More on Heavy Metals
With the arrival of the US Food and Drug Administration's (FDA) document "Closer to Zero" in 2021, the discussion about heavy metal elements in food has increased in the academic world. This probably could be said about the political world also with the MAHA movement. Growers Mineral, Corp. was introduced to the problem of cadmium (Cd) in fertilizer and feed by Dr. Tom Swerczek in the early 1990s.
Dr. Swerczek encouraged the leadership team at Growers Mineral, Corp. to investigate for heavy metals in the raw materials that are used to manufacture Growers Mineral Solutions (GMS). He suggested the use of neutron activation analysis (NAA) which is very accurate for trace element analysis. The initial NAA testing completed by Growers Mineral, Corp. was very positive. Also, the company today continues to use NAA testing to monitor GMS and the raw materials used to manufacture GMS. So, with the increased discussion of heavy metals in food by various media two pertinent articles were discovered by the GMS network.
www.farmprogress.com published on August 16, 2024 that Michigan State University was examining vegetables used in baby food production for the heavy metals arsenic, cadmium, chromium, lead, and mercury. The article "How are Heavy Metals Getting into Food Crops?" stated that "researchers wonder why soil tests can come back clean-no heavy metals-but produce products still test positive." It is interesting that the article gave no consideration to the soil test being incorrect. It would be similar to COVID-19 testing accuracy. Also, the research focused on the fact that the heavy metal source came from the soil originally and was not in any of the products added to the soil. Although, they said, they avoided soil used in the past for fruit and vegetable production where "heavy metals and old pesticides" might have been applied. This article never mentioned that applied fertilizer could be a source of heavy metals.
So, the article which appeared on www.phys.org on October 15, 2024 also shied away from discussing heavy metals in fertilizer. However, this article, "Nano Nutrients Can Blunt Effects of Soil Contamination, Boost Crop Yields," discussed the use of nutrients that are in nano state or very soluble. These researchers from China and the United States say that research shows that elements in nano form are utilized better by the plant so less total fertilizer has to be applied to the crop. They say directly that less applied fertilizer means less environmental problems, but quietly they are saying less applied fertilizer helps with heavy metal uptake by the crop. Does that mean by adding less fertilizer the amount of heavy metal added to the soil is less so the plant has less heavy metal exposure? Or does it mean that when the crop is more balanced with nutrients that the plant will not tend to absorb heavy metals? They concluded that less heavy metal uptake creates healthier plant tissue.
In an article published in The Growers Solution Spring 2020 Volume 33 Issue 2-"More Confirmation for Dr. V.A. Tiedjens"-we highlighted work at Carnegie Mellon University which discussed "A New Delivery Route for Plant Nutrients" using nanoparticles. That research focused on foliar feeding soluble nanoparticles to crops that ended up feeding the symbiotic microbes associated with the crop's roots. So the question is: When the crop has the right mineral balance, will the correct soil microbes allow only the correct elements to enter the plant? If that occurs, is the crop's health better and the crop's feed value better?
This is an excerpt from the Summer Growers Solution (2026) written by Jim Halbeisen, Director of Research.
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