The main takeaway: adapting farming and cooking practices, including considering white rice over brown rice to reduce arsenic-related health risks while still recognizing brown rice’s nutritional value.

A 2025 Lancet Planetary Health study links rice arsenic exposure to a broad rise in cancer risk, estimating China could see the largest increase with about 13.4 million cancer cases tied to rice arsenic.

Climate change is driving higher arsenic uptake in rice because warmer, CO2-rich flooded paddy conditions make arsenic more mobile and easier for rice roots to absorb.

Arsenic is a toxic element in the environment and in rice, and long-term inorganic arsenic exposure is associated with diabetes, cardiovascular disease, adverse pregnancy outcomes, lung disease, and kidney failure.

Global strategies highlighted include improved water management with alternate wetting and drying to cut arsenic uptake and breeding efforts that study multiple rice genotypes to reduce arsenic in grains.

Mitigation efforts include washing and rinsing rice, and a Science Direct-backed cooking method: pre-boil for about five minutes to remove arsenic, discard the water, then finish cooking with fresh water to preserve nutrients.

Recent data indicate brown rice contains substantially more inorganic arsenic than white rice—roughly 72–98% more in the bran layer—making white rice safer in terms of arsenic exposure.

Associates from Columbia University note that rice consumption in southern China and parts of South and Southeast Asia already contributes to dietary arsenic and cancer risk.