How much pesticide residue is actually in store-bought rice and is it safe to eat?

What's actually in it

Rice paddies use significant quantities of pesticides: herbicides, insecticides, and fungicides. The flooded paddy environment also makes rice a unique absorber of soil contaminants because the anaerobic conditions in flooded soil mobilize arsenic and other elements that rice roots readily take up.

The result is rice that can carry both pesticide residues on and in the grain, and inorganic arsenic absorbed through the root system. Both are concerns, but arsenic is generally considered the more serious issue because it can't be washed off.

What the research says

A 2026 review of pesticide residues in rice across regions and nations found significant variation in contamination levels depending on where the rice was grown and how it was farmed. Some samples from certain regions exceeded maximum residue limits for multiple pesticide compounds. The review also examined dietary exposure from rice for populations where it's a staple food.

Washing rice before cooking removes some surface pesticide residues. Cooking rice with excess water that is then drained also reduces arsenic content by 25-40%. Choosing brown rice basmati from lower-arsenic growing regions is a common recommendation for reducing arsenic specifically.

For children and pregnant women who eat rice regularly, varying grains to include oats, quinoa, and millet reduces cumulative arsenic and pesticide exposure from relying too heavily on any single grain.