Heavy metals are elements that are found naturally in the earth. They’re used in many modern-day applications, such as medicine, agriculture and industry.
Your body naturally contains some metals, like zinc, calcium, iron and copper, which are necessary for normal body functions. Heavy metal toxicity (acute or chronic) occurs when your body’s soft tissue absorb too much of a particular metal.
The most common metals the human body can absorb in toxic amounts are lead, mercury, arsenic, aluminium and cadmium.