Drinking water has been considered the major route of exposure of arsenic (As) to humans. As a result, the health threats posed by the metalloid were considered limited to contaminated regions. Recent reports of As in foods and beverages have added new exposure routes that are global because of the globalized food market. The source of As in food can be contaminated soils, contaminated water and/or agricultural chemicals. Contaminated regions could be acting as conduits to global human exposure to As. The goal of this study was, therefore, to determine the levels of As and also RoHS metals (Pb, Cd, and Cr) in rice products by country of origin. Rice is a major staple food and is processed into various food products for both kids and adults. Samples of rice products from the US, South America, Asia, and Europe were purchased from local supermarkets and analyzed using XRF and GFAAS. Lead was present in all the foods samples and its concentration ranged from 4.3 to 17.9 �g/g. Some baby rice food had levels of Pb as high as 12.5�0.2 �g/g. The region that had the highest levels of Pb had also the highest levels of Cr (21.0�0.1 �g/g) and As (0.0075�0.0007�g/g) in the same products. Cadmium levels ranged from low ppb levels to 8.10�0.2 �g/g across regions. The data was validated using NIST 1568a, NIST 2781 and NIST2702 reference samples. More work is being done to evaluate the effect of processing the rice on the levels of the selected metals as well as to perform speciation analyses.

Levels of arsenic and metals under the Restriction of Hazardous Substances (RoHS) (cadmium, chromium, and lead) in rice food products by country of origin

244th National Meeting (2012)

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