Fish bioaccumulation and biomarkers in environmental risk assessment: a review

Scattered literature is harnessed to critically review the possible sources, chemistry, potential biohazards and best available remedial strategies for a number of heavy metals (lead, chromium, arsenic, zinc, cadmium, copper, mercury and nickel) commonly found in contaminated soils. The principles, advantages and disadvantages of immobilization, soil washing and phytoremediation techniques which are frequently listed among the best demonstrated available technologies for cleaning up heavy metal contaminated sites are presented. Remediation of heavy metal contaminated soils is necessary to reduce the associated risks, make the land resource available for agricultural production, enhance food security and scale down land tenure problems arising from changes in the land use pattern.

/pdf/heavy-metals-in-contaminated-soils-a-review-of-sources-2f0ps3ifym.pdf

Heavy Metals in Contaminated Soils: A Review of Sources, Chemistry, Risks and Best Available Strategies for Remediation

In this paper, recent progress of binary metal-oxide resistive switching random access memory (RRAM) is reviewed. The physical mechanism, material properties, and electrical characteristics of a variety of binary metal-oxide RRAM are discussed, with a focus on the use of RRAM for nonvolatile memory application. A review of recent development of large-scale RRAM arrays is given. Issues such as uniformity, endurance, retention, multibit operation, and scaling trends are discussed.

Metal–Oxide RRAM

Zinc (Zn) is an essential component of thousands of proteins in plants, although it is toxic in excess. In this review, the dominant fluxes of Zn in the soil-root-shoot continuum are described, including Zn inputs to soils, the plant availability of soluble Zn(2+) at the root surface, and plant uptake and accumulation of Zn. Knowledge of these fluxes can inform agronomic and genetic strategies to address the widespread problem of Zn-limited crop growth. Substantial within-species genetic variation in Zn composition is being used to alleviate human dietary Zn deficiencies through biofortification. Intriguingly, a meta-analysis of data from an extensive literature survey indicates that a small proportion of the genetic variation in shoot Zn concentration can be attributed to evolutionary processes whose effects manifest above the family level. Remarkable insights into the evolutionary potential of plants to respond to elevated soil Zn have recently been made through detailed anatomical, physiological, chemical, genetic and molecular characterizations of the brassicaceous Zn hyperaccumulators Thlaspi caerulescens and Arabidopsis halleri.

Zinc in plants

Preface.- Contributors.- List of Abbreviations.- Section 1: Basic Principles: Introduction.-Sources of Heavy Metals and Metalloids in Soils.- Chemistry of Heavy Metals and Metalloids in Soils.- Methods for the Determination of Heavy Metals and Metalloids in Soils.- Effects of Heavy Metals and Metalloids on Soil Organisms.- Soil-Plant Relationships of Heavy Metals and Metalloids.- Heavy Metals and Metalloids as Micronutrients for Plants and Animals.-Critical Loads of Heavy Metals for Soils.- Section 2: Key Heavy Metals And Metalloids: Arsenic.- Cadmium.- Chromium and Nickel.- Cobalt and Manganese.- Copper.-Lead.- Mercury.- Selenium.- Zinc.- Section 3: Other Heavy Metals And Metalloids Of Potential Environmental Significance: Antimony.- Barium.- Gold.- Molybdenum.- Silver.- Thallium.- Tin.- Tungsten.- Uranium.- Vanadium.- Glossary of Specialized Terms.- Index.

Heavy metals in soils : trace metals and metalloids in soils and their bioavailability

RELIABLE measurement of trace species in natural waters is essential for studies of pollution or trace-element cycling, but is difficult, partly because the distribution of chemical species often changes during sampling and storage1. In situ measurements can overcome these problems, but the few measurements made previously have involved complicated systems that cannot be used routinely1,2. Here we describe a simple technique for measuring trace-metal concentrations in situ in water. The technique incorporates an ion-exchange resin separated from the solution by an ion-permeable gel membrane. Mass transport through the gel is diffusion-controlled and thus well defined, making it possible to obtain quantitative data on concentration and speciation over relatively short time periods (from one hour to several weeks). We present measurements of zinc concentrations in sea water using this technique which agree well with electrochemical measurements. In principle, our technique should be applicable to any inorganic or organic diffusing species.

In-situ speciation measurements of trace components in natural waters using thin-film gels.

The technique of diffusive gradients in thin films (DGT) provides an in situ means of quantitatively measuring labile species in aqueous systems. By ensuring that transport of metal ions to an exchange resin is solely by free diffusion through a membrane, of known thickness, Δg, the concentration in the bulk solution, C b , can be calculated from the measured mass in the resin, M, after time, t, by C b = MΔg/DAt, where D is the molecular diffusion coefficient and A is the exposure surface area of the membrane. If sufficiently thick (∼1 mm) diffusion layer is selected, the flux of metal to the resin is independent of the hydrodynamics in solution above a threshold level of convection. Deployment for 1 day results in a concentration factor of ∼300, allowing metals to be measured at extremely low levels (4 pmol L -1 ). Only labile metal species are measured, the effective time window of typically 2 min being determined by the thickness of the diffusion layer. Because metals are quantified by their kinetics of uptake rather than the attainment of equilibrium, any deployment time can be selected from 1 h to typically 3 months when the resin becomes saturated. The measurement is independent of ionic strength (10 nM-1 M). For Chelex-100 as the resin, the measurement is independent of pH in the range of 5-8.3, but a subtheoretical response is obtained at pH <5 where binding to Chelex is diminished. The effect of temperature can be predicted from the known temperature dependence of the diffusion coefficient and viscosity. The application of DGT to the in situ measurement of Cd, Fe, Mn, and Cu in coastal and open seawater is demonstrated, and its more general applicability as a pollution monitoring tool and for measuring an in situ flux, as a surrogate for bioavailability, is discussed.

Performance Characteristics of Diffusion Gradients in Thin Films for the in Situ Measurement of Trace Metals in Aqueous Solution

Risk assessments of metal contaminated soils need to address metal bioavailability. To predict the bioavailability of metals to plants, it is necessary to understand both solution and solid phase supply processes in soils. In striving to find surrogate chemical measurements, scientists have focused either on soil solution chemistry, including free ion activities, or operationally defined fractions of metals. Here we introduce the new concept of effective concentration, CE, which includes both the soil solution concentration and an additional term, expressed as a concentration, that represents metal supplied from the solid phase. CE was measured using the technique of diffusive gradients in thin films (DGT) which, like a plant, locally lowers soil solution concentrations, inducing metal supply from the solid phase, as shown by a dynamic model of the DGT−soil system. Measurements of Cu as CE, soil solution concentration, by EDTA extraction and as free Cu2+ activity in soil solution were made on 29 different...

Hao Zhang

Papers

In-situ speciation measurements of trace components in natural waters using thin-film gels.

Performance Characteristics of Diffusion Gradients in Thin Films for the in Situ Measurement of Trace Metals in Aqueous Solution

A new method to measure effective soil solution concentration predicts copper availability to plants

Diffusional characteristics of hydrogels used in DGT and DET techniques

In situ fixation of metals in soils using bauxite residue: chemical assessment