TABLE 10
Criteria for epidemiological studies of long‐term effects in humans.
| Study design | In |
Cross‐sectional studies Cohort studies Case–control studies |
|---|---|---|
| Study characteristics | In | Duration of exposure > 6 months. For continuous outcomes > 100 subjects and for discrete outcomes > 5, Exposures to arsenic concentrations < 150 μg/L in drinking water or corresponding exposure level for arsenic biomarkers |
| Population | In | Any country. Any age groups |
| Exposure estimate | In |
iAs intake per day As in drinking water iAs in urine and its metabolites Total urinary iAs (u‐tiAs), i.e. sum of iAs and metabolites MMA and DMA Other iAs biomarkers that can be transformed into iAs intake |
| Out |
Intake of total As Total As in urine or blood, unless arsenobetaine could be excluded Studies on inhalation of arsenic Studies with occupational exposure | |
| Outcomes | In | Any long‐term adverse outcomes |
| Covariates | Out |
Lack of age or sex Lack of smoking data for lung and bladder cancer outcome Lack of data on sun exposure or skin sensitivity to UV light for skin cancer Lack of smoking or BMI for T2D outcome Lack of covariates (child characteristics/parents' education or maternal intelligence/socioeconomic status) for neurodevelopment |
| Language | In | English |
| Out | Non‐English | |
| Time period | In | From 1/1/2009 to 18/7/2022 and papers described reviewed by EFSA in 2009 |
| Publication type | In | Peer‐reviewed original research, systematic reviews, meta‐analyses a |
| Out | Expert opinions. Editorials. Letters. PhD theses. Conference proceedings. Conference abstracts. |
Abbreviations: As, arsenic; BMI, body mass index; DMA, sum of dimethylarsinous acid and dimethylarsinic acid; EFSA, European Food Safety Authority; iAs, inorganic arsenic; MMA, sum of monomethylarsonous acid and monomethylarsonic acid; PhD, Doctor of Philosophy; T2D, type 2 diabetes; u‐tiAs, total urinary iAs (sum of iAs and its methylated metabolites MMA and DMA) ; UV, ultraviolet.