Eliminating heavy metals from baby food is frustratingly complicated
Babies are particularly sensitive to the toxic effects of heavy metals because their bodies are still developing. DepositPhotos This article was originally published on Undark. Rice cereal is a staple in many American babies’ diets, and is often the first solid food an infant eats. In recent years, however, it has also become one of many baby foods that has been raising alarm among lawmakers and parents. Most cultivated rice grows submerged in paddy fields, primarily in South and Southeast Asia, although it is also grown in the United States and many other countries. These flooded fields provide a cool, fertile environment for a healthy crop, but that same environment also allows contamination from toxic heavy metals, including arsenic, cadmium, lead, and mercury. At least some heavy metals appear to harm brain development...