Metals/metalloids overview

An overview of the distribution, bioavailability, biomagnification, fate and sources of chemical pollutants such as metals, metalloids, and radionuclides in different compartments (sediments, biota, suspended matter, water) for the whole Baltic Sea ecosystem was given by Szefer (2002). 

This section provides an overview on standards, guidelines and limits relevant in the general and working environment. The listed terms and organizations should be contacted for further information regarding metals, metalloids, and metal compounds. 

The metal and metalloid-containing macromolecules that are covered in this series will be essential materials for the twenty-first century. The first volume is an overview of the discovery and development of these substances. Succeeding volumes will focus on thematic reviews of areas included within the scope of metallic and metalloid-containing macromolecules. 

PHYSICOCHEMICAL-BIOLOGICAL INTERACTIONS ON METAL AND METALLOID TRANSFORMATIONS IN SOILS AN OVERVIEW... 

Therefore, the role of physicochemical-biological interfacial interactions in controlling the transformation, transport, fate, and toxicity of metals and metalloids in soil and surrounding environments, especially the rhizosphere, which is the bottleneck of contamination of the terrestrial food chain, deserves increasing attention. In this chapter we present an overview of this emerging and extremely important area of science, to advance our knowledge of the interface between physicochemical and biological reactions and processes in the environment. 

The term refractory refers to materials that are resistant to the effects of heat. Refractory oxides, therefore, are ceramic materials that can be used at elevated temperatures. These nondescript restrictions allow nearly any oxide to be classified as refractory. For this article, refractory oxides will refer, somewhat arbitrarily, to common crystalline compounds with melting temperatures of at least 1,800°C. These compounds can contain one or more metal or metalloid cations bonded to oxygen. As an introduction to the topic, this section provides a brief historic overview of materials commonly used in the refractories industry, including some lower melting temperature materials. The section also reviews some current trends in the industries that produce and use refractory oxides. The other sections of this chapter focus on phase-pure oxide ceramics that can be used at elevated temperatures. 

The first two elements of Group 5A(15), gaseous noiunetallic nitrogen (N) and solid nonmetallic phosphorus (P), play major roles in both nature and industry. Below these nonmetals are two metalloids, arsenic (As) and antimony (Sb), followed by the metal bismuth (Bi), and the recently synthesized element 115. The Group 5A(15) Family Portrait on the next page provides an overview. 

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