Heavy Metal Accumulation in Rice and Aquatic Plants Used as Human Food: A General Review

Abstract

Aquatic ecosystems are contaminated with heavy metals by natural and anthropogenic sources. Whilst some heavy metals are necessary for plants as micronutrients, others can be toxic to plants and humans even in trace concentrations. Among heavy metals, cadmium (Cd), arsenic (As), chromium (Cr), lead (Pb), and mercury (Hg) cause significant damage to aquatic ecosystems and can invariably affect human health. Rice, a staple diet of many nations, and other aquatic plants used as vegetables in many countries, can bioaccumulate heavy metals when they grow in contaminated aquatic environments. These metals can enter the human body through food chains, and the presence of heavy metals in food can lead to numerous human health consequences. Heavy metals in aquatic plants can affect plant physicochemical functions, growth, and crop yield. Various mitigation strategies are being continuously explored to avoid heavy metals entering aquatic ecosystems. Understanding the levels of heavy metals in rice and aquatic plants grown for food in contaminated aquatic environments is important. Further, it is imperative to adopt sustainable management approaches and mitigation mechanisms. Although narrowly focused reviews exist, this article provides novel information for improving our understanding about heavy metal accumulation in rice and aquatic plants, addressing the gaps in literature.

Effects of chronic exposure to arsenic on the fecal carriage of antibiotic-resistant Escherichia coli among people in rural Bangladesh

“…One of the major contributors to arsenic mobilization in groundwater is phosphate (PO 4 ) rich fertilizer leaching [ 25 ]. Therefore, in addition to contaminated drinking water, Bangladeshis also face the risk of arsenic exposure through the consumption of fish raised in aquaculture ponds and rice irrigated by arsenic-polluted water [ 26 , 27 ]. Chronic exposure to arsenic causes serious health issues such as arsenicosis, type 2 diabetes, adverse pregnancy outcomes, and cardiovascular diseases [ 28 – 32 ].…”

Power and Energy Optimization of Carbon Based Lithium-Ion Battery from Water Spinach (<i>Ipomoea Aquatica</i>)

“…Because it is easy to absorb heavy metals from the growth media, such as mercury, arsenic, zinc, copper, and nickel, water spinach is very dangerous if consumed by living things because it can cause poisoning, cancer, or other dangerous diseases (Vongdala et al, 2018;Zaheer et al, 2020;Tao et al, 2022). In addition, the presence of water spinach can damage plants that grow close to this plant so that the level of production of other plants continues to decrease (Uddin et al, 2021). Because of its large population, its toxic nature, and being a parasite to other plants around it, the use of water spinach as carbon has a major contribution from the economic, health, and environmental aspects.…”

A Study on the Behavior of Cadmium in the Soil Solution–Plant System by the Lysimeter Method Using the 109Cd Radioactive Tracer

“…The accumulation of Cd in plants depends on the concentration of its mobile forms in the soil. In uncontaminated soils, its content in dry plant biomass and grain is in the range of 0.01–0.9 mg kg −1 [ 30 , 31 , 32 ]. It is known that Cd is a toxicant, carcinogen and teratogen [ 9 , 32 , 33 ].…”