The United States found high levels of lead in Chinese rice

Analysis with imported rice samples into the US, including from China, showed that they contained higher levels of lead than the country's safety standards.

According to a report at the American Chemical Society Conference, some imported rice samples with lead content surpassed the "total, temporary tolerance threshold" (PTTI) by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA). ) fabricate. FDA revealed, the agency will scrutinize the newly published research results.

Lead has long been known to be harmful to many human organs and central nervous system. The risk is especially high for young children who will experience serious development problems if exposed to high levels of lead.

Because rice plants grow in good irrigation conditions, they are more susceptible to osmotic pollutants from irrigation water than other food crops.

Recent studies have emphasized the presence of arsenic in rice, a problem that caused the Food Standards Bureau of the UK and recently the FDA to provide guidelines on consumption. Experts say other heavy metals are also at risk of poisoning rice.

The United States currently imports about 7% of consumption rice. Dr. Tsanangurayi Tongesayi of Monmouth University in New Jersey (USA) and colleagues conducted a large inspection of imported rice brands sold in local stores. They sampled packaged rice from Bhutan, Italy, China, Taiwan, India, Israel, the Czech Republic and Thailand.

The team measured the lead content by rice classification by country and calculated the total amount of lead tolerance from daily rice absorption. The results will be published in the Journal of Environmental Science and Health (Part B).

Rice imported from China and Taiwan was found to contain the highest lead content. However, Dr. Tongesayi emphasized that all test samples were far above the PTTI threshold.

"When comparing them, we found that the daily exposure to lead was much higher than the PTCI regulations. According to the FDA, they must be 10 times higher than the PTTI threshold, but our results are still high "We can only conclude that they are capable of causing potential harm , " Tongesayi said.

Dr. Tongesayi is also conducting quantitative measures of arsenic poisoning in rice. According to the researcher, the problem lies in agricultural qualifications and techniques in countries.

"If we look at the scientific literature, especially in India and China, they irrigate the crops by using untreated natural and industrial sewage branches. Many studies have been conducted in the the country and the wave of fears began to increase in ways to do so, but that is still happening, " Tongesayi said.