Current opinion on the role of post-harvesting and cooking on arsenic mobility in rice grain, its surmounting risk towards human and domestic livestock with sustained management

Arsenic (As) contamination in paddy and consequently the dietary system is an emerging global threat to human health. The harvesting, post-harvesting and cooking procedures of rice in Bengal delta further involves the use of As tainted groundwater which results in a concomitant increase of As levels in sunned, parboiled, and cooked grains, respectively. Inorganic arsenic (iAs) causing potential health risks is therefore high (appx. 90 %) due to the daily rice consumption. This study sheds light on higher As accumulation, distribution and assimilation during parboiling (24 %) and cooking processes (34 %) using As-tainted water, culminating additional As burden in cooked rice. Rice grain mediated health risk has displayed a concern level of 5 according to “Severity Adjusted Margin of Exposure” value. This study also takes heed of the domestic livestock exposed to As toxicity through contaminated fodder, resulting in contaminated animal by-products which initiates further longer lasting deleterious impacts on the society. [Display omitted] •Use of contaminated groundwater increases As accumulation in rice grain.•Use of As-tainted water above threshold level can amplify As burden in cooked rice.•As-contaminated rice contributes 90 % of iAs causing human health risk.•As intake in an adult cow/bull is 9700 μg/day only through contaminated paddy straw.•Monsoonal cultivation or dry-wet irrigation can reduce adequateAs burden in paddy.