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Soil-Water-Plant Cycle of Potentially Toxic Elements: Ecological and Human Health...
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Soil-Water-Plant Cycle of Potentially Toxic Elements: Ecological and Human Health Risk Assessment Approach, and Remediation Strategies

A special issue of Minerals (ISSN 2075-163X). This special issue belongs to the section "Environmental Mineralogy and Biogeochemistry".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 10 August 2024 | Viewed by 3172

Special Issue Editors

Dr. Abayneh Ataro Ambushe

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Chemical Sciences, University of Johannesburg, Johannesburg 2006, South Africa
Interests: trace and ultra-trace analysis; elemental speciation; fingerprinting the sources of pollution using stable isotope ratio measurements; food authentication; food safety and related health risk assessment; monitoring organics such as pesticides, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, and other emerging pollutants in environmental matrices (water, soil, sediment, plants, etc.); phytoremediation study; phytomining and its applications
Prof. Dr. Ntebogeng Mokgalaka-Fleischmann

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Mamelodi Campus, University of Pretoria, Pretoria 0122, South Africa
Interests: trace and ultra-trace analysis; elemental speciation; profiling emerging pollutants in environmental matrices (water, soil, sediment, plants); phytoremediation; plant secondary metabolism; impact of climate change and pollutants on phytochemistry and activity of plant extracts; removal of pollutants from water using low-cost renewable natural and waste material biosorbents

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

The presence of potentially toxic elements (PTEs) in the environment is associated with geogenic and anthropogenic sources. Potentially toxic elements from these sources end up in water, soil, sediment, and air, and eventually infiltrate aquatic and terrestrial food chains. PTEs in aquatic and terrestrial environments pose an ecological and human health risk.

This Special Issue aims to cover a wide range of topics, such as:

  • Fate and transport of PTEs, particularly in soil–water–plant systems;
  • Transfer of PTEs via the food chain in aquatic and terrestrial environments;
  • Exposure pathways of PTEs (ingestion, inhalation, and dermal absorption)
  • Toxicity, bioavailability, and mobility of PTEs and their species;
  • Speciation analysis;
  • Ecological and human health risk assessment;
  • Remediation strategies for soil contaminated by PTEs (phytoremediation, phytomining, microbial-based bioremediation, constructed land, etc.)

Dr. Abayneh Ataro Ambushe
Prof. Dr. Ntebogeng Mokgalaka-Fleischmann
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

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.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Minerals is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • bioaccumulation
  • environmental contamination
  • fate and mobility
  • food chain
  • health risk assessment
  • plant
  • pollution
  • potentially toxic elements
  • remediation
  • sediment
  • soil
  • speciation
  • water and wastewater

Published Papers (2 papers)

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Research

24 pages, 3388 KiB  
Article
Bioaccumulation and Human Health Risk Assessment of Arsenic and Chromium Species in Water–Soil–Vegetables System in Lephalale, Limpopo Province, South Africa
by Bennett Siphiwe Dintsi, Mokgehle Refiloe Letsoalo and Abayneh Ataro Ambushe
Minerals 2023, 13(7), 930; https://doi.org/10.3390/min13070930 - 11 Jul 2023
Viewed by 1245
Abstract
The accumulation of potentially toxic elements (PTEs) in water, soil and vegetables can pose a severe threat to the respective organisms and lead to human health risks upon exposure. Water, soil and vegetable samples were collected from the Mokolo River and its vicinity. [...] Read more.
The accumulation of potentially toxic elements (PTEs) in water, soil and vegetables can pose a severe threat to the respective organisms and lead to human health risks upon exposure. Water, soil and vegetable samples were collected from the Mokolo River and its vicinity. Total concentration quantification and speciation analysis of chromium (Cr) and arsenic (As) were performed using inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) and high-performance liquid chromatography hyphenated to inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry (HPLC-ICP-MS), respectively. The total concentrations of Cr and As were below the maximum permissible levels (MPLs) set by the World Health Organization (WHO) and South Africa’s Department of Water Affairs and Forestry (DWAF) for drinking water. The soil quality guideline value of 64.0 µg/g for Cr was surpassed in most sites and posed a great risk to the vegetables growing in it, whereas the guideline value of 12.0 µg/g for As was surpassed in one sampling site. The observed high concentrations in soil could be linked to the use of fertilizers and atmospheric deposits introduced through coal burning by power stations. In vegetables, the total Cr concentration surpassed the recommended MPL of 0.5 µg/g, rendering the vegetables unsafe for human consumption. Concentrations ranging from 197 to 1180 ng/g and 374 to 17400 ng/g were detected for Cr(VI) and Cr(III), respectively. The consumption of vegetables containing high levels of Cr and As would result in health risks in adults and children as the total hazard quotient (THQ) exceeded 1. The consumption of some vegetables particularly by children could cause serious health risks as the THQ > 10 was observed for some Cr-contaminated vegetables. The incremental lifetime cancer risk (ILCR) threshold of 1 × 10−4 was exceeded, indicating that the overall consumption of vegetables had high cancer risks for adults and children. This study suggests that the consumption of vegetable samples would lead to health risks in the population. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Soil-Water-Plant Cycle of Potentially Toxic Elements: Ecological and Human Health Risk Assessment Approach, and Remediation Strategies)
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21 pages, 4924 KiB  
Article
Extraction Potential of Lolium perenne L. (Perennial Rye Grass) for Metals in Landfill Soil: Its Tolerance and Defense Strategies
by Mmatsheko Kgaladi Leah Masotla, Funzani Asnath Melato and Ntebogeng Sharon Mokgalaka-Fleischmann
Minerals 2023, 13(7), 873; https://doi.org/10.3390/min13070873 - 28 Jun 2023
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 1245
Abstract
Landfill sites open and close frequently throughout the world, taking over a significant amount of land and leaving it contaminated and unavailable to the surrounding population for use. Different forms of remediation methods have been employed to rehabilitate contaminated land to a state [...] Read more.
Landfill sites open and close frequently throughout the world, taking over a significant amount of land and leaving it contaminated and unavailable to the surrounding population for use. Different forms of remediation methods have been employed to rehabilitate contaminated land to a state that poses less of a threat to the environment. Phytoremediation is one of the remediation techniques that has proven to be effective, economical and easier to implement compared to other methods. The main aim of this study was to explore the potential use of Lolium perenne L. to remediate and restore metal-contaminated landfill soil and determine its stress tolerance mechanism(s). The metal uptake, determined using inductively coupled plasma-optical emission spectroscopy (ICP-OES) and inductively coupled plasma-mass spectroscopy (ICP-MS), revealed that Lolium perenne accumulate a higher amount of metals in the roots than in leaves, which was further confirmed by the translocation factor (TF) values of all of the metals that were below 1, ranging between 0.2 and 0.8, while Cu, Cr and Pb had a bioaccumulation factor (BCF) > 1. This confirms that L. perenne is capable of absorbing metals into the root matrix but might restrict further movement into other parts of the plant as a defense mechanism against metal toxicity. In response to metal-induced stress, L. perenne displayed an increase in enzyme activity of superoxide dismutase, glutathione S-transferase, peroxidase and amylases in plants grown in landfill soil. Peroxidases displayed the highest level of enzyme activity, while total amylolytic activity had the most significant increase in activity over time. Although not a hyperaccumulator, L. perenne is a potential candidate for the phytoremediation of landfill soil and the phytostabilization of Cu, Cr and Pb. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Soil-Water-Plant Cycle of Potentially Toxic Elements: Ecological and Human Health Risk Assessment Approach, and Remediation Strategies)
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