Health fears as one of Australia’s most popular staple foods is found to contain ‘dangerous’ microplastics – and you could be eating 13mg with every serve
- Researchers discover uncooked rice may have 3-4mg of plastic in 100g serve
- Journal of Hazardous Materials found 100g plastic in instant or pre-cooked rice
- Scientist Dr Jake O’Brien said washing rice reduced plastics by 20-40 per cent
Rice, a staple in millions of Australian homes, may contain ‘potentially dangerous’ microplastics, according to scientists.
Researchers at the University of Queensland found Australians may consume up to 4mg of plastic in an average 100g serve of uncooked rice.
Boiling the rice to cook it is unlikely to get rid of the microplastics as it has no filtration system.
The world-first study also identified 13mg of plastics per 100g of instant or pre-cooked store-bought rice, a popular staple for busy families.
The Queensland Alliance for Environmental Health Sciences researchers found uncooked rice may have 3-4mg of plastic in 100g serve (pictured: stock image of microplastics)
The world-first study published in the Journal of Hazardous Materials also identified 13mg of plastics per 100g of instant or pre-cooked store-bought rice (pictured: stock image of rice)
Lead author Dr Jake O’Brien said he didn’t think people should ‘be concerned, but I think people should be aware.’
‘Currently there are many unknowns about how harmful consuming microplastics is to human health, but we do know exposure can cause an element of risk,’ Dr O’Brien said.
The study, published in the Journal of Hazardous Materials, found washing an average grain of rice measuring 8mm before cooking reduced the consumption of plastic by 20-40 per cent.
The simple trick can save Australians from consuming around 1g of microplastics a year.
The researchers also tested seven different plastics but found polyethylene – used for packaging, toys and fishing nets – was most frequently detected at 95 per cent.
The innovative method developed and used by the UQ research team is based on the plastic quantification technique used in their previous studies on plastics in seafood and sewage sludge.
Lead author Dr Jake O’Brien (pictured) said he didn’t think people should be concerned on the findings but rather made ‘aware’ of the potentially dangerous plastics
Dr O’Brien said the microplastics in rice were relatively low but admitted it’s ‘really challenging to determine our exposure and exposure sources to these chemicals’.
‘It is important to recognise that we are in the early stages of developing methods to measure plastic contamination of foods and at the moment we are limited to only a few plastic types,’ he said.
‘We hope this study encourages further research on where plastic contamination of rice is occurring, so we can reduce contamination and increase community awareness of where plastic exposure happens on a daily basis,’ he said.
‘In future studies, we aim to incorporate a measure of the plastic size, along with the concentration, because potential health impacts from microplastics are likely size dependent.’
Another senior research fellow Dr Thava Palanisami, found people were ingesting 2,000 tiny pieces of plastic every week – the size of a credit card.
The 2019 research project led the The University of Newcastle researcher to also raise the alarm on microplastics in rice.
Dr Palanisami said when the plastics are smaller in size they are generally more dangerous as they can move into the blood stream and organs.
Microplastics enter the waterways through a variety of means and finish suspended in the liquid. They can be transported long distances both in water and via the air, taking them to the furthest corners of the world