Lay Summary: Consumption of rice containing arsenic (As) is a major threat to human and animal health, food safety and security. Among all cereals, rice is prone to As pollution as it is grown mostly in submerged soil conditions in which As is present in a readily available form. However, further research is required to understand how much As is accumulated in different plant parts. This is particularly interesting as rice straw and husk are widely used to feed ruminants, and therefore consumption of meat and dairy products exacerbating the risk and exposure to As of the local population. In this project, expertise from various disciplines will investigate the accumulation and distribution patterns of As in various plant parts of different cultivars of rice, using non-destructive X-ray imaging techniques to frame research questions and hypotheses for future investigations. 

Investigators 

Dr Manoj Menon (PI), Department of Geography, University of Sheffield (Publications)

Dr Christian Reynolds, Department of Geography, University of Sheffield (Publications)

Dr Maria Romero Gonzalez, Department of Geography, University of Sheffield (Publications)

Dr Binoy Sarkar, Department of Animal and Plant Sciences, University of Sheffield (Publications)

Prof Edward Rhodes, Department of Geography, University of Sheffield (Publications)

Dr. Sarah Rogers, Harwell Science and Innovation Campus, Fermi Ave, Didcot OX11 0DE (Publications)

Prof. Fred Mosselmans, Harwell Science and Innovation Campus, Fermi Ave, Didcot OX11 0DE (Publications)

Dr Claire Pizzey, Harwell Science and Innovation Campus, Fermi Ave, Didcot OX11 0DE (Publications)

Prof. Andrew Meharg, Queens University Belfast (Collaborator) (Publications)

Beamline Awards (Diamond) for this projects: 

• 2018. RCUK/STFC Facility Rapid Access Beamtime Award (The Diamond Light Source I18 Beamline-Xray fluorescence, 24 hours). Arsenic Detection and Distribution in Rice Using High Resolution X-ray Imaging. 

• 2018. RCUK/STFC Facility Standard Access Beamtime Award (The Diamond Light Source I13 Beamline-X-ray Microtomograhy, 64 hours). Arsenic Detection and Distribution in Rice Using High Resolution X-ray Imaging. 

Photos from our first Diamond Experiment (I18 Beam Spectroscopy)