Monitoring and exposure assessment of total and inorganic arsenic in health functional foods distributed in Korea.

UNLABELLED: Health functional foods (HFFs) are widely consumed in concentrated-dose forms and may contribute to long-term contaminant exposure, even at low concentrations. Arsenic is of particular concern because inorganic arsenic (iAs) is more toxic than organic species. This study investigated the occurrence of total arsenic (tAs) and iAs in HFFs distributed in Korea and evaluated associated dietary exposure and health risks. A total of 432 products representing 20 functional ingredient categories were analyzed. tAs was determined by inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) and iAs by liquid chromatography coupled with ICP-MS (LC-ICP-MS), with both methods fully validated. tAs was detected in all samples (0.0002-0.8010 mg/kg), while iAs was detected in 52% of samples (< LOD-0.1690 mg/kg). Estimated dietary exposure to iAs corresponded to 0.0000-0.4822% of the provisional tolerable weekly intake (PTWI), suggesting negligible health risk from the consumption of HFFs. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s10068-026-02219-4.