Rice finding 2167
Source evidence and comparison details for the Rice profile.
White rice (milled), as sold · Inorganic arsenic (iAs) · Sample count unreported.
Selected finding and reference
Sample count unreported. Basis: as sold (uncooked); dry/fresh basis not stated.
Report does not state LOD/LOQ or how non-detects were handled; no non-detects are printed.
HMI baseline position
Low · HMI uncooked-grain iAs reference · 10 sampling families. Mean as reported: 81 µg/kg. HMI median 110; Q1 82.5–84 (bounded); Q3 150 µg/kg. 10 families. Not a safety grade.
Low is below Q1; Moderate includes Q1 through Q3; High is above Q3. Reporting bounds must give the same category throughout.
This is an external comparison; the finding does not set the reference.
Sensitivity to weighting
Equal subgroup weight within each family: Low. The position is unchanged under this alternative. This check does not address all sampling, rounding or analytical uncertainty.
Sensitivity to source selection
- Without Alrashdi et al. (2024): Low.
- Without WHO GEMS/Food: Low.
- Without EFSA et al. 2021: Low.
- Without Limmer et al. 2026: Limited data.
- Without Liu et al. 2022: Limited data.
- Without Moreda-Pineiro et al. 2020: Low.
- Without Sim et al. 2024: Limited data.
- Without Tian et al. 2024: Limited data.
- Without Yan et al. (2025): Limited data.
- Without Zavala et al. 2008: Limited data.
These checks show dependence on each sampling family; they are not confidence intervals.
Collection period
2012–2014
No year-by-year sample register is reconstructed from this summary.
Geographic scope
Medium (Nonaromatic)
Rice variety or type within one study.
Sampling, analysis and reporting limits
Total As: HNO3/H2O2 digestion (EPA 3050B), ICP-DRC-MS (EPA 200.8). Species (arsenite, arsenate, MMA, DMA): TFA extraction, IC-ICP-CRC-MS per FDA EAM 4.11. 'Total inorganic arsenic' = arsenite + arsenate..
Report does not state LOD/LOQ or how non-detects were handled; no non-detects are printed.
Shared samples and study overlap
Subgroup rows, statistics of the same subgroup and the study total share samples; they are not independent results.
Each table row describes a food/analyte result. Repeated rows do not add independent samples or datasets. No cross-study trend is calculated in this comparison mode.
Reported values, conversion and source locator
| Source statistic | Original result | Displayed unit conversion |
|---|---|---|
| mean | Medium (Nonaromatic) 81.0 3.7 39.0-174.0 1.8-7.8 | ppb = µg/kg (none) |
Table 4: Inorganic Arsenic in All White Rice Types (all origins); p.13.
No moisture, cooking-yield or species conversion is applied to the original finding above. Any basis conversion used for its HMI comparison is stated separately with the numerical target.
Open the primary publication · HMI source record
Reference and scope
HMI uncooked-grain iAs reference · 10 sampling families. Uncooked grain as analysed (native or unstated moisture), µg/kg. Distribution of subgroup median concentration values.
| Reference (µg/kg) | Q1 | Median | Q3 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Primary HMI reference | 82.5–84 (bounded) | 110 | 150 |
| Alternative weighting | 82.5–84 (bounded) | 110 | 150 |
87 reference units; 10 sampling families. Counts describe evidence units, not independent studies or certainty.
| Contributing family | Reference units | Weight |
|---|---|---|
| Alrashdi et al. (2024) | 6 | 10% |
| WHO GEMS/Food | 54 | 10% |
| EFSA et al. 2021 | 10 | 10% |
| Limmer et al. 2026 | 1 | 10% |
| Liu et al. 2022 | 2 | 10% |
| Moreda-Pineiro et al. 2020 | 2 | 10% |
| Sim et al. 2024 | 1 | 10% |
| Tian et al. 2024 | 1 | 10% |
| Yan et al. (2025) | 7 | 10% |
| Zavala et al. 2008 | 3 | 10% |
Methods
HMI calculates a pooled distribution of subgroup medians across the admitted sampling families. HMI pools subgroup medians from every compatible rice sampling family in the evidence ledger for this analyte, material and basis: published subgroup medians, medians HMI calculates from printed per-sample values and WHO GEMS/Food region-by-year medians (random sampling only). Each family has equal total weight; subgroups have equal weight within a family. Non-detects stay as zero-to-limit intervals, so quartiles carry lower and upper bounds. Means, ranges and maxima never enter as observations. Dry-weight, native-moisture and cooked results are kept in separate references; no moisture conversion is assumed.
Inverse weighted empirical CDF; midpoint at exact cumulative-weight boundaries. At least four reference units and a definitely positive Q1–Q3 spread are required. This is a display eligibility rule, not statistical validation.
Limitations
An evidence-library reference, not a probability sample of the world rice market. Sampling families differ in frame (retail, farm, contaminated sites, monitoring) and period; GEMS/Food regions are reporting regions, not growing origins. Many submissions are non-detects with differing limits, which widens the bounds. A position is descriptive concentration, not a safety or compliance judgment.
Admitted source families
- Alrashdi et al. (2024)
- WHO GEMS/Food
- EFSA et al. 2021
- Limmer et al. 2026
- Liu et al. 2022
- Moreda-Pineiro et al. 2020
- Sim et al. 2024
- Tian et al. 2024
- Yan et al. (2025)
- Zavala et al. 2008
Reference version and interpretation
Frozen evidence selection: 2026-10-22. Method: hmi-pooled-reference-v2.
hmi-pooled-reference-v2:rice-native-iAs:ac23d7340743
The reference is computed by HMI from admitted evidence, not copied from a study baseline. It describes the evidence currently in this scope; it is not a worldwide or current-lot benchmark. Source, year and region filters do not change it. Different HMI scopes are not one common ranking.