Microbial Metallomics — Researchhttps://microbialmetallomics.comNew writing, research summaries, and paper reviews from Microbial Metallomics.en-US Six Decades of Fertilizer Use Built a Legacy of Cadmium, Nickel, and Lead in Soils and Dietshttps://microbialmetallomics.com/research/heavy-metals-in-fertilizers-contamination-trendshttps://microbialmetallomics.com/research/heavy-metals-in-fertilizers-contamination-trendsKaren PendergrassPreprint — A food metallomics review (1960–2025) showing how phosphate and urea fertilizers loaded soils, crops, and diets with cadmium, nickel, lead, and chromium.Original researchPreprintSat, 31 Jan 2026 00:00:00 +0000 Heavy Metals and Microbial Metallomics: A New Framework for the US Obesity Epidemichttps://microbialmetallomics.com/research/heavy-metals-microbial-metallomics-obesity-epidemichttps://microbialmetallomics.com/research/heavy-metals-microbial-metallomics-obesity-epidemicKaren PendergrassPreprint — How dietary cadmium, arsenic, lead, and nickel may disrupt gut microbial metallomics—driving dysbiosis, inflammation, and insulin resistance behind obesity.Original researchPreprintFri, 30 Jan 2026 00:00:00 +0000 Developmental Readiness Is Not Toxicokinetic Safety: Heavy Metals in Vegetable-Based Baby Foodshttps://microbialmetallomics.com/research/metal-vulnerability-vegetable-baby-foodshttps://microbialmetallomics.com/research/metal-vulnerability-vegetable-baby-foodsKaren PendergrassPreprint — Developmental readiness for solids does not ensure toxicokinetic safety: leafy greens, brassicas and root crops concentrate lead, cadmium and arsenic in baby foods.Original researchPreprintSun, 25 Jan 2026 00:00:00 +0000 Concentration-Based Heavy Metal Standards to Reduce Real Exposure in Infant and Child Foodshttps://microbialmetallomics.com/research/hmtc-infant-child-food-standards-2026https://microbialmetallomics.com/research/hmtc-infant-child-food-standards-2026Karen PendergrassKimberly EyerStandard — HMTc 2026 sets concentration-based, as-sold action levels for lead, arsenic, cadmium, mercury, nickel and other heavy metals in infant and child foods.Original researchStandardThu, 22 Jan 2026 00:00:00 +0000 Nickel as a Catalytic Driver of Necrotizing Enterocolitishttps://microbialmetallomics.com/research/nickel-necrotizing-enterocolitishttps://microbialmetallomics.com/research/nickel-necrotizing-enterocolitisKaren PendergrassJournal article — Dietary nickel in infant formula may activate nickel-dependent microbial enzymes (urease, glyoxalase I) that drive necrotizing enterocolitis in preterm infants.Original researchJournal articleFri, 09 Jan 2026 00:00:00 +0000 A Unified Model for FIP-Associated Gingivitis in Cats: Disrupting Microbial Shielding and Restoring Nutritional Immunityhttps://microbialmetallomics.com/research/lactoferrin-itraconazole-fip-gingivitis-catshttps://microbialmetallomics.com/research/lactoferrin-itraconazole-fip-gingivitis-catsKaren PendergrassJournal article — How itraconazole and lactoferrin may treat FIP-linked gingivitis in cats by disrupting polymicrobial biofilms and restoring metal-based nutritional immunity.Original researchJournal articleMon, 29 Dec 2025 00:00:00 +0000 Microbiome Medicine Journal: Restoring Causal Structure to Disease Through Microbial Metallomicshttps://microbialmetallomics.com/research/microbiome-medicine-journal-volume-1https://microbialmetallomics.com/research/microbiome-medicine-journal-volume-1Karen PendergrassKimberly EyerJournal — Microbiome Medicine Journal Vol. I sets out a mechanism-first framework linking microbial ecology, host metallome regulation, and metal dyshomeostasis to disease.Original researchJournalSat, 27 Dec 2025 00:00:00 +0000 From Dysbiosis to Dyshomeostasis: Reframing Parkinson's Through a Metallomic–Microbiome Lenshttps://microbialmetallomics.com/research/parkinsons-dysbiosis-to-dyshomeostasishttps://microbialmetallomics.com/research/parkinsons-dysbiosis-to-dyshomeostasisKaren PendergrassJournal article — A metallomics framework reframes Parkinson's as metal dyshomeostasis: iron, manganese, copper, zinc and nickel dysregulation drives dysbiosis and neuron loss.Original researchJournal articleSat, 27 Dec 2025 00:00:00 +0000 The MC1R–Parkinson's Link May Be a Metallomic Story, Not a Cosmetic Onehttps://microbialmetallomics.com/research/melanin-metal-parkinsons-redheadshttps://microbialmetallomics.com/research/melanin-metal-parkinsons-redheadsKimberly EyerKaren PendergrassJournal article — A hypothesis linking MC1R red-hair variants to Parkinson's risk via melanin-metal chemistry: how copper, zinc, and iron shape neuromelanin's redox buffering.Original researchJournal articleThu, 18 Dec 2025 00:00:00 +0000 Parkinson's Disease as a Disorder of Metal Dyshomeostasis Amplified by Microbial Ecologyhttps://microbialmetallomics.com/research/microbial-metallomics-parkinsons-frameworkhttps://microbialmetallomics.com/research/microbial-metallomics-parkinsons-frameworkKaren PendergrassJournal article — A synthesis framework proposing Parkinson's disease begins with heavy-metal dyshomeostasis that drives ferroptosis, gut dysbiosis, and α-synuclein pathology.Original researchJournal articleFri, 05 Dec 2025 00:00:00 +0000