Cancer Risk from Arsenic in Rice and Seaweed
- Hanna G
- Apr 6, 2021
- 2 min read
Fun fact: did you know that if you eat ½ cup of cooked rice every day, you increase your risk of getting cancer by a lot due to harmful arsenic contamination.
What is arsenic? Arsenic is a combination of metals and sulfur that is highly toxic to humans.
At one point, cotton was the main crop in South Central US. To maintain and grow cotton, the farmers used many pesticides to control the bugs that ate the cotton. These pesticides contained arsenic and were used for many years. Due to this, the soil is now contaminated with the massive loads of arsenic in these areas. On the other hand, different plants grow in this arsenic-infested soil with varying absorption results: tomato plants don't absorb much arsenic from the soil, but rice plants absorb arsenic from the ground very efficiently. Also, rice is a great way to remove arsenic from the soil. Instead of throwing the rice out until the soil is clean, we feed the arsenic-containing rice to people! About 80% of US rice is grown in this contaminated soil.
Most arsenic in our bodies comes from meat, especially fish and other seafood. About 90% of our arsenic comes from seafood, and 4% comes from rice. This is an inorganic (something that does not derive from living matter) type of arsenic -- which is highly toxic!
Rice has more toxic inorganic arsenic than seafood. An exception would be the seaweed called Hijiki. Hijiki has 100 times more arsenic than regular seaweed and other seafood. Many governments have banned it or informed the people about its toxins. On the other hand, in Japan, where they make Hijiki, they advise moderation.
What about seaweed from Maine or New England? Only one type of kelp had high levels, but it had high levels of iodine as well. Overall, avoid Hijiki because of its high arsenic levels, avoid kelp because of its high arsenic and iodine levels, but other seaweeds are alright to eat.
What about rice? What is the cancer risk with rice? A chemical should not cause cancer in more than one person in every million. A half-cup of cooked rice a day cases cancer in 136 people in every million. This is over a hundred times the "acceptable" limit! The amount of arsenic in US rice hasn't changed for the past 30 years. The soil remains very contaminated. Another disheartening fact is that farmers give their chickens arsenic-containing drugs. They do this because their manure is spread on the fields, adding more arsenic to the soil.
What else can arsenic cause? It can cause heart disease, diabetes, skin disease, kidney disease, high blood pressure, and strokes. Unfortunately, the rice industry isn't interested in doing anything about this and does not want to change its ways to help humans and other animals' well-being.
Make sure not to eat kelp, Hijiki seaweed, and other arsenic-filled seaweed products, and make sure that you are buying organic products at the grocery store.
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