New Insights into Impacts of Toxic Metals in Aquatic Environments

Elise David,Claudia Cosio

doi:10.3390/environments8010001

Abstract

Chemical contamination of the aquatic environment, as a consequence of anthropogenic activities, remains of major worldwide concern [...]

Highlights

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If extensive literature on metal effects on the environment is available, knowledge acquisition is still required to efficiently face these concerns, considering effects of metals at different levels of organization, from cellular targets to ecosystems. The aims of those further investigations are to develop scientific and operational tools to better monitor the quality of aquatic environment, and assess environmental risk
Metal impacts on aquatic organisms have been documented for years at different levels of biological organization

Summary

Introduction

Publisher’s Note: MDPI stays neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations. Beyond the summary of new insights on toxicity mechanisms of metals, these papers share some new ideas relative to cocktail effects of metal-containing mixtures, toxicity of metals on communities, and effect threshold definitions as tools for environmental risk assessment. This review highlights promising endpoints, that contribute to specifying molecular and cellular toxicity pathways, identifying early and sensitive tools of detection, and anticipating the impact of environmental metal pollution, notably when used in multi-biomarker approaches [1].

Results

Conclusion