average of 19 percent more arsenic than people without. There hasn’t been extensive, published, peer-reviewed testing since. There was concern brought up with that study that these juices may have a harsher effect on children since they are smaller and have less body mass.
Chronic exposure to arsenic can cause issues in the gastrointestinal system, as well as skin sores and discoloration – and that’s just at first. Over a longer period of time, chronic exposure can lead to cancer, high blood pressure and Type-II diabetes. One problem with illness as a result of arsenic exposure is that it’s easy to misdiagnose. The symptoms are similar for things like chronic fatigue and hyperkeratosis. It’s pretty uncommon and it can manifest in various ways, so it’s simply not a theory that comes up for doctors early on in treatment. Chronic arsenic exposure can also lead to problems with reproduction.
One way the FDA fights against arsenic exposure in specific foods and drinks is by monitoring imports from other countries. If a country or region starts to test high for levels of certain things, the FDA can put an import alert on it and track it much more closely. While they’re not necessarily sure that this works or even matters, it’s a better-safe-than-sorry type of scenario, since extra testing certainly can’t hurt.
The 10 parts per billion limit the FDA has set is also up for debate. The Consumers Union, for instance, in 2012 recommended a cap of 3 parts per billion. This is a whopping three times lower than the FDA’s standard. The FDA is very confident with the safety of the nation’s drinking water and juices.
The problem with this issue is that it simply hasn’t been tested enough. We can’t know the results of these chronic low level exposures to arsenic until it’s been studied for many years and on a better sample size of people. What makes this difficult to test is that pretty much everyone is exposed to these low levels, so it’s almost impossible to find a control group. There have been studies done on populations that have massive exposure to high levels of arsenic, and they are bad across the board, but the low levels that are relevant to most people are not the kind that are going to cause huge health problems across whole populations like those do.
Sources:
http://www.fda.gov/Food/ResourcesForYou/Consumers/ucm271595.htm
http://ehp.niehs.nih.gov/1205875/
