mortiz085

Every time we buy vegetables in the market, we do not doubt the quality of these farm products. We think they are clean, safe, nutritious and good for our health. But the worsening environmental pollution due to the overuse and misuse of agricultural chemicals such as pesticides, the improper waste disposal, the manufacturing industry, and the transportation system may be affecting the quality of the food crops we eat everyday. Specifically, heavy metals most of which are toxic to humans at elevated concentrations, are starting to contaminate the vegetables we love to eat. The scientific principle is simple: a contaminated soil will generally produce contaminated crops. An interesting and very relevant student research conducted a few years ago revealed such alarming reality. Conducted to determine and compare the Pb, Cu and Zn contents of Alugbati ( Basella rubra ), Ampalaya ( Momordica charantia ), Kalabasa ( Cucurbita maxima ), Kangkong ( Ipomoea aquatica ), Pechay ( Brassica ra...

Arsenic (As) is a heavy metal that is well-known as a poison and a carcinogen. Its average concentration in the soil ranges from 5 to 6 mg/kg which is generally related to rock type and industrial activity. Arsenic contamination of paddy soils is widespread and elevated arsenic levels in rice grains is now a hot issue in many parts of the world. Martha Rose Shulman wrote in the New York Times (15 April 2013) that “it is clear that the levels of inorganic arsenic in rice and rice products are high, and that we and especially children, babies and pregnant women should limit our intake of rice and rice products.” According to Bogdan and Schenk (2012) in their recent study published in the highly respected Journal of Plant Nutrition and Soil Science (Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH), flooded rice may contain high arsenic concentration compared to other grain crops. In fact, aside from arsenic-contaminated drinking water, rice is the largest food dietary source of inorganic arsenic. This is because t...

People living in areas with fertile soils are better nourished than those living in degraded soils due to the higher quantity and quality of food in the former than the latter. Likewise, people living in polluted environments are more exposed to the ill effects of pollutants. The paths of environmental contaminants leading to humans are the following ( Logan , 2000): a) Soil à crop à human b) Soil à livestock à human c) Soil à crop à livestock à human d) Soil à surface waters à fish à human e) Soil à groundwater à human f) Soil à air à human g) Soil à human The pathways a to e are indirect links between soil and human health and are relatively well-known. The pathways f and g are direct links and are little known and understood. Direct links between soils and human health is geophagy Humans ingest soil either involuntarily or deliberately. For the involuntary ingestion, every person ingests at least small quantities of soil. This is because any soil adhering to the skin of...