Rice “attracts” arsenic, a toxic element that occurs naturally in soil and groundwater. Researchers have explained that “rice needs to take up silica and in paddy conditions, arsenic is chemically very similar to silica.”

Arsenic, in varying quantities, is widely present in drinking water and, in that element has been studied for a long time, with maximum allowed levels set by the FDA. Exposure to arsenic in higher than “normal” amounts can cause thickening and discoloration of the skin, stomach pain, numbness in hands and feet, partial paralysis and blindness, according to the EPA. Further, arsenic also increases the risk of bladder and other cancers.

Last year, Brian Jackson, the analytical chemist who led the new Dartmouth study that discovered arsenic in baby formula, published a study that found that pregnant women in New Hampshire who consumed rice were more likely to have arsenic in their urine. More specifically, each gram of rice eaten increased urinary arsenic by one-percent. Thus, eating approximately one-half of a cup of cooked rice per day is equivalent to drinking one liter of water with arsenic at the maximum level considered safe by the EPA. And just last year, the FDA started looking at arsenic levels in food and the possible effects on people.

Well, it is about time, isn’t is? Read more here.