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Toxic Metal in Soil, Water and Biota Compartments: Contamination and Remediation

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A special issue of International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health (ISSN 1660-4601). This special issue belongs to the section "Environmental Earth Science and Medical Geology".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 August 2023) | Viewed by 4560

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Dr. Lucia Santorufo

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Department of Biology, University of Naples Federico II, 80126 Naples, Italy
Interests: soil pollution; functional traits; collembola; environmental quality; burned soil
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

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Dear Colleagues,

Metals are naturally occurring elements, but their multiple industrial, domestic, agricultural, and technological applications have led to their wide distribution in the environment. Being highly reactive and toxic even at low concentrations, metals may enter in soils and groundwater, adversely affecting biota. Bioavailable fractions of metals can easily be absorbed by organisms, compromising their cellular metabolism and activities. Because of their characteristics of duration and enrichment, metals accumulate along the food webs, causing irreparable alteration to biodiversity. For these reasons, remediation of metals requires special attention to prevent exposure of metals to organisms in order to protect the biota and the environmental quality. Recently, several techniques have been developed for metal remediation, but as remediation is a critical process depending on many factors, more efficient strategies are still needed. In recent years, ecological and global public health have been associated with metal contamination and remediation, but open challenges regarding the impacts of metals on organisms and their activities as well as their interactions remain. Therefore, research involved in the implementation of the current knowledge on these subjects is welcome in this Special Issue.

Dr. Lucia Santorufo
Guest Editor

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Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

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Keywords

toxic metals
trace elements
soil organisms
acquatic organisms
remediation

Published Papers (3 papers)

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15 pages, 3036 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Metal Release from Microplastics to Soil: Effects on Soil Enzymatic Activities and Spinach Production

by Giorgia Santini, Valeria Memoli, Ermenegilda Vitale, Gabriella Di Natale, Marco Trifuoggi, Giulia Maisto and Lucia Santorufo

Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2023, 20(4), 3106; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph20043106 - 10 Feb 2023

Cited by 4 | Viewed by 1366

Abstract

Microplastics (MPs) represent emergent pollutants in terrestrial ecosystems. Microplastics can cause the release of metal and damage to crop quality. The present research aimed to evaluate the effects of Mater-bi (Bio-MPs) and polyethylene (PE-MPs) MPs at different concentrations on soil properties and on the growth of Spinacia oleracea L. Plants were grown in 30 pots filled with soil mixed with 0.5, 1 and 2% d.w. of Bio-MPs and PE-MPs and in 5 pots filled only with soil, considered as controls (K). At the end of the vegetative cycle, the spinach plants were evaluated for the epigeal (EPI) and hypogeal (HYPO) biomasses and the ratio of HYPO/EPI was calculated. In the soil, the total and the available fractions of Cr, Cu, Ni and Pb and the hydrolase (HA), β-glucosidase (β-glu), dehydrogenase (DHA) and urease (U) activities were evaluated. The results revealed that the addition of Bio-MPs increased soil total Cr, Cu and Pb and available Cu concentrations, and the addition of PE-MPs increased Pb availability. In soil contaminated by both Bio-MPs and PE-MPs, HA and β-glu activities were stimulated, whereas DHA activity was reduced. The HYPO and HYPO/EPI biomasses were reduced only in soils contaminated by the 2% Bio-MPs. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Toxic Metal in Soil, Water and Biota Compartments: Contamination and Remediation)

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14 pages, 3607 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Synthesis, Characterization and Decomposition of Potassium Jarosite for Adsorptive As(V) Removal in Contaminated Water: Preliminary Study

by Eduardo Cerecedo-Sáenz, Elías Hernández-Lazcano, Maythe J. González-Bedolla, Juan Hernández-Ávila, Raúl Rosales-Ibáñez, María del P. Gutiérrez-Amador, Ariadna Sánchez-Castillo, Alberto Arenas-Flores and Eleazar Salinas-Rodríguez

Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2022, 19(23), 15912; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph192315912 - 29 Nov 2022

Cited by 2 | Viewed by 1461

Abstract

Jarosite-type compounds precipitated in the zinc industry for iron control can also incorporate arsenic and can be used for wastewater treatment for As elimination. According with the last, this work is related to arsenic incorporation at room temperature in decomposed potassium jarosite. The work began with the synthesis of the compound at 75 °C for 9 h using Fe₂(SO₄)₃ and K₂SO₄ at a pH of 1.1. Once jarosite was obtained, solids were subjected to an alkaline decomposition using NaOH at pH 10 for 30 min, and then As was added to the solution as HAsNaO₄ and the pH modified by adding HNO₃ until it reached a value of 1.1. The initial, intermediate, and final products were wholly characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) in conjunction with energy dispersive spectrometry (EDS), X-ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), Raman spectroscopy (RS), and X-ray photoelectron spectrometry (XPS). The obtained results show that As(V) can be adsorbed by ionic exchange in the amorphous FeOH structure of decomposed jarosite and when pH decreased to 1.1, the compound recrystallized, incorporating up to 6% As on average, which is indicative that this process can be used to reduce As in contaminated waters. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Toxic Metal in Soil, Water and Biota Compartments: Contamination and Remediation)

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19 pages, 2533 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Quality and Health Risk Assessment of Groundwaters in the Protected Area of Tisa River Basin

by Thomas Dippong and Maria-Alexandra Resz

Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2022, 19(22), 14898; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph192214898 - 12 Nov 2022

Cited by 3 | Viewed by 1213

Abstract

This study was conducted in order to assess the chemistry (41 metalloids and heavy metals and 16 physico-chemical indicators) of groundwater sampled from the protected area of the Tisa River Basin during the months of 2021. Pollution indices were used in order to determine the potential metal pollution level. Consequently, a non-carcinogenic risk assessment of metal through the ingestion of water was done. The results indicated general contamination with ammonium, chloride, iron, and manganese. The samples were rich in Cu, Mg, and Pb, but lower than the maximum limits. Significant correlations were noticed between Al-Fe, Mn-Fe, Mn-Ni, and Cr-Zn, as well as the metal content and pollution index scores. The metal pollution indices indicated three pollution levels (low, medium, and high) based on the metal content and standards regarding the water quality used for drinking purposes. The pollution indices scores ranged from 1.52–41.2. A human health risk assessment indicated no potential non-carcinogenic risk for the studied metals through the consumption of groundwater. The results of three different tools (chronic daily intake, hazard quotient, and hazard index) were below the critical value, except for the aluminium in two samples. This study is one of the first attempts to evaluate the quality of groundwater sources associated with the human health risks of the studied metals from the Tisa River Basin protected area. Based on this research, strategies for managing and controlling the risks can be developed. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Toxic Metal in Soil, Water and Biota Compartments: Contamination and Remediation)

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