Inorganic arsenic levels in rice milk exceed EU and US drinking water standards

Abstract

Under EU legislation, total arsenic levels in drinking water should not exceed 10 μg l⁻¹, while in the US this figure is set at 10 μg l⁻¹ inorganic arsenic. All rice milk samples analysed in a supermarket survey (n = 19) would fail the EU limit with up to 3 times this concentration recorded, while out of the subset that had arsenic species determined (n = 15), 80% had inorganic arsenic levels above 10 μg l⁻¹, with the remaining 3 samples approaching this value. It is a point for discussion whether rice milk is seen as a water substitute or as a food, there are no EU or US food standards highlighting the disparity between water and food regulations in this respect.