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Arsenic gets into rice as it is water soluble and soaks into the crop

Rice can contain small amounts of arsenic, which in large doses is a toxin linked to multiple health conditions and dietary-related cancers. 

Arsenic occurs naturally in the soil, though its concentration is higher in areas that have historically used arsenic-based herbicides or where irrigation water contains arsenic. 

When farmers grow crops like rice under flooded conditions, arsenic is drawn out of the soil and into the water. 

A rice plant is like a big tube or a straw as it draws water up from its roots to its leaves. 

Rice naturally takes up arsenic because the arsenic mimics other molecules that these plants preferentially draw out of the soil. 

Arsenic is a toxin for rice plants too, and they have mechanisms to protect themselves against higher levels of it. One method includes turning on a protein that sequesters arsenic in specific cells and tissues of plant.   

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