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Washington, D.C - December 5, 2011

First it was apple juice, now it's rice. A new study shows arsenic found in rice could pose a health risk, especially to pregnant women.

Cassandra Smith is trying to eat right during her pregnancy. Rice is something she has on a regular basis. "Risotto is probably the primary use of rice. We also like to eat stir fries and rice pudding," she said.

Now a new study shows eating rice could potentially expose women like Smith and their unborn babies to levels of arsenic. Researchers at Dartmouth Medical School looked at 229 pregnant women, who ate about half-a-cup of rice a day on average.

"Women who reported eating rice," said Dartmouth's Dr. Margaret Karagas, "had higher arsenic concentrations in their urine than women who didn't report eating rice."

The more rice women ate, the higher the levels.  Arsenic made news last week when a consumer reports study  revealed unsafe levels of  arsenic and lead in some apple and grape juices.

Arsenic occurs naturally in the environment -- in water, air, food and soil, but high levels of exposure can be dangerous.

Arsenic has been associated with low birth weight, higher rates of infant death and an increased the cancer risk, but experts emphasize those are not the levels we're talking here.

"We're not recommending people stop eating rice, we just need to monitor the amount of arsenic that's in our rice," Dr. Karagas said.

This expectant mom isn't  too concerned. "Millions of people for years have been eating rice and haven't been getting sick, or drinking apple juice for decades," Smith said.

For now, she's not making any changes to her diet.  

Randall Pinkston - CBS News