Toxin (Arsenic) Found in Most U.S. Rice Causes Genetic Damage

[OKIsItJustMe]

http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/crux/2013/08/02/toxin-found-in-most-u-s-rice-causes-genetic-damage/

[font face=Serif][font size=5]Toxin Found in Most U.S. Rice Causes Genetic Damage[/font]
By Crux Guest Blogger | August 2, 2013 2:06 pm
By Deborah Blum

[font size=3]It’s been more than a decade since scientists first raised an alarm about arsenic levels in rice—an alarm based on the realization that rice plants have a natural ability to absorb the toxic element out of the soil.

Since then study after study has confirmed that rice products contain more arsenic than those of any other grain. In response, consumer health advocates have pushed for regulatory agencies to set a safety standard for rice (more on that story in my forthcoming feature story in the October 2013 issue of Discover).

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Researchers from the University of Manchester and the CSIR-Indian Institute of Chemical Biology studied 400 people living in the West Bengal region of India for whom rice was a dietary staple but who were not exposed to arsenic through other sources, such as drinking water.

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When the two variables were analyzed the researchers found a clear association between the level of arsenic in rice and the number of abnormal micronuclei in subjects’ cells. The findings were reported last week in Scientific Reports.

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[Warpy]

1. Yet those people have been living on it for centuries, possibly millennia.

Arsenic in low doses has been used as a beauty agent in the west as recently as the Victorian period as it contributed to facial pallor and glossy hair favored by the nobility. Most had normal children and a lucky few lived very long lives.

Maybe I'm whistling past a graveyard because my own drinking water contains arsenic (which I filter out), but it's lower than EPA guidelines and the lowest in the entire city. However, I don't filter the water I cook my rice in and I lack the pallor and the hair so I imagine my dose is still far smaller than what the Victorians took.

Arsenic is a poison, there is no doubt about that. However, our bodies were designed to tolerate low amounts of most poisons, even with the cellular damage such poisons cause.

[cprise]

3. The cause of the rice contamination isn't natural. n/t

[cprise]

2. I switched to organic rice over this

Hopefully, the extra attention organic farmers pay to the soil will head off some of the arsenic exposure.

[OKIsItJustMe]

4. I’m sorry, but… Don’t count on the word “organic” to protect you

Yes, arsenic compounds are used in pesticides and herbicides, however there are other ways for it to get into the soil.

http://now.dartmouth.edu/2012/02/organic-food-sweetener-may-be-a-hidden-source-of-dietary-arsenic/

[font face=Serif][font size=5]Organic Food Sweetener May Be a Hidden Source of Dietary Arsenic[/font]

Posted on February 16, 2012 By Joseph Blumberg

[font size=3]As people seek healthier dietary regimens they often turn to things labeled “organic.” Lurking in the background, however, is an ingredient that may be a hidden source of arsenic—an element known to be both toxic and potentially carcinogenic.

Organic brown rice syrup has become a preferred alternative to using high fructose corn syrup as a sweetener in food. High fructose corn syrup has been criticized as a highly processed substance that is more harmful than sugar and is a substantial contributor to epidemic obesity. Unfortunately, organic brown rice syrup is not without its faults.

Dartmouth researchers and others have previously called attention to the potential for consuming harmful levels of arsenic via rice, and organic brown rice syrup may be the latest culprit on the scene.

With the introduction of organic brown rice syrup into food processing, even the savvy consumer may unknowingly be ingesting arsenic. Recognizing the danger, Brian Jackson and other Dartmouth researchers conducted a study to determine the concentrations of arsenic in commercial food products containing organic brown rice syrup including toddler formula, cereal/energy bars, and high-energy foods used by endurance athletes.

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http://www.dartmouth.edu/~toxmetal/assets/pdf/arsenicinfoodfaq.pdf


http://www.fda.gov/ForConsumers/ConsumerUpdates/ucm319827.htm#1

[font face=Serif][font size=5]FDA Looks for Answers on Arsenic in Rice[/font]

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[font size=4]Arsenic is Found in the Environment[/font]

[font size=3]Arsenic is a chemical element distributed in the Earth’s crust. It is released from volcanoes and from the erosion of mineral deposits. It is found throughout the environment—in water, air and soil. For that reason, it is inevitably found in some foods and beverages.

Human activities also add arsenic to the environment. They include burning coal, oil, gasoline and wood, mining, and the use of arsenic compounds as pesticides, herbicides and wood preservatives.

FDA has been monitoring arsenic levels in rice for more than 20 years. Its analysis thus far does not show any evidence of a change in total arsenic levels. The change is that researchers are better able to measure whether those levels represent more or less toxic forms of arsenic.

Rice comes from all over the world and is grown very differently from region to region, which may greatly vary the levels of arsenic within the same kind of product. The larger sample that FDA is taking will cover the wide variety of rice types, geographical regions where rice is grown, and the wide range of foods that contain rice as an ingredient.

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[cprise]

5. Thanks. I'm going to stick with the (white) organic rice though

I noticed on the Consumer Reports arsenic chart that only one organic rice brand extended into the red zone and even then it was far from being the worst. The Target AF organic basmati was particularly low in inorganic (heheh) arsenic so I'm going to stock up on some of that next.

EDIT: Interestingly, I noticed Consumer Reports highlighted south-central US as particularly contaminated with arsenic, and that one organic rice brand that showed up as dangerous is called "Texas Best"... only their brown but not the white.