Abstract

The environment and its compartments are heavily polluted by heavy metals and expected to continue through the twenty centuries in developing countries. As a result, threatening the health of humans, animals, and plants reduces the environment's ability to forester life. Heavy metals such as arsenic, lead, mercury, cadmium, chromium, and trace elements are in the first place according to their availability in the environment. Although some of these heavy metals, such as vanadium, can be harmful to the body at high doses, other heavy metals such as cadmium, mercury, lead, chromium, and small amounts of arsenic are detrimental to humans. There is, thus, a need to focus research, especially in developing countries such as Sierra Leone. As such, this paper advances a discussion and review on the effect of heavy metals on human health in the environment. As the outcome will make researchers to develop strategies to be monitoring the impact of heavy metals on human health especially in developing countries.