Geographical variation in total and inorganic arsenic content of polished (white) rice.
An extensive data set of total arsenic analysis for 901 polished (white) grain samples, originating from 10 countries from 4 continents, was compiled. The samples represented the baseline (i.e., notspecifically collected from arsenic contaminated areas), and all were for market sale in major conurbations. Median total arsenic contents of rice varied 7-fold, with Egypt (0.04 mg/kg) and India (0.07 mg/kg) having the lowest arsenic content while the U.S. (0.25 mg/kg) and France (0.28 mg/kg) had the highest content. Global distribution of total arsenic in rice was modeled by weighting each country's arsenic distribution by that country's contribution to global production. A subset of 63 samples from Bangladesh, China, India, Italy, and the U.S. was analyzed for arsenic species. The relationship between inorganic arsenic contentversus total arsenic contentsignificantly differed among countries, with Bangladesh and India having the steepest slope in linear regression, and the U.S. having the shallowest slope. Using country-specific rice consumption data, daily intake of inorganic arsenic was estimated and the associated internal cancer risk was calculated using the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) cancer slope. Median excess internal cancer risks posed by inorganic arsenic ranged 30-fold for the 5 countries examined, being 0.7 per 10,000 for Italians to 22 per 10,000 for Bangladeshis, when a 60 kg person was considered.
Institute of Biological and Environmental Sciences, University of Aberdeen, Cruickshank Building, St. Machar Drive, Aberdeen, AB24 3UU, UK. a.meharg@abdn.ac.uk
Andrew A
AA
Meharg
Paul N
PN
Williams
Eureka
E
Adomako
Youssef Y
YY
Lawgali
Claire
C
Deacon
Antia
A
Villada
Robert C J
RC
Cambell
Guoxin
G
Sun
Yong-Guan
YG
Zhu
Joerg
J
Feldmann
Andrea
A
Raab
Fang-Jie
FJ
Zhao
Rafiqul
R
Islam
Shahid
S
Hossain
Junta
J
Yanai
D001151:Arsenic / Q000032:analysis*; D005247:Feeding Behavior; D005843:Geography; D006801:Humans; D008954:Models, Biological; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000453:epidemiology; D012275:Oryza / Q000737:chemistry*; D012044:Regression Analysis; D012307:Risk Factors
D001151:Arsenic