Heavy Metal Toxicity - Sustainable Mitigation Strategies for Their Remediation

Abstract

Heavy metals are known to be present naturally in the earth’s crust in trace quantities. However, their increased concentrations can be attributed to erratic human activities such as urbanization, industrialization, and extensive use in agricultural practices. Heavy metals such as arsenic, cadmium, mercury, chromium, and lead cause serious health hazards and deleterious effects on all life forms through chronic exposure and bioaccumulation into the food chain. Owing to the known carcinogenic effects of heavy metals, globally it is one of the most sought-after areas of research interest in the public health domain. While humans and animals are exposed to heavy metals via soil, water, and air, plants being sessile in nature, cannot avoid these contaminants and hence develop their mechanism of detoxification and tolerance for their survival resulting in phytotoxicity leading to reduced food quality. The need for sustainable and eco-friendly interventions is being researched, including phytoremediation and bioremediation, which are promising future and economically viable methods to reduce heavy metal toxicity.

Keywords: Anthropogenic sources, Exposure, Impact, Natural sources, Remediation.

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