CRC Press Trace Elements in Waterlogged Soils and Sediments: 3 (Emergent Environmental Pollution)

Many wetlands around the world act as sinks for pollutants, in particular for trace elements. In comparison to terrestrial environments, wetlands are still far less studied. A collaborative effort among world experts, this book brings the current knowledge concerning trace elements in temporary waterlogged soils and sediments together. It discusses factors controlling the dynamics and release kinetics of trace elements and their underlying biogeochemical processes. It also discusses current technologies for remediating sites contaminated with trace metals, and the role of bioavailability in risk assessment and regulatory decision making. This book is intended for professionals around the world in disciplines related to contaminant bioavailability in aquatic organisms, contaminant fate and transport, remediation technologies, and risk assessment of aquatic and wetland ecosystems. Review Wetland and other water-logged soils are of special importance in providing particular ecosystem services such as hydrological buffering, organic carbon storage, habitat and biodiversity source. Sediments play a role of similar importance as components of the aquatic environment at the bottom of water bodies. Both have in common that they also act as sinks for recalcitrant chemicals and as such are increasingly loaded with trace elements of anthropogenic origin. Due to the dominance of anaerobic conditions, the fate of trace elements in water-logged soils and sediments is governed by very different processes and mechanisms in these environments as compared to well-aerated soils. Against this backdrop, it is all the more remarkable how little we still know about these processes and the factors driving them. This book thus is very timely. It is also very comprehensive. In eighteen chapters written by experts in the respective fields, it gives the latest findings and insights into physicochemical factors and reactions controlling the speciation and binding of heavy metals and metalloids in water-logged soils and sediments, their bioavailability and the assessment of associated risks for humans and other recipients, and also on established remediation technology. Several chapters have a focus on redox-sensitive metals and metalloids such as arsenic, selenium, chromium and uranium. Some deal with new contaminants such as rare earth elements, others with ‘usual suspects’ such as cadmium and zinc. While various contributions are devoted to more fundamental aspects such as the kinetics of sorption and desorption processes or the mechanisms governing the retention and mobility of nanoparticles in aquatic environments, others provide insight into the role of particular environments such as paddies and other temporary flooded soils for trace element behavior or present specific case studies, e.g. on the fate of subsurface chromium on the Hanford site. In summary, this book About the Author Jörg Rinklebe is a professor for soil and groundwater management at the University of Wuppertal (Germany). From 1997 to 2006, Dr. Rinklebe worked as a scientist and project leader at the department of soil sciences at the UFZ Centre for Environmental Research Leipzig-Halle, Germany. He studied ecology for one year at the University of Edinburgh, United Kingdom (1992–1993). He studied agriculture, specializing in soil science and plant nutrition, at the Martin Luther University of Halle-Wittenberg, Germany, and earned his PhD in soil science at the same university. Currently his research is mainly focused on wetland soils, sediments, waters, plants, and the related pollution (trace elements and nutrients) and biogeochemical issues. He also has a certain expertise in remediation of soils and soil microbiology. Professor Rinklebe is internationally recognized, particularly for his research in the area of the redox-chemistry of trace elements in flooded soils. He has published many scientific papers in international and national journals as well