Arsenic in Rice

[Imploder]

I came across this article and as a daily rice eater, I almost fell off my chair. Is this a well known fact, or have I been living under a rock? Anyone else aware of this?

 

https://www.huffingtonpost.co.za/entry/arsenic-in-rice_us_589cc1ffe4b09bd304c0b04c

 

[Grey Hubs]

And I always thought brown rice was the healthier option...

[MrJacques]

Yeah, I've read about it before. I don't eat rice very often, but I used to growing up. Rys, vleis en aartappels

 

There is something similar with oats as well with phytate. I think just eat a well balanced diet, with things in moderation.

[Jewbacca]

Yeah bro... People have been dying from eating rice for centuries.

 

The average lifespan in Asia is less that 25.

 

Seriously, I read somewhere else the other day that oranges will kill you too.... 

[Spinnekop]

Enige iets met 'n "te" aan is gevaarlik.

Behalwe tevoet, tevrede en teperd.

[dev null]

Yeah bro... People have been dying from eating rice for centuries.

 

The average lifespan in Asia is less that 25.

 

Seriously, I read somewhere else the other day that oranges will kill you too.... 

 

Large doses of Dihydrogen Monoxide will do that too.

[Captain Fastbastard Mayhem]

Don't pay attention to it.

 

Caffeine is a KNOWN carcinogen. You'll die if you ingest more than 8l water at once (LD50 is 8litres) and there are high levels of Mercury in tuna.

 

It's all about the dose. Yet another clickbait scare article from what must be one of the worst contributors to that in the "journalistic" world.

 

Just eat your rice.

[Kona Kula]

Cyanide in apples and Mercury in fish. Now what you going to eat?

[Eldron]

Man I hate sensationalist articles like that. No numbers, levels or actual information - just RUUUUN ARGHHHH SCARY POISON DEATH.

[Piston ZA]

Large doses of Dihydrogen Monoxide will do that too.

That stuff is deadly - kills thousands of people a year, yet we spray it on our food, consume it every day....

[Eldron]

Large doses of Dihydrogen Monoxide will do that too.

Mix that with sodium chloride and it's instant death for everyone on the planet. Or it cures a sore throat when gargled. I forget which...

[Odinson]

Been seeing the arsenic in rice story floating around a lot. The fact is that there are higher levels of arsenic in rice, but there is little consensus as to whether those levels are in fact dangerous. 

 

Also, not all rice contain equal amounts. Apparently US rice contains pretty high levels. 

 

Frankly, just eat your rice and if you're really freaked out about it, just cook your rice like you would pasta. 

[Kranswurm]

I heard apple pips are deadly...

[droo]

I think the more concerning thing is that you believed something you read in the Huffington Post.

 

Not exactly the peak of scientific journalism.

[Odinson]

Some science out of Harvard on the topic:

 

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26219234

 

Rice consumption and cancer incidence in US men and women

 

 

During 18 to 26 years follow‐up for over 280,000 US men and women, results from three prospective cohorts suggested the intakes of total rice, white rice or brown rice were not significantly associated with the risk of overall cancers. The null association remained among Asian and European American participants, never smokers, and after stratifying by BMI.

 

While arsenic and inorganic arsenic are carcinogenic to humans, it remains unknown whether arsenic associated with rice consumption increases risks of developing cancers. Hence, we conducted this first study to specifically address the question whether amounts of arsenic in rice are sufficient to see a detectable increase in cancer risk. Our study found no association between long‐term rice consumption and overall cancer risk. To our knowledge, this study is the only analysis to date to assess the associations between the rice consumption and the risk of overall cancers. The age‐adjusted null results were essentially similar to multivariable results. Additionally, the null results were observed in both genders and even among individuals with regular intake for decades. The highest category of rice intake in our study was at least five servings per week, which is approximately equivalent to 9.5 μg/day inorganic arsenic from white rice, or 20.1 μg/day from brown rice (1 serving = 1 cup ≈158 g cooked white rice or 195 g cooked brown rice26). These amounts of arsenic in our study were comparable with those based on the Consumer Reports, which have shown that the average inorganic arsenic level is 13.3 μg/cup in white rice and 28.2 μg/cup in brown rice7).

 

Compared with white rice, brown rice has low glycemic index and high contents of multiple nutrients, such as fiber, minerals, and vitamins. Hence, brown rice may favorably influence cancer risk via its antioxidant, anti‐inflammatory and antimutagenic properties.3-6 However, in contrast to our hypothesis, in the NHS II, we observed significant inverse associations between consumption of total rice and white rice (but not brown rice) and total cancer risk. These results appeared to be primarily driven by the inverse associations with breast cancer (47% of overall cancer) in this cohort. However, the only study on rice consumption and breast cancer we identified reported positive associations with white rice consumption and inverse associations with brown rice among postmenopausal women.27 Nonetheless, these unexpected results may be due to chance, unmeasured confounding, or reflect unknown biology, which requires further investigation.

 

While primary exposure route of arsenic is from foods especially for people with limited exposure through drinking water,28, 29 we do not have information on contaminated areas. Nonetheless, in some regions with contamination, the ground water is the main source of inorganic arsenic.30-32 In the southwestern region of Taiwan, with arsenic concentration in well water up to 1,000 μg/L, positive associations were reported for urinary tract cancer, skin cancer and lung cancer.11, 12, 33 However, studies conducted in US where the level of arsenic in water is much lower (<100–200 μg/L), generally reported null results.34-37

 

With regard to cancer sites, our study did not observe a statistically significant association between rice consumption and risk of any each specific cancer. However, it worthwhile noting that we observed a borderline significant increased risk of bladder cancer comparing ≥5/week vs. <1 week of total rice intake (RR = 1.32, 95% CI: 0.99–1.76). While we did not directly measure arsenic in this study, bladder cancer is arguably the most susceptible cancer site to arsenic exposure although studies on bladder cancer and arsenic in low concentrations have been inconsistent.38, 39 Clearly, our observation of borderline significant associations between rice intake and bladder cancer risk warrants further investigation.

[Furbz]

I heard apple pips are deadly...

 

thats legit, you swallow those and a tree grows inside you. 

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