1. a random .org site that sounds too much like rah rah save the children
2. spammed across many news sites and reddit and now hacker news all in a short time span
but after reading the report it seems pretty good
The take-away I got was buy rice grown in California, Thailand, or India. Soak beforehand if you really want to reduce bad stuff
PaulHoule•2h ago
Also rice is a lot worse than other grains and brown rice is worse than other rice. Asian people in particular should diversify their diets. I'd note that Asian-Americans already have high PFAS levels because they use rice cookers.
BoomerOK•28m ago
Do you have a source about PFAs from rice cookers? My understanding is that Teflon in cookware, used at recommended temperatures, doesn't release PFAs. It's the Teflon manufacturing process that releases PFAs.
wenc•14m ago
Teflon rice cookers don't really release PFAS at appreciable levels. Teflon is remarkably stable (and one of the reasons it was DuPont's miracle discovery).
PTFE's degradation point is 260C, but rice cookers only cook up to 100C (controlled).
The only source of PTFE is if they scratch or flake off over time, but this is usually visible.
Teflon cookware are more problematic in non-stick pans, where they do get heated to higher temperatures, especially for stir fries.
johnea•2h ago
Thanks for reading the report and providing the tl;dr.
Another thing that caught my eye as I scanned the article was "rice products" which is obviously not just rice, and levels exceeded for "infant rice cereal".
So, it did sort of seem aimed at the market of inducing panic in new moms.
legitster•3h ago
This would be tough to solve. As the report points out, arsenic is a naturally occuring compound. Despite what regulations you may want to pass, the solution is ultimately going to fall on the farmers in high arsenic areas to switch crops.
I'd also pump the brakes on freaking out. The long-term risks of arsenic are pretty tenuous at best - nothing at all like lead.
ohm•3h ago
There was a study done a while back on how to try to remove arsenic from rice. You essentially boil it for 5 minutes and get rid of that water first, then cook rice normally.
bryceacc•3h ago
https://hbbf.org/sites/default/files/2025-05/Arsenic-in-Rice...
This rang my "fraud" detector in my head:
1. a random .org site that sounds too much like rah rah save the children
2. spammed across many news sites and reddit and now hacker news all in a short time span
but after reading the report it seems pretty good
The take-away I got was buy rice grown in California, Thailand, or India. Soak beforehand if you really want to reduce bad stuff
PaulHoule•2h ago
BoomerOK•28m ago
wenc•14m ago
PTFE's degradation point is 260C, but rice cookers only cook up to 100C (controlled).
The only source of PTFE is if they scratch or flake off over time, but this is usually visible.
Teflon cookware are more problematic in non-stick pans, where they do get heated to higher temperatures, especially for stir fries.
johnea•2h ago
Another thing that caught my eye as I scanned the article was "rice products" which is obviously not just rice, and levels exceeded for "infant rice cereal".
So, it did sort of seem aimed at the market of inducing panic in new moms.