(I read the source article relatively fast, not thoroughly but closer than 'skimmed')
Much is made of "measurable" and MDL (method detection limit) using a "using a PerkinElmer NexION 350S Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometry with dynamic reaction cell (ICP-DRC-MS)".
Such equipment can almost count atoms.
Even before man idustrialised there were trace metals, toxic metals, to be found at measurable (with modern equipment) levels in the purest clear mountain streams (as water leached lead and other solubles from rocks, etc).
I'm not diminishing the problem here, there is a real danger from industrial by product landing on cotton fields and making its way to human skin .. but what's the baseline?
Do we have a study on raw cotton from various fields?
Australian cotton from Kimberley fields would likely have the least industrial addition of metals, how do such samples compare to cotton from fields adjacent to smelters, etc.
