Cadmium and lead contents in rice and other cereal products in Japan in 1998 2000

Cereals, especially rice, are a major source of cadmium ŽCd. intake for general Japanese populations. In 1998 2000, rice Žpolished., bread Žloaf., noodle and Žwheat. flour samples Ž4113 samples in total. were collected in 63 cities all over Japan, and analyzed for Cd by inductively-coupled plasma mass spectrometry. Another pollutant element of lead ŽPb. was determined in parallel. The grand geometric mean for Cd in polished raw Žuncooked. rice was 50 ng g, whereas it was 19 ng g for flour. The value for Pb was 2 3 ng g in rice and flour. Calculation for daily Cd intake via rice, taking advantage of the present findings on Cd contents in rice and wheat together with administrative area-specific daily consumptions of rice and wheat showed that Cd via rice is much more than Cd via wheat and that Cd via rice is highest in an area alongside the sea of Japan among the whole country, the observation being in agreement with the results from a previous food duplicate-based field survey.