Can Lead be pulled up from the soil by plants?

[JonB_in_Glencoe]

Dr. Greger's articles are usually pretty good, but I've never heard of plants being able to pull up Lead from the soil.


Where to Buy Tea Low in Lead
Written By Michael Greger M.D. FACLM on June 5th, 2018

China burns about half of the world’s coal, spewing heavy metals such as mercury and lead into the atmosphere that affect the development of neighboring children. What if you don’t live in China or eat anything produced there? You could still be exposed to the mercury that settles in the oceans if you eat fish and other seafood. What if you drink something from China? Tea. China is one of the world’s biggest tea exporters, but their rapid industrialization has raised concerns about contamination with lead, a toxin that can affect almost every organ in the body. The more lead there is in the soil, the more lead there is that ends up in the tea leaves. And, the closer to the highway the tea is grown, the higher the lead levels. This suggests that leaded gas, which wasn’t banned in China until the year 2000, may be playing a role in the contamination of tea grown there.

>>>More at link
https://nutritionfacts.org/2018/06/05/where-to-buy-tea-low-in-lead/?utm_source=NutritionFacts.org&utm_campaign=510668063b-RSS_BLOG_DAILY&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_40f9e497d1-510668063b-25629617&mc_cid=510668063b&mc_eid=c21bf7ef06

[PaulG67]

Plants draw water from the soil which means they draw in whatever is in that water.

[MUSTANG]

Numerous articles and studies show that "Heavy Metals" can be absorbed by plants. In the case of lead; the uptake is severely limited compared to other Heavy Metals present in soils. Here is a research article on the issue:

https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/02652030500387554

Bottom line as is usually the case; the "Numbers" in the study are insignificant when expressed as a %, or parts per million, or parts per billion. Attempts by alarmist researchers to equate vegetable uptake with Marine Life uptake in my opinion is significantly flawed. In Marine life (particularly high end Marine Life such as Tuna), the animal is concentrating Heavy Metals because all those %'s/parts per million/parts per billion are accumulated as ever increasing size of Marine life eats a smaller Marine plant or animal; as the top of the food chain is reached the amount of heavy metal has increased. This "Life Cycle Science" has been happening since creation; so it is more a case of Scientists recognizing fact - rather than current conditions creating a "Crisis".

Bottom line is that a Plant eater (including Omnivores such as Mankind) are going to have a small uptake of Heavy metals. Not all heavy metals are treated equal in the plant world, and lead has a significantly less uptake level than other heavy metals (ie. cadmium, copper, etc..).

[nvbirdman]

If there is lead in the coal, where did it come from? The coal was originally plants that died and after decomposition, were compressed over time into layers of coal. Those plants must have drawn lead up from the soil, and plants today are doing the same thing.

[square butte]

Lead in paint will contaminate soil in garden beds near older homes painted with lead based paint. Been there done that

[brass410]

when leaded gasoline was still available, the local land fill would not compost leaves with the rest of the pile because of high lead content within the leaf structure. It was believed to have come from vehicle exhaust on the streets in the city limits, if it was ever proven I don't know, but I do know that a trees leaves act as a filter to clean up the ecosystem so it kinda made sense at the time.

[bangerjim]

Oh.....NO, Uncle Bill! Now we are going to have people on here trying to scrounge Pb from plants. Old car batteries was bad enough, but trying to re-melt an oak tree in the backyard because Grandpa cast boolits under it 80 years ago? I don’t think so, Tim!

Pb is everwhere! It’s like the ground water here in Az has more As naturally in it than the LEGAL EPA limits!!!!!!! That is why Az is rich in many metals and minerals. (Just don’t drink the water! HA......ha!) Or eat the trees/flowers/plants.

[William Yanda]

Plants draw water from the soil which means they draw in whatever is in that water.

Pure lead is much less soluble than lead oxide-the white stuff. How fast lead oxidizes depends on the size of the particles, the temperature and what other environmental factors apply-alkaline or acidic enviorenment etc.

[Elkins45]

Plants pull all sorts of metals from the soil, and their lead levels can be quite a bit higher than in the water or soil they inhabit. It’s called bioconcentration and it’s a known problem.

[justashooter]

phosphorus, potassium, calcium, and sodium are metals. the human animal needs adequate amounts of all of them for neurological and muscular funcition, and many other metals as well. most of the metals we take in come from plant based food, or animal based food that is grown by use of plant based food.

[fivefang]

justashooter, I like Salsa, & I use a lot of Cilantro in it, from what I have read, Cilantro has the ability to remove heavy metals from our body's, but I have not read about any 100% proof of it's power to do so, I hope to find out more about it, Fivefang

[lefty o]

plants pull most of their nutrients from the soil, so if its in the ground, it is likely to end up in the plants.

[JonB_in_Glencoe]

Thanks for all the replies, I knew that plants would absorb nutrients from the soil/water...but had never heard specifically about Pb.

[JonB_in_Glencoe]

justashooter, I like Salsa, & I use a lot of Cilantro in it, from what I have read, Cilantro has the ability to remove heavy metals from our body's, but I have not read about any 100% proof of it's power to do so, I hope to find out more about it, Fivefang

Fivefang,
I read several articles about taking high quantities of Vit. C to lower blood lead levels. A high quantity of Vit. C is suppose to 'flush' your system of many different things. I was talking to my doctor a few years ago and mentioned that I took Vit C supplements, I don't recall if it was 1K or 2k...but I do know it was less than 5K a day. Anyway, he told me to be careful, it may be "flushing" my Hyper-tension medication out of my system at the same time...I take 3 different BP meds, So I quit the daily "High" vit C regiment.

ANYWAY, Google says that 100 grams of Cilantro has 27mg of Vit C, and as always, natural Vitamins work more efficiently than Supplements. Oh, and many other traditional ingredients in Salsa contain Vit. C.

[RPRNY]

Yes, plants can absorb heavy metals. However, Greger is way off the mark in ascribing lead pollution in China to coal fired power plants. While in decades past, older unscrubbed (ie not equipped with filtration equipment) coal fired power plants in China did release large amount of Mercury into the atmosphere, his suggestion that they were major emitters of lead is completely off the mark. Not only are lead emissions from coal combustion extremely low, but the culprit for lead emissions in China is almost entirely gasoline.

[jdfoxinc]

if it was a real problem generations of people living and farming Civil War battle sites would be affected.

[WRideout]

Anything that can dissolve in water can be taken up by plants. When I was in the environmental field (don't judge me) I went to a seminar on use of plants for environmental cleanup purposes. The speaker told us about a tree in, I think, New Guinea that preferentially took up nickel from the soil. The wood had a high percentage of nickel by weight; kind of like ore.

One of the approved methods for dealing with lead contaminated soil around a home is to grow grass on it, and throw away the clippings.

Wayne

[quilbilly]

Nowadays science has the ability to measure in minute amounts beyond what is relevant in the real world but wonderful for getting grants and creating hysteria. Both lead and mercury fall into this category. In the Seattle area, there has been great hysteria about mercury coming from the rivers but there are cinnabar (a form of mercury) outcrops in the upper rivers so the metal has been native for eons. The natural mercury never gets mentioned, only Boeing Aircraft Company along the river.

[DCM]

Doe run. :)

[mold maker]

Every mineral we deal with was always a part of the earth. Man may move and concentrate or dilute it, but man never originated any thing but ideas. The earth has ways of redistributing our mistakes just as it has for eons. In my opinion, the well meaning do goobers and nay Sayers are only creating hysteria in order to access their 15 min of fame. It goes without saying, we need to be good stewards of the gifts God provided.

[popper]

Yes it can but all those farmers around the DoeRun mine would be dead by now.

[Lloyd Smale]

I don't doubt lead vapors from fuels ect can be abosorbed but I would have to guess if you buried a couple one lb ingots in your garden it would take many years for it to break down (if ever) to the point that plants absorbed it.

[daniel lawecki]

In Michigan where our gun club is. We have to have the ground water tested for lead. We been shooting into the berm since 1949. We never failed a ground water test yet. So it makes one wonder about all of this.

[10x]

Lead, as a metal is not soluble in water.
Lead acetate and tetra ethyl lead is soluble and can be taken up by plants.
In areas where lead is found naturally there is no measurable lead in the ground water or the fauna. It is only in urban/industrial areas where organic lead compounds (not metal) are found in ground water.

[10x]

I don't doubt lead vapors from fuels ect can be abosorbed but I would have to guess if you buried a couple one lb ingots in your garden it would take many years for it to break down (if ever) to the point that plants absorbed it.

Tetra ethyl lead from gasoline is taken up by plants and animals on contact. - A one pound ingot of lead in your garden would remain a one pound ingot without contamination of the soil.
5 gallons of leaded gasoline WILL Contaminate soil with tetra ethyl lead...

[gwpercle]

I knew there was good reason not to drink tea....it'll kill you! Drink Coffee !

[Tom W.]

We're gonna die anyway. Don't let it worry you.....

[jonp]

Pulling heavy metals from the soil as a bio remediation technique is a tried and true method. Been around for years. Some plants are better than others at this and the articles/scientific articles are numerous. I worked on some of this while in college decades ago.

[jonp]

In Michigan where our gun club is. We have to have the ground water tested for lead. We been shooting into the berm since 1949. We never failed a ground water test yet. So it makes one wonder about all of this.

A way to create hysteria and ban lead ammunition based on everything but science

[Wayne Smith]

LOML is a senior geologist at the Commonwealth Department of Environmental Quality. She stated that legumes are the normative plant for phytoremediation of heavy metals, including lead. So, if this is your garden, don't eat the peas and beans! The legumes are harvested and compressed and put into a lined landfill. Soil is then retested to see how much is left, mutiple generations are typically needed. Because the other option is to remove the soil and put that in a landfill the phytoremediation is a more compact solution. She also stated that highbred Popular picks up almost anything.

For more information go to www.cluin.org

[Iowa Fox]

Lead is actually the least of my concerns whether its bullets, ingots, smelting, or paint on our farm buildings. Agricultural chemicals is a big concern for me. Anything you buy that you didn't grow yourself is suspect.

[jonp]

Yes it can but all those farmers around the DoeRun mine would be dead by now.

What's Doe Run?

[Wayne Smith]

First SuperFund site. Google it and you will find a lot of information. Doe Run essentially established the SuperFund program.

[Lloyd Smale]

Ill refrain in the future from trying to chemicaly break down gas and paint to get lead to cast bullets:kidding:
Tetra ethyl lead from gasoline is taken up by plants and animals on contact. - A one pound ingot of lead in your garden would remain a one pound ingot without contamination of the soil.
5 gallons of leaded gasoline WILL Contaminate soil with tetra ethyl lead...

[am44mag]

I wouldn't pass this off as simple hysteria. That's a dangerous mistake to make. Sure, these metals have always been here. That doesn't mean that it's ok to just let them pollute the land and sea. We don't just pick lead and mercury out of topsoil, and came from deep within the earth. There's a certain level of heavy metals naturally present in the soil. We are adding to that and it WILL eventually cause serious health problems. Want an example of what happens when we bring stuff up and pollute the surface with it? Take a look at Pitcher Oklahoma and tell me that's ok. A town of 14,252 reduced to 0, and a level of lead and zinc contamination that will make that area a potential health risk for centuries. It's an extreme example, but even on a smaller scale, allowing heavy metals like lead and mercury to pollute our food, land, and water is not a smart thing to do. There will be a price to pay someday.