The 'King of Poisons' Is Building up in Rice
- A study published on April 16, 2025, in Lancet Planetary Health revealed that rising temperatures and CO2 increase arsenic uptake in rice, raising health risks by 2050.
- Researchers led by Donming Wang began this decade-long study in 2014 to assess how warming climates affect arsenic levels in 28 key rice varieties across seven Asian countries.
- The team found that higher temperatures and CO2 spur root growth, which paradoxically enhances arsenic accumulation despite potential yield benefits from carbon capture.
- Under a worst-case scenario, inorganic arsenic in rice could rise by 44 percent, prompting coauthor Lewis Ziska to warn the health consequences are "enormous" due to cancer risk increases.
- This research implies urgent adaptation efforts like improved soil management and irrigation are needed alongside emissions mitigation to prevent toxic rice and increased health risks.
11 Articles
11 Articles
The 'king of poisons' is building up in rice
Zhang Duan // Xinhua via Getty Images The ‘king of poisons’ is building up in rice Throughout the Yangtze River Delta, a region in southern China famed for its widespread rice production, farmers grow belts of slender green stalks. Before they reach several feet tall and turn golden brown, the grassy plants soak in muddy, waterlogged fields for months. Along the rows of submerged plants, levees store and distribute a steady supply of water that …
The 'king of poisons' is building up in rice | News Channel 3-12
Zhang Duan // Xinhua via Getty Images The ‘king of poisons’ is building up in rice Throughout the Yangtze River Delta, a region in southern China famed for its widespread rice production, farmers grow belts of slender green stalks. Before they reach several feet tall and turn golden brown, the grassy plants soak in muddy, waterlogged fields for months. Along the rows of submerged plants, levees store and distribute a steady supply of water that …
Pressure Builds to Protect Manoomin (Wild Rice) - UNICORN RIOT
St. Paul, MN — With only 24 hours notice, advocates mostly associated with Rise and Repair Alliance packed the hearing room for the fourth time at the Minnesota Senate Building on May 1, 2025. Activists have been showing up to meetings since the start of the 2025 legislative session in an attempt to create legal protections for wild rice. Wild rice, often known by its Objiwe name, manoomin, has been a means of sustenance for Dakota/Lakota and O…
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