Lead poisoning has been recognized as a major public health risk, particularly in developing countries. Though various occupational and public health measures have been undertaken in order to control lead exposure, cases of lead poisoning are still reported. Exposure to lead produces various deleterious effects on the hematopoietic, renal, reproductive and central nervous system, mainly through increased oxidative stress. These alterations play a prominent role in disease manifestations. Modulation of cellular thiols for protection against reactive oxygen species (ROS) has been used as a therapeutic strategy against lead poisoning. N-acetylcysteine, α-lipoic acid, vitamin E, quercetin and a few herbal extracts show prophylaxis against the majority of lead mediated injury in both in vitro and in vivo studies. This review provides a comprehensive account of recent updates describing health effects of lead exposure, relevant biomarkers and mechanisms involved in lead toxicity. It also updates the readers about recent advances in chelation therapy and newer therapeutic strategies, like nanoencapsulation, to treat lead induced toxic manifestations.

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Toxicity of lead: A review with recent updates.

Chromium speciation, bioavailability, uptake, toxicity and detoxification in soil-plant system: A review.

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Bioinorganic Chemistry of Alzheimer’s Disease

Inductively coupled plasma (ICP) mass spectrometry (MS) is routinely used in many diverse research fields such as earth, environmental, life and forensic sciences and in food, material, chemical, semiconductor and nuclear industries. The high ion density and the high temperature in a plasma provide an ideal atomizer and element ionizer for all types of samples and matrices introduced by a variety of specialized devices. Outstanding properties such as high sensitivity (ppt-ppq), relative salt tolerance, compound-independent element response and highest quantitation accuracy lead to the unchallenged performance of ICP MS in efficiently detecting, identifying and reliably quantifying trace elements. The increasing availability of relevant reference compounds and high separation selectivity extend the molecular identification capability of ICP MS hyphenated to species-specific separation techniques. While molecular ion source MS is specialized in determining the structure of unknown molecules, ICP MS is an efficient and highly sensitive tool for target-element orientated discoveries of relevant and unknown compounds. This special-feature, tutorial article presents the principle and advantages of ICP MS, highlighting these using examples from recently published investigations.

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Inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP MS): a versatile tool.

Metals occur naturally in the earth's crust, and their contents in the environment can vary between different regions resulting in spatial variations of background concentrations. The distribution of metals in the environment is governed by the properties of the metal and influences of environmental factors (Khlifi & Hamza-Chaffai, 2010). Of the 92 naturally occurring elements, approximately 30 metals and metalloids are potentially toxic to humans, Be, B, Li, Al, Ti, V, Cr, Mn, Co, Ni, Cu, As, Se, Sr, Mo, Pd, Ag, Cd, Sn, Sb, Te, Cs, Ba, W, Pt, Au, Hg, Pb, and Bi. Heavy metals is the generic term for metallic elements having an atomic weight higher than 40.04 (the atomic mass of Ca) (Ming-Ho, 2005). Heavy metals enter the environment by natural and anthropogenic means. Such sources include: natural weathering of the earth’s crust, mining, soil erosion, industrial discharge, urban runoff, sewage effluents, pest or disease control agents applied to plants, air pollution fallout, and a number of others (Ming-Ho, 2005). Although some individuals are primarily exposed to these contaminants in the workplace, for most people the main route of exposure to these toxic elements is through the diet (food and water). The contamination chain of heavy metals almost always follows a cyclic order: industry, atmosphere, soil, water, foods and human. Although toxicity and the resulting threat to human health of any contaminant are, of course, a function of concentration, it is well-known that chronic exposure to heavy metals and metalloids at relatively low levels can cause adverse effects (Agency for Toxic Substance and Disease Registry [ATSDR], 2003a, 2003b, 2007, 2008; Castro-Gonzalez & Mendez-Armenta, 2008). Therefore, there has been increasing concern, mainly in the developed world, about exposures, intakes and absorption of heavy metals by humans. Populations are increasingly demanding a cleaner environment in general, and reductions in the amounts of contaminants reaching people as a result of increasing human activities. A practical implication of this trend, in the developed countries, has been the imposition of new and more restrictive regulations (European Commission, 2006; Figueroa, 2008).

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Heavy Metals and Human Health

Handbook of Elemental Speciation II: Species in the Environment, Food, Medicine and Occupational Health

Different techniques and methods have been developed for (15) Cornelis, R., Crews, H., Caruso, J. and Heumann, K., Handbook of elemental speciation: Techniques and methodology, Chapter 5.9. Speciation Analysis by Electrochemical. 1.1.2 Magnetic Sector Field Devices for Elemental and Isotopic Analysis in Handbook of Elemental Speciation: Techniques and Methodology, eds. Indiana University Course C612SPECTROCHEMICAL METHODS OF (22) “Handbook of Spectroscopy (Book Review)”, Andrade, F.J., Ray, S.R., and Hieftje, Seminar: “New Techniques and Instrumentation for Elemental Speciation.”.

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Handbook of Elemental Speciation : Techniques and Methodology

Handbook of Elemental Speciation II: Species in the Environment, Food, Medicine and Occupational Health Rita Cornelis (Editor-in-Chief), Joseph A. Caruso (Associate Editor), Helen Crews (Associate Editor), Klaus G. Heumann (Associate Editor) E-Book 978-0-470-85599-7 September 2005 $482.99 Hardcover 978-0-470-85598-0 June 2005 $603.25 O-Book 978-0-470-85600-0 October 2005 Available on Wiley Online Library

Handbook of Elemental Speciation II - Species in the Environment, Food, Medicine and Occupational Health: Cornelis/Handbook of Elemental Speciation II - Species in the Environment, Food, Medicine and Occupational Health

Klaus Heumann

Papers

Handbook of Elemental Speciation II: Species in the Environment, Food, Medicine and Occupational Health

Handbook of Elemental Speciation : Techniques and Methodology

Handbook of Elemental Speciation II - Species in the Environment, Food, Medicine and Occupational Health: Cornelis/Handbook of Elemental Speciation II - Species in the Environment, Food, Medicine and Occupational Health