ReviewFrontiers in pharmacology2021
Toxic Mechanisms of Five Heavy Metals: Mercury, Lead, Chromium, Cadmium, and Arsenic.
Review in Frontiers in pharmacology, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. It is linked to trial NCT06107933 (Developmental Impacts of MicroPLastics Exposure in Early Life), which is not on this map. Cited by 718 papers, 5 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Developmental Impacts of MicroPLastics Exposure in Early Life
Who cites it
718 citing papers in PubMed, 5 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 2,752 citations in OpenAlex.
- Environmental Nonessential Element Exposure and Urologic Cancer: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.JAMA network open · 2026Pooled it
- Systematic Review of Metallic, Industrial, and Pharmaceutical Emerging Contaminants in Snow and Ice: A Global Perspective from Polar and High-Mountain Regions.Molecules (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Pooled it
- Lead exposure is associated with increased lead bioaccumulation and a decline in semen quality: a systematic review and meta-analysis.JBRA assisted reproduction · 2025Pooled it
- Toxic heavy metal exposure and heart health: a systematic review and meta-analysis of 324,331 patients.BMC cardiovascular disorders · 2025Pooled it
- COGlobal change biology · 2025Pooled it
- Microbial metabolite Urolithin A protects against inorganic arsenic-induced gut barrier dysfunction in humanizedGut microbes · 2026Article
- Toxic Metals and Metalloids Exposure and the Gut-Cardiometabolic Axis: A Narrative Review of Microbiome Dysbiosis, Gut Barrier Dysfunction, and Metabolic Inflammation.Cardiovascular toxicology · 2026Review
- Quantum dot sensors for heavy metal detection: from mechanistic design to field deployment: a review.RSC advances · 2026Review
- Heavy metal exposures and constipation among United States adults: A cross-sectional study.Medicine · 2026Article
- Cu-Enabled Photoinduced Charge Transfer in Green-Processed Cu-BPDC Metal-Organic Framework Films on FTO.The journal of physical chemistry. C, Nanomaterials and interfaces · 2026Article
- Beyond genetics: how environmental stressors drive pediatric hypertension risk.Pediatric nephrology (Berlin, Germany) · 2026Review
- Potentially Toxic Elements and Male Reproductive Toxicity: Mechanisms, Implications, and Protective Strategies: A Narrative Review.Journal of biochemical and molecular toxicology · 2026Review
- Iron dysregulation in the central nervous system: implications for autism spectrum disorder.Biometals : an international journal on the role of metal ions in biology, biochemistry, and medicine · 2026Review
- The Effect of N-Acetyl Cysteine on Serum Lipid Profile and Heavy Metals in Women With Endometriosis Undergoing ICSI: A Randomized Controlled Trial.Health science reports · 2026Article
- Ascorbic Acid as a Dual Therapeutic and Preventive Agent against Lead and Cadmium Toxicity: Evidence from Controlled Quail Experiments.Biological trace element research · 2026Article
- The role of metals in cancer and the use of metal chelators as a potential treatment strategy.Biometals : an international journal on the role of metal ions in biology, biochemistry, and medicine · 2026Review
- Disruption of Elemental Homeostasis and Oxidative Balance in Breast Cancer Patients: The Role of Heavy Metals and Trace Elements.Biological trace element research · 2026Article
- Industrial effluent-derivedApplied and environmental microbiology · 2026Article
- Heavy Metals, Trace Elements, and Smoking Biomarkers in Venous and Cupping Blood Before and After Wet Cupping Therapy.Biological trace element research · 2026Article
- The release of absorbed cadmium and lead by probiotic bacteria during in vitro gastrointestinal digestion: a matrix-dependent process.Biometals : an international journal on the role of metal ions in biology, biochemistry, and medicine · 2026Article
658 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
5 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
The industrial activities of the last century have caused massive increases in human exposure to heavy metals. Mercury, lead, chromium, cadmium, and arsenic have been the most common heavy metals that induced human poisonings. Here, we reviewed the mechanistic action of these heavy metals according to the available animal and human studies. Acute or chronic poisonings may occur following exposure through water, air, and food. Bioaccumulation of these heavy metals leads to a diversity of toxic effects on a variety of body tissues and organs. Heavy metals disrupt cellular events including growth, proliferation, differentiation, damage-repairing processes, and apoptosis. Comparison of the mechanisms of action reveals similar pathways for these metals to induce toxicity including ROS generation, weakening of the antioxidant defense, enzyme inactivation, and oxidative stress. On the other hand, some of them have selective binding to specific macromolecules. The interaction of lead with aminolevulinic acid dehydratase and ferrochelatase is within this context. Reactions of other heavy metals with certain proteins were discussed as well. Some toxic metals including chromium, cadmium, and arsenic cause genomic instability. Defects in DNA repair following the induction of oxidative stress and DNA damage by the three metals have been considered as the cause of their carcinogenicity. Even with the current knowledge of hazards of heavy metals, the incidence of poisoning remains considerable and requires preventive and effective treatment. The application of chelation therapy for the management of metal poisoning could be another aspect of heavy metals to be reviewed in the future.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.