Ministry says arsenic levels in rice 'no problem'

The Ministry of Agriculture has played down the results of a study that found high levels of arsenic in some samples of locally grown rice.

The study, published in the International Journal of Water and Wastewater Treatment at the end of January, found the arsenic content of some rice samples surpassed acceptable levels by as much as threefold in five provinces, with the worst found in Kandal province.

Citing a 2013 study in West Bengal, the study’s author, Yumei Kang of the Kochi University in Japan, noted that prolonged exposure to rice containing more than the internationally mandated maximum quantity of arsenic places people at a heightened risk of genetic damage.

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