Chromium accumulation, transport and toxicity in plants∗

Abstract

The predominant pathway for human exposure to chromium in non‐occupationally exposed individuals is via food with a daily intake of around 30–100 μgd–1, with vegetables providing a major contribution. Unlike reports of chromium essentiality to man and animals, plants appear not to require chromium in spite of some early reports of a stimulatory growth effect. Most reports on chromium in plants have been concerned with their growth on soils amended with sewage sludge, pF‐ash, tannery waste, or on ultra basic soils, which contain extreme concentrations of the element. Experimental studies with plants grown in hydroponic solution have often been undertaken at unrealistically high concentrations to examine the uptake of chromium in various forms, either as CrIII or CrVI at different pHs. In most cases, reports on chromium in plants deal with element concentrations and plant/soil relationships rather than detailed biochemical and physiological processes. In general, chromium is largely retained in the roots of...