Low-arsenic rice could have major health benefits

Seed Daily via SPX: Millions of people worldwide are regularly exposed to arsenic through drinking water and eating rice grown in soil and water containing high amounts of arsenic. Long-term exposure can lead to the development of different types of cancer as well as serious cardiovascular, neurological, and other health problems.

Scientists have now identified aromatic rice from Bangladesh that has far lower arsenic concentrations than found in non-aromatic rice. The other important benefit is that it contains higher amounts of selenium and zinc. The discovery is reported in Biomedical Spectroscopy and Imaging.

Rice is the staple food of over three billion people. Because the rice plant is highly efficient at absorbing arsenic from soil and water, it is reported to be the highest arsenic-containing cereal. For Bangladeshis, rice is their staple food and they consume on average half a kilogram of rice daily.

A team of scientists led by Dr. Parvez Haris from De Montfort University, Leicester, UK is carrying out research to remove arsenic from water and to identify ways of reducing human exposure to arsenic through diet.

Haris and his team have already demonstrated that exposure to the more toxic inorganic arsenic species is greater in people who eat more rice. In this latest work, published in Biomedical Spectroscopy and Imaging, the De Montfort University team - along with Dr Michael Watts from the British Geological Survey, Keyworth, Nottingham, UK - has identified varieties that are low in arsenic but high in essential trace elements such as selenium and zinc.

Earlier studies showed high concentrations of arsenic in Bangladeshi rice, but the rice samples were mainly from regions where the irrigation water contains higher levels of arsenic....

Child in a deepwater rice field in Bangladesh, shot by the International Rice Research Institute, Wikimedia Commons via Flickr, under the Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic license