During the American Chemical Society’s 245th National Meeting & Exposition last month in New Orleans, our own Dr. Joel Creswell presented data demonstrating the effectiveness of our method to determine various arsenic species in rice samples using high performance liquid chromatography and inductively coupled plasma – mass spectrometry (HPLC-ICP-MS), resulting in an extremely precise method with detection limits of less than three parts-per-billion (ppb) for each of the relevant arsenic species in rice and other food samples.

When fields are inundated with water to grow rice, arsenic (which can be naturally occurring or the result of contamination due to prior pesticide use, pollution, etc.) in the soil is readily dissolved and then taken up by this important food crop because of its chemical similarity to phosphorus, a critical element in plant growth. Even domestically or organically grown rice has consistently been shown to contain levels of arsenic that often exceed 100 ppb, which might be of some concern to populations that consume a significant amount of rice in their diet or in proportion to their body mass (i.e., toddlers).

It is already well established that inorganic species of arsenic (trivalent and pentavalent arsenic salts) can cause cancer, while organoarsenic compounds are considered to be relatively harmless. Distinguishing between these types of arsenic compounds in rice and rice products is critical to evaluating the potential impact on human health.

Brooks Rand Labs offers an accurate and precise analytical method to measure the concentrations of inorganic arsenic in rice and other food products to researchers, suppliers, and purchasers. Contact us today to learn more!