Shine OnStudy shows high levels of lead in U.S. rice imports
The quest for clean eating gets another fly in the soup.
Because we can make a dedicated effort to buy fresh foods and produce, but the reality is we still don’t know what sort of manipulation, chemical or otherwise, our fruit or corn or grains have undergone along the trek to our tables.
The latest report on rice doesn’t help. Fresh off the discovery of arsenic in our rice supply, researchers out of Montmouth University in New Jersey have also found “high levels” of lead in a wide variety of rice imported to the U.S. from countries like China, Taiwan, Czech Republic, Bhutan, Italy, India and Thailand.
Canada imports approximately 60 per cent of its rice from the U.S., according to the Toronto Star.
Too much lead built up in the body over time can result in everything from kidney damage to headaches and behavioural problems. Children are particularly vulnerable to lead exposure.
Lead researcher Dr. Tsanangurayi Tongesayi presented the report at the American Chemical Society Meeting this week and will publish the second part of the study in the Journal of Environmental Science and Health shortly.
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As the BBC reports, the team tested several samples that exceeded the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s “provisional total tolerable intake (PTTI) by a wide margin. PTTI is defined as the acceptable level of toxic metal that can be consumed on a weekly basis.
"According to the FDA, they have to be more than 10 times the PTTI levels (to cause a health concern), and our values were two to 12 times higher than those 10 times," he tells BBC News.
Asian children, who on average consume more rice than North Americans, were at the highest risk for excessive PTTI, at a rate of 120. By contrast, non-Asian adults, the article notes, clocked in rates of 20 to 40.
Tongesayi believes that the elevated lead levels stem from irrigation practices in the field.
Rice requires more water than most crops to grow, a factor that makes it more susceptible to potential pollutants in a country’s water supply.
As there is no universal standard for agricultural practices around the world, this makes certain countries more prone than others to potential toxic exposure.
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"If you look through the scientific literature, especially on India and China, they irrigate their crops with raw sewage effluent and untreated industrial effluent," he tells BBC News.
"Research has been done in those countries, and concerns have been raised because of those practices, but it's still ongoing."
Tongesayi has called for international regulations to ensure that the food we import from all over the world adheres to the same standard and therefore diminishes the likelihood of unknown contaminants.
He also notes that nations shipping off their electronic waste to developing countries play a significant role in the presence of these toxins in the water supply.
Though no specific brands have been listed just yet, it may be wise to try organic for a while, or at least until measures have been taken to make a good paella or stir fry without fear of what may be lurking in the heart of each grain.
