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Arsenic is toxic to life. It was one of the first poisons used by medicine to kill bacteria and is now used mainly as a chemo agent in cancer treatments. It is found naturally in the ground and is released from volcanoes and from the erosion of mineral deposits. Therefore it is found throughout the environment-in water, air and soil.
Though arsenic can enter soil or water due to weathering of arsenic-containing minerals in the earth, humans are more to blame than Mother Nature for arsenic contamination in the U.S. today, according to the federal Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry.
The U.S. is the world's leading user of arsenic, and since 1910 about 1.6 million tons have been used for agricultural and industrial purposes, about half of it only since the mid-1960s. Residues from the decades of use of lead-arsenate insecticides linger in agricultural soil today, even though their use was banned in the 1980s. Other arsenical ingredients in animal feed to prevent disease and promote growth are still permitted. Moreover, fertilizer made from poultry waste can contaminate crops with inorganic arsenic. For that reason, it is inevitably found in some foods and beverages. But some of the latest news is becoming alarming.
No federal limit exists for arsenic in most foods, but the standard for drinking water is 10 parts per billion (ppb). That level is twice the 5 ppb that the EPA originally proposed and that New Jersey actually established. Using the 5-ppb standard, some rice servings could give an average adult almost one and a half times the inorganic arsenic he or she would get from a whole day's consumption of water, about 1 liter.
Read the release below from the FDA.
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) monitors hundreds of foods and beverages that make up the average American diet. The agency looks for substances that could be harmful to consumers, including industrial chemicals, heavy metals, pesticide residues and radiation contamination.
Those dietary staples include rice and rice products, foods that FDA has specifically tested for the presence of inorganic arsenic, a chemical that under some circumstances has been associated with long-term health effects.
The agency has analyzed nearly 200 samples of rice and rice products and is collecting about 1,000 more. Since rice is processed into many products, these samples include rice products such as cereals, rice beverages and rice cakes.
Arsenic levels can vary greatly from sample to sample, even within the same product. FDA's testing of the initial samples found these average levels of inorganic arsenic in micrograms (one millionth of a gram):
Rice (other than Basmati rice): 6.7 per 1 cup (cooked)
Rice cakes: 5.4 per 2 cakes
Rice beverages: 3.8 per 240 ml (some samples not tested for inorganic arsenic)
Rice cereals: 3.5 per 1 cup
Basmati rice: 3.5 per 1 cup cooked
Based on data and scientific literature available now, FDA is not recommending that consumers change their consumption of rice and rice products at this time, but that people eat a balanced diet containing a wide variety of grains.
Data collection is the critical first step in assessing long-term health risks and minimizing those risks.
"We understand that consumers are concerned about this matter. FDA is committed to ensuring that we understand the extent to which substances such as arsenic are present in our foods, what risks they may pose, whether these risks can be minimized, and to sharing what we know," says FDA Commissioner Margaret A. Hamburg, M.D.
Once FDA has completed its analysis of about 1,200 rice products, the agency will analyze these results and determine whether or not to issue additional recommendations."
I feel there is a little dragging their feet going on with this. I recommend cutting back on rice and rice products immediately, until we can be "reassured" that they are safe. |
