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Hazardous heavy metals contamination of vegetables and food chain:

Role of sustainable remediation approaches - A review

Article in Environmental Research · October 2019

DOI: 10.1016/j.envres.2019.108792

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 Environmental Research
Volume 179, Part A, December 2019, 108792

Hazardous heavy metals contamination of vegetables and food chain: Role of

sustainable remediation approaches - A review

Authors: Sandeep Kumara, Shiv Prasada, Krishna Kumar Yadavb, Manoj Shrivastavaa, Neha Guptab, Shivani
Nagarc, Quang-Vu Bachd, Hesam Kamyabe, Shakeel A.Khana, Sunita Yadava, Lal Chand Malavf

Corresponding author. sandeep2011iari@gmail.com

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envres.2019.108792

Abstract
This review emphasizes the role of toxic metal remediation approaches due to their broad
sustainability and applicability. The rapid developmental processes can incorporate a large
quantity of hazardous and unseen heavy metals in all the segments of the environment,
including soil, water, air and plants. The released hazardous heavy metals (HHMs) entered
into the food chain and biomagnified into living beings via food and vegetable consumption
and originate potentially health-threatening effects. The physical and chemical remediation
approaches are restricted and localized and, mainly applied to wastewater and soils and not
the plant. The nanotechnological, biotechnological and genetical approaches required to more
rectification and sustainability. A cellular, molecular and nano-level understanding of the
pathways and reactions are responsible for potentially toxic metals (TMs) accumulation.
These approaches can enable the development of crop varieties with highly reduced
concentrations of TMs in their consumable foods and vegetables. As a critical analysis by
authors observed that nanoparticles could provide very high adaptability for both in-situ and
ex-situ remediation of hazardous heavy metals (HHMs) in the environment. These methods
could be used for the improvement of the inbuilt genetic potential and phytoremediation
ability of plants by developing transgenic. These biological processes involve the transfer of
gene of interest, which plays a role in hazardous metal uptake, transport, stabilization,
inactivation and accumulation to increased host tolerance. This review identified that use of
nanoremediation and combined biotechnological and, transgenic could help to enhance
phytoremediation efficiency in a sustainable way.

Keywords:
Bioaccumulation, Biotechnology, Nanotechnology, Toxicity, Transgenic approach
Appendix A. Supplementary data: Attached
 1

Appendix A. Supplementary material Figure

Fig. S1. Natural and anthropogenic sources of heavy metals

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Fig. 2. Toxic metals transfer in food chain (modified from Gall et al., 2015)

Table S1. Sources of HM discharge in soil and water bodies

Source HM Species Affected Environment Reference
1. Natural/geogenic
sources
a) Volcanic emission As, Pb, Cd, Cu, Zn Air, soil and water Zukowska and Biziuk (2008)
b) Forest and peat fire Fe, Cu, Zn, As, Cd, Ba, Pb Air and soil Jayarathne et al. (2018)
c) Atmospheric fallout As, Cd, Cu, Hg, Ni, Pb, Zn Soil, water and vegetation Luo et al. (2009); Lim et al. (2006)
d) Weathering of rocks and soil Fe, Mn, Ca, Zn, Pb, Cu Soil and water Oort et al. (2018)
e) Flooding and sediment deposition Cd, Cu, Pb, Zn Soil and water Hudson-Edwards et al. (2008)
2. Anthropogenic sources
a) Pesticides use As, Pb, Hg, Cu Soil, water and crops Abdel-Raouf and Abdul-Raheim (2017)
b) Fertilizers dosing Cd, As, Cr, Pb, Hg, Ni Soil, water and crops Salo et al. (2018); Srivastava et al. (2017)
c) Smelting operations Co, Ni, Cu, Cr, As, Cd, Pb, Sb, Hg Soil and water Briki et al. (2017)
d) Mining activities Cu, Ni, Cd, As, Pb, Hg, Zn Soil and water Koprivica et al. (2018)
e) Metal refining Fe, Ni, Zn Soil and water Mustapha and Halimoon (2015)
f) Plating and coating Cr Soil and water Abdel-Raouf and Abdul-Raheim (2017)
g) Battery manufacturing Hg Soil and water Abdel-Raouf and Abdul-Raheim (2017)
h) Tanning and dyeing Cr, Zn, Hg Soil and water Mustapha and Halimoon (2015)
i) Wood preservation As, Zn Soil and water Mustapha and Halimoon (2015)
j) Reclamation of land As, Cr, Cd, Cu Agricultural soil Bai et al. (2009); Li et al. (2012)

2
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k) Solid municipal waste
l) Sewage sludge
m) Landfill leachates
n)Thermal power plants
o) Brick kilns
p) Heavy farm machineries
q) Road traffic
r) Pyrometallurgical processes
s) Livestock manures
t) Coal burning
Zn, Cu, Ni, Pb, Cd, As, Hg
Cu, Ni, Cd, Pb, Zn
Cr, Pb, Ni, Cd
Pb and Se
Fe, Mn, Zn, Cu
Pb, Zn, Cu, Co, Ni
As, Hg, Cd, Mo, Zn
Cr, Ni
As, Cu, Zn
Hg, Pb, Cd, Cr, Cu, Co, Zn, Ni
Soil Khan et al. (2013)
Agricultural soil Srivastava et al. (2017)
Soil and water Ishchenko (2018)
Soil Huang et al. (2009)
Agricultural soil Sikder et al. (2016)
Soil, water and crops Magahud et al. (2015)
Soil Huang et al. (2009)
Soil Huang et al. (2009)
Farm soil Gansler (2009); Srivastava et al. (2017)
Soil, water, air and crops Liu et al. (2018)

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Table S2. Maximum allowable limits (mg/kg) of potential toxic metals in plants and vegetables

HM Vegetable FSSAI1 WHO2 India3 FAO/WHO4 EU5 SNI6 Germany7

Cd
Fruit veg 0.05 0.05 0.1
Leafy veg 0.20 - 1.0 0.20 0.20 0.20 0.5
s Root and stem 0.10 0.10 0.1
Soil
Fruit veg 0.10 0.10 0.50
Leafy veg 0.30 0.30 0.80
Pb - 5.0 3.0 0.50
Root and stem 0.10 0.10 0.25
Soil -
Sn Fruit veg - 2.0 - - - - -
Soil - 2.0 -3.0 - - - - -
1
FSSAI - Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI, 2011)
2
WHO - World Health Organization, Geneva, Switzerland (WHO, 2005)
3
India - Awasthi, 2000
4
FAO/WHO - The Joint FAO-WHO Expert Committee Report on Food Additives (FAO/WHO, 2001)
5
EU- European Union commission (EU, 2006)
6
SNI - Batas Maksimum Cemaran Logam Berat dalam Pangan (BSN,2009)
7
Germany - Merian, 1991

4
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Table S3. Maximum allowable limits (mg/kg) of potential toxic metals in soils

Country/ Reference
As Cd Cr Hg Pb Cu Ni Zn Mo
Organizations
Austria 20 1-2 100 1-2 100 60-100 50-70 150-300 10 Visser, 1993
Belgium1 - 2 100 1 100 50 50 200 - Visser, 1993
Denmark - 0.5 30 0.5 40 40 15 100 - Visser, 1993
Germany2 - 1 60 0.5 70 40 50 150 - Visser, 1993
Greece - 1-3 - 1-1.5 50-300 50-140 30-75 150-300 - Visser, 1993
Finland - 0.5 200 0.2 60 100 60 150 - Visser, 1993
France - 2 150 1 100 100 50 300 - Visser, 1993
Ireland - 1 - 1 50 50 30 150 - Visser, 1993
Italy - 1.5 - 1 100 100 75 300 - Visser, 1993
Luxembourg - 1-3 100-200 1-1.5 50-300 50-140 30-75 150-300 - Visser, 1993
Netherlands - 0.5 30 0.5 40 40 15 100 - Visser, 1993
Portugal3 - 3 200 1.5 300 100 75 300 - Visser, 1993
Sweden - 0.4 60 0.3 40 40 30 100-150 - Visser, 1993
Spain4 - 3 150 1.5 300 210 112 450 - Visser, 1993
UK5 50 3 400 1 300 135 75 300 4 Visser, 1993
EU - 1-3 - 1-1.5 50-300 50-140 30-75 150-300 - ECDGE, 2010
USA6 - 20 1500 - 150 750 210 1400 - ECDGE, 2010
India - 3-6 - - 250-500 135-270 75-150 300-600 - Awasthi, 2000
China 30 0.3 150 0.3 250 50 40 200 - CNEMC, 1990
WHO - 0.8 100 - 85 36 35 50 - WHO, 1996
1
Represents the heavy metals value in Wallonia region of Belgium
2
Represents the heavy metals value in loamy soil of Germany
3
Represents the heavy metals value of soil having pH between 5.5 to <7.0 in Portugal
4
Represents the heavy metals value of soil having pH<7.0 in Spain
5
Represents the heavy metals value of soil having pH between ≥6.0 to ≤7.0 in United Kingdom
6
Represents the heavy metals value in soil on which sewage sludge is applied of USA

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Table S4. Maximum allowable limits (mg/L) of potential toxic metals in drinking water

HM ICMR1 BIS2 WHO3 US EPA4 Canada5 EU6 Russia7 Japan8 China9 Pakistan10
As 0.05 0.01 0.01 0.19 0.05 0.01 0.01 0.01 0.01 0.05
Cd 0.01 0.003 0.003 0.005 0.005 0.003 0.003 0.01 - 0.01
Cr 0.05 0.05 0.05 0.1 0.05 0.05 0.05 0.05 0.05 0.05
Hg 0.001 0.001 0.001 0.002 0.001 0.001 0.001 0.0005 0.001 0.001
Pb 0.01 0.01 0.01 0.005 0.05 0.01 0.01 0.05 0.01 0.05
Ni - 0.02 0.02 0.1 - 0.02 0.02 0.01 0.02 0.02
Mo - 0.07 0.07 - - 0.07 - 0.07 0.07 -
Fe 0.10 0.30 0.30 0.30 - 0.30 0.30 0.30 0.10 -
Zn 5.0 5.0 3.0 5.0 5.0 3.0 1.0 - - 5.0
Cu 0.05 - 1-2 1.3 - 1-2 2.0 1.0 1.0 2.0
1
ICMR- Indian Council of Medical Research, India (ICMR, 1975)
2
BIS- Bureau of Indian Standards, India (BIS, 2012)
3
WHO- World Health Organization, Geneva, Switzerland (WHO, 1993)
4
US EPA- United States Environmental Protection Agency, Washington, D.C., United States (US EPA, 1991)
5
Canada – (CCME, 1991)
6
EU- European Union commission (ECDGE, 2010)
7
Russia – (Radojevic and Bashkin, 2006)
8
Japan – (Radojevic and Bashkin, 2006)
9
China – (SAC MHC, 2006)
10
Pakistan – (PEPA, 2008)

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Table S5. Maximum allowable limits (mg/L) of potential toxic metals in irrigation water

HM WHO1 Pakistan2 FAO3 Canada4 CGWB5

As - - 0.1 0.10 -
Cd 0.01 0.1 0.01 0.005 0.01
Cr 0.10 1.0 0.1 0.10 0.10
Cu 0.20 1.0 0.2 0.20 0.20
Hg - - - - -
Pb 5.0 0.5 5.0 0.20 5.2
Ni - - 0.20 0.20 0.2
Mo - - 0.01 0.01 -
Fe 5.0 8.0 5.0 - 5.0
Zn 2.0 5.0 2.0 2.0 10
1
WHO – (WHO, 2006)
2
Pakistan – (NEQS, 2000)
3
FAO - Adapted from National Academy of Sciences and National Academy of Engineering (1972) and Pratt
(1972)
4
Canada – (CCME, 1991)
5
CGWB - Central Ground Water Board, North Western Region, Chandigarh, Ministry of Water Resources, GOI

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