Heavy Metals Pollution: An Everlasting Problem

The “heavy metal in the environment” collocation refers to any metallic chemical element and some metalloids (e.g. arsenic) that are toxic or poisonous for living organisms even at low concentration, e.g. Pb, Cd, Hg, As, Tl, Cr. They originate in the Earth’s crust as well as in the majority of wastes resulting from anthropogenic activities. Toxic effects of other heavy metals (Cr, Mo, Ni, As, Se etc.) have to be considered separately from the effects of biologic doses in which they exert their vital role.