Geochemical insights into plant uptake of Technology-critical elements: A case study on lettuce from European soils.

While vegetable uptake of traditional metal contaminants is a well-studied pathway to human exposure and risk, a paucity of information exists on the uptake of emerging metal contaminants. This study evaluated the uptake of the Technology-critical elements (TCEs) gallium (Ga), germanium (Ge), niobium (Nb), tantalum (Ta), thallium (Tl), and rare earth elements (REEs) into lettuce cultivated in 21 European urban soils. For comparison, the uptake of cadmium (Cd) was also analysed.

Cytotoxicity and Oxidative Stress Induced by Technology-Critical Elements Traditional Metal Contaminants: An Bioassay Study.

Technology-critical elements (TCEs), essential in emerging technologies, are increasingly finding their way into our environment, raising concerns about their sparsely studied behavior and toxicity. To contribute insights into the toxicological aspects, we employed bioassays to investigate the possible cytotoxic effects in four representative cell lines (AR-EcoScreen GR-KO-M1, DR-EcoScreen, MCF7AREc32, VM7Luc4E2) and the potential to induce oxidative stress via the nuclear factor erythroid 2-related factor 2 (Nrf2) pathway for a number of these elements. Nine TCEs, three rare-earth elements (REEs: Gd, Nd, Yb) and six less-studied TCEs (LSTCEs: Ga, Ge, In, Ta, Te, Tl), were selected for this study, along with three well-studied traditional metal contaminants (TMCs: As, Cd, Pb) for comparison.

Urban vegetable contamination - The role of adhering particles and their significance for human exposure.

While urban-grown vegetables could help combat future food insecurity, the elevated levels of toxic metals in urban soils need to be met with measures that minimise transfer to crops. This study firstly examines soil/dust particle inclusion in leafy vegetables and its contribution to vegetable metals (As, Ba, Cd, Co, Cr, Cu, Ni, Pb, Sb, and Zn), using vegetable, soil and dust data from an open-field urban farm in southeastern Sweden. Titanium concentrations were used to assess soil/dust adherence.

Managing health risks in urban agriculture: The effect of vegetable washing for reducing exposure to metal contaminants.

A common, yet poorly evaluated, advice to remove contaminants from urban vegetables is to wash the produce before consumption. This study is based on 63 samples of chard, kale, lettuce and parsley that have grown near a heavily trafficked road in the third largest city in Sweden, with one portion of each sample being analysed without first being washed, and the other portion being subjected to common household washing. Concentrations of 71 elements were analysed by ICP-SFMS after a sample digestion that dissolves both the plant tissues and all potentially adhering particles.

Future food contaminants: An assessment of the plant uptake of Technology-critical elements versus traditional metal contaminants.

Technology-critical elements (TCEs) include most rare earth elements (REEs), the platinum group elements (PGEs), and Ga, Ge, In, Nb, Ta, Te, and Tl. Despite increasing recognition of their prolific release into the environment, their soil to plant transfer remains largely unknown. This paper provides an approximation of the potential for plant uptake by calculating bioconcentration factors (BCFs), defined as the concentration in edible vegetable tissues relative to that in cultivation soil.