Investigation of heavy metals content including lead, arsenic, and cadmium in imported rice in Hormozgan province in 2015-2016

Pollution of soils and aquatic environments with heavy metals is a serious and growing problem. The entry of heavy metals through human activities has contaminated many soils. Also, contamination of rice with heavy metals has brough them into the food chain which can have devastating effects on human health. The purpose of this study was to investigate the content of heavy metals in imported Indian and Pakistanian, and Iranian rice. This cross-sectional and analytical study was conducted on 150 randomly selected rice samples which were consumed in Hormozgan province in 2015. Heavy metals were measured using dry ash method and atomic spectrometry. Finally, the collected data were analyzed using SPSS software and descriptive (frequency, mean, and standard deviation) and inferential statistics. The results showed that the amount of heavy metals in imported rice from India and Pakistan, as well as Iranian rice was acceptable according to the Iranian national standard criteria. The concentrations of lead, arsenic, and cadmium in all samples were 0.051, 0.075, and 0.019 mg/kg, respectively. The results of this study indicate that the amount of heavy metals in the studied samples is at an acceptable level, and a small difference in the amount of heavy metals may be due to several factors such as the geographical location of the cultivation area, the soil characteristics, the industrial situation in the area, and so on. Therefore, it is suggested that periodic measurements of heavy metals be made in order to create an effective operational system for achieving food security and promoting organic agriculture.