Current issues on arsenic in paddy soils and rice grains in Korea

Won-Il Kima, D.Y. Kimb, K.H. Kimb, O.K. Kwona and J.G. Kima

a O-Jeong Eco-Resilience Institute , Korea University, Korea

b Department of Environmental Horticulture, University of Seoul, Korea

wikim0721@naver.com

Rice (Oryza sativa L.) is one of the most widely consumed staple cereal foods in the world constituting about 89% of the diet of people in Asian countries. In many East and South Asian countries, the accumulation of arsenic (As) in rice ecosystems and its subsequent transfer to the human food chain is a major environmental issue. Codex Committee of Contaminants in Food (CCCF) has set a new standard of arsenic (As) in rice in 2014 and discussing a code of practice for the prevention and reduction of As contamination in rice since 2013. In order to establish a propose draft maximum level for As in rice, inorganic and total As content in both brown and polished rice produced were monitored in Korea. The average concentration of inorganic and total As in polished rice monitored were 0.07 and 0.11 mg/kg, respectively. The average concentration of inorganic and total As in brown rice monitored were 0.11 and 0.18 mg/kg, respectively. In this study, the As in rice was not closely related to the As in paddy soil taken from the same sites. This study were also conducted to investigate the effect of water management and soil amendments on As accumulation in rice, and to select the low As accumulation rice genotypes which are resistant to As uptake. The reduction efficiency of the amendment was confirmed to be higher efficiency in As reduction for brown rice by the order of gypsum > steel slag > poultry manure > agri-lime. We also concluded that limited water supply may be a promising strategy to reduce As accumulation in rice grains. 280 rice cultivars were screened to find the lower As accumulated rice cultivars in Korea. It concluded that the screening program is feasible to effectively reduce the risk of human exposure. However, additional field studies and As bioaccessibility research are required to control As in paddy soils and rice grains.

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