LAUSR

Hand-to-mouth activity in children can be an important route for ingestion of soil and dust contaminated with inorganic arsenic. Estimating the relative bioavailability of arsenic present in these media is a critical element in assessing the risk associated with aggregate exposure to this toxic metalloid during early life. Here, we evaluated the performance of a mouse assay for arsenic bioavailability in two laboratories using a suite of 10 soils. This approach allowed us to examine both intra-laboratory and inter-laboratory variation in assay performance. Use of a single vendor for preparation of all amended test diets and of a single laboratory for arsenic analysis of samples generated in the participating laboratories minimized contributions of these potential sources of variability in assay performance. Intra-laboratory assay data showed that food and water intake and cumulative urine and feces production remained stable over several years. The stability of these measurements accounted for the reproducibility of estimates of arsenic bioavailability obtained from repeated intra-laboratory assays using sodium arsenate or soils as the test material. Inter-laboratory comparisons found estimates of variables used to evaluate assay performance (recovery, urinary excretion factor) were similar in the two laboratories. For all soils, estimates of arsenic relative bioavailability obtained in the two laboratories were highly correlated (r2= 0.98; slope = 0.9) in a linear regression model. Overall, these findings show that this mouse assay for arsenic bioavailability provides reproducible estimates using a variety of test soils. This robust model may be adaptable for use in other laboratory settings.