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Biogeochemistry of Metals/Metalloids in Water-Soil-Plant System

A special issue of International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health (ISSN 1660-4601). This special issue belongs to the section "Environmental Science and Engineering".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (30 June 2023) | Viewed by 2473

Special Issue Editors


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Guest Editor
Department of Geosciences & GEOBIOTEC Research Unit, Campus Universitário de Santiago, University of Aveiro, 3810-193 Aveiro, Portugal
Interests: environmental geochemistry; potential toxic elements; mining environmnetal impacts; acid mine water; biogeochemistry; mineralogy
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Guest Editor
CIIMAR-UP & Department of Biology, Faculty of Sciences, University of Porto, Rua do Campo Alegre, s/n, 4169-007 Porto, Portugal
Interests: risk assessment; soil pollution; bioavailability; fate of pollutants; pollution monitoring
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Geosciences, Campus Universitário de Santiago, University of Aveiro, 3810-193 Aveiro, Portugal
Interests: soil quality indicators; selective chemical extraction; bioaccessibility
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Soil is a very complex system, providing a high number of functions and ecosystem services. One of the main functions recognized by the soils is the support (physical and nutritional) for plant growth. These soil-plant synergy has a crucial role in food availability, but also in oxygen release and sequestration of CO2, with direct consequences for climate change control. The contamination (natural or geogenic) of soil by metal(loid)s can create adverse/toxicity conditions, which will compromise plant development, negatively affect soil microbiome, and lastly cause diseases to humans and animals either by direct contact with the polluted soils or by ingestion of plants that bioaccumulate high concentrations of these potentially toxic elements. These issues are currently of great importance in a rapidly growing population, where the needs for natural resources and food (in quantity and quality) are increasing and confronted with a sharp loss of territory caused by soil degradation.

Therefore, this Special Issue of IJERPH intends to promote a broad discussion on the scope of the biogeochemical behavior of metal(loid)s in the soil-plant system. Papers devoted to contamination of soils and plants in different contexts (e.g., agricultural, industrial, and mining areas), ecotoxicological studies, plant bioaccumulation and phytoremediation, bioaccessibility, and human health impacts all related to metals and/or metalloids are welcome.

Dr. Nuno Durães
Dr. Anabela Cachada
Dr. Carla Patinha
Guest Editors

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Keywords

  • soils
  • plants
  • metal(loid)s
  • biogeochemistry
  • contamination
  • bio/geoavailability
  • soil remediation
  • phytoremediation
  • ecotoxicology
  • bioaccessibility

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Published Papers (1 paper)

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Research

16 pages, 2086 KiB  
Article
Selenium Species and Fractions in the Rock–Soil–Plant Interface of Maize (Zea mays L.) Grown in a Natural Ultra-Rich Se Environment
by Diego Armando Pinzon-Nuñez, Oliver Wiche, Zhengyu Bao, Shuyun Xie, Bolun Fan, Wenkai Zhang, Molan Tang and Huan Tian
Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2023, 20(5), 4032; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph20054032 - 24 Feb 2023
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 2057
Abstract
Selenium (Se) enrichments or deficiency in maize (Zea mays L.), one of the world’s most important staple foods and livestock feeds, can significantly affect many people’s diets, as Se is essential though harmful in excess. In particular, Se-rich maize seems to have [...] Read more.
Selenium (Se) enrichments or deficiency in maize (Zea mays L.), one of the world’s most important staple foods and livestock feeds, can significantly affect many people’s diets, as Se is essential though harmful in excess. In particular, Se-rich maize seems to have been one of the factors that led to an outbreak of selenosis in the 1980s in Naore Valley in Ziyang County, China. Thus, this region’s geological and pedological enrichment offers some insight into the behavior of Se in naturally Se-rich crops. This study examined total Se and Se species in the grains, leaves, stalks, and roots of 11 maize plant samples, Se fractions of soils around the rhizosphere, and representative parent rock materials from Naore Valley. The results showed that total Se concentrations in the collected samples were observed in descending order of soil > leaf > root > grain > stalk. The predominant Se species detected in maize plants was SeMet. Inorganic Se forms, mainly Se(VI), decreased from root to grain, and were possibly assimilated into organic forms. Se(IV) was barely present. The natural increases of Se concentration in soils mainly affected leaf and root dry-weight biomasses of maize. In addition, Se distribution in soils markedly correlated with the weathered Se-rich bedrocks. The analyzed soils had lower Se bioavailability than rocks, with Se accumulated predominantly as recalcitrant residual Se. Thus, the maize plants grown in these natural Se-rich soils may uptake Se mainly from the oxidation and leaching of the remaining organic-sulfide-bound Se fractions. A viewpoint shift from natural Se-rich soils as menaces to possibilities for growing Se-rich agricultural products is also discussed in this study. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Biogeochemistry of Metals/Metalloids in Water-Soil-Plant System)
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