Arsenic in your Apple Juice

 Wow, Bachman says that the HPV vaccine can cause mental retardation and Dr. Oz warns about Arsenic in apple juice.  OK here is the issue.  The metalloid Arsenic is the 33rd element on the periodic table.  Arsenic like most elements forms compounds  called molecules with other atoms.  Found in nature, Arsenic generally bonds with oxygen, sulfur, and chlorine.  These compounds are called inorganic arsenic which is toxic to human health.  Arsenic in plants and animals combines with carbon and hydrogen.  These compounds are called organic arsenic and are generally less harmful than inorganic arsenic.[1] Most organic arsenic compounds are generally thought to be not harmful to human health.[2]

Summary so far -

• Arsenic (like carbon, hydrogen, oxygen, carbon) is an element (atom) on the periodic table
• Arsenic like most elements can combine with other elements to create other compounds called molecules. Molecules can also be composed of the same atoms.
• When Arsenic combines with elements other than carbon like oxygen, sulfur, and chlorine, these molecules are called inorganic arsenic.  
• Inorganic arsenic is toxic.
• When Arsenic combines with carbon and hydrogen, these molecules are called organic arsenic.
• Organic arsenic compounds are generally not harmful to human health.

Dr. Oz tested juice for Arsenic.  They decided to compare the levels to the FDA limits in bottled water: 10 parts per billion.  "The Dr. Oz Show tested three dozen samples from five different brands of apple juice across three different American cities, and compared the levels of arsenic to the standard for water."

Minute Maid Apple JuiceLowest Sample for Arsenic: 2 parts per billion
Highest Sample for Arsenic: 3 parts per billion 

Apple and Eve Apple JuiceLowest Sample for Arsenic: 3 parts per billion
Highest Sample for Arsenic: 11 parts per billion

Mott’s Lowest Sample for Arsenic: 4 parts per billion
Highest Sample for Arsenic: 16 parts per billion

Juicy Juice Lowest Sample for Arsenic: 2 parts per billion
Highest Sample for Arsenic: 22 parts per billion

Gerber Lowest Sample for Arsenic: 3 parts per billion
Highest Sample for Arsenic: 36 parts per billion [3]

Do you remember that I explained that there are different molecules that contain Arsenic?  What if I was to tell you that you had chlorine on your french fries?  Chlorine can be very toxic, we use it to disinfect swimming pools.  Chlorine is one of the elements in bleach.   However table salt, sodium chloride, also contains chlorine.  The elements may be toxic in some molecules, but untoxic in other molecules.

Dr. Oz found the element Arsenic in the juice, but he did not bother to find out what kind of molecules they were.   (The show has promised to do future testing to distinguish between organic and inorganic arsenic.)  As I stated earlier there are two primary kinds of Arsenic molecules: organic and inorganic.  Most often the total Arsenic level is comprised of mostly organic arsenic in food products like juice.  Remember most officials regard most organic arsenic as essentially harmless.

However Arsenic found in water is mostly inorganic arsenic and generally highly toxic.  This is one of two reasons why the EPA set a 10 parts per billion level in tap water.  (The FDA also set a matching level in bottled water.)  Second, water is consumed more often and in higher quantities than juice.  You drink water and you put it in your foods and soups.  You brush you teeth.  You bath in this water.

Dr. Oz maintains that organic arsenic is not as benign as most think, but he has not provided a single piece of evidence to demonstrate this.  He has made a testable claim, but he has not even tested his samples for organic arsenic yet.  Unless one can provide testable evidence that organic arsenic is dangerous at the same levels as inorganic arsenic, Dr. Oz's claims are bunk.[4][5]