Toxic Metals in Water
About metals
Metals can be found in many chemical and physical forms. These so called metals can be particles or simple organic compounds, organic complexes or colloids. The dominating type is determined to a huge extent by the chemical composition of the water called the matrix and in particular the pH.
Metals are elements which can be found in chemical compounds as positive ions and in the form of cat-ions in solution. Metals with a density over 5 kilograms / dm3 are well known as heavy metals.
Heavy metals are placed outside the category of environmental toxins materials which, can harm the natural environment even at low concentration. It is true that human body and many other organisms need trace amounts of metals to survive.
Toxic metals in water
The entire concentration of a specific heavy metal is often a poor measurement of the metal’s level of toxicity. Labile metals, is the sum of free metal ions and metal that can easily disassociate from complexes or colloids. These types of metal species are frequently available for biological systems.
The labile metal form is usually the most toxic metal you can find in water. Aluminum for instance is toxic for the fish in the water.
There are not only toxic metals in water, the natural concentration of metals in fresh water varies dependent upon the metal concentration in the soil and the underlying geological structures, the acidity of the water, its humus content and particulate substance concentration.
Toxic metals in water can be separated into two groups from the point of view of health. There are metals with an unpleasant effect like Iron and metals’ giving a very toxic effect as Lead is. Heavy metals have a predisposition to gather in the human body and can result in chronic damage. One example of a toxic metal in water is cadmium, which can accumulate in the liver and kidneys.