Skip to main content

Advertisement

SpringerLink
Log in

Arsenic contamination in rice, radiation and chemical methods of measurement, and implications for food safety

  • Review Article
  • Published:
Journal of Food Science and Technology Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Rice products, including those given to infants, could be naturally polluted with arsenic. This issue for all age groups should be a top priority for the world food industry and the public. Food regulators assume incorrectly that infants’ food and other rice products are safe, and health, agriculture and commerce authorities follow no clear guidelines. A common measure has been to place a ML on the amount of iAs in white rice and food intended for children and pregnant women. Although oAs is less toxic than iAs, it is still toxic; consequently, the ML of arsenic for the different age groups should be also specified. However, the ML of iAs in polished white rice for infants is very low (100 μg/kg for infants and 200 μg/kg for adults) and is difficult to measure. Using neutron activation for research is very useful in improving safety standards in the food industry. The second purpose of this review study is to report on the experimental results and methods used for measurements adopted at the Delft Reactor in the Netherlands with a colleague of the quantity of arsenic in 21 samples of different rice products from a variety of brands.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2

Similar content being viewed by others

Data availability

(Data transparency) All rules for scientific research were respected.

Notes

  1. Ruskin, F. R. (Ed.). (1999). Lost Crops of Africa: Grains. DIANE Publishing, p.7.

  2. [FAO/WHO], Codex alimentarius, (2015). ‘Joint FAO/WHO Food Standards Programme CODEX Committee on Contaminants in Foods’. http://apps.who.int/iris/bitstream/10665/98388/1/9789241209830_eng.pdf.

  3. Discussant, Michael S, Albuquerque Gorby, Ralph C Williams, M Ichael, and S Gorby. (1988). ‘IL IWsXW Arsenic Poisoning’, p. 308., https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1026413/pdf/westjmed00133-0060.pdf.

  4. De Chávez Capilla, T. G. (2018). The Metabolism of Arsenic in Humans: Bioaccessibility in the Gastrointestinal Tract, Diffusion across Lipid membranes and Biotransformations in Liver Cells (Doctoral dissertation, University of Canberra). https://researchsystem.canberra.edu.au/ws/portalfiles/portal/33678845/file

  5. Jackson, Brian P., and Tracy Punshon. (2015a). ‘Recent Advances in the Measurement of Arsenic, Cadmium, and Mercury in Rice and Other Foods’. Current Environmental Health Reports. Springer International Publishing, p. 4. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40572-014-0035-7.

  6. Francesconi, K. A., Tanggaar, R., McKenzie, C. J., & Goessler, W. (2002). Arsenic metabolites in human urine after ingestion of an arsenosugar. Clinical chemistry, 48(1), 92–101.

  7. Nordberg, G. F., & Fowler, B. A. (2018). Risk Assessment for Human Metal Exposures: Mode of Action and Kinetic Approaches. Academic Press.

  8. Bashir, S., Sharma, Y., Irshad, M., Gupta, S. D., & Dogra, T. D. (2006). Arsenic‐induced cell death in liver and brain of experimental rats. Basic & clinical pharmacology & toxicology, 98(1), 38–43. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1742-7843.2006.pto_170.x.

  9. Ghosh, D., Datta, S., Bhattacharya, S., & Mazumder, S. (2007). Long-term exposure to arsenic affects head kidney and impairs humoral immune responses of Clarias batrachus. Aquatic toxicology, 81(1), 79–89. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.aquatox.2006.11.004.

  10. Hackenmueller, S. A., & Strathmann, F. G. (2014). Total arsenic screening prior to fractionation enhances clinical utility and test utilization in the assessment of arsenic toxicity. American journal of clinical pathology, 142(2), 184–189. https://doi.org/10.1309/AJCPHUB0YEHPRAWA.

  11. [BNF]. 2017. ‘Arsenic in rice – is it a cause for concern?—British Nutrition Foundation. Accessed: 2021–06-23.

    https://www.nutrition.org.uk/nutritioninthenews/headlines/arsenicinrice.html.

  12. Singh Bhupinder. 5218. 13—Rice husk ash, Civil and Structural Engineering, Waste and Supplementary Cementitious Materials in Concrete, Woodhead Publishing, Pages 417–460, ISBN 9,780,081,021,569, https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-08-102156-9.00013-4.

  13. Karagas, M. R., Punshon, T., Sayarath, V., Jackson, B. P., Folt, C. L., & Cottingham, K. L. (2016). Association of rice and rice-product consumption with arsenic exposure early in life. JAMA pediatrics, 170(6), 609–616. https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamapediatrics/article-abstract/2514074.

  14. Signes-Pastor, Antonio J., Manus Carey, and Andrew A. Meharg. (2017) ‘Inorganic Arsenic Removal in Rice Bran by Percolating Cooking Water’. Food Chemistry 234 (November): 76–80. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foodchem.2017.04.140.

  15. Liang, Feng, Yulan Li, Guilin Zhang, Mingguang Tan, Jun Lin, Wei Liu, Yan Li, and Wenwei Lu. (2010a). ‘Total and speciated arsenic levels in rice from China`, Food Additives & Contaminants: Part A 27 (6): 813–14. https://doi.org/10.1080/19440041003636661.

  16. Panigrahi, A., Chattopadhyay, A. K., Paul, G., & Panigrahi, S. (2016). HIV, Cardiovascular Diseases, and Chronic Arsenic Exposure co-exist in a Positive Synergy. Retrieved from http://arxiv.org/abs/1602.05981.

  17. Cai Zhi Wei. 2018. ‘Determination of Arsenic Levels in Daily Rice Products and Influence of Arsenic Levels upon Modifications’. Delft University of Technology.

  18. Chung, Stephen Wai cheung, Chi ho Lam, and Benny Tsz pun Chan. (2014a). ‘Total and Inorganic Arsenic in Foods of the First Hong Kong Total Diet Study’. Food Additives and Contaminants—Part A Chemistry, Analysis, Control, Exposure and Risk Assessment 31 (4): 655. https://doi.org/10.1080/19440049.2013.877162.

  19. International Agency for Research on Cancer. (2012). IARC Monographs: Arsenic, Metals, Fibers and Dusts. Volume 100C. A Review of Human Carcinogens.

  20. [FOW/WHO]. (2017). ‘REPORT OF THE 11th SESSION OF THE CODEX COMMITTEE ON CONTAMINANTS IN FOODS.’ Geneva, Switzerland. http://www.fao.org/fao-who-codexalimentarius/sh-proxy/en/?lnk=1&url=https%253A%252F%252Fworkspace.fao.org%252Fsites%252Fcodex%252FMeetings%252FCX-735-12%252FWD%252FREP17_CFe.aspx.

  21. Yao, Bao Min, Peng Chen, and Guo Xin Sun. (2020). ‘Distribution of Elements and Their Correlation in Bran, Polished Rice, and Whole Grain’. Food Science and Nutrition 8 (2): 982–92. https://doi.org/10.1002/fsn3.1379. https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1002/fsn3.1379.

  22. Deng, F., Yamaji, N., Ma, J. F., Lee, S. K., Jeon, J. S., Martinoia, E., … & Song, W. Y. (2018). Engineering rice with lower grain arsenic. Plant biotechnology journal, 16(10), 1695. https://doi.org/10.1111/pbi.12905.

  23. [FAO and, & WHO]. (2016). JOINT FAO/WHO FOOD STANDARDS PROGRAMME CODEX COMMITTEE ON CONTAMINANTS IN FOODS Tenth Session Rotterdam, The Netherlands, 4–8 April 2016 DISCUSSION PAPER ON THE DEVELOPMENT OF MAXIMUM LEVELS FOR MYCOTOXINS IN SPICES AND POSSIBLE PRIORITIZATION OF WORK, (CX/CF 16/10/6), 3. Retrieved from http://www.fao.org/fao-who-codexalimentarius/sh-proxy/fr/?lnk=1&url=https%253A%252F%252Fworkspace.fao.org%252Fsites%252Fcodex%252FMeetings%252FCX-735-10%252FWD%252Fcf10_14e.pdf.

  24. JOINT FAO/WHO FOOD STANDARDS PROGRAMME CODEX ALIMENTARIUS COMMISSION 42nd Session, Geneva, Switzerland 8—12 July 2019, REPORT OF THE 13th SESSION OF THE CODEX COMMITTEE ON CONTAMINANTS IN FOODS, Yogyakarta, Indonesia 29 April – 3 May 2019.

  25. [USDA-FSIS]. (2012). U.S. Department of Agriculture Food Safety and Inspection Service. Safe and suitable ingredients used in the production of meat and poultry products. (Vol. 2012, p. 53). Retrieved from https://www.fsis.usda.gov/wps/wcm/connect/bab10e09-aefa-483b-8be8-809a1f051d4c/7120.1.pdf?MOD=AJPEREShttp://www.fsis.usda.gov/OPPDE/rdad/FSISDirectives/7120.1.pdfhttps://www.fsis.usda.gov/wps/wcm/connect/bab10e09-aefa-483b-8be8-809a1f051d4c/7120.1.pdf?M

  26. Rahman, Mahmuder, (2008). An interview with Mahmuder Rahman: Bangladesh’s arsenic agony. (2008). Bulletin of the World Health Organization, 86(1), 11–12. https://doi.org/10.1590/S0042-96862008000100008.

  27. [EFSA/ CONTAM]. (2009). ‘Scientific Opinion on Arsenic in Food`, EFSA Journal, 7, 10, p. 146., https://efsa.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.2903/j.efsa.2009.1351?src=getftr.

  28. Patrick J. Gray, Sean D. Conklin, Todor I. Todorov & Sasha M. Kasko (2016) Cooking rice in excess water reduces both arsenic and enriched vitamins in the cooked grain, Food Additives & Contaminants: Part A, 33:1, 78–85.

  29. PÜSSA, TÖNU. (2013). `Principles of Food Toxicology`, 2nd ed. CRC Press, Taylor & Francis Group, p 200. https://books.google.com.tr/books?id=1DPSBQAAQBAJ&source=gbs_navlinks_s&hl=en.

  30. Bakota, E. L., Dunn, R. O., & Liu, S. X. (2015). Heavy metals screening of rice bran oils and its relation to composition. European Journal of Lipid Science and Technology, 117(9), 1452–1462. https://doi.org/10.1002/ejlt.201400443.

  31. Schecter, A., & Masuda, Y. (2012). The Yusho and Yucheng Rice Oil Poisoning Incidents. In Dioxins and Health: Including Other Persistent Organic Pollutants and Endocrine Disruptors: Third Edition (pp. 521–551). John Wiley and Sons. https://doi.org/10.1002/9781118184141.ch16.

  32. SUZUKI T., KOBAYASHI, H. (1968). ‘Case Details > Contamination of Rice Bran Oil with PCB Used as the Heating Medium by Leakage through Penetration Holes at the Heating Coil Tube in Deodorization Chamber’. http://www.shippai.org/fkd/en/hfen/HB1056031.pdf.

  33. his-Sung Chen, P., M. L. Luo, C. K. Wong, and C. J. Chen. (1984). ‘Polychlo-rinated Biphenyls, Dibenzofurans, and Quaterphenyls in the Toxic Rice-Bran Oil and PCBs in the Blood of Patients with PCB Poisoning in Taiwan’. American Journal of Industrial Medicine 5 (1–2): 133–45. https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1002/ajim.4700050112.

  34. Kato, Lilian Seiko et al. (2019). ‘Arsenic and Cadmium Contents in Brazilian Rice from Different Origins Can Vary More than Two Orders of Magnitude’. Food Chemistry 286(February): 644–50. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foodchem.2019.02.043.

  35. Rong, Q., Zhong, K., Li, F., Huang, H., Li, C., Nong, X., & Zhang, C. (2020). Combined Effect of Ferrous Ion and Biochar on Cadmium and Arsenic Accumulation in Rice. Applied Sciences, 10(1), 300. https://doi.org/10.3390/app10010300.

  36. China Daily. 2005. ‘27 Children Die after Eating Cassava at Philippine School’. 2005. http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/english/doc/2005-03/10/content_423641.htm.

  37. [WHO]. (2012). Potable Water Specification,2nd Ed, Rwanda Bureau of Standard,Kigali. https://apps.who.int/iris/rest/bitstreams/1080656/retrieve.

  38. Das N.K., Ghosh P., Sil A. (2013) Arsenicosis. In: Kretsinger R.H., Uversky V.N., Permyakov E.A. (eds) Encyclopedia of Metalloproteins. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-1533-6_488.

  39. Bhatti, S. M., Anderson, C. W. N., Stewart, R. B., & Robinson, B. H. (2013). Risk assessment of vegetables irrigated with arsenic-contaminated water. Environmental Sciences: Processes and Impacts, 15(10), 1866–1875. https://doi.org/10.1039/c3em00218g.

  40. [CDC]. (2018). Arsine (SA) or Stibine Facts About Arsine Case Definition: Arsine or Stibine Poisoning Toxic Syndrome Description: Arsine or Stibine Poisoning. https://emergency.cdc.gov/agent/arsine/facts.asp.

  41. Fowler, Bruce A., Selene J. Chou, Robert L. Jones, and C. J. Chen. (2007). ‘Arsenic’. In Handbook on the Toxicology of Metals, Academic Press, 397. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/B9780123694133500744?via%3Dihub.

  42. Cullen, William R, and Kenneth J Reimer. (2016). ‘CHAPTER 7. Arsenic in Food’. In Arsenic Is Everywhere: Cause for Concern?, 200. https://doi.org/10.1039/9781782626633-00190.

  43. Gilbert-Diamond, Diane et al. (2011). ‘Rice Consumption Contributes to Arsenic Exposure in US Women’. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 108(51): 20,657. https://www.pnas.org/content/pnas/108/51/20656.full.pdf.

  44. [FDA]. (2016). ‘Arsenic in Rice and Rice Products Risk Assessment Report. https://www.fda.gov/media/96071/download.

  45. [EFSA/ CONTAM]. 2009. ‘Scientific Opinion on Arsenic in Food’EFSA Journal 7(10): 1. https://efsa.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.2903/j.efsa.2009.1351.

  46. Arcella, D., Cascio, C., & Gómez Ruiz, J. Á. (2021). Chronic dietary exposure to inorganic arsenic. EFSA Journal, 19(1), pp1,43. https://doi.org/10.2903/j.efsa.2021.6380.

  47. Stiboller, M., Raber, G., Lenters, V., Gjengedal, E. L. F., Eggesbø, M., & Francesconi, K. A. (2017). Arsenolipids detected in the milk of nursing mothers. Environmental Science and Technology Letters, 4(7), 273. https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.estlett.7b00181.

  48. Jackson, B. P., Taylor, V. F., Punshon, T., & Cottingham, K. L. (2012). Arsenic concentration and speciation in infant formulas and first foods. Pure and Applied Chemistry, 84(2), 215–223. https://doi.org/10.1351/pac-con-11-09-17.

  49. Guillod-Magnin, R., Brüschweiler, B. J., Aubert, R., & Haldimann, M. (2018). Arsenic species in rice and rice-based products consumed by toddlers in Switzerland. Food Additives & Contaminants: Part A, 35(6), 1176. https://doi.org/10.1080/19440049.2018.1440641.

  50. Gu, Z., de Silva, S., & Reichman, S. M. (2020). Arsenic concentrations and dietary exposure in rice-based infant food in Australia. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 17(2). https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph17020415.

  51. Taylor, A., Barlow, N., Day, M. P., Hill, S., Patriarca, M., & White, M. (2017, March 1). Atomic spectrometry update: Review of advances in the analysis of clinical and biological materials, foods and beverages. Journal of Analytical Atomic Spectrometry. Royal Society of Chemistry. https://doi.org/10.1039/c7ja90005h.

  52. Cordeiro, Fernando & de la Calle Guntiñas, Maria. (2016). Determination of total & inorganic arsenic in rice. https://doi.org/10.2787/679027.

  53. NIST]. (2013). ‘Certificate of Analysis for Standard Reference Material® 1568b Rice Flour’, no. 1568b: 1–6. https://www-s.nist.gov/srmors/certificates/1568B.pdf.

  54. Ma, L., Yang, Z., Tang, J., & Wang, L. (2016). Simultaneous separation and determination of six arsenic species in rice by anion-exchange chromatography with inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry. Journal of Separation Science, 39(11), 2105–2113. https://doi.org/10.1002/jssc.201600216.

Abbreviations

As(III):

Arsenite (oxidation state + 3), trioxidoarsenate

As(V):

Arsenate (oxidation state + 5), pentavalent arsenic

BfR:

The German Institute for Risk Assessment (German)

CCCF8:

Codex Committee on Contaminants in Foods 8th Session

CDC:

Centers for Disease Control

CFS:

Centre for Food Safety in Hong Kong

CONTAM:

The EFSA panel on contaminants in the food chain (CONTAM Panel)

DMA(III):

Dimethylarsinic acid III

DMA(V):

Dimethylarsinic acid V

DW:

Dry weight

EFSA:

European Food Safety Authority

EU:

European Union

FAO:

The Food and Agriculture Organization

FDA:

US Food and Drug Administration

GLD:

The Government Logistics Department

HPLC:

High-performance liquid chromatography

IARC:

International Agency for Research on Cancer

iAs:

Inorganic arsenic

ICP-MS:

Inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry

ICP-OES (= ICP-AES):

Inductively coupled plasma-optical emission spectrometry, or inductively coupled plasma-atomic emission spectrometry

INAA, NAA:

Instrumental neutron activation analysis; K0-method-NAA

IRRI:

International Rice Research Institute

KCN:

Potassium cyanide

ML:

Maximum limit

ML:

Maximum limit

MMA(III):

Monomethylarsonic acid III

MMA(V):

Monomethylarsonic acid V

NaCN:

Sodium cyanide

NIST:

National Institute of Standards and Technology

oAs:

Organic arsenic

PCBs:

Polychlorinated biphenyls

PCDFs:

Polychlorinated dibenzofurans

PCQs:

Polychlorinated quaterphenyls

PRO:

Rice bran oil

RHA:

Rice husk ash

RISO:

The Association for the Promotion of Rice Consumption

SRM:

Standard reference materials

tAs:

Total arsenic (As-tot)

USDA-FSIS:

United States Department of Agriculture, Food Safety and Inspection Service

WHO:

World Health Organisation

WW:

Wet weight

XRF:

X-ray fluorescence spectrometry

References

Download references

Acknowledgements

The author would like to thank Menno Blaauw, Albert van de Wiel, Mehmet Sarilar, TU Delft/Reactor Institute Delft, Nederland for their support in the experimental analyses, and Sevilay Hacıyakupoğlu, Sema Akyıl Erentürk, and İskender A. Reyhancan, Head of the Nuclear Researches Division, Energy Institute, Istanbul Technical University, Turkey, for their assistance in conducting this study. The author also thanks Chris J. Cookson, Centre for Open Learning, University of Edinburgh, for his efforts in editing this paper.

Funding

No funding was provided. Only free help because of the importance of the research for the food safety. There is an attached file from Istanbul technical University.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Energy Institute, Istanbul Technical University, 34469, Maslak, Istanbul, Turkey

    Said Sabbagh

Authors
  1. Said Sabbagh
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Contributions

One author.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Said Sabbagh.

Ethics declarations

Conflict of interest

The authors have not disclosed any competing interest.

Consent to participate

One author.

Consent for publication

(Appropriate statements regarding publishing an individual’s data or image) All rules for scientific research were respected.

Ethics approval

All ethical rules for scientific research were respected.

Additional information

Publisher's Note

Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Sabbagh, S. Arsenic contamination in rice, radiation and chemical methods of measurement, and implications for food safety. J Food Sci Technol 60, 1870–1887 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13197-022-05469-2

Download citation

  • Revised:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s13197-022-05469-2

Keywords

Search

Navigation