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Heavy metals contamination and associated health risks in food webs—a review focuses on food safety and environmental sustainability in Bangladesh

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Abstract

Heavy metals occur naturally in very small amounts in living organisms, but exposure to their higher concentrations is hazardous. Heavy metals at hazardous levels are commonly found in foodstuffs of Bangladesh, mainly due to the lack of safety guidelines and poor management of industrial effluents. Several lines of evidence suggest that the level of heavy metals in foodstuffs of Bangladesh is higher than the acceptable limits set by World Health Organization/Food and Agriculture Organization. Literature survey revealed that the sources and transport pathways of heavy metals in the ecosystem and the abundance of heavy metals in the food products of Bangladesh are potential threats to food safety. However, an extensive assessment of the toxicity of heavy metals in food webs is lacking. Although widespread heavy metal contamination in various foodstuffs and environmental matrices have been summarized in some reports, a critical evaluation regarding multi-trophic transfer and the health risk of heavy metal exposure through food chain toxicity in Bangladesh has not been performed. This systematic review critically discussed heavy metal contamination, exposure toxicity, research gaps, existing legislation, and sustainable remediation strategies to enhance Bangladesh’s food safety. In particular, this study for the first time explored the potential multi-trophic transfer of heavy metals via food webs in Bangladesh. Furthermore, we recommended a conceptual policy framework to combat heavy metal contaminations in Bangladesh.

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Acknowledgements

Authors are grateful to IBGE, BSMRAU, Gazipur, Bangladesh for proofreading, plagiarism checking, and other technical supports throughout the writing period of the paper.

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Data sharing is not applicable to this article as no datasets were generated or analyzed during the current study.

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Author notes

  1. Aniruddha Sarker and Jang-Eok Kim contributed equally to this paper.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Applied Biosciences, College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, Kyungpook National University, Daegu, 41566, Republic of Korea

    Aniruddha Sarker, Jang-Eok Kim & Rakhi Nandi

  2. Department of Disaster Management, Begum Rokeya University, Rangpur, 5400, Bangladesh

    Abu Reza Md. Towfiqul Islam

  3. School of Life Science and Food Engineering, Huaiyin Institute of Technology, Huaian, China

    Muhammad Bilal

  4. Department of Fisheries and Marine Science, Faculty of Science, Noakhali Science and Technology University, Noakhali, Bangladesh

    Md. Refat Jahan Rakib

  5. Institute of Biotechnology and Genetic Engineering (IBGE), Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman Agricultural University, Gazipur, Bangladesh

    Tofazzal Islam

  6. Department of Soil Science, EXIM Bank Agricultural University Bangladesh (EBAUB), Chapainawabganj, Bangladesh

    Aniruddha Sarker

  7. Bangladesh Academy for Rural Development (BARD), Kotbari, Cumilla, Bangladesh

    Rakhi Nandi

  8. Department of Chemistry, King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah, 21589, Saudi Arabia

    Mohammed M. Rahman

Authors
  1. Aniruddha Sarker
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  2. Jang-Eok Kim
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  8. Tofazzal Islam
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Contributions

Aniruddha Sarker and Jang-Eok Kim: conceptualization, methodology, data curation, and writing — review and editing. Abu Reza Md. Towfiqul Islam and Muhammad Bilal: conceptualization and writing — review and editing. Md. Refat Jahan Rakib and Mohammed M. Rahman: writing — original draft and visualization. Rakhi Nandi: methodology and writing — review and editing. Tofazzal Islam: conceptualization, methodology, writing — review and editing, and supervision.

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Correspondence to Tofazzal Islam.

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Sarker, A., Kim, JE., Islam, A.R.M.T. et al. Heavy metals contamination and associated health risks in food webs—a review focuses on food safety and environmental sustainability in Bangladesh. Environ Sci Pollut Res 29, 3230–3245 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-021-17153-7

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-021-17153-7

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