Low-cost agricultural measures to reduce heavy metal transfer into the food chain - a review

Heavy metal contamination affects large areas of Europe and worldwide. Hot spots of pollution are located close to industrial sites, around large cities and in the vicinity of mining and smelting plants. Agriculture in these areas faces major problems due to heavy metal transfer into crops and subsequently into the food chain. This paper gives an overview on simple but effective countermeasures to reduce the transfer of heavy metals to edible parts of crops. Since crop species and varieties largely differ in their heavy metal uptake, choosing plants with low transfer factors (e.g., legumes, cereals) may reduce metal concentration in edible parts significantly. Cultivating crops with higher