Analysis of soil from cropland around the globe has led scientists to issue a warning, as they have discovered concerningly high concentrations of dangerous materials - including some which have been linked to causing cancer.
Life is filled with dangers, as even common household appliances have been shown to possess a risk of causing cancer, and a daily activity that most people do while working can have serious negative health repercussions if not remedied.
It's often hard to avoid these dangers, but a new risk has been revealed by scientists that could potentially affect the everyday life of billions worldwide. Worse yet, it’s likely caused by natural processes.
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As reported by El País, researchers from around the world have discovered that high concentrations of dangerous metals are found in a large percentage of cropland worldwide, with some of these materials supposedly contributing to high rates of cancer.
The discovery was made using machine learning artificial intelligence data analysis, which measured and estimated the extent of this contamination worldwide by using extensive soil samples.
It was revealed that seven separate metals were frequently found in high concentration across the soil, and these included arsenic, chromium, cobalt, copper, nickel, lead, and cadmium - the latter of which has been linked to various forms of cancer.
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Lead has also proved to be a concern for many when it comes to the cognitive development of children, as research into various toothpaste brands revealed a similarly worrying discovery.
Outside of the cancer risk of cadmium, many of the other metals also come with harmful side effects. Arsenic, for example, is a well-known carcinogen and is also capable of causing cancer, whereas copper can disrupt the human body's endocrine function if consumed in excess.
This research has estimated that between 14% and 17% of cropland worldwide contains dangerous concentration levels of at least one of these metals. This equates to around 242 million hectares, and locally, could affect between 900 million and 1.4 billion individuals.
Cancer-causing cadmium is also the most prevalent metal found in the research, as it was unearthed in 9% of the soils tested and would thus prove to hold significant risk.
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The cause behind this high concentration is both natural and man-made, as explained by the study's lead author Deyi Hou to El País:
"The widespread distribution of cadmium contamination comes from both natural and anthropogenic sources.
“Geochemically, certain parent rock materials [substrate below the ground], such as black shales, contain high levels of cadmium, leading to elevated concentrations in the soil due to weathering."
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However, the actions of humans also contribute to this contamination, as actions such as "the use of cadmium-containing phosphate fertilizers, wastewater irrigation, industrial emissions from mining, smelting, and e-waste processing, as well as atmospheric deposition from coal combustion," all contribute to its prevalence in cropland worldwide.
The study also aims to outline recognized thresholds for harmful concentrations of metals within the soil, as there is no current standard to measure against, and there is also little research into the long-term effects of exposure on the human body to support such claims.