Monachese, M; Burton, JP; Reid, G
The food and water we consume are often contaminated with a range of chemicals and heavy metals such as lead, cadmium, arsenic, chromium and mercury that are able to cause debilitating health complications. Though heavy metal exposure and contamination are not a recent phenomenon, the concentration of metals and exposure to populations remains a major issue despite remediation interventions. The ability to prevent and manage this problem is still a subject of much debate with many ineffective technologies and others too expensive for practical large- scale use, especially for developing nations where major pollution occurs. This has led researchers to seek alternative solutions for decontaminating environmental sites and humans themselves. A number of environmental microorganisms have long been known for their ability to bind metals, but less well appreciated are human gastrointestinal bacteria. Species such as Lactobacillus present in the human mouth, gut and vagina and in fermented foods, have the ability to bind and detoxify some of these substances. This review examined the current understanding of detoxication mechanisms of lactobacilli and how in the future humans and animals might benefit from these organisms in remediating environmental contamination of food.
