Discharges of metal oxide nanoparticles into aquatic environments are increasing with their use in society, thereby increasing exposure risk for aquatic organisms. Separating the impacts of nanoparticle from dissolved metal pollution is critical for assessing the environmental risks of the rapidly growing nanomaterial industry, especially in terms of ecosystem effects. Metal oxides negatively a...

From flora of North West of Iran, four contrasting species in term of frequency and coverage on heavy metal rich soils were selected to study physiological mechanisms for different tolerance of Zn and Cu toxicity in a hydroponic culture experiment. For study of Zn toxicity, Dactylis glomerata and Secale monatum and for Cu, Cichorium intybus and Astragalus echinops were selected. A clear differe...

Metal binding to fish gills forms the basis of the biotic ligand model (BLM) approach, which has emerged as a useful tool for conducting site-specific water quality assessments for metals. The current BLMs are designed to assess the toxicity of individual metals, and cannot account for the interactive effects of metal mixtures to aquatic organisms including fish. The present study was designed ...

Plant growth, pigment concentration, biochemical parameters and uptake of heavy metals were determined for Brassica juncea L. in response to cadmium and lead stress. The plant exhibited a decline in growth, chlorophyll content and carotenoids with Cd and Pb but Cd was found to be more detrimental than Pb treatment in B. juncea. The protein content was decreased by Cd (900 μM) to 95% and 44% by ...

The toxicity of soluble metal compounds is often different from that of the parent metal. Since no reliable data on acute toxicity, local effects, and mutagenicity of beryllium metal have ever been generated, beryllium metal powder was tested according to the respective Organisation for Economical Co-Operation and Development (OECD) guidelines. Acute oral toxicity of beryllium metal was investi...

Among metal pollutants silver ions are one of the most toxic forms, and have thus been assigned to the highest toxicity class. Its toxicity to a wide range of microorganisms combined with its low toxicity to humans lead to the development of a wealth of silver-based products in many bactericidal applications accounting to more than 1000 nano-technology-based consumer products. Accordingly, silv...

Cadmium is a transition metal ion that is highly toxic in biological systems. Although relatively rare in the Earth's crust, anthropogenic release of cadmium since industrialization has increased biogeochemical cycling and the abundance of the ion in the biosphere. Despite this, the molecular basis of its toxicity remains unclear. Here we combine metal-accumulation assays, high-resolution struc...

2.1 Metal Toxicity ..................................................................................................................... 14 2.1.1 Selected Heavy Metals ............................................................................................ 14 2.1.1.1 Lead ......................................................................................................... 14 2.1.1.2 Cad...

ticular concern are “heavy metals,” which occur naturally in the earth’s crust and are defined in physiochemical terms as metals with a density at least 5 times as great as water. This definition translates into an approximate heavy-metal minimum density of 5, and—in addition to cadmium, lead, and mercury—the metals zinc, copper, iron, cobalt, nickel, tin, manganese, and molybdenum also qualify...

Metal toxicity is a major stress affecting crop production. This includes metals that are essential for plants (copper, iron, zinc, manganese), and non-essential metals (cadmium, aluminum, cobalt, mercury). A primary common effect of high concentrations of metal such as aluminum, copper, cadmium, or mercury is root growth inhibition. Metal toxicity triggers the accumulation of reactive oxygen s...