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            Revealing Arsenic Content in Rice

Low-level arsenic is found in soil, water, and air. This element is taken by the plant and into the body through the food.

Ilustration of arsenic (Thinkstockphoto)

Rice is a staple food for people in many countries. But you know, if the rice is consumed every day it has the potential to contain arsenic is a substance that is very toxic to the body.

Experts have known rice as the main source of arsenic diet. However, the results of a recent Consumer Report study in America found arsenic in various types of rice products. Encourage the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to quickly establish safe levels of arsenic levels in rice. The FDA found arsenic exceeding the level limit of more than 60 rice products.

Interestingly, the arsenic contained in this rice is not due to the toxic chemicals produced by the plant, but from the natural process that causes the toxic elements to accumulate from the time the rice is planted and grows. Then how arsenic, a poisonous element often used to kill political opponents in the Middle Ages, can be contained in rice?

The poison can come from man-made and synthetic sources. Arsenic is a shiny gray metalloid in the form of elements that occur naturally in the Earth's crust. Then make your own way into the soil and contaminate ground water supplies through the weathering process.

Arsenic is an element found in nature and in manmade products including pesticides. Low-level arsenic is found in soil, water and air. This element is taken by the plants as they grow, from where the arsenic enters the entry into the body through the food we consume.

This element can change the working system of communication in the cell and reduce the ability of work in the body. Ultimately result in various diseases in the body such as diabetes, blood vessel and lung disease, skin cancer, bladder and heart cancer.

Arsenic can be contained in vegetables, seeds, fruits and seafood. According to the FDA, rice is a food that contains the highest levels of arsenic, followed by vegetables.

However, this element also has uses for the industry for example used for the manufacture of pesticides and wood preservatives. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) says inorganic arsenic can survive in the soil for more than 45 years.

In the US in some states such as Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, and Texas found elevated levels of arsenic content in rice. This is possible because the area has a long history as a cotton farm, where the industry uses insecticides widely.

The substance is absorbed into the soil, consequently within a few decades the land contains elements of arsenic. Another thing that may cause arsenic content in agricultural land is the fertilizer that comes from chicken manure where their feed contains arsenic.

The FDA who conducted a survey on arsenic content in rice did not have enough information to recommend consumers change their rice consumption. But both the FDA and Consumer Report suggest that consumers are more varied in consuming food intake and not just depending on the rice alone.