In a perspective published in Nature Reviews Earth & Environment , Colorado State University researchers describe a management approach to prevent the uptake of arsenic, cadmium and mercury in rice grains to protect human health. They propose novel strategies that will change soil chemistry in a way that immobilizes toxic metals and prevents plant uptake.
Rice is the most important staple food for more than half of the world's population; it plays a crucial role in food security, especially in low-income, food-deficit countries. Toxic metal contamination in rice paddies threatens food security and public health.
"Arsenic, cadmium and mercury are potentially threatening the health of millions of people due to contaminated rice," said Thomas Borch, a professor of soil and crop sciences. "Our perspective article lays out a strategy to protect human health by reducing plant uptake of toxic elements via novel soil management strategies."
Intensive, expensive strategies used for heavily contaminated rice paddies – such as physical soil replacement – are not suitable for most rice paddies, which have low to moderate contamination. The researchers' strategies would prevent toxic metals from reaching the grains – the consumed portion of the plant – by stalling toxins during tillage, through chemical reactions with nutrient inputs, and by using nanomaterials to reinforce barriers at the flowering stage.
Borch co-authored the perspective paper with University Distinguished Professor Jan Leach and Sean Fettrow, a postdoctoral researcher in the Borch lab. Professor Liping Fang of the Guangdong Academy of Sciences in China is first author.
