Heavy metals contaminate up to 17% of world's arable land: study

Washington (AFP) April 17, 2025

Up to 17 percent of cropland worldwide is contaminated with at least one type of toxic heavy metal, posing health risks to up to 1.4 billion people, scientists warned Thursday. Published in the journal Science, their study is a first-of-its-kind global overview of heavy metal contamination in soils, based on a meta-analysis - an approach drawing on data from many previous studies - of almo