Arsenic Compounds in Rice More Prevalent than Previously Known, Risk for Humans Unknown
Increased concentrations in rice fields?
Thioarsenates can be found in surface water, groundwater, and bottom water with high levels of sulphide. Sulphide is the reduced form of sulphate; it reacts spontaneously with arsenic and can form thioarsenates. Rice fields provide favourable conditions for these processes.
Harmfulness for biological model organisms
The experiments in Bayreuth, which also included several doctoral researchers – concentrated on the thale cress (Arabidopsis thaliana), a common plant in the fields of Europe and Asia that has proven to be a useful model organism in biological research. Together with plant physiologist Prof. Dr. Stephan Clemens, various mutants of the thale cress were tested in the laboratory to see how they reacted to thioarsenates added to their nutrient solution. The results were clear: the plants absorb the arsenic-sulphur compounds and their growth is visibly limited. The more arsenic reaches the plant in this way, the more its roots shrivel up.
Toxic for humans too?
“In the wake of these unsettling findings, we plan to investigate the effects of thioarsenates on different types of rice over the next several months. At present, we do not yet sufficiently understand whether or not and to what extent rice plants absorb the arsenic that bonded with sulphur and to what extent this adversely affects their metabolic processes. Above all, it is unclear whether thioarsenates also make their way to the rice grains,” explained Prof. Clemens.
A few years ago, Planer-Friedrich discovered that thioarsenates could play a more significant role in the earth’s arsenic balance than previously thought. The starting point was a study at the hot springs in Yellowstone National Park. Here it was discovered that more than 80% of the arsenic from the hot springs is bound up in thioarsenates.
Contacts and sources:
Citation: Britta Planer-Friedrich, Tanja Kühnlenz, Dipti Halder, Regina Lohmayer, Nathaniel Wilson, Colleen Rafferty, and Stephan Clemens, Thioarsenate Toxicity and Tolerance in the Model System Arabidopsis thaliana, Environmental Science & Technology (2017),
DOI: 10.1021/acs.est.6b06028
Source: http://www.ineffableisland.com/2017/06/arsenic-compounds-in-rice-more.html
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