Half of the world population depends on rice. A new study states that climate change will make it toxic as warmer temperatures and increased carbon dioxide increases arsenic levels in the amylaceous.
Rice, the most consumed cereal in the world, will become increasingly toxic As the atmosphere warms and that carbon dioxide emissions increase, potentially pouring thousands of millions of people at risk of cancer and other diseases.
The conclusion is from a new one, led by an international team of investigators and published on Wednesday in the magazine The Lancet Planetary Health.
Eaten every day by thousands of millions of people and cultivated worldwide, rice is undoubtedlythe most important base culture on the planet. Half of the world population depend on this cereal to most of its food needs, especially in developing countries.
But, explains, the way rice is cultivated – mostly submerged in rice areas – and its highly porous texture mean it can absorb levels unusual high arseniuma potent cancer toxin that is especially dangerous for babies.
Lewis ZiskaPlant Physiologist and Associate Professor at Columbia University, has been studying rice for three decades and, more recently, focused on their research in how climate change reduces nutrient levels in many grassroots cultures, including rice.
Ziska joined investigators from China and the US to conduct an unprecedented study, who analyzed airection of various species of rice to increased temperature e to what2that it is expected to occur as more greenhouse gas emissions are released into the atmosphere.
“Previous research focused on individual responses – Some focused on CO2others at temperature, But not in both, not in a wide range of rice genetics, ”says Ziska.
“We knew that the temperature itself could increase the levels, eo2 a little. But When we joined the two, then, wowIt was something we weren’t waiting for, ”says the physiologist.
“This is a basic culture that is consumed for billion of people every day, and any effect on toxicity will have a very large impact“, I emphasize.
For six years, Ziska and a large team of investigators in China and the USA cultivated rice in controlled fieldssubmitting it to variable levels of co2 and temperatures.
Found that When both increasedaccording to the projections of climate scientists, the amount of Arsenio and Inorganic Arsenium In rice grains also increased.
Arsenic is naturally found in some foods, including fish and seafood, as well as in waters and soils. THE inorganic arsenium It is found in industrial materials and enters the water-including the water used to submerge rice.
Rice is easily affected by weeds and other cultures, but it has a Advantage: Grows well in water. Thus, farmers germinate the seeds and, when the seedlings are ready, they plant them on moist soil.
Right away, They flood their fieldswhat suppresses weeds, but allows rice to flourish. The rice promptly absorbs the water and everything that is in it – including the arsenicwhether it occurs naturally or not. Most rice in the world is cultivated in this way.
The new study shows that climate change will increase these levels. “What happens in rice, due to complex biogeochemical processes in the soil, is that when the temperature and co2 increase, the inorganic arsenic increases also, ”says Ziska.“ And it’s this inorganic arsenium that represents Higher health risk“.
Exposure to inorganic arsenium has been associated with Skin cancersbladder and lungs, heart disease and neurological problems in babies. The investigation revealed that in regions of the world with high rice consumption, inorganic arsenium increases the risk of cancer.
“Rice has always been a food in which the arsenic is a problem, and climate change is aggravating it,” he says Keeve Nachmanprofessor at Johns Hopkins University and longtime researcher for health risk related to food production and consumption.
“This is another reason to intervene – To control people’s exposure. The first thing we can do is all we can to slow down climate change. ”
