By Van Waffle
A study from Dartmouth College in New Hampshire found that rice cereal and other rice-containing foods contribute to arsenic exposure in infants.
The study collected data on 759 children whose mothers enrolled during pregnancy in the New Hampshire Birth Cohort Study from 2011 to 2014. Researchers interviewed parents about children’s food intake during the first year of life.
The analysis separated out infants who ate fish and seafood, which also contain arsenic. Among infants who didn’t consume seafood, those who ate rice and rice-containing products had more arsenic in their urine than children who did not eat rice.
The authors recommend minimizing arsenic exposure during early childhood development.
Karagas MR, Punshon T, Sayarath V, Jackson BP, Folt CL and Cottingham KL, Association of rice and rice-product consumption with arsenic exposure early in life,” JAMA Pediatrics, June 2016, doi:10.1001/jamapediatrics.2016.0120.
