The first 30 centimeters of soil are the foundation of life. This foot-deep slice of the pedosphere is the vital space for most plant roots. When roots go deeper, it’s to anchor the plant, not to nourish it. Within this narrow band, bacteria, fungi, nematodes, and countless other microscopic organisms form the so-called biological crust, which in turn supports the larger life forms above. Now, a review of thousands of studies — and many more soil samples — reveals that this same 30-centimeter layer also contains toxic concentrations of metals in agricultural soil used to grow the food humans eat. The massive study, published Thursday in Science, estimates that up to 17% of farmland worldwide contains excessive levels of one or more metals and metalloids.

A team of researchers from the U.S., Europe, and China reviewed thousands of existing studies on the presence of metals in the soil. They found over 82,000 papers. After applying a series of filters — such as focusing on 21st-century research, limiting the scope to the uppermost soil layer, and including only studies that measured metal concentrations in soil samples — they narrowed it down to about 1,500 studies. These provided data from nearly 800,000 locations in populated regions across the globe.

Using a machine learning system, a field of artificial intelligence, they modeled and estimated the global extent of excessive contamination from seven specific metals: arsenic (technically a metalloid and a known carcinogen), cadmium (linked to various cancers and prone to accumulating in grains and fruits, especially rice), chromium (in its highly toxic hexavalent form, often released by leather tanning and pigment industries), cobalt (essential for lithium batteries, and thus a driver of exploitation and conflict in Central Africa), copper (a natural dietary component that can disrupt endocrine function in excess), nickel (important for plant growth but stunts it when overabundant), and lead (harmful to children’s neurological development and cognitive abilities).

The researchers found that between 14% and 17% of the global cropland contains dangerously high concentrations of at least one of these metals. In terms of area, the upper estimate represents about 242 million hectares. “We also show that between 900 million and 1.4 billion people [roughly 11% to 18% of the world’s population] live in areas with contaminated soils. That’s a lot of people,” says Jerome Nriagu, professor emeritus of Environmental Chemistry at the University of Michigan and senior author of the study.

It’s important to distinguish between contamination and high concentration. “Contamination” typically refers to human-caused pollution, such as from mining or industrial disasters like Spain’s Aznalcóllar spill. “High concentration,” by contrast, can stem from natural processes — environmental forces (rain, sun, ice, solar radiation…) acting on the pedosphere.

Zooming in to the regional level, 19% of China’s agricultural land shows elevated concentrations of heavy metals, much of it linked to human-caused pollution. Even higher percentages are observed across large parts of northern and central India. In Europe, the authors draw on data from the LUCAS program — an initiative led by the European Commission’s Joint Research Centre to monitor the condition and evolution of land use across the EU. Based on thousands of periodically collected soil samples, up to 28% of soils in EU member states contain excessive levels of at least one metal. However, these figures reflect the entire land area, not just land used for farming.

Among the metals, the most widely distributed on the map is cadmium, which is present in toxic concentrations in 9% of soils. It is followed by nickel and chromium, with significant concentrations in the Middle East and northern Russia. Next comes arsenic, whose distribution overlaps with polluted groundwater zones across large areas of China, but also in several parts of South America. The list ends with cobalt, found in high levels in countries such as Zambia and the Democratic Republic of the Congo — pollution closely linked to mining activities — along with copper and lead, the most toxic of all, which can cause harm even in tiny amounts.

“The widespread distribution of cadmium contamination comes from both natural and anthropogenic sources,” explains Deyi Hou, lead author of the study and researcher at Tsinghua University’s School of Environment in Beijing, in an email. “Geochemically, certain parent rock materials [substrate below the ground], such as black shales, contain high levels of cadmium, leading to elevated concentrations in the soil due to weathering.”

Anthropogenic activities further exacerbate this problem, “particularly the use of cadmium-containing phosphate fertilizers, wastewater irrigation, industrial emissions from mining, smelting, and e-waste processing, as well as atmospheric deposition from coal combustion,” Hou adds. This combination of human-caused pollution and natural background levels is what deeply concerns scientists.

Mapping the presence of metals (see image) reveals a band of elevated concentrations that the researchers call the “metal-rich corridor.” This belt stretches from northern Italy to southeastern China, cutting across Greece, Anatolia, the Middle East, Iran, Pakistan, and the northern and central regions of the Indian subcontinent. These are densely populated areas with deep historical roots, and the researchers link today’s contamination to human activity dating back to ancient times.

“These regions largely overlap with the core areas of early human civilizations, including ancient Greek and Roman civilizations, Persian culture, ancient Indian societies, and the Yangtze River Civilization in China,” Hou recalls.

Previous work with ice cores extracted from Greenland and Siberia detected anomalous lead concentrations dating back more than 2,000 years. This metal is key in silver metallurgy.

“While natural factors such as weathering of parent rock material and phytoextraction [absorption by roots] play a role, millennia of intense human activity, particularly mining and smelting, have been key factors,” says Hou. “This corridor reflects the enduring legacy of human impact on the Earth’s surface and provides compelling evidence of the Anthropocene as a new geological era.”

However, the study does not assign blame to either natural or human causes. That wasn’t its objective, and pinpointing the origin of these metals on a global scale is no easy task. The different timescales involved also complicate matters. A spill like the one in Aznalcóllar, for instance, happened in just a few hours on April 25, 1998, whereas the natural introduction of metals into the pedosphere is a much slower process. The formation of new soil occurs at a rate of just three millimeters per century. Events as gradual as the end of the last Ice Age, which took around 10,000 years for the ice to retreat, illustrate this contrast. Looking at the map again, it is clear that in areas north of the 50th parallel (which runs across Germany from west to east) there are hardly any high concentrations of metals.

As researcher Manuel Delgado Baquerizo of Spain’s Institute of Natural Resources and Agrobiology of Seville (IRNAS) explains, “periods of glaciation have a very strong impact on soil biochemistry; when the ice disappears, the soil completely disappears, leaving the parent rock completely exposed.” And with the soil goes the metal load.

Delgado Baquerizo, an expert on the environmental impact of soil contamination, points out that “heavy metals in general are quite toxic, but they have to reach high levels.” “These researchers have looked at the soil, not at the actual food we might consume,” adds Baquerizo, who was not involved in the study.

For him, the real challenge is setting thresholds — knowing exactly what concentration of a metal per kilogram of soil becomes harmful to the soil ecosystem, its inhabitants, and human health. “There are no established standards,” he says. The authors of the study used maximum limits set by 10 different countries and calculated an average — but that doesn’t fully capture the full scope of the problem.

Baquerizo concludes: “The problem is that many heavy metals have a cumulative effect. You may be exposed to a small amount, but if you’re exposed to that small amount over a long period of time, it can have an impact on your health.”

The most obvious example is lead. Ever since the Romans began using it in their pipes, it has continued to be used for over 2,000 years to distribute running water.

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In the space of just over a year, George MacKay, 32, has played a repressed homophobic thug in Femme, an incel obsessed with Léa Seydoux in The Beast, and a young man whose entire life has been confined to a luxury bunker, and begins to question the nature of existence in The End.

The first feature movie from acclaimed documentary filmmaker Joshua Oppenheimer (The Act of Killing, The Look of Silence) is an elegant and classic post-apocalyptic musical, but the British actor is not afraid of a challenge. The range of roles he has taken on and the kind of projects and directors he has worked with over 20 years of experience are so diverse and unconventional that they help explain why someone with his talent and looks isn’t just another typical movie star.

Discovered at age 11 during a school theater class, MacKay ended up playing one of the Lost Boys in P.J. Hogan’s Peter Pan. Since then, he has steered clear of the media circuit and mainstream projects. Speaking via video call from the bedroom of his London home, the actor insists that none of it is intentional. Though he doesn’t state it outright, his words reveal that this unusual path has a lot to do with his deep love of cinema. Because, although not all actors are passionate about film, MacKay clearly is — he feels a true fascination for his craft, an art form to which he hopes to contribute by telling unique stories with directors beyond the English-language world.

The British actor spoke to us just before unveiling the Gucci campaign he stars in — directed by the enfant terrible of Francophone cinema, Xavier Dolan — and during a break from filming his next movie: & Sons, directed by Argentine filmmaker Pablo Trapero (The Clan), written by Canadian Sarah Polley (My Life Without Me, Women Talking), and co-starring Bill Nighy and Matt Smith. Clearly, George MacKay is drawn to a different kind of cinema.

Question. From the outside, it seems like your career hasn’t followed the typical path — has that been a conscious decision?

Answer. I’d say it’s a mix of things. I’ve been very lucky, and over the years my criteria have changed. Sometimes, if I didn’t know the work of the director or the team involved, what drew me in was a really powerful story. But other times, it’s been about who I’d get to work with. If you truly admire a writer or director, the story becomes secondary — it’s the chance to collaborate with them that matters. And also, I enjoy independent cinema because it offers a different way of telling stories.

Q. And within these independent circles, do directors now come looking for you, or do you still go through the usual casting process?

A. Again, it’s a bit of both. With Bertrand Bonello, for example, I wasn’t familiar with his work before the opportunity to audition for The Beast came along. But once they contacted me, I started watching his films and saw that he was such a prominent French auteur, that Léa Seydoux was involved, and that it was a very different story… I wanted to do it no matter what. Although the role came to me under sad circumstances [it was originally meant for Gaspard Ulliel, who passed away in a skiing accident], I immersed myself completely in Bonello’s cinema and way of working. Because if there’s one thing I like about this job, it’s putting myself in the hands of directors with a very particular and distinctive aesthetic and vision.

Q. Did Joshua Oppenheimer approach you to star in The End?

A. Yes, I was lucky enough to be offered the role by Joshua. His film The Act of Killing blew my mind, and I knew that doing a post-apocalyptic musical with him would be something truly special. Along with the script, he sent us a lookbook and a document laying out his vision for the film, and it was so eloquently expressed… And not only was I going to work with Tilda Swinton and Michael Shannon, when I joined the project, Mikhail Krichman was already also confirmed — the same cinematographer behind Leviathan (2014) and Loveless (2017), two films that were profound cinematic experiences for me.

Q. It sounds like you’re a film buff.

A. Yeah, I don’t know [smiles]. Lately, since I became a father, I haven’t been able to go as much, but when I was single and didn’t work like I do now, I used to go to the movies a lot. Movies like Leviathan appealed to me, and I couldn’t explain why. They’re just awesome. I just want to be surrounded by people who’ve made good movies.

Q. The End doesn’t have an easy tone.

A. It’s a post-apocalyptic musical, a drama, almost a satire at times… Joshua’s vision and idea were very specific, and we had a lot of time to discuss it. They had the entire film storyboarded, so I knew it was going to be almost like a choreography, and I just had to know my part perfectly.

Q. And learn how to sing.

A. The whole musical team helped me with that part. And, in the end, it’s like when you have to go to the gym to gain weight or muscle for a role, it’s about exercising your voice.

Q. Oppenheimer says The End is a musical because he’s an optimist and wants to inspire audiences.

A. I think the film, among many other things, is an exploration of what separates hope from delusion. It’s about the stories we tell ourselves and how we tell them to help us make it through each day. It’s about how to be responsible for our own decisions as adults, both in society and personally. When the project started, I had just had my first daughter and was recalibrating everything I’d learned in life, finding my own way of doing things and navigating this capitalist society, finding balance, knowing how to take care of myself so I can take care of others. The End raises a lot of questions, but it doesn’t give all the answers. It’s funny that to promote a film about climate change you have to fly all over the place… but that’s precisely what it’s about, isn’t it?

Q. You also talk about the traditional father figure… It’s interesting that the exploration of male identity has been a recurring theme in your recent work.

A. Yes, yes [laughs and shows his pink-painted nails to the camera], and I’m going to answer this question about masculinity with these nails painted by my daughter: it’s true, it’s a topic that interests me a lot. The idea of how to be a man changes in general and also through my own experiences. I think gender roles are being re-evaluated at the same time as the patriarchy. For me, it’s a constant question that I hope to continue exploring through my work and with all the men I work with. I’ve learned a lot from my characters, like in The True History of the Kelly Gang [Justin Kurzel, 2019], which was a portrait of hypermasculinity through these criminals wearing dresses, a macho man exploring a femininity that I hadn’t explored until that moment. When you finish a shoot like that, your world expands, and you have questions that don’t always have a single answer.

Q. 1917 by Sam Mendes, Captain Fantastic with Viggo Mortensen, the comedy Pride… Those are probably the films you’re best known for, and they also show your versatility.

A. Yes, I think they would be the three best-known films… Sometimes, you get lucky, when you keep choosing projects with integrity that also work for the audience.

Q. In Spain, you are also remembered for Marrowbone (2017)…

A. Oh yes, Sergio [G. Sánchez], it was a very special project. I loved that film and we had a great time. It was also my first time at the San Sebastián Film Festival, where I returned with The End in September. This year, seeing films at festivals like that made me realize again how important the connection with the audience is.

Q. But precisely what you’ve avoided are the typical genres for mainstream audiences. You’ve never done a romantic comedy, for example.

A. It hasn’t been a conscious thing, but a mix of my taste for a more independent cinema, as I said, and also of roles that I have fought for and haven’t gotten [laughs]. Let’s be honest, there are many films that you put effort into and they don’t work out. But I don’t mind, because I think a lot about the audience, more and more, and achieving that connection doesn’t always mean it has to be a commercial film.

Q. But after 1917, which made it to the Oscars, didn’t the doors of Hollywood open for you?

A. Yes and no. To be honest, the doors that open for you after the Oscars close quickly. It’s a matter of trends. You can participate in that race and do well in terms of the industry and success, but you can also get lost in it all. In reality, I don’t think it lasts very long because it ends up depending on what other people find interesting and not what excites you. Yes, I had a moment when I stood out, but I feel luckier to be part of a film that can make a difference than because of that.

Q. Are you comfortable with the level of fame or success you have today?

A. I wouldn’t consider myself famous, so yes. It’s true that there are things about this profession that I’m not so comfortable with. But there are others I really like. On photoshoots, for example, I don’t have the safety net of a script or the time to develop a character, but I trust the creative minds of those who do them. This interview is the way I reach people. If I choose stories that I think are important, I’m grateful to be able to talk about them. I love talking about them.

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In recent weeks, the Trump administration has abruptly revoked visas for hundreds of international students from across the United States, triggering a wave of confusion, legal challenges and growing fear on college campuses. While U.S. officials have cited national security concerns and violations of immigration laws, many students and advocacy groups say the revocations are being carried out without due process and appear to disproportionately target those involved in political activism, especially pro-Palestine protests.

According to the State Department, at least 300 visas have been revoked, a number that may be even higher as more reports emerge. Universities such as Harvard, Columbia, Stanford, the University of California or Ohio State University have reported that students and recent graduates have lost their legal residency without notice. In several cases, students have been detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), sometimes by agents in civilian clothes near their homes or campuses.

Why are student visas being revoked?

Students and immigration attorneys claim that the visa revocations have largely occurred without advance notice, interviews or clear justification. Some revocations appear to be related to minor infractions, such as speeding tickets or the dropping of criminal charges, while others appear to be based solely on students’ participation in protests or political speeches, particularly those who have shown support for Palestine, and who are against Israel’s war actions in Gaza.

Legal experts point out that international students on F-1 visas enjoy First Amendment protection, just like U.S. citizens. However, because their visas are temporary, any perceived violation — even vague or unfounded — can lead to their removal from the country.

In many cases, revocations have been termed “prudential,” meaning they are based on suspicion rather than proven violations. Under immigration law, a visa can be revoked if the holder is deemed inadmissible on security, medical, financial or criminal grounds; if he or she is ineligible for the visa category; or if any information emerges that may present a future risk.

However, critics argue that the Trump administration is using this authority to effectively carry out mass removals of students who have not been charged with any crime. The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) has called it an unconstitutional ideological test.

Legal challenges

Students from states such as New Hampshire, California and Georgia have filed lawsuits against the Department of Homeland Security, alleging that their legal rights have been violated. One case that has attracted national attention is that of Xiaotian Liu, a Chinese doctoral student at Dartmouth College. Liu’s visa was cancelled without explanation, and he has not been charged with any crime or misconduct.

Similarly, Mahmoud Khalil, a legal permanent resident and recent graduate of Columbia University, was arrested at his home in March. His lawyers allege that the arrest was politically motivated and related to his activism on Palestinian issues. Rumeysa Ozturk, a student at Tufts University, was detained by six ICE agents on her way to a Ramadan event, despite having no criminal record.

Revocation process and precedents

Revoking a visa usually requires an interview at a U.S. consulate and an explanation of the reasons for the action. In practice, however, the process is often opaque. The State Department may notify the visa holder of the revocation by email or, as is increasingly common, not notify the visa holder at all, merely entering the revocation into government systems. If a student is already in the United States, his or her status may technically remain valid unless an immigration judge rules otherwise. However, their ability to travel, change status, or remain in the country becomes uncertain.

Historically, student visa revocations have been infrequent and linked to specific, verifiable reasons. The scale and apparent political targeting of the current wave has drawn comparisons to the Trump-era “Muslim Ban,” which led to more than 60,000 visa cancellations.

The uncertainty could severely impact the U.S. higher education system, as it could lose a generation of global talent if foreign students no longer feel safe traveling to the United States.

Responses from institutions

Universities are rushing to provide legal assistance and reassurance to their international students. Many urge students to carry immigration documents at all times and seek clarification from federal agencies.

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