Merian's Elements and Their Compounds in the Environment

Jörg Matschullat holds the chair of Geochemistry and Geoecology at the Technical University Freiberg (Germany), where he also heads the Interdisciplinary Environmental Research Centre. Having obtained his academic degrees from the universities of Tübingen and Göttingen, he pursued his academic career at the universities of Clausthal and Heidelberg before moving to Freiberg in 1999. Since 1998, he is also a frequent guest lecturer at the universities of Campinas and Belo Horizonte (Brazil). Jack Ng leads the Risk Assessment and Intervention group at the Australian National Research Centre for Environmental Toxicology (Entox) at the University of Queensland (Australia). Having started his scientific career as an industrial chemist at the Carlton & United Breweries, he joined the University of Queensland in 1977 and commenced his research career in the Toxicology Laboratory within the Veterinary School. In 1992, Jack moved to his current position of Professorial Research Fellow at Entox. Jerome Nriagu is Emeritus Professor of Environmental Health Sciences and Research Professor at the Center for Human Growth and Development at the University of Michigan's School of Public Health, Ann Arbor (USA). Before joining the university in 1993, he was a research scientist with Environment Canada, Burlington, Ontario. Professor Nriagu was the longtime Editor-in-chief of the journal Science of the Total Environment, and has edited several major encyclopedias and book series, including the Encyclopedia of Environmental Health (published in 2011). His scientific awards include the Senior Fulbright Fellowship and the Distinguished Alexander von Humboldt Research Prize.

VOLUME 1: ELEMENT OCCURRENCE, DISTRIBUTION AND BEHAVIOUR IN THE ENVIRONMENT

The periodic system of the elements

Elements in the universe, the solar system and on planet Earth

Elements and minerals

Natural element cycles

Chemical compounds in the atmosphere

Chemical composition and dynamics of the pedosphere

Elements and elemental compounds in the hydrosphere

Elements and compounds in marine and terrestrial sediments

Macro, trace and ultra-trace elements in the biosphere and in the food chain

Environmental pollution and the anthroposphere

Elements and compounds in materials and waste

Elements and compounds at abandoned industrial sites

Elements and their compounds in indoor environments

Toxicity of elements

Essentiality, tolerance and toxicity of metals and metal compounds

Metallothionein and metal transporters

Metal implants

Influence of metals on DNA

Cellular mechanisms for balancing biological activity

Metal toxicity from electronics waste

Bioanalytical evaluation of metal and metalloid toxicity

Bioavailability and bioaccessibility of metals and mixed metals

Medical intervention, treatment of metal poisoning; acute and chronic toxicity

Risk assessment and guideline values

Use of elements for medical treatment and diagnosis

Remediation strategies



VOLUME 2: THE ELEMENTS IN DETAIL

Each element, from Hydrogen (1) to Lawrencium (103) is covered in alphabetical order, providing information on the following element-specific properties:

- Physical properties, incl. isotopes

- Chemical properties

- Important minerals, mining, production, uses, import/export

- Emissions/releases into the environment (natural and anthropogenic: uses, waste products)

- Distribution in the different environmental compartments (concentration ranges, enrichment, depletion in lithosphere, pedosphere, hydrosphere, biosphere with concentration in both biota and food, atmosphere)

- Potential for environmental exposure, primary routes of exposure, incl. occupational exposure

- Health effects and toxicological data for selected species (uptake, absorption and elimination in plants, mammals, fishes and humans, and effects on biota

- Relevance to public health (body burden, summary of health effects from epidemiological studies; reference dose/tolerable intake limits; deficiency and essentiality; most vulnerable populations; most vulnerable populations

- Extreme examples of pollution in the environment

- Regulations and advisories (Guidelines and limiting concentrations of air, water, soil and food)

- Analytical methods and challenges

- Economic aspects