Climate Change Is Making Food Crops Poisonous For Consumption, Says Study

A new study has pinpointed one more reason for the world to get serious about climate change and global warming. It has been claimed that food crops are producing more of chemical compounds to protect themselves from extreme weather conditions, enough to make them toxic for human and animal consumption.

According to a new United Nations Environment Program report, extreme weather is causing crops such as wheat and maize to generate more potential toxins as a reaction to protect themselves. The chemical compounds produced by the crops can turn out to be harmful for humans and animals if consumed over a long period of time.

"Crops are responding to drought conditions and increases in temperature just like humans do when faced with a stressful situation," said Jacqueline McGlade, chief scientist and director of the Division of Early Warning and Assessment at UNEP, reported Tech Times.

In normal weather conditions, plants turn nitrates they absorb into nutritious amino acids and proteins. However, during extreme weather conditions like high temperature and prolonged drought, the conversion process slows down which leads to more potentially problematic nitrate accumulating in the plant, the report said.

Too much consumption of nitrate can disrupt the transportation of oxygen by red blood cells in the human body, the report said. Maize, wheat, barley, soybeans, millet and sorghum are some of the crops which are susceptible to accumulating too much nitrate in times of stress.

In fact, heavy rains after an extended drought can also lead to a harmful accumulation of hydrogen cyanide or prussic acid in flax, maize, arrow grass, sorghum, apples, cherries and other crops. Prussic acid interferes with oxygen flow in humans.

Aflatoxins are another cause for concern. These fungal toxins, which can lead to cancer and hamper fetal growth, are a worry in maize. The contamination is increasing due to shifting weather patterns as a result of climate change.

Approximately 4.5 billion people in developing countries are exposed to aflatoxins annually and this number continues to rise, said McGlade, according to HNGN.

According to the International Livestock Research Institute, outbreak of aflatoxin poisoning affected more than 300 people and killed more than 100 following a prolonged drought in Kenya in 2004.

"We are just beginning to recognize the magnitude of toxin- related issues confronting farmers in developing countries of the tropics and sub-tropics," the report reads. "As warmer climate zones expand towards the poles, countries in more temperate regions are facing new threats."

The report proposes a list of eight ideas farmers and agricultural experts can adopt to try to limit damage from more crop toxins, such as mapping contamination hotspots and building better evidence about what is happening now with the toxins in their area.

In order to control the poisoning of crops, scientists suggest developing crop varieties designed to cope with extreme weather conditions.

"Research centers with the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research are developing seeds that are suitable in various regions that have been hit by climate change," McGlade said.