The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) tested about 1,300 rice products, and found arsenic to be present, but at satisfactory levels.
The levels of inorganic arsenic "ranged from 2.6 to 7.2 micrograms of inorganic arsenic per serving," an FDA press release reported.
Arsenic is "a naturally occurring substance or as a result of contamination from human activity," the FDA reported. It can be found in soil, drinking water, and food such as rice. Inorganic arsenic is the most toxic form of the metalloids, as opposed to organic arsenic.
"All of the data suggest levels that are not high enough to give us cause for concern for immediate or near-term effects," FDA commissioner Margaret Hamburg, said, USA Today reported.
The FDA found that brown rice had the highest arsenic levels, while rice wine had the lowest. The potentially-harmful substance tends to accumulate in the rice's "hull," so the more "refined and polished" the grains are the lower the arsenic level will be.
Arsenic gets into the grains when their parent plants suck it up from contaminated soil, possibly caused by flooding.
"Nobody wants arsenic, period," Hamburg told USA Today. "But it's a fact of life, it's in soil."
The FDA plans to continue risk assessment to monitor the extent of possible health repercussions, the press release reported.
The FDA said there was no need to stop eating rice problems, but having a balanced diet without eating any product in excess was important.
Short-term symptoms of arsenic poisoning include: "vomiting, abdominal pain, diarrhea, dark urine, dehydration, cardiac problems, destruction of red blood cells, vertigo, delirium, shock," and even death, MedicineNet reported.
Long term symptoms include: skin abnormalities such as pigment changes ("darkening or discoloration, redness, swelling," and skin bumps resembling warts). Areas of Asia and South America that are known to have high levels of arsenic in their drinking water had increased cases of bladder, kidney, lung, and skin cancer.
