I am working on monitoring of contaminations (heavy metals) by the Gold King Mine Spill that affected the four corners area. I need to know the maximum/safe limits for iron and chromium in alfalfa, grasses, melon, corn, pumpkin, chilli or plants in general.
Interesting question. There cannot be one toxic limit of chromium and iron. In citrus, we have observed toxic level of iron beyond 350 mg per kg dry matter. Some of the plantation crops like tea and coffee withstand toxic levels of iron beautifully ..
I believe that in the United States that the Environmental Protection Agency has set safety limits for toxcicity of most heavy metals. I would query them and ask for a database of approved levels .... This has recenty been made more difficult, I'm told, with the current administration's attempt to diminish the role of the EPA. But to get legal and approved limits, try there first. Failing that, you might write to the CDC and ask if they have or know of a similar database in relation to health hazards.
The toxicity limits differ according to the plants (there are some that are more or less tolerant) in reality of the trio plant / pollutant / soil. Also, the tolerance of certain plants to metals is seized for use in bioremediation of soils by the phytoremediation technique
The only source I know of for this type of information is Annals of Botany, 2010, by White and Brown. Anoop is correct, there will not be one level for different species, and differences between cultivars within species may be as great as between species.
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