Chemical Speciation and Bioavailability of Trace Metals

Apte, S.C. and Batley, G.E. (1995) Trace metal speciation of labile chemical species in natural waters and sediments non-electrochemical approaches. In Metal Speciation and Bioavailability in Aquatic Systems (eds Tessier, A. and Turner, D.R.). John Wiley and Sons, Chichester, pp. 259-306. 

As a recognition of the importance of biophysico-chemical processes of metals and metalloids in soil environments, we initiated the first volume of the lUPAC—Wiley book series Biophysico-Chemical Processes in Environmental Systems. This volume, which consists of 15 chapters, is organized into three parts Fundamentals of Biotic and Abiotic Interactions of Trace Metals and Metalloids with Soil Components Transformations and Dynamics of Metals and Metalloids as Influenced by Soil—Root—Microbe Interactions and Speciation, Mobility, and Bioavailability of Metals and Metalloids and Restoration of Contaminated Soils. 

Development of chemical speciation schemes which can be directly related to measures of bioavailability - This would allow the determination of which active trace element species merit the most intensive research from the standpoint of environmental perturbation. Some studies have attempted to correlate metal fractions determined by a particular technique (operationally defined speciation) with those that are bioavailable (functionally defined speciation) (Larsen and Svensmark, 1991 Buckley, 1994 Deaver and Rodgers, 1996). However, any correlation is only empirical and more research is required to achieve an understanding of the mechanisms involved in bioavailability and to develop rational predictive models. 

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