Aquatic chemistry is becoming both a rewarding and substantial area of inquiry and is drawing many prominent scientists to its fold. Its literature has changed from a compilation of compositional tables to studies of the chemical reactions occurring within the aquatic environments. But more than this is the recognition that human society in part is determining the nature of aquatic systems. Since rivers deliver to the world ocean most of its dissolved and particulate components, the interactions of these two sets of waters determine the vitality of our coastal waters. This significant vol ume provides not only an introduction to the dynamics of aquatic chem istries but also identifies those materials that jeopardize the resources of both the marine and fluvial domains. Its very title provides its emphasis but clearly not its breadth in considering natural processes. The book will be of great value to those environmental scientists who are dedicated to keeping the resources of the hydrosphere renewable. As the size of the world population becomes larger in the near future and as the uses of materials and energy show parallel increases, the rivers and oceans must be considered as a resource to accept some of the wastes of society. The ability of these waters and the sediments below them to accommodate wastes must be assessed continually. The key questions relate to the capacities of aqueous systems to carry one or more pollutants."

Metal pollution in the aquatic environment

The behavior of ecosystems under stress can be shown to be analogous to Selye's characterization (1973, 1974) of the response of higher organisms to stress. The ecosystem-level distress syndrome is manifest through changes in nutrient cycling, productivity, the size of dominant species, species diversity, and a shift in species dominance to opportunistic shorter-lived forms. These symptoms of ecosystem dysfunction are common in both terrestrial and aquatic systems under various stress impacts including harvesting, physical restructuring, pollutant discharges, introductions of exotic species, and extreme natural events (such as disastrous storms or volcanic activity). The progression of appearance of symptoms under intensifying stress levels may be interrupted temporarily as ecosystem homeostasis and homeorhetic mechanisms intercede. Inability to cope leads to further dysfunctions and, perhaps, to irreversible ecosystem breakdown.

Ecosystem Behavior Under Stress

Use of freshwater plants for phytotoxicity testing: a review.

Literature review on duckweed toxicity testing

I. Abstract Chromium poisoning among leather tanners has long been known. The workers have been found to suffer from ulcers, allergic dermatitis, lung cancer, and liver necrosis due to prolonged contact with chromium salts. One of the highly catastrophic incidences of lung cancer as a result of inhaling dust containing Cr (VI) was reported in 1960 from the Kiryama factory of the Nippon-Denko concern on the island of Hokkaido, Japan. Pollution of water resources, both surface and underground, by indiscriminate discharge of spent wastes of chromium-based industries has become a serious global concern, for it has created an acute scarcity of safe drinking water in many countries. In August 1975 it was observed that underground drinking water in Tokyo near the chromium (VI))–containing spoil heaps contained more than 2000 times the permissible limit of chromium. In Ludhiana and Chennai, India, chromium levels in underground water have been recorded at more than 12 mg/L and 550–1500 ppm/L, respectively.

https://bioone.org/journals/The-Botanical-Review/volume-70/issue-3/0006-8101(2004)070[0313:CAATIA]2.0.CO;2/Chromium-Accumulation-and-Toxicity-in-Aquatic-Vascular-Plants/10.1663/0006-8101(2004)070[0313:CAATIA]2.0.CO;2.pdf

Chromium Accumulation and Toxicity in Aquatic Vascular Plants

(1975). Heavy metal toxicity and synergism to floating aquatic weeds. SIL Proceedings, 1922-2010: Vol. 19, No. 3, pp. 2102-2111.

T. C. Hutchinson

Papers

Heavy metal toxicity and synergism to floating aquatic weeds: With 3 figures and 8 tables in the text

Cadmium and Zinc Toxicity and Synergism to Floating Aquatic Plants