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Toxic heavy metals such as arsenic (As), lead (Pb), and mercury (Hg) are systemic toxicants that are hazardous to human health. However, as these elements are increasing in the environment due to fast urbanization, industrialization, and chemicalized agricultural activities, accumulation of the same in human body anywhere in the world is quite interesting to global assessment of environment quality. In this connection, random examination of blood samples of human population in Kerala, South India, was carried out to assess the threat of heavy metal contamination to humans in this part of the globe, especially in relation to the amount of such metals in food and other environmental samples. Except pure vegetarians, people of Kerala consume rice as the staple food with a lot of fish. Therefore, the amount of these three heavy metals in drinking water, fish, rice, and paddy soils was done. Heavy metals in the blood were examined in relation to age, gender, and dietary habits such as frequency of fish eating or vegetarianism. Influence of dental amalgam fillings on blood mercury levels was also analyzed. Quantitative assessment of metals in samples was done by inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry (ICP-MS). The levels of arsenic, lead, and mercury were found well below the reference values, though diet seemed to pull them up as the amount of metals in blood showed significant differences between vegetarians and non-vegetarians. Evidence to the influence of dental amalgam fillings on blood mercury levels could not be established with the present samples.

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Field studies are necessary to understand the abundance and type of indigenous arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungi present in the rhizosphere. Green gram [Phaseolus aureus Roxb. (= Vigna radiata var. radiata)] is a major pulse crop of South India. A field study was conducted to identify the AM fungi associated with green gram under field conditions in this region. The rhizosphere soil samples from these fields were analyzed for AM fungal spores. Glomus mosseae, Glomus microcarpum, Gigaspora margarita, and Scutellospora sp. were identified as the AM fungi associated with green gram. Glomus mosseae was the most frequent AM fungal associate identified in 81%, G. microcarpum and G. margarita in 24% each, and Scutellospora sp. in 5% of the soils studied. The range of distribution varied from a single species of AM fungus to three species belonging to two genera in one sample. Correlations of spore count and percentage colonization for all the AM fungi on the crop in the field, along with soil parameters like pH, N, P, and K were studied. Significant negative correlation (P < 0.01) was obtained between percentage colonization and P. The pH and N were positively correlated (P < 0.01) with K. The study indicates involvement of factors other than soil nutrients in the distribution and sporulation of AM fungi.