By: Ozren Podnar |
Chinese rice fields poisoned by heavy metal tungsten |
|
Renowned online news magazine Natural News has informed that in many rice protein products imported from Asia alarming levels of heavy metal tungsten were found.
This metal is associated with a high rate of leukemia.
Scientists who study leukemia determined the possible link between this disease and the element tungsten (W) in the body.
In the area of Fallon in Nevada and Sierra Vista in Arizona, industrial plants have been releasing large amounts of tungsten in the air, significantly increasing the amount of heavy metals in the environment.
In these areas the researchers found an increased incidence of leukemia.
Seventeen children from Fallon have developed this disease and the health authorities in Nevada recognized that area as threatened by leukemia.
Tungsten in Fallon originates from the nearby tungsten mine and tungsten carbide processing performed in order to develop tungsten parts for machines and tools.
In 2003 HHS released a report which found that the tungsten was a "worrisome cause of pollution, since its presence is elevated in urine samples" among Fallon residents.
The danger comes from China
Unfortunately, despite strong circumstantial evidence of its harmfulness, tungsten is found in foods, particularly in rice protein products from China.
Almost all contaminated rice protein products found in the market come from China and other Asian countries, where tungsten is a common ingredient of machine parts and tools.
Tungsten, as well as other heavy metals, can fly hundreds, even thousands of miles and land on agricultural area.
Certain part of this metal enters water which is later used for irrigating rice fields.
Restrictions on the presence of heavy metals in food
Fortunately, many well-known manufacturers of rice products have committed themselves to significantly reducing levels of tungsten in their products by July 1st 2015.
They agreed to voluntarily introduce an upper limit of tungsten of 0,05 ppm (parts per million).
This means that for every million milligrams, or one kilogram, there may only be 0,05 milligrams of tungsten.
For some of the products this means that the levels of tungsten will be reduced by up to 200 times. But, many product have been fund on the market containing even higher levels of this dangerous compound.
Leading manufacturers have agreed to the following limits of heavy metals in food:
- Cadmium: 1.000 ppb
- Lead: 250 ppb
- Tungsten: 50 ppb
- Mercury: 50 ppb
One of the questions that come to mind is whether Chinese manufacturers will ever be able to reduce tungsten levels below 0,05 ppm.
It is unlikely, because the suspension of repurchase of rice products from the fields polluted by tungsten would lead to a shortage of rice protein, for which there is great demand.
However, this demand may decrease due to the expansion of knowledge about the presence of tungsten in rice protein and consumers could switch to other protein products.
By making a transition to cleaner products, the consumer would force manufacturers to reduce the levels of harmful metals.
Many manufacturers of natural food announced changes in the formulas of their products with the aim of reducing rice protein content, not believing that the Asian manufacturers would ever reduce the amounts of heavy metals to a satisfactory level.
What to do
If you wish to avoid poisoning your organism with tungsten, stay away from rice products originating from China and other Asian countries.
From data on the presence of tungsten in Chinese rice protein it is clear that mines or industrial facilities processing tungsten are located near their agricultural areas.
Liked the article?
Share it with your friends!
