Total mercury in milled rice and brown rice from China and health risk evaluation

Abstract

Total mercury (THg) levels in 440 pairs of milled rice samples and brown rice samples from 15 major rice grain-producing provinces of China were measured and the associated health risk via rice consumption for different age categories of Chinese population was also assessed. THg contents were measured by a direct mercury analyser and the limit of detection (LOD) was 1.5 μg kg−1. The THg levels for milled rice samples and brown rice samples varied from non-detected to 17.8 μg kg−1 and 1.5 to 25.4 μg kg−1, respectively, with a mean level of 3.4 μg kg−1 and 4.9 μg kg−1, respectively. The THg levels in all milled and brown rice samples were generally low, except three brown rice samples having concentrations above the legally set value for cereals (20 μg kg−1 Hg). THg intakes for different age categories were estimated according to THg content and corresponding rice consumption and the associated health risk was evaluated by the corresponding provisional tolerable weekly intake (PTWI) for THg (5.0 μg kg−1 bw week−1), which was established by the Joint FAO/WHO Expert Committee on Food Additives (JECFA). The 50th percentile of the THg intakes via milled rice and brown rice consumption for different age categories was in the range 0.09–0.19 μg kg−1 bw week−1 and 0.14–0.27 μg kg−1 bw week−1, respectively, well below the PTWI, suggesting that the associated health risk is relatively low. However, the 99.9th percentile of the THg intakes for 2–4-year-old children amounted up to 20.6% of the PTWI (milled rice) and 29.5% of the PTWI (brown rice), which deserves attention.