There are some more details and prompts in the file.
The assignment is to write a 500-word “position paper” concerning the regulation of arsenic in
our food (meaning food that is sold for consumption in the USA). Take a position either for or
against the setting of a limit for the arsenic concentration in food and present arguments,
supported by appropriate expert opinions, for your position. If you are in favor of such a
regulation, give some details of what you think it should be (one value for total arsenic
concentration to be applied to all food, or what?).
Use the style adopted by the writers of the Consumer Reports article to bring your experts into
the text as you need them, but also collect your sources at the end under the heading of
“bibliography and further reading.”
You may find the material at the FDA website useful
http://www.fda.gov/food/foodborneillnesscontaminants/metals/ucm319870.htm
The National Academies Press released (about a year ago) an “interim report” entitled Critical
Aspects of EPA’s IRIS Assessment of Inorganic Arsenic by the Committee on Inorganic Arsenic;
Board on Environmental Studies and Toxicology; Division on Earth and Life Studies; National
Research Council, described as follows:
The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Integrated Risk Information System (IRIS)
program develops toxicologic assessments of environmental contaminants. IRIS assessments
provide hazard identification and dose-response assessment information. The information is then
used in conjunction with exposure information to characterize risks to public health and may be
used in risk-based decision-making, in regulatory actions, and for other risk-management
purposes. Since the middle 1990s, EPA has been in the process of updating the IRIS assessment
of inorganic arsenic. In response to a congressional mandate for an independent review of the
IRIS assessment of inorganic arsenic, EPA requested that the National Research Council
convene a committee to conduct a two-phase study. Critical Aspects of EPA’s IRIS Assessment of
Inorganic Arsenic is the report of the first phase of that study. This report evaluates critical
scientific issues in assessing cancer and noncancer effects of oral exposure to inorganic arsenic
and offers recommendations on how the issues could be addressed in EPA’s IRIS assessment.
http://www.nap.edu/catalog.php?record_id=18594
You might be interested to know that the Europeans have introduced (June 2015) both a
regulation on white rice and one (that is more stringent) on rice for use in infant products. See if
you can find any details.
If you are cruising the internet, you might come across this:
https://theconversation.com/are-we-eating-too-much-arsenic-we-need-better-tests-to-know-
40732
You need to cite at least two authoritative sources to get full credit. Try to cite them as would be
done at the end of a chemistry journal article. There is no maximum length, but you need to write
more than 450 words to avoid a length penalty. As for the arsenic-related papers, only a Word
document or pdf will be accepted.

There are some more details and prompts in the file.
The assignment is to write a 500-word “position paper” concerning the regulation of arsenic in
our food (meaning food that is sold for consumption in the USA). Take a position either for or
against the setting of a limit for the arsenic concentration in food and present arguments,
supported by appropriate expert opinions, for your position. If you are in favor of such a
regulation, give some details of what you think it should be (one value for total arsenic
concentration to be applied to all food, or what?).
Use the style adopted by the writers of the Consumer Reports article to bring your experts into
the text as you need them, but also collect your sources at the end under the heading of
“bibliography and further reading.”
You may find the material at the FDA website useful
http://www.fda.gov/food/foodborneillnesscontaminants/metals/ucm319870.htm
The National Academies Press released (about a year ago) an “interim report” entitled Critical
Aspects of EPA’s IRIS Assessment of Inorganic Arsenic by the Committee on Inorganic Arsenic;
Board on Environmental Studies and Toxicology; Division on Earth and Life Studies; National
Research Council, described as follows:
The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Integrated Risk Information System (IRIS)
program develops toxicologic assessments of environmental contaminants. IRIS assessments
provide hazard identification and dose-response assessment information. The information is then
used in conjunction with exposure information to characterize risks to public health and may be
used in risk-based decision-making, in regulatory actions, and for other risk-management
purposes. Since the middle 1990s, EPA has been in the process of updating the IRIS assessment
of inorganic arsenic. In response to a congressional mandate for an independent review of the
IRIS assessment of inorganic arsenic, EPA requested that the National Research Council
convene a committee to conduct a two-phase study. Critical Aspects of EPA’s IRIS Assessment of
Inorganic Arsenic is the report of the first phase of that study. This report evaluates critical
scientific issues in assessing cancer and noncancer effects of oral exposure to inorganic arsenic
and offers recommendations on how the issues could be addressed in EPA’s IRIS assessment.
http://www.nap.edu/catalog.php?record_id=18594
You might be interested to know that the Europeans have introduced (June 2015) both a
regulation on white rice and one (that is more stringent) on rice for use in infant products. See if
you can find any details.
If you are cruising the internet, you might come across this:
https://theconversation.com/are-we-eating-too-much-arsenic-we-need-better-tests-to-know-
40732
You need to cite at least two authoritative sources to get full credit. Try to cite them as would be
done at the end of a chemistry journal article. There is no maximum length, but you need to write
more than 450 words to avoid a length penalty. As for the arsenic-related papers, only a Word
document or pdf will be accepted.