Determination of Cadmium in Brown Rice by Flame AtomicAbsorption Spectrometry

The standard for cadmium in rice based on Japan'sFood Sanitation Act has been strengthened, with theallowable concentration revised downward from1.0 mg/kg or less to a maximum of 0.4 mg/kgaccording to the Ministry of Health, Labour andWelfare Notification No. 183 (April 8, 2010). Therevised standard will take effect on February 28, 2011.Up to now, this type of restriction was applied only tobrown rice, but polished rice is now included in thisrevision.Here we introduce examples of analysis of cadmiumin standard reference materials of powdered brownrice (NIES No.10-a,-b) using the typical flame AAmethod, in addition to a high-sensitivity method usingan atom booster.