Chemical Speciation of Trace Elements in Environmental and
Biological Systems
Chemical speciation studies are essential to an understanding of toxicity and
bioavailability of the element in the environment. Although total element
concentration has been traditionally used to assess environmental impact and
health risk of the element, it is now established that no meaningful
interpretation can be made without speciation information. Each chemical form of
an element has a different toxicity. For example, the toxicity of arsenic to
animals varies from the more toxic arsenite, to the moderately toxic methylated
arsenicals, to the essentially non-toxic arsenobetaine. We are interested in
chemical speciation studies of metalloids (such as arsenic, antimony, and
selenium) and heavy metals (such as mercury, lead, and cadmium) in the
environment and biological systems, in view of their important impact on the
environment and potential health risk.
