[HN Gopher] Should I Be Worried About Arsenic in Rice?
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       Should I Be Worried About Arsenic in Rice?
        
       Author : whack
       Score  : 12 points
       Date   : 2025-07-02 20:41 UTC (2 hours ago)
        
 (HTM) web link (www.nytimes.com)
 (TXT) w3m dump (www.nytimes.com)
        
       | sleepyguy wrote:
       | http://archive.today/SuFE5
        
       | aaroninsf wrote:
       | TLDR:
       | 
       | "The analysis also showed that brown rice contained more arsenic
       | than white rice."
       | 
       | "...the levels varied depending on where the rice was grown. The
       | highest concentrations were found in arborio rice from Italy and
       | white and brown rices from the southeastern United States.
       | 
       | Sushi, jasmine and other types of white rice from California, as
       | well as jasmine rice from Thailand and basmati rice from India,
       | had the lowest levels."
       | 
       | No mention in the article of whether there are differences in
       | conventional and organic products (I would imagine not, if this
       | is a groundwater problem?).
       | 
       | Also of note:
       | 
       | "Though the findings were not published in a peer-reviewed
       | journal, they jibe with past research, said Dojin Ryu, a
       | professor of food toxicology at the University of Missouri. Rice
       | and rice products are typically the most concentrated food
       | sources of inorganic arsenic, according to the F.D.A."
        
       | jandrewrogers wrote:
       | Using the 100 ppb arsenic level as a baseline, and using selenium
       | as a model for daily requirements and toxicity since we don't
       | have one for arsenic, that seems to suggest that up to half a
       | kilo per day of rice should be well-tolerated? Assuming I math-ed
       | it correctly.
       | 
       | There is insufficient data to build an authoritative model of
       | dietary arsenic requirements AFAIK. It is a necessary
       | micronutrient in animal biology and evidence suggests it is
       | similar to selenium in requirement magnitude and toxicity
       | profile, so it is sometimes treated as comparable in the
       | literature. Obviously, it is a rough cut since this was
       | extrapolated from animal models -- we don't have good human
       | models -- but in principle the RDA should be well-tolerated by
       | definition and these levels are endemic in some parts of the
       | world.
        
         | ozim wrote:
         | Feels like going full tin foil hat on fluoride in tooth paste.
         | Most likely it is not really that good for you but having
         | rotten teeth is most likely worse for you than whatever
         | fluoride can do.
         | 
         | Difference would be that most likely arsenic doesn't have as
         | much upsides as the other stuff.
        
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