Rice is the staple food for half of the world's population, and consumption of rice is the major exposure route globally to arsenic. Arsenic has many adverse consequences for human health and affects millions of people worldwide. This book explains the sources of arsenic to paddy soils and the various biogeochemical processes and plant physiological attributes of paddy soil–rice ecosystems that lead to high concentrations of arsenic in rice grain. It includes the global patterns of arsenic concentration and speciation in rice, discusses human exposure to inorganic arsenic from rice and consequences for health. It also highlights particular human populations that have the highest rice consumption, which includes Southern and South-East Asians, and also weaning babies, gluten intolerance sufferers and those consuming rice milk in additional geographic locations. The book also contains information about arsenic concentration and speciation in other major crops and some of the approaches for lowering arsenic in rice grain and in the human diet through agronomic management. The book is an excellent contribution to the field, and is clear and authoritatively written with ample figures and tables and an extensive bibliography. It should be of interest to many biological and environmental scientists concerned with the impact of metals and metalloids in ecosystems and their interactions with soil biota and plants, and consequences for crop production and human health.