ARROZ, METALES PESADOS Y SALUD

CONTAMINACIÓN DEL ARROZ CON METALES PESADOS

Están aumentando los problemas de contaminación de granos de arroz con metales pesados responsables de afecciones en el hombre. Ocurre tanto por absorción de fuentes naturales del suelo como de la industria minera y el método de cultivo por inundación sería la causa primordial. (ENGLISH VERSION BELOW)

PROBLEMAS CON EL ARROZ (de un artículo por Deborah Blum en The New York Times, NYT Now, Abril 18, 2014, citado por www.EnvironmentalHealthNews.org, Abr. 18, 2014)

Si los campos son inundados como en el método tradicional de producción de arroz este absorbe arsénico. Pero si se reduce el volumen de agua en un esfuerzo por limitar el arsénico, la planta absorbe, en cambio, cadmio – también un elemento peligroso. El arroz es uno de los alimentos más consumidos en el mundo y también es uno de los principales secuestrantes de compuestos metálicos.

Pero el problema no es solo arsénico o cadmio, que están presentes en el suelo tanto naturalmente como en subproductos derivados de la industria. Estudios recientes demostraron que el arroz está especialmente estructurado para absorber un número de metales del suelo, entre otros, mercurio y aún tungsteno. Estos hallazgos hicieron que algunos científicos y agricultores buscaran la forma de hacer los granos menos susceptibles a la contaminación metálica.

La asociación entre el cadmio en arroz y enfermedades humanas data de décadas. La mayoría de los científicos citan la identificación de la enfermedad conocida como itai-itai (hay.hay!) en Japón durante los 1960s como primer reconocimiento de este problema (clickear:  the first recognition of this problem). El nombre surge de los dolorosos efectos de fracturas de huesos, uno de los muchos problemas relacionados con la exposición al cadmio (clickear: many health problems related to cadmium exposure).

Eventualmente los investigadores descubrieron que la polución con cadmio proveniente de las minas y otras industrias se transmitió a las áreas agrícolas del Japón causando que el grano se cargue del metal tóxico. Una serie de problemas similares ocurrieron en China (clickear: setting off an uproar over tainted rice last year).

Artículo completo: http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2014/04/18/the-trouble-with-rice/?_php=true&_type=blogs&ref=health&_r=0

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RICE CONTAMINATION WITH HEAVY METALS

Rice grain contamination with heavy metals that cause health problems in humans are increasing. Contamination occurs through absorption both from natural sources in soils and from mining and industry byproducts. The paddy production method would be the main culprit.

THE TROUBLE WITH RICE (frm an article by Deborah Blum in The New York Times, NYT Now, April 18, 2014, cited by www.EnvironmentalHealthNews.org, Apr. 18, 2014)

If the fields are flooded in the traditional paddy method, the rice handily takes up arsenic. But if the water is reduced in an effort to limit arsenic, the plant instead absorbs cadmium — also a dangerous element. Rice, one of the most widely consumed foods in the world, is also one of nature’s great scavengers of metallic compounds.

But it’s not just arsenic and cadmium, which are present in soil both as naturally occurring elements and as industrial byproducts. Recent studies have shown that rice is custom-built to pull a number of metals from the soil, among them mercury and even tungsten. The findings have led to a new push by scientists and growers to make the grain less susceptible to metal contamination.

But that delivery system also inclines the plant to vacuum up arsenic compounds, which are unfortunately similar in structure to silicate. And the traditional methods of growing rice, which often involve flooding a field, encourage formation of a soluble arsenic compound, arsenite, that is readily transported by the rice plant.

The association between cadmium in rice and human disease goes back decades. Most scientists cite the identification of itai-itai (ouch-ouch) disease in Japan during the 1960s as the first recognition of this problem. The name comes from the painful effects of bone fractures, one of many healtch problems related to cadmium exposure.

Researchers eventually discovered that cadmium pollution from mines and other industry had spread into rice farming areas in Japan, causing the grain to be loaded with the toxic metal. A host of similar problems have occurred in China, setting off an uproar over tainted rice last year.

THE TROUBLE WITH RICE (frm an article by Deborah Blum in The New York Times, NYT Now, April 18, 2014, cited by www.EnvironmentalHealthNews.org, Apr. 18, 2014)

If the fields are flooded in the traditional paddy method, the rice handily takes up arsenic. But if the water is reduced in an effort to limit arsenic, the plant instead absorbs cadmium — also a dangerous element. Rice, one of the most widely consumed foods in the world, is also one of nature’s great scavengers of metallic compounds.

But it’s not just arsenic and cadmium, which are present in soil both as naturally occurring elements and as industrial byproducts. Recent studies have shown that rice is custom-built to pull a number of metals from the soil, among them mercury and even tungsten. The findings have led to a new push by scientists and growers to make the grain less susceptible to metal contamination.

But that delivery system also inclines the plant to vacuum up arsenic compounds, which are unfortunately similar in structure to silicate. And the traditional methods of growing rice, which often involve flooding a field, encourage formation of a soluble arsenic compound, arsenite, that is readily transported by the rice plant.

The association between cadmium in rice and human disease goes back decades. Most scientists cite the identification of itai-itai (ouch-ouch) disease in Japan during the 1960s as the first recognition of this problem. The name comes from the painful effects of bone fractures, one of many health problems related to cadmium exposure.

Researchers eventually discovered that cadmium pollution from mines and other industry had spread into rice farming areas in Japan, causing the grain to be loaded with the toxic metal. A host of similar problems have occurred in China, setting off an uproar over tainted rice last year.

Full article: http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2014/04/18/the-trouble-with-rice/?_php=true&_type=blogs&ref=health&_r=0