Response of Plants to Cadmium Toxicity

Cadmium pollution is of increasing scientific interest since cadmium is readily taken up by the roots of plants and its toxicity is generally considered to be 2-20 times higher than that of other heavy metals. since cadmium is a fairly immobile element, its accumulation in soils can become dangerous to all kinds of organisms.Cadmium with a density of 8.6g/cm,is a wide spread heavy metal, released in to the environment by power stations, heating systems, metal working industries, waste incinerators, urban traffic, cement factories and a by product of phosphate fertilizers. Soil contamination with cadmium has become a world wide problem leading to loss in agricultural yield and hazardous health effect through food chain biomagnification. The study describes the physiological and biochemical response of pea, spinach and wheat to cadmium toxicity with particular reference to oxidative stress. The main emphasis was laid on evaluating the activity of enzymic and non-enzymic antioxidants in plants.