Impossible you say. Not so, says recent research that confirms the presence of arsenic in our food, water, air, and soil. The fact is you may actually be picking your poison.
What’s arsenic?
Arsenic is a naturally occurring element widely found in the earth’s crust. It is a metalloid, which means it has qualities of both a metal and a non-metal, though it is most often referred to as a metal. Inorganic arsenic is found in environments combined with oxygen, chlorine, sulfur, or ores. It is naturally found in soil, and rocks and minerals, mostly ones with copper or lead.
Organic arsenic is typically combined with carbon and hydrogen. Generally, organic arsenic is not thought to be toxic like inorganic arsenic. Seafood typically has organic forms of arsenic, which has been theorized to be a lot less damaging than inorganic arsenic.
Arsenic is a white or colorless powder with no smell and almost no taste. In our everyday life, we take in miniscule amounts of arsenic in the air we breathe, the water we drink and the food we eat. Diet is our biggest supplier of arsenic to our bodies.
Both organic and inorganic arsenic is expelled from our bodies through urination. The most obvious difference is that organic arsenic will leave our bodies in days but inorganic arsenic can take months or longer.
Believe it or not, here are some shocking sources of arsenic.