Evaluation of Lead and Cadmium Levels of Iranian and Imported Rice in Kermanshah, 2016 (Iran)

Background & Aims of the Study: One concern of human is heavy metals pollution of foodproducts such as rice. It is a fact that rice is one of the most consumed items in the diet of Iranianpeople. This study was conducted to evaluate lead and cadmium levels of Iranian and importedrice in Kermanshah city, Iran, 2016.Materials & Methods: This descriptive- analytical and cross sectional study is conducted inKermanshah, 2016. In this study, 30 Iranian and imported rice samples were selected andsampled. The concentrations of heavy metals (lead and cadmium) were collected, using ICPOESmachine in order to read and compared with the standard values of Food and DrugAdministration; also, Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) standard. In this study, onesamplet-test and SPSS (version 16) were applied to data analysis. The significance level in alltests was considered (α=0.05).Results: The results showed that the cadmium average of imported and Iranian rice were 1.318±0.158 ppm and 1.191 ±0.834, respectively, which were higher than the standard of Food andDrug Administration and FAO. Also, the lead average of imported rice was 8.889 ppm with astandard deviation of 12.179 and 8.659 ppm and a standard deviation of 8.143 for Iranian ricewhich were higher than the standard of Food and Drug Administration and FAO; the differencewas statistically significant.Conclusion: The comparison of lead and cadmium heavy metals concentrations with thestandard level showed the concentration of them in both Iranian and imported rice wascompletely above the standard. Considering the cumulative effects of heavy metals and itsadverse effects on human societies, as well as the threat of food security needs to be paid specialattention and periodic studies should be undertaken to provide more comprehensive information.

Keywords:

Lead , Cadmium , Heavy metals , Rice , Food , Kermanshah , Iran