Department of Life Sciences, Imperial College London, South Kensington, London SW7 2AZ, United Kingdom; School of Environmental Studies, Jadavpur University, Kolkata 700032, India.
Centre for Environmental Science & Engineering, Department of Civil Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur, Kanpur 208016, India.
Sci Total Environ. 2024 Nov 15;951:175531. doi: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2024.175531. Epub 2024 Aug 13.
Toxic metal(loid)s, e.g., mercury, arsenic, lead, and cadmium are known for several environmental disturbances creating toxicity to humans if accumulated in high quantities. Although not discussed critically, the organo-forms of these inorganic metal(loid)s are considered a greater risk to humans than their elemental forms possibly due to physico-chemical modulation triggering redox alterations or by the involvement of biological metabolism. This extensive review describes the chemical and physical causes of organometals and organometal(loid)s distribution in the environment with ecotoxicity assessment and potential remediation strategies. Organo forms of various metal(loid)s, such as mercury (Hg), arsenic (As), lead (Pb), tin (Sn), antimony (Sb), selenium (Se), and cadmium (Cd) have been discussed in the context of their ecotoxicity. In addition, we elaborated on the transformation, speciation and transformation pathways of these toxic metal(loid)s in soil-water-plant-microbial systems. The present review has pointed out the status of toxic organometal(loid)s, which is required to make the scientific community aware of this pressing condition of organometal(loid)s distribution in the environment. The gradual disposal and piling of organometal(loid)s in the environment demand a thorough revision of the past-present status with possible remediation strategies prescribed as reflected in this review.
有毒金属（类），如汞、砷、铅和镉，由于在环境中数量较高时会对人类造成毒性，因此已知会引起多种环境干扰。尽管没有进行批判性讨论，但这些无机金属（类）的有机形式被认为比其元素形式对人类的风险更大，这可能是由于物理化学调节引发氧化还原变化，或者由于生物代谢的参与。本综述详细描述了有机金属和有机金属（类）在环境中的化学和物理成因及其生态毒性评估和潜在修复策略。本文讨论了各种金属（类）的有机形式，如汞（Hg）、砷（As）、铅（Pb）、锡（Sn）、锑（Sb）、硒（Se）和镉（Cd），以及它们的生态毒性。此外，我们详细阐述了这些有毒金属（类）在土壤-水-植物-微生物系统中的转化、形态和转化途径。本综述指出了有毒有机金属（类）的现状，这需要使科学界意识到环境中有机金属（类）分布的这种紧迫状况。有机金属（类）在环境中的逐渐处置和堆积要求对过去和现在的状况进行彻底审查，并根据本综述中提出的可能修复策略进行规定。
