The heavy metals that are available for plant uptake are those that are present as soluble components in the soil solution or those that are easily solubilized by root exudates [26]. Although plants require certain heavy metals for their growth and upkeep, excessive amounts of these metals can become toxic to plants. The ability of plants to accumulate essential metals equally enables them to acquire other nonessential metals [27]. As metals cannot be broken down, when concentrations within the plant exceed optimal levels, they adversely affect the plant both directly and indirectly.
Some of the direct toxic effects caused by high metal concentration include inhibition of cytoplasmic enzymes and damage to cell structures due to oxidative stress [28, 29]. An example of indirect toxic effect is the replacement of essential nutrients at cation exchange sites of plants [30]. Further, the negative influence heavy metals have on the growth and activities of soil microorganisms may also indirectly affect the growth of plants. For instance, a reduction in the number of beneficial soil microorganisms due to high metal concentration may lead to decrease in organic matter decomposition leading to a decline in soil nutrients. Enzyme activities useful for plant metabolism may also be hampered due to heavy metal interference with activities of soil microorganisms. These toxic effects (both direct and indirect) lead to a decline in plant growth which sometimes results in the death of plant [31].
The effect of heavy metal toxicity on the growth of plants varies according to the particular heavy metal involved in the process. Table 1 shows a summary of the toxic effects of specific metals on growth, biochemistry, and physiology of various plants. For metals such as Pb, Cd, Hg, and As which do not play any beneficial role in plant growth, adverse effects have been recorded at very low concentrations of these metals in the growth medium. Kibra [32] recorded significant reduction in height of rice plants growing on a soil contaminated with 1 mgHg/kg. Reduced tiller and panicle formation also occurred at this concentration of Hg in the soil. For Cd, reduction in shoot and root growth in wheat plants occurred when Cd in the soil solution was as low as 5 mg/L [33]. Most of the reduction in growth parameters of plants growing on polluted soils can be attributed to reduced photosynthetic activities, plant mineral nutrition, and reduced activity of some enzymes [34].