Abstract
Environmental problems have always received immense attention from scientists. Toxicants pollution is a critical environmental concern that has posed serious threats to human health and agricultural production. Heavy metals and pesticides are top of the list of environmental toxicants endangering nature. This review focuses on the toxic effect of heavy metals (cadmium (Cd), lead (Pb), copper (Cu), and zinc (Zn)) and pesticides (insecticides, herbicides, and fungicides) adversely influencing the agricultural ecosystem (plant and soil) and human health. Furthermore, heavy metals accumulation and pesticide residues in soils and plants have been discussed in detail. In addition, the characteristics of contaminated soil and plant physiological parameters have been reviewed. Moreover, human diseases caused by exposure to heavy metals and pesticides were also reported. The bioaccumulation, mechanism of action, and transmission pathways of both heavy metals and pesticides are emphasized. In addition, the bioavailability in soil and plant uptake of these contaminants has also been considered. Meanwhile, the synergistic and antagonistic interactions between heavy metals and pesticides and their combined toxic effects have been discussed. Previous relevant studies are included to cover all aspects of this review. The information in this review provides deep insights into the understanding of environmental toxicants and their hazardous effects.
Keywords
PesticideBioaccumulationEnvironmental chemistryHuman healthEnvironmental scienceCadmiumHeavy metalsAgricultureSoil contaminationPollutionPhytoextraction processEnvironmental pollutionEnvironmental protectionSoil waterHyperaccumulatorChemistryPhytoremediationEcologyBiologyEnvironmental health
Affiliated Institutions
Related Publications
Heavy metal pollution in the environment and their toxicological effects on humans
Environmental pollution of heavy metals is increasingly becoming a problem and has become of great concern due to the adverse effects it is causing around the world. These inorg...
Environmental and Health Impacts of Air Pollution: A Review
One of our era's greatest scourges is air pollution, on account not only of its impact on climate change but also its impact on public and individual health due to increasing mo...
Usage of Social Media and Smartphone Application in Assessment of Physical and Psychological Well-Being of Individuals in Times of a Major Air Pollution Crisis
This is one of the first few studies demonstrating the use of Internet in data collection during an air-pollution crisis. Our results demonstrated that the newer technological m...
Comparative analysis of environmental impacts of agricultural production systems, agricultural input efficiency, and food choice
Global agricultural feeds over 7 billion people, but is also a leading cause of environmental degradation. Understanding how alternative agricultural production systems, agricul...
Planetary Boundaries: Exploring the Safe Operating Space for Humanity
"Anthropogenic pressures on the Earth System have reached a scale where abrupt global environmental change can no longer be excluded. We propose a new approach to global sustain...
Publication Info
- Year
- 2021
- Type
- review
- Volume
- 9
- Issue
- 3
- Pages
- 42-42
- Citations
- 1888
- Access
- Closed
External Links
Social Impact
Altmetric
PlumX Metrics
Social media, news, blog, policy document mentions
Citation Metrics
1888
OpenAlex
43
Influential
1715
CrossRef
Cite This
Ahmed Alengebawy,
Sara Taha Abdelkhalek,
Sundas Rana Qureshi
et al.
(2021).
Heavy Metals and Pesticides Toxicity in Agricultural Soil and Plants: Ecological Risks and Human Health Implications.
Toxics
, 9
(3)
, 42-42.
https://doi.org/10.3390/toxics9030042
Identifiers
- DOI
- 10.3390/toxics9030042
- PMID
- 33668829
- PMCID
- PMC7996329