Genotypic and environmental variation in cadmium, chromium, lead and copper in rice and approaches for reducing the accumulation

The field scale trials revealed significant genotypic and environmental differences in grain heavy metal (HM) concentrations of 158 newly developed rice varieties grown in twelve locations of Zhejiang province of China. Grain Pb and Cd contents in 5.3% and 0.4% samples, respectively, were above the maximum permissible concentration (MPC); none of samples had Cr/Cu exceeding MPC. Stepwise multiple linear regression analysis estimated soil HM critical levels for safe rice production. Low grain HM accumulation cultivars such as Xiushui817, Jiayou08-1 and Chunyou689 were recommended as suitable cultivars for planting in slight/medium HM contaminated soils. The alleviating regulator (AR) of (NH₄)₂SO₄ as N fertilizer coupled with foliar spray of a mixture containing glutathione (GSH), Si, Zn and Se significantly decreased grain Cd, Cr, Cu and Pb concentrations grown in HM contaminated fields with no effect on yield, indicating a promising measurement for further reducing grain HM content to guarantee safe food production. - Highlights: • Field trials evaluated situation of grain HM in main rice growing areas of Zhejiang. • Forecasting index system to predict rice grain HM concentration was achieved. • Hybrid rice holds higher grain Cd concentration than conventional cultivars. • Low grain HM accumulation rice cultivars were successfully identified. • Developed alleviating regulator which effectively reduced grain toxic HM