How harmless is arsenic in seafood?
An interdisciplinary study, led by IFIK researcher Prof. Siegfried Hapfelmeier and Prof. Adrien Mestrot, Head of the Soil Science Unit at GIUB, as part of the Interfaculty Research Cooperation “One Health”, reveals that gut bacteria play a crucial role in converting arsenobetaine into toxic arsenic compounds. Results show that arsenobetaine, commonly found in seafood and previously considered harmless, is partly transformed into toxic arsenic compounds by the action of gut bacteria in the mammalian body. These findings raise new questions about the safety of seafood consumption.
