Rice is the staple food for half of the world's population. Consumption
of rice is the major exposure route globally to the class one,
non-threshold carcinogen inorganic arsenic. This book explains the
sources of arsenic to paddy soils and the biogeochemical processes and
plant physiological attributes of paddy soil-rice ecosystems that lead
to high concentrations of arsenic in rice grain. It presents the global
pattern of arsenic concentration and speciation in rice, discusses human
exposures to inorganic arsenic from rice and the resulting health risks.
It also highlights particular populations that have the highest rice
consumptions, which include Southern and South East Asians, weaning
babies, gluten intolerance sufferers and those consuming rice milk. The
book also presents the information of arsenic concentration and
speciation in other major crops and outlines approaches for lowering
arsenic in rice grain and in the human diet through agronomic
management.