Effect of heavy metals on rice irrigated fields with waste water in high pH Mediterranean soils: The particular case of the Valencia area in Spain

In alkaline soils such as that involved in this study, the metals are in general retained in the soil and do not pass into the plants to cause toxicity problems, but even so, with continuous long-term irrigation heavy metals can accumulate, and in the case of rice this situation is likely to arise. In the study we always considered the possibility that this crop is a heavy metal filter that prevents toxic elements from reaching the consumer.