Metale grele: o sursă de contaminare pentru plantele medicinale şi posibile implicaţii asupra sănătăţii umane

Due to the antioxidant properties of medicinal plants and their beneficial effects on human health, theyare used and consumed as natural medical sources. Despite this, due to the current pollution of environmental compartments (soil, water, air), they can be contaminated with various pollutants. Heavy metals are a category of toxic compounds of great interest, due to the negative action on the environment and human health. Although some heavy metals are important in maintaining the proper functioning of plants, in high concentrations, they can become toxic. In the context of heavy metal pollution of the environment and possible contamination of medicinal plants with these pollutants, the need for chemical analysis of toxic plant compounds is necessary. This paper approaches results from literature which show that medicinal plants can be subjected to contamination with heavy metals, and this has the consequence of altering the normal functions of medicinal plants. Moreover, following consumption through the food chain (soil -plant -human or soil -plant -animal -human), human health may be endangered. This paper also investigates the toxic action of heavy metals in plants, represented, in principle, by the production of reactive oxygen species (ROS), enzyme inhibition and damage to antioxidants

Occurrence and Fate of Emerging Pollutants in Water Environment and Options for Their Removal

Emerging pollutants (EPs) are chemicals known to cause major impacts on the terrestrial, aquatic life and human health as a result of their chronic and acute toxicity. Although lots of studies on EPs behavior in the aquatic environment are currently available in literature, an urgent requirement exists to complete toxicological studies and develop and implement efficient and ecological methods for their removal. This paper raises some relevant problems related to water environment pollution with EPs, the risks they can generate for aquatic life and humans and opportunities to reduce the effects of pollution by EPs removal. Categories of emerging chemicals of concern in the environment, their sources, fate and impacts, with some examples are discussed. Organic UV filters are shortly presented as a relative new EPs category, with a focus on the need to develop extensive experimental studies on their environmental occurrence, fate and removal. Furthermore, sources for the aquatic environment resulting from discharging EPs directly into rivers from wastewater treatment plants are examined. The incidence of environmental and human health risks related to EPs is also considered. The removal of EPs from the environment as a solution to risk mitigation is addressed, with emphasis on several non-conventional processes involving biological removal of EPs. The paper provides a critical look at the current challenges posed by the presence of emerging pollutants in the aquatic environment, with critical comments and recommendations for further research to reduce the impact of EPs on water and human health and improve the performance of developed methods for their removal