Episode transcript

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I’m Susie Craig from Washington State University Extension

No matter the source of heavy metals in our food system, agricultural technologies may minimize them in soil and limit the uptake of heavy metals by plants. The technologies used by farmers to lessen or alleviate heavy metals range from direct interventions with soil to more complex solutions. These include:

• Growing crops in areas with lower levels of heavy metals,

• Soil washing or soil excavation,

• Reducing heavy metals in fertilizers,

• Using soil amendments such as lime, altering the pH of soil and reducing heavy metal uptake by plants, and

• Crop genetics developing plants that minimize uptake during growth.

Learn more from the Institute of Food Technologists. Look online for Challenges, Risks, and Potential Solutions to Mitigate Heavy Metal Exposure: A Roundtable Discussion.

This is Food Safety in a Minute.

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Resources

Institution of Food Technologists (10/24). Challenges, Risks, and Potential Solutions to Mitigate Heavy Metal Exposure: A Roundtable Discussion.

https://164454.fs1.hubspotusercontent-na1.net/hubfs/164454/Challenges%2c%20Risks%20and%20Potential%20Solutions%20to%20Mitigate%20Heavy%20Metal%20Exposure-1.pdf. Accessed online 12/8/24.