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Inorganic arsenic levels in rice milk exceed EU and US drinking water standards

Research output: Contribution to Journal/MagazineJournal articlepeer-review

Published
  • Andrew A. Meharg
  • Claire Deacon
  • Robert C. J. Campbell
  • Anne Marie Carey
  • Anne-Marie Carey
  • Paul Williams
  • Jörg Feldmann
  • Andrea Raab
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<mark>Journal publication date</mark>2008
<mark>Journal</mark>Journal of Environmental Monitoring
Issue number4
Volume10
Number of pages4
Pages (from-to)428-431
Publication StatusPublished
<mark>Original language</mark>English

Abstract

Under EU legislation, total arsenic levels in drinking water should not exceed 10 μg l−1, while in the US this figure is set at 10 μg l−1 inorganic arsenic. All rice milk samples analysed in a supermarket survey (n = 19) would fail the EU limit with up to 3 times this concentration recorded, while out of the subset that had arsenic species determined (n = 15), 80% had inorganic arsenic levels above 10 μg l−1, with the remaining 3 samples approaching this value. It is a point for discussion whether rice milk is seen as a water substitute or as a food, there are no EU or US food standards highlighting the disparity between water and food regulations in this respect.