The cadmium and lead content of the grain produced by leading Chinese rice cultivars

• The Cd and Pb content of 110 top Chinese rice cultivars was determined.
• Almost all of the flours contained below 200 μg/kg of both Cd and Pb.
• White flours tended to contain less Cd and Pb than wholemeal flours.
• The flour Cd content of indica types was mostly higher than that of japonica ones.

The cadmium (Cd) and lead (Pb) content in both white and wholemeal flour milled from 110 leading rice cultivars was assessed. The white flour Cd content ranged from <0.0025 to 0.2530 mg/kg (geometric mean (GM) = 0.0150 mg/kg), while its Pb content ranged from <0.0250 to 0.3830 mg/kg (GM = 0.0210 mg/kg). The indica types took up higher amounts of Cd and Pb than did the japonica types. Although the heavy metal content of wholemeal flour tended to higher than that of white flour, nevertheless 84.5% (Cd) and 95.4% (Pb) of the entries were compliant with the national maximum allowable concentration of 0.2000 mg/kg of each contaminant. An analysis of the Cd content in the white flour of three indica type cultivars grown in two consecutive years at two locations indicated that Cd content may be significantly affected by the conditions prevailing in the growing season.