Determination of Arsenic and Cadmium in Sri Lankan Rice Samples by Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometry (ICPMS) Following Microwave Assisted Acid Digestion

Perera, M. A. K. K. P.

Division of Food and Water, Department of Government Analyst’s, Sri Lanka

Dr. Perera, M. A. K. K. P., Division of Food and Water, Department of Government Analyst’s, Sri Lanka.

Keywords: Rice; Arsenic; Cadmium; Microwave Digestion; ICP-MS

Abstract

Rice is the most important food for the world population including Sri Lanka. However, the toxic metallic elements in rice grains transferred from environment or as an agriculture input often pose great risk to human health because their toxicity, persistence and bioaccumulation in body. Aimed of this study is to investigate the suitability of microwave assisted-acid digestion sample preparation method as a rice sample preparation method as well as to validate the method for monitoring the concentration of arsenic (As) and cadmium (Cd) in rice using Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectroscopy (ICP-MS). The analytical method was validated by measuring several parameters including limit of detection (LOD), limit of quantification (LOQ), linearity, recovery and repeatability. Regarding the sample preparation, recoveries of spiked samples were within the acceptable range from 83.5 to 114.2% for both As and Cd. Validation parameters showed that the method fits for its purpose, being As and Cd within the limit established by CODEX Alimentarius. The method was applied for analyzing 71 rice samples (42 red raw, 27 white raw and 2 parboiled) consumed by Sri Lankan population. Arsenic and cadmium concentrations of all analyzed samples were lower than the established maximum values.

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