TY - JOUR

T1 - Do arsenic levels in rice pose a health risk to the UK population?

AU - Menon, Manoj

AU - Sarkar, Binoy

AU - Hufton, Joseph

AU - Reynolds, Christian

AU - Reina, Saul Vazquez

AU - Young, Scott

N1 - This is the author’s version of a work that was accepted for publication in Ecotoxicology and Environmental Safety. Changes resulting from the publishing process, such as peer review, editing, corrections, structural formatting, and other quality control mechanisms may not be reflected in this document. Changes may have been made to this work since it was submitted for publication. A definitive version was subsequently published in Ecotoxicology and Environmental Safety, 197, 2020 DOI: 10.1016/j.ecoenv.2020.110601

PY - 2020/7/1

Y1 - 2020/7/1

N2 - Consumption of rice and rice products can be a significant exposure pathway to inorganic arsenic (iAs), which is a group 1 carcinogen to humans. The UK follows the current European Commission regulations so that iAs concentrations must be < 0.20 mg kg−1 in white (polished) rice and <0.25 mg kg−1 in brown (unpolished) rice. However, iAs concentration in rice used for infant food production or direct consumption has been set at a maximum of 0.1 mg kg−1. In this context, this study aimed to evaluate iAs concentrations in different types of rice sold in the UK and to quantify the health risks to the UK population. Here, we evaluated 55 different types of rice purchased from a range of retail outlets. First, we analysed all rice types for total As (tAs) concentration from which 42 rice samples with tAs > 0.1 mg kg−1 were selected for As speciation using HPLC-ICP-MS. Based on the average concentration of iAs of our samples, we calculated values for the Lifetime Cancer Risk (LCR), Target Hazard Quotient (THQ) and Margin of Exposure (MoE). We found a statistically significant difference between organically and non-organically grown rice. We also found that brown rice contained a significantly higher concentration of iAs compared to white or wild rice. Notably, 28 rice samples exceeded the iAs maximum limit stipulated by the EU (0.1 mg kg−1) with an average iAs concentration of 0.13 mg kg−1; therefore consumption of these rice types could be riskier for infants than adults. Based on the MoE, it was found that infants up to 1 year must be restricted to a maximum of 20 g per day for the 28 rice types to avoid carcinogenic risks. We believe that consumers could be better informed whether the marketed product is fit for infants and young children, via appropriate product labelling containing information about iAs concentration.

AB - Consumption of rice and rice products can be a significant exposure pathway to inorganic arsenic (iAs), which is a group 1 carcinogen to humans. The UK follows the current European Commission regulations so that iAs concentrations must be < 0.20 mg kg−1 in white (polished) rice and <0.25 mg kg−1 in brown (unpolished) rice. However, iAs concentration in rice used for infant food production or direct consumption has been set at a maximum of 0.1 mg kg−1. In this context, this study aimed to evaluate iAs concentrations in different types of rice sold in the UK and to quantify the health risks to the UK population. Here, we evaluated 55 different types of rice purchased from a range of retail outlets. First, we analysed all rice types for total As (tAs) concentration from which 42 rice samples with tAs > 0.1 mg kg−1 were selected for As speciation using HPLC-ICP-MS. Based on the average concentration of iAs of our samples, we calculated values for the Lifetime Cancer Risk (LCR), Target Hazard Quotient (THQ) and Margin of Exposure (MoE). We found a statistically significant difference between organically and non-organically grown rice. We also found that brown rice contained a significantly higher concentration of iAs compared to white or wild rice. Notably, 28 rice samples exceeded the iAs maximum limit stipulated by the EU (0.1 mg kg−1) with an average iAs concentration of 0.13 mg kg−1; therefore consumption of these rice types could be riskier for infants than adults. Based on the MoE, it was found that infants up to 1 year must be restricted to a maximum of 20 g per day for the 28 rice types to avoid carcinogenic risks. We believe that consumers could be better informed whether the marketed product is fit for infants and young children, via appropriate product labelling containing information about iAs concentration.

KW - Total arsenic

KW - Arsenic speciation

KW - Lifetime cancer risk

KW - Rice consumption

KW - Target hazard quotient

KW - Margin of exposure

U2 - 10.1016/j.ecoenv.2020.110601

DO - 10.1016/j.ecoenv.2020.110601

M3 - Journal article

VL - 197

JO - Ecotoxicology and Environmental Safety

JF - Ecotoxicology and Environmental Safety

SN - 0147-6513

M1 - 110601

ER -