title: Our Toxic Legacy: How Lead, Mercury, Arsenic, and Cadmium Harm Our Health
author:  Beatrice Trum Hunter 
description: Beatrice Trum Hunter has written more than 30 books on food issues, including whole foods, food adulteration, and aditives. Her most recent books include The Whole Foods Primer, Probiotic Foods for Good Health, and Infectious Connections.
zlib_text: molecules
  Article
  The Analysis of Lead Phytotoxicity in Seeds Using
  CO2 Laser Photoacoustic Spectroscopy
  Cristina Popa 1,*
  , Ana Maria Bratu 1
  , Mioara Petrus 1 and Mihaela Bacalum 2
  1
  National Institute for Laser, Plasma and Radiation Physic, Laser Department, 409 Atomistilor St., P.O. Box
  MG-36, Magurele 077125, Romania; ana.magureanu@inﬂpr.ro (A.M.B.); mioara.petrus@inﬂpr.ro (M.P.)
  2
  Horia Hulubei National Institute for R&D in Physics and Nuclear Engineering, Department of Life and
  Environmental Sciences (DFVM), Magurele 077125, Romania; bmihaela@nipne.ro
  *
  Correspondence: cristina.achim@inﬂpr.ro
  Received: 4 February 2020; Accepted: 31 March 2020; Published: 2 April 2020
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  Abstract: Lead (Pb) is the most prevalent heavy metal pollutant in the natural environment. Pb is
  not a fundamental element for plants, but they absorb it when it is present in their environment,
  having no known physiological activity. The aim of our research was to evaluate the eﬃcacy of
  laser ph