Climate Change Linked to Rising Arsenic in Rice, Increasing Health Risks: Lancet Study
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Climate change may significantly impact arsenic levels in paddy rice, a staple food for millions across Asia, reveals a new study from Columbia University’s Mailman School of Public Health. The research shows that increased temperatures above 2°C, coupled with rising carbon dioxide (CO2) levels, lead to higher concentrations of inorganic arsenic in rice, potentially raising lifetime health risks for populations in Asia by 2050. The findings are published in The Lancet Planetary Health.
By measuring the effects of rising temperatures and CO2 on 28 rice strains over ten years in the field using FACE (Free-Air CO2 Enrichment) methodology, and combining advanced modeling techniques, the team estimated inorganic arsenic doses and health risks for seven Asian countries: Bangladesh, China, India, Indonesia, Myanmar, the Philippines, and Vietnam.
Health risks were calculated for cancer and non-cancer outcomes. Estimates of rice availability in 2021 by country, as reported in Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) food balance sheets, were used as the starting point for estimating rice ingestion. The standard deviation of rice ingestion per kg bodyweight from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency data was used to create a normal distribution for each country.
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