Background and Objectives: Rice is the second most abundant cereal crops in Iran. In recent years, the volume of rice import to Iran is increasing considerably due to the increased average per capita consumption of this product in Iran. The entrance of heavy metals to food supply chain can cause a variety of health risks; therefore, evaluation of heavy metals in imported rice compared to Iranian rice is important considering national and international standards. The aim of this study was to determine the amount of heavy metals including  lead, nickel and cadmium in imported Indian, Pakistani and Thai rice as well as Iranian rice.

 Materials & Methods: Ten Indian brands, five trade brands of Iranian rice and three and two trade brands of Thai and Pakistani rice samples (450 samples) were collected from local markets during three months from Tehran. Lead, cadmium and nickel were determined by wet digestion method using a Flame Atomic Absorption Spectrophotometer based on international standard method of AOAC.

Results: The mean values of cadmium in imported rice were significantly higher than that obtained for Iranian rice (0.010±0.003 mg kg^-1) (p<0.05). Lead content in Indian rice was the highest one (1.297±0.237 mg kg^-1) and higher than national and International standard (p<0.05). The mean concentration of nickel was in the range of standard and there were no significant difference among imported rice and Iranian rice (p≥0.05). The Provisional Tolerable Weekly Intake (PTWI) for each heavy metal was compared with FAO/WHO standard. The results showed the level of PTWI of imported rice was higher especially for lead and cadmium.

Conclusion: Therefore, food safety monitoring system for imported rice should be performed considerably.