Sources of Soil Pollution by Heavy Metals and Their Accumulation in Vegetables: a Review

The presence of heavy metals in food is a threat to human health. Exposure to heavy metals as a result of consumption of contaminated vegetables, as well as their toxicity, is a serious problem. Different branches of industry and the road traffic have a significant impact on environmental pollution with heavy metals. Municipal and industrial sewage also is an important source of those substances. Furthermore, the mineral content of vegetables depends on factors such as the natural content of trace elements in the environment, their levels in mineral fertilizers, and fertilizer doses. In the soil, a natural source of these metals is bedrock. In soils used for agricultural purposes, some quantities of metals are…