Lead & arsenic polluted rice

Rice (Oryza sativa)

A new report has concluded that a lot of rice is contaminated with high levels of lead and arsenic:

A new study by a team of scientists in the United States shows rice imported from certain countries contains high levels of lead that could pose health risks for infants and children,

Scientists analyzed rice imported into the U.S. from Asia, Europe and South America. They say rice samples from Taiwan and China had the highest lead levels.

Overall, the team found lead levels ranging from six to 12 milligrams per kilogram, with some of the highest amounts in baby food.

The lead researcher, Tsanangurayi Tongesayi, says daily exposure by infants and children to the rice products would be 30 to 60 times higher than levels considered tolerable by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. He says Asian infants and children are at twice as much risk, because of their higher rice consumption.

The imported rice accounts for only seven percent of all rice consumed in the U.S. However, the study says that due to increasing imports, the rice still found its way into U.S. supermarket chains and restaurants, as well as ethnic specialty markets.

Researchers also found significantly high lead levels in rice samples from the Czech Republic, Bhutan, Italy, India and Thailand.

Analysis of rice from Pakistan, Brazil and other countries is still under way.

The study was presented at a meeting of the American Chemical Society in New Orleans.

Caroline Smith DeWaal is with the non-profit Center for Science in the Public Interest in Washington. She says rice poses a unique problem as a staple food worldwide.

“Rice is like a sponge for environmental contaminants, like lead or arsenic,” said DeWaal. “If it’s present in the soil, if it’s present in the water where the rice is being grown, those contaminants are easily absorbed into the rice. ” http://www.voanews.com/content/us-study-high-levels-of-lead-found-in-imported-rice/1639753.html

Human pollution has affected the air and water, and more and more reports are also pointing out problems with the food supply. Consumer Reports did a report showing high arsenic levels in rice some time ago, and the arsenic was not limited to imported rice–USA rice had similar problems.

Rice is a major food and is the most widely consumed grain.

Notice also the following:

Rice is the seed of the monocot plants Oryza sativa (Asian rice) or Oryza glaberrima (African rice). As a cereal grain, it is the most widely consumed staple food for a large part of the world’s human population, especially in Asia and the West Indies. It is the grain with the second-highest worldwide production, after maize (corn), according to data for 2010…

Rice and rice products contain arsenic, a known poison and Group 1 carcinogen. There is no safe level of arsenic, but, as of 2012, a limit of 10 parts per billion has been established in the United States for drinking water, twice the level of 5 parts per billion originally proposed by the EPA. Consumption of one serving of some varieties of rice gives more exposure to arsenic than consumption of 1 liter of water that contains 5 parts per billion arsenic; however, the amount of arsenic in rice varies widely with the greatest concentration in brown rice and rice grown on land formerly used to grow cotton; in the United States, Arkansas, Louisiana, Missouri, and Texas. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is studying this issue, but has not established a limit. China has set a limit of 150 ppb for arsenic in rice. White rice grown in Arkansas, Louisiana, Missouri, and Texas, which account for 76 percent of American-produced rice, had higher levels of arsenic, possibly because of past use of arsenic based pesticides to control cotton weevils. Rice from Thailand and India contain the least arsenic among rice varieties in one study. (Rice. Wikipedia, viewed 04/12/13)

A lot of pollution comes from human greed. Some also comes from ignorance.

The following passage which involves the second coming of Jesus, and comes from the book also known as the Apocalypse, has an interesting statement:

8 The nations were angry, and Your wrath has come, And the time of the dead, that they should be judged, And that You should reward Your servants the prophets and the saints, And those who fear Your name, small and great, And should destroy those who destroy the earth. (Revelation 11:18)

Are not massive air, water, food, and other pollution problems part of how humankind is destroying the earth? In a sense, pollution will be a factor in the Apocalypse as the above passage shows.

Jesus will need to return to save humanity from destroying itself (Matthew 24:22).

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