Atmospheric and marine trace chemistry: interfacial biomediation and monitoring

Abstract

Valid monitoring and assessment of metals and metalloids active in our planetary environment, by analytical methods which use ultratrace (< μg l −1) molecular speciation of illustrative organometallic substances, is now well established. During the past 20 years, such measurements have placed into realistic context the interplay between geochemical sources and man's technological effluents, in terms of the frequent rate-deterring and extensive biogeoorganometallic chemistry, which dictates heavy element transport and speciation, especially at bioactive surface microlayers where there is heightened bioprocessing of both depositional and emissive fluxes of metals and metalloids. This paper is an overview of the current state-of-art of air-sea measurement capability for monitoring such biogenic organometal (loid)s, in the context of independently established predictive mimetic aqueous chemistry of metals and metalloids, with implications for marine biotechnology and environmental management.