There was a study done a while back on how to try to remove arsenic from rice. You essentially boil it for 5 minutes and get rid of that water first, then cook rice normally.
I'm pretty sure this would remove (i.e., nullify) the majority of its nutrients & value to consumption to begin with. We need to find ways to cleanly grow rice, on lands that aren't already contaminated with arsenic.
Thanks for reading the report and providing the tl;dr.
Another thing that caught my eye as I scanned the article was "rice products" which is obviously not just rice, and levels exceeded for "infant rice cereal".
So, it did sort of seem aimed at the market of inducing panic in new moms.
Also rice is a lot worse than other grains and brown rice is worse than other rice. Asian people in particular should diversify their diets. I'd note that Asian-Americans already have high PFAS levels because they use rice cookers.
Do you have a source about PFAs from rice cookers? My understanding is that Teflon in cookware, used at recommended temperatures, doesn't release PFAs. It's the Teflon manufacturing process that releases PFAs.
This would be tough to solve. As the report points out, arsenic is a naturally occuring compound. Despite what regulations you may want to pass, the solution is ultimately going to fall on the farmers in high arsenic areas to switch crops.
I'd also pump the brakes on freaking out. The long-term risks of arsenic are pretty tenuous at best - nothing at all like lead.
My neighbor, a chemist, told me this years back. He had sampled US grown rice. He said arsenic was used to color chicken meat and there is runoff that gets into where rice is grown.
Readit News
https://scitechdaily.com/scientists-find-new-way-of-cooking-...
https://hbbf.org/sites/default/files/2025-05/Arsenic-in-Rice...
This rang my "fraud" detector in my head:
1. a random .org site that sounds too much like rah rah save the children
2. spammed across many news sites and reddit and now hacker news all in a short time span
but after reading the report it seems pretty good
The take-away I got was buy rice grown in California, Thailand, or India. Soak beforehand if you really want to reduce bad stuff
Another thing that caught my eye as I scanned the article was "rice products" which is obviously not just rice, and levels exceeded for "infant rice cereal".
So, it did sort of seem aimed at the market of inducing panic in new moms.
I'd also pump the brakes on freaking out. The long-term risks of arsenic are pretty tenuous at best - nothing at all like lead.
Small edit: it's an element, not a compound.
Compounds can be denatured to render them harmless, or at least less harmful. Bleach left out in the sun becomes slightly salty water.
Arsenic is eternally harmful.
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