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Minerals
Special Issues
Trace Metal Distribution and Cycling in Aquatic Environments
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Trace Metal Distribution and Cycling in Aquatic Environments

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

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 October 2021) | Viewed by 13544

Special Issue Editor

Prof. Dr. Alakendra N Roychoudhury

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Earth Sciences, Stellenbosch University, Stellenbosch 7600, South Africa
Interests: environmental biogeochemistry; trace metal dynamics

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Many trace elements, especially the first-row transition metals in the periodic table, are essential micronutrients, while many others are known to be toxic. Whether a trace metal is a nutrient or a toxin depends on its concentration, speciation, and availability. With continued advances in analytical geochemistry, it has become possible to retrieve detailed speciation information to a molecular scale as well as to measure concentration at ultra-low levels. This new information is allowing for an advanced understanding of sources of trace metals, dispersion and cycling, uptake pathways and biolimiting or toxic nature of trace metals in aquatic systems.

This Special Issue seeks manuscripts on topics related, but not limited, to advancement in analytical techniques for determining concentration and speciation of trace metals, processes controlling trace metal dynamics in freshwater, seawater, and anthropogenically impacted aquatic systems, trace metal–cellular interaction and modeling of trace metal transport, and distribution and control of biogeochemical processes. Manuscripts focusing on global oceans, which are very much understudied, are highly encouraged.

Prof. Dr. Alakendra N Roychoudhury
Guest Editor

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

  • trace metals
  • micronutrients
  • heavy metals
  • metal toxicity
  • trace metal cycling

Published Papers (5 papers)

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Research

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21 pages, 2306 KiB  
Article
Human Health Risk Assessment of Trace Elements in Tap Water and the Factors Influencing Its Value
by Katarzyna Wątor, Piotr Rusiniak, Agnieszka Martyna, Ewa Kmiecik and Adam Postawa
Minerals 2021, 11(11), 1291; https://doi.org/10.3390/min11111291 - 20 Nov 2021
Cited by 3 | Viewed by 2337
Abstract
(1) Background: The influence of tap water fittings construction and internal pipe-work on the release of heavy metals was investigated. (2) Methods: A statistical approach was applied for the examination of the chemistry of tap water in five different cities in southern Poland. [...] Read more.
(1) Background: The influence of tap water fittings construction and internal pipe-work on the release of heavy metals was investigated. (2) Methods: A statistical approach was applied for the examination of the chemistry of tap water in five different cities in southern Poland. In total, 500 samples were collected (from 100 to 101 samples in each city). The sampling protocol included information on the construction of the water supply network and the physicochemical parameters of measured tap water. (3) Results: The statistical analysis allowed to extract the crucial factors that affect the concentrations of trace elements in tap water. Age of connection, age of tap, age of pipe-work as well as material of connection, material of pipe-work and material of appliance reveal the most significant variability of concentrations observed for As, Al, Cd, Cu, Fe, Mn, Pb, and Zn. Calculated cancer risks (CRs) decrease with the following order of analysed elements Ni > Cd > Cr > As = Pb and can be associated with the factors that affect the appearance of such elements in tap water. The hazard index (HI) was evaluated as negligible in 59.1% of the sampling points and low in 40.1% for adults. For children, a high risk was observed in 0.2%, medium in 9.0%, negligible in 0.4%, and low for the rest of the analysed samples. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Trace Metal Distribution and Cycling in Aquatic Environments)
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19 pages, 854 KiB  
Article
Determination of Trace Metal (Mn, Fe, Ni, Cu, Zn, Co, Cd and Pb) Concentrations in Seawater Using Single Quadrupole ICP-MS: A Comparison between Offline and Online Preconcentration Setups
by Saumik Samanta, Ryan Cloete, Jean Loock, Riana Rossouw and Alakendra N. Roychoudhury
Minerals 2021, 11(11), 1289; https://doi.org/10.3390/min11111289 - 19 Nov 2021
Cited by 12 | Viewed by 3599
Abstract
The quantification of dissolved metals in seawater requires pre-treatment before the measurement can be done, posing a risk of contamination, and requiring a time-consuming procedure. Despite the development of automated preconcentration units and sophisticated instruments, the entire process often introduces inaccuracies in quantification, [...] Read more.
The quantification of dissolved metals in seawater requires pre-treatment before the measurement can be done, posing a risk of contamination, and requiring a time-consuming procedure. Despite the development of automated preconcentration units and sophisticated instruments, the entire process often introduces inaccuracies in quantification, especially for low-metal seawaters. This study presents a robust method for measuring dissolved metals from seawater accurately and precisely using a seaFAST and quadrupole Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometer (ICPMS), employed in both offline (2016–2018) and online (2020–2021) setups. The proposed method shows data processing, including the re-calculation of metals after eliminating the instrumental signals caused by polyatomic interferences. Here, we report the blank concentration of Fe below 0.02 nmol kg−1, somewhat lower values than that have been previously reported using high-resolution and triple-quad ICPMS. The method allows for the accurate determination of Cd and Fe concentrations in low-metal seawaters, such as GEOTRACES GSP, using a cost-effective quadrupole ICPMS (Cdconsensus: 2 ± 2 pmol kg−1, Cdmeasured: 0.99 ± 0.35 pmol kg−1; Feconsensus: 0.16 ± 0.05 nmol kg−1, Femeasured: 0.21 ± 0.03 nmol kg−1). Between two setups, online yields marginally lower blank values for metals based on short-term analysis. However, the limit of detection is comparable between the two, supporting optimal instrumental sensitivity of the ICPMS over 4+ years of analysis. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Trace Metal Distribution and Cycling in Aquatic Environments)
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17 pages, 5375 KiB  
Article
The Influence of Aqueous Se(IV) on the Stability of Different CaCO3 Polymorphs Precipitated under Ambient Conditions
by Angeles Fernandez-Gonzalez, Alba Lozano-Letellier and Begoña Fernandez
Minerals 2021, 11(11), 1238; https://doi.org/10.3390/min11111238 - 08 Nov 2021
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 1730
Abstract
Selenium is an essential bio-element, but because of its bioaccumulation potential, it can become toxic and is an important pollutant. The ubiquitous mineral calcite (CaCO3) has the ability to immobilize anions as SeO32− by different sorption or coprecipitation processes. [...] Read more.
Selenium is an essential bio-element, but because of its bioaccumulation potential, it can become toxic and is an important pollutant. The ubiquitous mineral calcite (CaCO3) has the ability to immobilize anions as SeO32− by different sorption or coprecipitation processes. Experimental studies have found that SeO32− can incorporate in the crystal structure of calcite by substituting CO32−. The presence of foreign ions in aqueous solution strongly affects CaCO3 precipitation, helping stabilize less stable polymorphs such as vaterite and aragonite or hydrated phases. In this work, we studied the aging process of calcium carbonates precipitated from aqueous solutions highly supersaturated with respect to CaCO3 and slightly supersaturated with respect to CaSeO3·H2O under ambient conditions, for times up to 30 days in which solids were kept in the remaining aqueous solution. Under these conditions, CaCO3 precipitated mainly as low crystallinity vaterite aggregates that hosted up to 16% atomic ratio Se:C. Vaterite purified and increased its crystallinity with aging time, but the vaterite–calcite transformation was strongly inhibited. The incorporation of Se(IV) in vaterite did not significantly affect the cell parameters or the external morphology of the aggregates. The precipitation of selenite as CaSeO3·H2O was conditioned by the availability of free Ca2+ and SeO32− that was not previously incorporated into precipitated carbonates. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Trace Metal Distribution and Cycling in Aquatic Environments)
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23 pages, 1565 KiB  
Article
The Long-Term Effect of Industrial Waste Landfill on Surface Water. An Example from Central Poland
by Kinga Wieczorek, Anna Turek, Jakub Kubicki and Wojciech M. Wolf
Minerals 2021, 11(8), 861; https://doi.org/10.3390/min11080861 - 10 Aug 2021
Cited by 6 | Viewed by 2592
Abstract
Water resources are influenced by many anthropogenic pollutants, which may migrate into the environment. The Bzura River is one of the rivers strongly impacted by human activity e.g., waste landfills and former industrial plants. The objective of this study was to assess the [...] Read more.
Water resources are influenced by many anthropogenic pollutants, which may migrate into the environment. The Bzura River is one of the rivers strongly impacted by human activity e.g., waste landfills and former industrial plants. The objective of this study was to assess the spatial-temporal variability of trace metals in river water and sediments and to recognize the main sources of pollution. An investigation was carried out on the 120 km section, during two hydrological years. Concentrations of Ni, Pb, Cd, Cu, Zn, Fe, and Mn were determined by atomic absorption spectrometry (AAS). The basic statistics were supported by principal component analysis (PCA) and cluster analysis (CA). Generally, only part of the results exceeded the WHO, USEPA, and Polish threshold values. However, one hotspot burdened by nickel was found. The spatial trend of Ni indicates long-distance migration. The PCA and CA confirmed that the Ni mainly comes from the old industrial waste landfill. Variability of the remaining metals was affected by more mixed sources. None of the metals showed any consistent temporal pattern. The PCA revealed that the anthropogenic factor explained over 50% of the variability in both years; therefore, intensive monitoring of the water river quality is still required. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Trace Metal Distribution and Cycling in Aquatic Environments)
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Review

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15 pages, 2518 KiB  
Review
The Cr(VI) Stability in Contaminated Coastal Groundwater: Salinity as a Driving Force
by Ioannis-Porfyrios D. Eliopoulos, George D. Eliopoulos and Maria Economou-Eliopoulos
Minerals 2021, 11(2), 160; https://doi.org/10.3390/min11020160 - 03 Feb 2021
Cited by 12 | Viewed by 2496
Abstract
Chromium concentrations in seawater are less than 0.5 μg/L, but the Cr(VI) in contaminated coastal groundwater affected by Cr-bearing rocks/ores and/or human activities, coupled with the intrusion of seawater may reach values of hundreds of μg/L. A potential explanation for the stability of [...] Read more.
Chromium concentrations in seawater are less than 0.5 μg/L, but the Cr(VI) in contaminated coastal groundwater affected by Cr-bearing rocks/ores and/or human activities, coupled with the intrusion of seawater may reach values of hundreds of μg/L. A potential explanation for the stability of the harmful Cr(VI) in contaminated coastal aquifers is still unexplored. The present study is an overview of new and literature data on the composition of coastal groundwater and seawater, aiming to provide potential relationships between Cr(VI) with major components in seawater and explain the elevated Cr(VI) concentrations. It is known that the oxidation of Cr(III) to Cr(VI) and the subsequent back-reduction of Cr(VI) processes, during the transport of the mobilized Cr(VI) in various aquifers, facilitate the natural attenuation process of Cr(VI). Moreover, the presented positive trend between B and Cr(VI) and negative trend between δ53Cr values and B concentration may suggest that seawater components significantly inhibit the Cr(VI) reduction into Cr(III), and provide insights on the role of the borate, [B(OH)4]− ions, a potential buffer, on the stability of Cr(VI) in coastal groundwater. Therefore, efforts are needed toward the prevention and/or minimization of the contamination by Cr(VI) of in coastal aquifers, which are influenced by the intrusion of seawater and are threatened by changes in sea level, due to climate change. The knowledge of the contamination sources, hotspots and monitoring of water salinization processes (geochemical mapping) for every coastal country may contribute to the optimization of agricultural management strategies. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Trace Metal Distribution and Cycling in Aquatic Environments)
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