Heavy Metal Toxicity and Remediation in Human and Agricultural Systems: An Updated Review
Heavy Metal Toxicity and Remediation in Human and Agricultural Systems: An Updated Review
Heavy metals (HMs) are harmful and lethal at negligible levels and non-biodegradable in the typical ecosystem and constitutes animal, human and environmental hazards. They are divided into toxic metals like Lead, Cadmium, Arsenic, etc. and essential elements like copper, zinc, manganese, iron, nickel and chromium. Additionally, could be categorized into two groups based on the natural and anthropogenic sources releasing origins. Population and industrial expansion led to food contamination with HMs. Poisonous metals can be transferred from irrigation water to agricultural soils, agricultural operations, air pollution, animal feed, and packaging materials. Toxic metals are non-biodegradable, non-thermos degradable, and exceedingly stable in the ecosystem; as a result, they quickly build in various foods. Metal pollution of many foods, including agricultural commodities, and animal protein sources such as fish, milk, meat, and eggs, poses a hazard to food safety and security. Toxic metal pollution of irrigation water, agricultural soils, plants, and animals result in their integration into the food chain, posing a health hazard to humans. Most metals are harmful to animals and humans and accumulate in several organs like the skeleton, hepatic tissue, spleen, and renal tissues. Metals have a deleterious impact on the production of plants and animals. As a result, several remediation strategies have become necessary to limit the hazardous HMs pathway into the food chain and the human body. Metal nanoparticles are employed in beneficial applications, although they are associated with specific hazards.
Keywords | Food contamination, Heavy metals, Nanoparticles, Pollution sources, Remedy, Soil contamination
April 2023
Vol. 11, Iss. 4, Pages 517-694
