Global warming: will rice become a dangerous food?

But global warming could increase the dose. With rising temperatures and increasing amounts of CO2 in the air—elements that characterize our current climate—the bacteria that transfer arsenic from the soil to the rice will proliferate.

Columbia researchers spent 10 years studying rice paddies in China's Yangtze River Delta and found significant changes in the region's soils.

Risk of lung and bladder cancer

This toxicity should be put into perspective for occasional rice eaters. This is not the case for certain populations, particularly in Asia. In some parts of the region, such as Vietnam, Indonesia, China, Bangladesh, the Philippines, Myanmar, and India, rice is the staple diet. People there eat almost 1 kg of rice per day, or almost 300 kg per year.

However, according to researchers, prolonged exposure to inorganic arsenic causes skin, bladder and lung cancers, as well as heart disease and, in infants, neurological problems.