Environmental Risks of Inorganic Metals and Metalloids: A Continuing, Evolving Scientific Odyssey

Abstract

Ecological risk assessment (ERA) of metals, metalloids, and inorganic metal substances (collectively referred to as metals) no longer focuses solely on persistence and bioaccumulation, but rather on solubility, toxicity, natural occurrence (concentrations above/added to background), essentiality (deficiency as well as excess), speciation, and bioavailability. Tolerance (both acclimation and adaptation) and possible resultant energetic costs are being considered, and realism is being increased in laboratory toxicity tests by the use of organisms pre-acclimated to natural levels of metals. The present status of ERAs for inorganic metals is summarized in terms of four key questions: (1) Do metals accumulate in biota above background levels? (2) Are these metals metabolically active? (3) If so, are they likely to result in adverse effects to individuals either alone or in combination with other stressors? (4) If so, are they likely to result in adverse impacts to populations? The most pragmatically useful future research will be that focused on the interactive risks of both complex chemical mixtures (metals and non-metals) and non-chemical stressors (both biotic and abiotic). Ideally this should occur in the context of continued metal loadings to terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems assessed holistically, including trophic food web relationships, metal transfer, and genetic diversity. Relationships between environmental concentrations and internal, metabolically active doses are the key to understanding and predicting environmental risks without excessive reliance on safety factors.