For this study, 34 water samples were collected along the Wei River and its tributaries. Multivariate statistical analyses were employed to interpret the environmental data and to identify the natural and anthropogenic trace metal inputs to the surface waters of the river. Our results revealed that Zn, Se, B, Ba, Fe, Mn, Mo, Ni and V were all detected in the Wei River. Compared to drinking wate...

Introduction: Earth's outer core is substantially less dense that pure Fe-Ni, requiring ~3-9% of the core to be composed of a "light" element or elements [1]. Taking into account their cosmochemical availability, the elements H, C, O, Si, and S have been proposed as significant light elements in Earth's core [2]. The iden-tity(ies) of the light element(s) in Earth's core have implications for u...

A study performed over 12 months with caged mussels Mytilus galloprovincialis in the coastal marine zone, which is under urban pressure, reveals a temporal variation of digestive gland mass, which causes "biological dilution" of cytosolic metallothionein (MT) and trace metal (Cd, Cu, Zn, Fe, Mn) concentrations. The dilution effect was corrected by expressing the cytosolic MT and metal concentra...

Trace metal (Fe, Co, Ni, Cu, Zn, Cd, and Pb) concentrations in zooplankton from the mixed layer were investigated at 8 coastal and 20 offshore stations in the western Bay of Bengal during the summer monsoon of 2003. The ecotoxicological importance of trace metal uptake was apparent within the Bay of Bengal zooplankton. There was a distinct spatial heterogeneity of metals, with highest concentra...

Elevated levels of trace metal(loid)s reduce plant growth, both in soils contaminated by industrial activities and in acid agricultural soils. Although the adverse effects of trace metal(loid)s have long been recognized, there remains much unknown both about their behavior in soils, their toxicity to plants, and the mechanisms that plants use to tolerate elevated concentrations. Synchrotron-bas...

The rapid economic development in the Pearl River Delta (PRD) region in South China in the last three decades has had a significant impact on the local environment. Estuarine sediment is a major sink for contaminants and nutrients in the surrounding ecosystem. The accumulation of trace metals in sediments may cause serious environmental problems in the aquatic system. Thirty sediment cores were...

The effect of the absence of trace elements on the conversion of a mixture of volatile fatty acids by a distillery anaerobic granular sludge was investigated. Two UASB reactors were operated under identical operational conditions except for the influent trace metal concentrations, during 140 days. Experiments were carried out in three periods, where different organic loading rates (OLR) were ap...