Arsenic (As) is ubiquitous in the environment, and inorganic As is classified as a non-threshold carcinogen with a linear dose response for chronic low level exposure. Rice, an important cereal crop, is feeding nearly half of the population globally, but As elevation in rice has recently been reported to add cancer risks to populations in many regions (Zhu et al., 2008; Meharg et al., 2009). This is in part due to rice being particularly efficient at taking up As from soil (Williams et al., 2007) and is exacerbated in major rice growing regions of the world with elevated As in paddy soil caused by mining activities and irrigation with As-tainted groundwater (Williams et al., 2006, 2007; Zhu et al., 2007). This paper aims to provide an overview on how to manage As dynamics in the soil-rice system, with an emphasis on reducing As accumulation in rice, thus to mitigate the human health impacts.
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