Abstract

Food security is a high-priority issue for sustainable global development both quantitatively and qualitatively. In recent decades, adverse effects of unexpected contaminants on crop quality have threatened both food security and human health. Heavy metals and metalloids (e.g., Hg, As, Pb, Cd, and Cr) can disturb human metabolomics, contributing to morbidity and even mortality. Therefore, this review focuses on and describes heavy metal contamination in soil-food crop subsystems with respect to human health risks. It also explores the possible geographical pathways of heavy metals in such subsystems. In-depth discussion is further offered on physiological/molecular translocation mechanisms involved in the uptake of metallic contaminants inside food crops. Finally, management strategies are proposed to regain sustainability in soil-food subsystems.

Keywords

Food securityHuman healthEnvironmental scienceFood chainMetalloidSustainabilityHeavy metalsCropFood safetyRisk analysis (engineering)Natural resource economicsEnvironmental planningEnvironmental protectionEnvironmental healthAgricultureBusinessEnvironmental chemistryBiologyChemistryAgronomyEcologyMetalMedicine

MeSH Terms

ArsenicCropsAgriculturalEnvironmental MonitoringFood ContaminationHumansMetalsHeavyRisk AssessmentSoil Pollutants

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Publication Info

Year
2019
Type
review
Volume
125
Pages
365-385
Citations
1792
Access
Closed

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Cite This

Prabhat Kumar, Sang Soo Lee, Ming Zhang et al. (2019). Heavy metals in food crops: Health risks, fate, mechanisms, and management. Environment International , 125 , 365-385. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envint.2019.01.067

Identifiers

DOI
10.1016/j.envint.2019.01.067
PMID
30743144

Data Quality

Data completeness: 90%