Geographical variation in inorganic arsenic in paddy field samples and commercial rice from the Iberian Peninsula

• Published in: Food chemistry Vol. 202; pp. 356 - 363
• Main Authors: Signes-Pastor, Antonio J., Carey, Manus, Carbonell-Barrachina, Angel A., Moreno-Jiménez, Eduardo, Green, Andy J., Meharg, Andrew A.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: England Elsevier Ltd 01.07.2016
• Subjects: Arsenic - analysis; Arsenic speciation; Cadmium; Cadmium - analysis; Chromatography; European Union; Food Analysis; Iberian Peninsula; Infant Food; Inorganic arsenic; Mass Spectrometry; Oryza - chemistry; Portugal; Rice; Shoots; Soil; Soil - chemistry; Spain; Arsenic speciation; Cadmium; Iberian Peninsula; Soil; Shoots; Inorganic arsenic; Rice
• ISSN: 0308-8146; 1873-7072
• DOI: 10.1016/j.foodchem.2016.01.117

•Inorganic arsenic in rice samples from the main Iberian Peninsula paddy fields.•Relationship between soil arsenic and inorganic arsenic in shoots and rice grain.•Rice from Andalucía, Murcia and Valencia had the lowest inorganic arsenic content.•The elevated inorganic arsenic in rice destined for children food is of concern.•Low cadmium concentration in field-collected and commercial rice grain samples. This study investigated total arsenic and arsenic speciation in rice using ion chromatography with mass spectrometric detection (IC-ICP-MS), covering the main rice-growing regions of the Iberian Peninsula in Europe. The main arsenic species found were inorganic and dimethylarsinic acid. Samples surveyed were soil, shoots and field-collected rice grain. From this information soil to plant arsenic transfer was investigated plus the distribution of arsenic in rice across the geographical regions of Spain and Portugal. Commercial polished rice was also obtained from each region and tested for arsenic speciation, showing a positive correlation with field-obtained rice grain. Commercial polished rice had the lowest i-As content in Andalucia, Murcia and Valencia while Extremadura had the highest concentrations. About 26% of commercial rice samples exceeded the permissible concentration for infant food production as governed by the European Commission. Some cadmium data is also presented, available with ICP-MS analyses, and show low concentration in rice samples.