Pedosphere 29(6): 681--720, 2019
ISSN 1002-0160/CN 32-1315/P
©2019 Soil Science Society of China
Published by Elsevier B.V. and Science Press
| Bioavailability of Arsenic and Antimony in Terrestrial Ecosystems: A Review |
Saeed BAGHERIFAM1 , Trevor C. BROWN1, Christopher M. FELLOWS1, Ravi NAIDU2 |
1Chemistry-School of Science and Technology, University of New England, Armidale NSW 2351(Australia)
2Global Centre for Environmental Remediation, Faculty of Science and Information Technology, University of Newcastle, University Drive, Callaghan NSW 2308(Australia) |
| Corresponding Author:Saeed BAGHERIFAM |
| ABSTRACT |
| Arsenic (As) and antimony (Sb) are metalloids that belong to group 15 of the periodic table and exhibit toxic properties in the environment. They mostly occur naturally at low concentrations in soil, although these can be significantly elevated in both aquatic and terrestrial food chains as a result of dispersion from anthropogenic sources, e.g., mining activities. The bioavailability, i.e., the proportion of the contaminant in soil and dust that is available for uptake by plants and other living organisms, presents the greatest risk to terrestrial ecosystems. Various in vivo and in vitro methods have been used to measure As and Sb bioaccessibility in soil and dust. In vivo measurement of bioavailability can be time consuming, expensive, and unethical; thus, in vitro methods are commonly preferred. However, there is considerable uncertainty around the efficacy of in vitro tools used to measure the bioavailable fractions of As and Sb. The results of these methods are dependent on many variables, e.g., soil characteristics, contaminant sources, and chemical composition of in vitro methods. Therefore, substantial variations are observed between in vitro and in vivo results obtained from different test animals and endpoints. In this paper, we review the literature on As and Sb bioavailability in terrestrial ecosystems and current in vivo and in vitro techniques used for assessing bioavailability and bioaccessibility of metalloids. This would reveal research gaps and allow scientists and environmental policy makers to gain a deeper understanding of the potential risks associated with these metalloids in the environment. |
| Key Words: bioaccessibility,bioavailable fraction,contamination,environmental risk assessment,metalloids,phytoavailability,relative bioavailability,soil characteristics,toxicant |
| Citation: Bagherifam S, Brown T C, Fellows C M, Naidu R. 2019. Bioavailability of arsenic and antimony in terrestrial ecosystems:A review. Pedosphere. 29(6):681-720. |
|
View Full Text
|
|
|
|
