Thanks for sharing this timeless article, Linda. Coincidentally, I was just reading today that one of my favorite foods, the cacao bean (aka cocoa nibs, 100% cacao baking chocolate, etc.) picks up cadmium and lead from the environment. So even though it has many nutritional benefits, it also carries the threat of heavy-metal contamination! The rare nickel-resistant bacteria in Pennsylvania's serpentine soils is especially intriguing to me as a potential biological weapon against heavy metals in soil.
Thanks for the comment, Gary. Yes, the content of our soil is a part of us. The first six women astronauts were told by scientists doing their physicals that they could tell where they were from by the strontium measured in their biochemistry. We use strontium uptake from the soil to measure migration in plants, animals, and human ancestors because it's such a distinctive marker. Strontium has a relationship with absorption of CO2 in the environment and calcium in our body. It is helpful for the absorption of calcium for making bones. When I go to the farm in Indiana next week, I'll be exposed to a lot more Strontium in the drinking water (from naturally occurring limestone) and in the farm environment from agricultural lime used to treat the fields.
Thanks for sharing this timeless article, Linda. Coincidentally, I was just reading today that one of my favorite foods, the cacao bean (aka cocoa nibs, 100% cacao baking chocolate, etc.) picks up cadmium and lead from the environment. So even though it has many nutritional benefits, it also carries the threat of heavy-metal contamination! The rare nickel-resistant bacteria in Pennsylvania's serpentine soils is especially intriguing to me as a potential biological weapon against heavy metals in soil.
Thanks for the comment, Gary. Yes, the content of our soil is a part of us. The first six women astronauts were told by scientists doing their physicals that they could tell where they were from by the strontium measured in their biochemistry. We use strontium uptake from the soil to measure migration in plants, animals, and human ancestors because it's such a distinctive marker. Strontium has a relationship with absorption of CO2 in the environment and calcium in our body. It is helpful for the absorption of calcium for making bones. When I go to the farm in Indiana next week, I'll be exposed to a lot more Strontium in the drinking water (from naturally occurring limestone) and in the farm environment from agricultural lime used to treat the fields.