Abstract
Rice is known to accumulate methylmercury (MeHg) in the rice grains. MeHg as a neurotoxin impacts on the human central nervous systems and especially on the developing brain. In this exploratory study, 87 commercial rice products sold in Europe, including nine baby-rice products, were analyzed for total Hg and MeHg content. MeHg concentration in all rice products investigated range from 0.11 to 6.45 μg kg-1 with an average value of 1.91 ± 1.07 μg kg-1 and baby-rice is not significantly different from other rice products. Total Hg ranges from 0.53 to 11.1 μg kg-1 with an average of 3.04 ± 2.07 μg kg-1. MeHg concentrations in all rice products studied in this work would not exceed the provisional tolerable weekly intake (PTWI). 30 % of all commercial market rice products exceeded 10% of the PTWI calculated for toddlers or 13 % of products for adults with rice based diet.
Original language | English |
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Pages (from-to) | 360-365 |
Number of pages | 6 |
Journal | Food Chemistry |
Volume | 214 |
Early online date | 11 Jul 2016 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published - 1 Jan 2017 |
Bibliographical note
P.M. thanks the Royal Thai Government for funding and C.C.B. thanks the School of Natural and Computing Science and PS Analytical for funding.Keywords
- mercury
- methylmercury
- speciation
- rice
- market survey
- food quality