FDA chemist Patrick Gray, Ph.D., tests food samples for the presence of arsenic using a scientific instrument called the inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometer (ICP-MS). The ICP breaks down the food test solution into individual atoms and ions, which are separated and counted in the mass spectrometer. Organic rice baby cereal, rice breakfast cereals, brown rice, white rice. New tests have found that those and other types of rice products on grocery shelves contain arsenic, many at worrisome levels. Inorganic arsenic, the predominant form of arsenic in most rice products, is ranked by the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) as one of more than 100 substances that are Group 1 carcinogens. It is known to cause bladder, lung, and skin cancer in humans, with the liver, kidney, and prostate now considered potential targets of arsenic-induced cancers. The FDA has taken a major step towards learning whether levels of arsenic in rice and rice products pose a risk to public health, collecting more than 1,300 samples of rice and rice products and testing them for arsenic. Next step: assessing the public health risk. April, 2013.