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Biological Aspects of Trace Element Speciation in the Aquatic Environment

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Trace Element Speciation in Surface Waters and Its Ecological Implications

Part of the book series: NATO Conference Series ((E,volume 6))

Abstract

That different forms of a chemical element are likely to exert different biological effects in the natural environment would appear somewhat of a truism. Considering, however, that heavy metals are well established as environmental pollutants (Förstner and Wittmann, 1979), it is surprising that relatively little attention has been paid to the question of metal speciation in relation to biological effects. Recent reviews of metal pollution in the aquatic environment (Bryan, 1976; Prosi, 1979) have touched upon metal speciation as related to toxicity, but the aquatic toxicological literature by and large ignores it. An exception must be made for phytoplankton research, where worthwhile efforts have been made to properly define culture media (Morel et al., 1979) and to apply chemical speciation models to observations on phytoplankton growth (Jackson and Morgan, 1978). Otherwise, it would appear, few publications specifically address the above question in a more than rudimentary way. This is not meant to imply criti cism of scientists working on heavy metals; it is merely an appraisal of the current situation.

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  1. Maarten Smies

    Present address: Group Toxicology Division, Shell Internationale Research Maatschappij BV, PO Box 162, 2501 AN, Den Haag, The Netherlands

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  1. Delta Institute for Hydrobiological Research, Vierstraat 28, 4401 EA, Yerseke, The Netherlands

    Maarten Smies

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  1. National Water Research Institute, Burlington, Ontario, Canada

    Gary G. Leppard

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© 1983 Plenum Press, New York

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Smies, M. (1983). Biological Aspects of Trace Element Speciation in the Aquatic Environment. In: Leppard, G.G. (eds) Trace Element Speciation in Surface Waters and Its Ecological Implications. NATO Conference Series, vol 6. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4684-8234-8_11

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4684-8234-8_11

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