We can't find the internet
Attempting to reconnect
Something went wrong!
Hang in there while we get back on track
Trace Metals in the Environment
Summary
This book summarizes research on trace metals including heavy metals in the environment, covering their effects on soil, water, plants, and human health. It also discusses how microplastics accumulate trace metals and spread them through oceans, harming aquatic life and potentially entering the human food chain. The connection between microplastics and heavy metal transport is an important emerging concern for both environmental and human health.
High levels of toxic elements have harmful effects on all aspects of the environment (water, air, plants, etc.). Trace elements, many of which are heavy metals, can compromise soil quality, cause toxicity to plants, and ultimately contaminate the food chain. This book summarizes the effects of trace elements in the environment. Section 1 discusses the influence of trace elements on soil and the ecosystem and Section 2 examines the influence of trace elements on water. The book also discusses microplastics, which accumulate trace elements and pollute the oceans, harming both aquatic and human life.
Sign in to start a discussion.
More Papers Like This
Microplastic-mediated environmental behavior of metal contaminants: mechanism and implication
This review examines how microplastics interact with heavy metals across water, soil, and air environments, acting as carriers that concentrate and transport toxic metals. Researchers found that microplastics can increase the bioavailability and toxicity of metal contaminants to living organisms. The study highlights major gaps in current analytical methods and calls for better tools to understand these complex pollutant interactions.
Interactions between microplastics (MPs) and trace/toxic metals in marine environments: implications and insights—a comprehensive review
This review examines how microplastics interact with trace and toxic metals in ocean environments, finding that plastic particles can adsorb metals onto their surfaces and alter how those metals move through marine ecosystems. These interactions can increase metal toxicity, reduce the availability of essential nutrients for marine life, and disrupt ocean food chains in ways that may ultimately affect seafood safety for humans.
Interaction of microplastics with heavy metals in soil: Mechanisms, influencing factors and biological effects
This review summarizes how microplastics and heavy metals interact in soil, where microplastics can absorb and carry toxic metals through the food chain and into the human body. Aging and weathering of microplastics changes their surface properties, making them better at picking up heavy metals, which raises concerns about combined exposure through contaminated crops and water.
Particulate plastics as a vector for toxic trace-element uptake by aquatic and terrestrial organisms and human health risk.
This paper reviews evidence that microplastics and nanoplastics act as carriers for toxic trace elements like lead, mercury, and cadmium in both aquatic and terrestrial environments, concentrating these metals on their surfaces. The authors assess how adsorption of heavy metals onto plastic particles may increase human and wildlife exposure risks, and discuss how environmental conditions influence metal uptake by plastics.
Influence of Microplastics on the Mobility, Bioavailability, and Toxicity of Heavy Metals: A Review
This review examines how microplastics interact with heavy metals in the environment, potentially influencing the metals' mobility, bioavailability, and toxicity to living organisms. Researchers found that microplastics can adsorb heavy metals and transport them to new locations, but the interactions depend on the type of plastic, metal, and environmental conditions. The study highlights that microplastics acting as carriers for toxic metals represents an underappreciated environmental and health risk.