Detrimental Effects of Heavy Metals in Soil, Plants, and Aquatic Ecosystems and in Humans

Environmental pollution has posed a major threat to flora as well as fauna for the past few decades. Industries release effluents into the environment which act as the major source of pollution. The hazardous effects of heavy metals released from these industries impact the soil and due to bioaccumulation of these compounds in the food chain, they ultimately result in a serious human health hazard. The concentration of metals like chromium (Cr), lead (Pb), nickel (Ni), cadmium (Cd), zinc (Zn), titanium (Ti), cobalt (Co), and several others in plants as well as in aquatic animals is above permissible limits according to the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Federal Environmental Protection Agency (FEPA) guidelines. This is why we need to prevent the aquatic ecosystem and human health from detrimental effects. In this review we will be discussing the harmful effects of these metals on soil, plants, aquatic ecosystems, and human health.