CHIANG RAI, Thailand: Thongkham Inprom has been farming for more than six decades, growing jasmine rice and sticky rice in Chiang Rai.The 71-year-old harvests about 60 tonnes each year and keeps 1 per cent for his family. The rest is sent to a rice mill and eventually sold in central Thailand.But now he is worried that he might not be able to sell his rice. Government agencies have found arsenic in the soil and water at his farm. It is already affecting his crops.While his brown rice contains arsenic within the safety limit, his paddy is “right at the safety threshold”, said Somporn Pengkam, the director of the Community-led Health Impact Assessment Platform, who went through the results from tests on the produce.
The toxicology results.
Thongkham’s polished white rice has less arsenic, but there is still cause for concern.“Even if the daily intake is within the limit, it still builds up. At first, the body says, ‘I can handle it and flush it out.’ After a week, ‘still manageable’. After a month, it starts to struggle,” said Somporn.“After six months, ‘I can’t handle this any more’. The kidneys can no longer clear it. That’s when we start detecting it in the body. Arsenic poisoning can eventually cause cancer in many organs, especially the skin and bladder.”Arsenic has already been found in Thongkham’s urine, with tests done months apart showing that the level has increased to double the acceptable exposure limit.“I don’t really know what we can do,” he said. “It’s hard to avoid. We eat rice every day.”
