According to more than 200 scholarly publications, plastic pollution has been emerging as a major environmental concern in recent decades, and has been posing a relevant threat to ecosystems and global health. While the focus has primarily been on the physical, chemical and biological impacts of primary and secondary plastics, also for their ability to cross biological barriers within the human body, an additional hazard is represented by their association to heavy metals, used as additives. Metals are, in fact, added to plastics for their stabilizing actions. The examples of metal toxicity here reported are Antimony (Sb), Arsenic (As), Barium (Ba), Beryllium (Be), Cadmium (Cd), Chromium (Cr), Cobalt (Co), Copper (Cu), Iron (Fe), Lead (Pb), Manganese (Mn), Nickel (Ni), Selenium (Se), Vanadium (V) and Zinc (Zn). This chapter explores the toxicity of metals associated with plastic pollution in the environment, illustrating their potential consequences for the global ecological system, with prevalent focus on human health. The interdisciplinary approach, which includes environmental science, chemistry and toxicology, aims to enhance the understanding of this complex issue and highlight the urgent need for efficient mitigation strategies.
Soil has various trace metals, which help to identify the demographical origin of the soil. The formation of soil undergoes changes due to several external factors. However, certain trace metals are not affected by these external factors. This chapter considers two approaches for the detection of these trace elements; first, it highlights the usefulness of the trace elements present in the soil whose presence in deficiency or excess affects the soil quality; second, the analysis of soil transferred from various surfaces, to detect the presence of these trace elements. This chapter involves various instrumental techniques used to study its elemental composition and morphological characteristics. Due to the heterogeneous nature of the soil, the information from this chapter can be used as a database to narrow down the area of search and objects under study. It also provides insights into understanding the presence of trace metals in soil, their effects, and their role in forensic soil science. The use of soil in the search for trace evidence, which gives background knowledge on the importance of comprehending soil from the topographical scale to the crime scene, has been overviewed. This aids law enforcement agencies in investigations.
It is predicted that electronic waste (e-waste) derived principally from discarded electronic equipment will reach 74 million metric tonnes by 2030. In addition, urbanization and industrialization have contributed to metal contamination in the environments. E-waste is often deposed of in low-income countries adversely affecting the health of the working population. The main sources of e-contamination are soil, dust, and food matrices. Drinking water can also be contaminated with heavy metals such as arsenic (As), cadmium (Cd), mercury (Hg), and lead (Pb) causing a major health concern. Exposure to pollutants present in waste has a significant detrimental impact on human health; children in developing countries are often particularly susceptible. Sensitive monitoring procedures are needed to improve the rate of detection and monitoring of the possible adverse effects on the population exposed to significant quantities of e-waste.
Contamination of the environment by trace metals (TMs) has become a global health challenge. Some of these metals are found in some food substances in minute quantities as a normal part of nutrition. Excessive exposure of living organisms to these metals poses’ a great risk to the health of the living organisms. Once in the environment, these metals are not biodegradable and last for a long time. Their contamination of the environment leads to contamination of the ecosystem, which intricately depends on the environment. Normal physiological processes of the living organisms in these ecosystems are distorted following the dysregulation of their redox system. An imbalance in the ecosystem’s redox state led to damage to living organisms. There is an increase in mortality and morbidity, diversification is compromised, the genetic makeup of organisms is altered and over time the whole ecosystem becomes compromised. Several bioremediation techniques have been of valuable assistance in reverting this ugly trend. How well these remediation works could revert the damage and restore the ecosystems will be a measure of their survival, including all the dependent organisms and man.
As highly relevant environmental contaminants, metals and metalloids have been extensively evaluated for decades in biomonitoring programs, due to their potential toxicity at low levels and high persistence in many ecosystems. When considering chemical analysis, metal quantification has been carried out through conventional methods, based on the determination of their levels in internal organs, such as the liver and kidneys. Nevertheless, non-invasive methods constitute an alternative response regarding trace elements biomonitoring studies. Specifically, keratinized tissue from terrestrial mammals (such as hair, nails, or spines) presents a high accumulation rate, giving relevant information about heavy metal dynamics at internal levels and, most particularly, a chronic exposure. This critical review focuses on the use of non-invasive tissues, mainly hair and spines, as adequate tools on heavy metals assessment, specifically mercury (Hg) and lead (Pb), in biomonitoring studies performed in terrestrial wild mammals.
The major and minor elements and their salts are the targeted investigation of surface water, ground water and sea water by the scientists worldwide. The presence of such elements depends on the nature of rock, soil, weathering phenomenon, pH value, water soluble salts etc. Other than the natural source, many contaminants are introduced into water by the domestic or industrial activities of that region. The heavy metals have a tendency to accumulate in animal and human bodies through this water system. Moreover, the accumulation of these heavy metals beyond permissible level has harmful effects on biotic components. These metals also get accumulated in water-sediment and percolate down in to ground water that effects food chain and biomagnification. The mobility of metal or its salt in water depends upon chemical forms in which it exists in water. Major components (Na+; Ca+, Mg+, K+, Cl−, NO3−, HCO3− etc.) and minor elements (Al+, F−, Cd+, Co+, Cu+, Cr+, Fe+, Mn+, Ni+, Pb+, Sr.+, Zn+ etc.) are present in surface water, ground water and sea water. The present chapter deals with the water quality of surface water, ground water and sea water assessed by the authors and their team of scientists, where, the distribution of major and minor element concentrations in the surface and ground was evaluated in one of the districts of India, Moradabad Uttar Pradesh, whereas, seawater from Southern ocean and glacial lake water from Proglacial and Epishelf lakes of Antarctica. Major and minor elements beyond the permissible limits causes severe health problems such as liver cancer, diabetes, cirrhosis of liver, diseases related to heart and central nervous system, infertility etc. and thus needs to be monitored on regular basis.
Heavy metal contamination is one of the fundamental ecological problems of new instances. These heavy metals are very tricky as they without delay have an effect on residing organisms and human health. These contaminations typically occur as a result of herbal and human activities. Technological development and business improvement have brought about an upward push in heavy metallic pollution inside the surroundings. Indiscriminate discharge of toxic wastewater into the encompassing surroundings regularly are reasons for severe environmental and health impacts. The heavy metal particles are nonbiodegradable and could popularly amass inside the dwelling organisms, accordingly are carcinogenic and teratogenic. Elimination of heavy metals has therefore become a problem of first-rate difficulty. Various technology and traditional techniques were utilized in heavy metallic elimination. This review paper is therefore geared toward assessing some of the reasons and results in addition to diverse strategies for the elimination of heavy metals in wastewater effluent.
The objective of this chapter was to treat metal pollution of wastewater rich in Pb2+, Cd2+, Cu2+, and Zn2+ ions by adsorption tests on the raw chitin/chitosan. Different origin namely shrimp (Ccre), crab (Ccra) and lobster (Clan). Raw shrimp chitin had a strong affinity for Pb2+ and Cd2+. The adsorption capacity of zinc on the crabs chitin is twice as great as that on the shrimp chitin. The kinetic study showed that more than 50% of these ions are adsorbed before equilibrium is reached (20 minutes). The adsorption kinetics also showed that the hardness of the shells has a negative effect on the kinetics of the adsorption process. Indeed, the adsorption of Pb2+ on the raw chitin shrimp requires only 30 minutes, while on the raw chitin lobster; the equilibrium time is 60 minutes. To ensure a sustainable treatment, sludge generated by adsorption of heavy metals was incinerated at high temperature. Incineration has led to calcite phases, which do not represent any toxicity on the environment and it can be recycled in the industry of solid materials (ceramics, cement, etc.). However, the regeneration of sludge by the acid changes the structure of the material and gives new adsorbent supports.
Trace elements play an essential role in the normal metabolism and physiological functions of living beings. The distribution and concentration of trace elements in the environment results from both anthropogenic and natural origins; this chapter will focus on volcanism as one of the major natural sources of trace elements. In volcanic areas, the emissions and deposits of volcanogenic elements are key factors for geochemical mobility of trace elements and their distribution in the environment and, their effects on animals and human health. Volcanic areas have been associated with increased incidence of several diseases, such as fluorosis or even some types of cancer, leveraging the studies on the potential of this natural phenomenon as a promoter of diseases. As the Azores Archipelago is a volcanic area, with several manifestations of active volcanism, this region presents itself as an ideal study scenario for a multidisciplinary approach on environmental health problems, such as the exposure to toxic and/or deficient levels of trace elements. This chapter will present an integrated approach, describing the occurrence, the monitoring of trace elements and their characterization, the biological role in human body, and the human biomonitoring and health risk assessment, using case studies as examples.
One of the contaminants in wastewater is the heavy metals. Treatment of heavy metals is of great importance because they can be harmful and dangerous for human being health. Conventional removal methods used include: ultrafiltration, reverse osmosis, ion exchange, solvent extraction, sedimentation, and chemical precipitation, and each method has some disadvantages besides high costs. In this chapter, Moringa oleifera cake residue, Moringa oleifera press cake, and Moringa oleifera leaves are introduced as a proposed alternative to replace conventional methods for heavy metal ions’ removal. The results of using Moringa oleifera cake residue showed that iron (Fe) was fully removed; copper (Cu) and cadmium (Cd) were successfully removed up to 98% and reduction of lead (Pb) of 82.17%. The heavy metals were successfully reduced using Moringa oleifera press cake. The removal percentage of iron, copper, and chromium reached 69.99%, 88.86%, and 93.73%, respectively. Moringa oleifera leaves were used to remove Cd (II) from synthetic water; the optimization was performed and each parameter was affecting the Cd (II) removal with different percentages, but pH was insignificant. As a conclusion, the Moringa oleifera seeds and leaves can be considered as a promising alternative in water treatment for heavy metal ions removal.
In this study, the selected streams within the Blesbokspruit located in South Africa were characterised in this study. Because of prolonged mining activities coupled with ineffective management practices, several mine tailing (MT) dumps are widely distributed in this area. Metals and metalloid contamination from these tailing facilities have been reported to be major contributors to environmental hazards such as acid mine drainage (AMD). With increased agricultural activities in this area, an assessment of the general quality of water being utilised for irrigation purposes and feeding of farm animals becomes inevitable. A procedural method was implemented in a bid to identify relations between tailing and stream water contamination. Representative gold tailing sediments and water samples were collected, respectively. With the aid of X-ray fluorescence (XRF) and X-ray diffraction (XRD), the mineralogical characterisation of the tailing sediments was successfully carried out, while acid digestion using inductively coupled plasma-optical emission spectrometry (ICP-OES) was utilised in the determination of trace metal contents. Samples of different water sources were also characterised. There was a clear description of the link between tailings, water contamination and possible implications to animals and humans in the long run.
Environmental pollution has been rising in the past few decades due to increased anthropogenic activities. Bioremediation is an attractive and successful cleaning technique to remove toxic waste from polluted environment. Bioremediation is highly involved in degradation, eradication, immobilization, or detoxification diverse chemical wastes and physical hazardous materials from the surrounding through the all-inclusive and action of microorganisms. The main principle is degrading and converting pollutants to less toxic forms. Bioremediation can be carried out ex-situ and in-situ, depending on several factors, which include but not limited to cost, site characteristics, type, and concentration of pollutants. Hence, appropriate bioremediation technique is selected. Additionally, the major methodologies to develop bioremediation are biostimulation, bioaugmentation, bioventing, biopiles, and bioattenuation provided the environmental factors that decide the completion of bioremediation. Bioremediation is the most effective, economical, eco-friendly management tool to manage the polluted environment. All bioremediation techniques have its own advantage and disadvantage because it has its own specific applications.
This chapter is related with the preliminary study of some non-metallic minerals to evaluate their cationic exchange capacity, to remove heavy and precious metals, as well as rare earths elements. The minerals and materials used to execute the ion metals removal were bentonite, phosphorite, and diatomite. The chapter shows the physicochemical behavior of all these minerals, which were used to remove the mentioned elements from solutions coming from ore leaching. It was found that in all cases, the removal of heavy and precious metals, as well as rare earths elements reached over 90%. Although, there were minimal differences in efficiency for all minerals used (bentonite, phosphorite, and diatomite), it could be pointed that the phosphorite has the best results going from 99.43% of removal of Gd, to 99.95–100% for the case of Ce, Nd, La, Yb, Eu, Er, Sm, Tb, Ge, Pd, Pt, and Au.
Chromium is a versatile metal with various industrial applications and biological activities. However, as a transition metal, this element forms several species, i.e. oxidation states of −4 to +6, with different degrees of toxicities that affect ecosystems and organisms including human beings. The skin is the outermost organ that usually interacts directly with chromium species in nature. These contact and interaction induce the formation of several acute and chronic negative effects including contact dermatitis, skin cancer, allergy, etc. In this chapter, toxicity and biological activity of several chromium species, such as chromium zero-valent, trivalent, hexavalent, will be reviewed to obtain better comprehension in chromium toxicity. Sources and routes of exposure, toxicity and possible treatment, and biological activity on the skin are arranged and explained systematically.
The waste of trace metals are led the pollutions of water, soil and air. That’s why the accurate and sensitive identification of amount of trace metals in food samples and environment are gained importance in analytical chemistry because of their toxicity to human health. Besides, the direct determination of trace metals, presented at very low concentration especially in real samples, is difficult. In this content, before determination of trace metals by instrumental methods can be achieved successfully using separation/preconcentration procedures. The different synthesized chelating polymer resin adsorbents are successfully used for the SPE of trace metals. The trace metals, such as Cu, Cr, Co, Mn, Zn and Fe, are necessary for human health, when it has been taken at certain limits. But, the trace metals, such as Hg, Cd, Pb, Ni and As are toxic metals for the human body. About this, there are studies on the determination of trace elements and mineral in food samples and environment. In this study, new methods in the synthesis of (meth)acrylamides and use as a sorbent in the trace metals extraction was identified.
In the Blesbokspruit area of Ekuhurleni, South Africa, previous gold mining activities resulted in many tailings dump sites. 20 representative soil samples were used in describing the distribution of metals. The soils were very strongly acidic ranging from 3.86 to 4.34 with a low cation exchange capacity (CEC). Based on X-ray fluorescence (XRF) analysis, elemental composition of the soils revealed average values of major elements such as Na2O (0.18%), MgO (0.63%), Al2O3 (6.51%), SiO2 (81.83%), P2O5 (0.04%), SO3 (3.40%), K2O (1.98%), CaO (0.45%), TiO2 (0.51%), Cr2O3 (0.17%), MnO (0.04%), Fe2O3 (3.59%), NiO (0.04%), As2O3 (0.02%), with Rb2O and SrO falling below 0.01%. Trace metals (TM) contamination levels in the soils were evaluated using various pollution indices which revealed that over 60% of the soils were between the high degree and the ultra-high degree of contamination classes. The concentration of various trace metals varies from 860.3–862.6 mg/kg for Cr; 324.9–328.4 mg/kg for Al; 200.9–203.4 mg/kg for As; 130.1–136.2 mg/kg for Fe; 121.9–125.8 mg/kg for Pb; 27.3–30.2 mg/kg for Co; 23.8–26.8 mg/kg for Ni; 7.2–9.2 mg/kg for Ti; 7.1–9.2 mg/kg for Cd; 4.0–5.6 mg/kg for Zn and 0.1–0.6 mg/kg for Cu.
Trace elements migrate among different environment bodies with the natural geochemical reactions, and impacted by human industrial, agricultural, and civil activities. High load of trace elements in water, river and lake sediment, soil and air particle lead to potential to health of human being and ecological system. To control the impact on environment, source apportionment is a meaningful, and also a challenging task. Traditional methods to make source apportionment are usually based on geochemical techniques, or univariate analysis techniques. In recently years, the methods of multivariate analysis, and the related concepts data mining, machine learning, big data, are developing fast, which provide a novel route that combing the geochemical and data mining techniques together. These methods have been proved successful to deal with the source apportionment issue. In this chapter, the data mining methods used on this topic and implementations in recent years are reviewed. The basic method includes principal component analysis, factor analysis, clustering analysis, positive matrix fractionation, decision tree, Bayesian network, artificial neural network, etc. Source apportionment of trace elements in surface water, ground water, river and lake sediment, soil, air particles, dust are discussed.
With growth in civilisation and industrialisation, there is an increase in the release of toxic heavy metal ions and dyes into water system, which is of public concern. As a result, appropriate treatment methods have to be implemented in order to mitigate and prevent water pollution. The discovery of nanotechnology has led to the development and utilisation of various nanoadsorbent for the removal of pollutants from water. PANI nanostructures and nanocomposites are noble adsorbents that have gained popularity in addressing water pollution issues and have been reported in literature. In this chapter, the main focus is on the synthesis of PANI nanocomposites and nanostructures and their application as efficient adsorbents for water treatment. Detailed discussions on different synthetic routes and characterisation have been dedicated to applications of these materials and are compared for the adsorptive removal of heavy metal ions and dyes from water.
The superabsorbent hydrogels (SAHs) are 3D polymer networks having hydrophilic nature, which can swell, absorb, and hold incredible amount of water in aqueous medium showing better sorption ability. The sorption ability enables SAH to absorb organic pollutants, dyes, and heavy metal ions (HMI) from wastewater. Therefore, SAHs have recently got considerable interest from the researchers to be used for wastewater treatment. In order to know the swelling property and to understand the wastewater treatment in general and heavy metal ion removal from industrial effluent in particular, this chapter describes the removal of heavy metal ions from wastewater in details. Thus this chapter will enable us to understand the theoretical and experimental part regarding the removal of heavy metal ions by SAH from wastewater. It also highlights the parameters of adsorption process such as effect of initial concentration of heavy metal ions, effect of external stimuli (pH), effect of temperature on the removal of heavy metal ions, and dosage studies. The synthesis of SAH and its use for removal of heavy metal ions from wastewater as well as recycling, selectivity, and effectiveness are also discussed in detail.
Air and water as a medium for chemical elements biota as a medium for chemical elements deposits as a medium for chemical elements bioavailability and biomagnification of chemical elements and radionuclides sources of chemical elements monitors of Baltic Sea pollution estimate of health risk global input of chemical elements and pollution status of the Baltic Sea.
