Current Overview: Heavy Metal Contamination of Food

Heavy metals is the term used for metals which are the third or higher period in periodic table whose density is higher than 5 g/cm3 higher according to the physical properties Heavy metals are more important than other chemical contaminants as for getting from many different sources, causing widely contamination, being resistant to different environmental conditions and always effecting on biological systems and increasing concentrations of heavy metals accumulate in organisms can easily enter the food chain. Human heath are being increasingly threatened by the heavy metals day by day via contaminating from various sources such as soil reclamation agents, sewage and industrial waste, drinking water, cooking and processing equipment, ceramic products, packaging stages of boxing. Hence, some national and international legal arrangements are available to prevent heavy metal contamination. In this review, the main contamination ways and sources to food together with related to legal regulations of some heavy metals that adversely interact to human health are briefly discussed.