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Rice getting a rise out of you these days because of concerns of arsenic?

Mother Jones posted an article on its website recently that provides some explanations concerning the recent reports of  arsenic in rice.  The relation of rice to water issues is two-fold:

1. There is a 10 parts per billion limit on arsenic in water as set by the Environmental Protection Agency, yet no regulation of arsenic in rice, even though one could easily consume more arsenic from eating rice than drinking water with levels at the maximum contaminant level.
2. Fields where arsenic was previously used, either for cotton production and as a result of using chicken manure (which is arsenic-laden), are now being used for rice production. Rice is grown in flooded fields, which could lead to further problems from run-off and groundwater infiltration.

Read the article