Arsenic Contamination in the Environment: The Issues and Solutions

225 Pages·2017·4.53 MB·English

by  Dharmendra Kumar Gupta

Dharmendra Kumar Gupta
Soumya Chatterjee Editors
Arsenic
Contamination
in the
Environment
The Issues and Solutions
Arsenic Contamination in the Environment
Dharmendra Kumar Gupta • Soumya Chatterjee
Editors
Arsenic Contamination
in the Environment
The Issues and Solutions
Editors
Dharmendra Kumar Gupta Soumya Chatterjee
Institute for Radioecology and Radiation Defence Research Laboratory
Protection (IRS) Defence Research and Development
University of Hannover Organization (DRDO)
Hannover, Germany Tezpur, Assam, India
ISBN 978-3-319-54354-3 ISBN 978-3-319-54356-7 (eBook)
DOI 10.1007/978-3-319-54356-7
Library of Congress Control Number: 2017933683
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Dedicated to
Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam
(Born: October 15, 1931, Rameswaram, India;
Died: July 27, 2015, Shillong, India)
This book is dedicated to the memory of Dr. Avul Pakir Jainulabdeen
Abdul Kalam (commonly known by the name Dr. A.P.J. Kalam also
the “Missile man”), Bharat Ratna and the 11th President of India
from 2002 to 2007. An esteemed scientist by profession, his highly
inspirational attitude and words motivate all of us.
Foreword
It is a great honor for me to be invited to introduce this timely new multiauthored
monograph on arsenic contamination of the environment, edited by Drs. D.K. Gupta
and S. Chatterjee. There is no doubt that the issue of widespread environmental arse-
nic contamination in the human environment and its movement through ecosystems
has become one of the critical issues of the decade. Indeed, arsenic is considered a
most problematic element for control and remediation. While the impacts of this
toxic metalloid have become global, it is of especial concern in Asia where contami-
nation of potable water sources and staple foodstuffs, notably rice, is extremely seri-
ous. It is therefore timely to review and update the major challenges presented and
possible solutions for environmental arsenic remediation. The 10 chapters presented
in this book discuss the origin and sources and extent of arsenic contamination, its
toxicology and analysis in environmental samples, regulatory issues and their effec-
tiveness, and bio- and phytoremediation possibilities. I congratulate the authors in
bringing together such a comprehensive coverage of this important topic.
Prof. Alan J.M. Baker, DSc
Honorary Professorial Fellow, School of BioSciences,
The University of Melbourne, Australia
Honorary Professor, Centre for Mined Land Rehabilitation, Sustainable Minerals
Institute, The University of Queensland, Australia
Honorary Professor, Department of Animal and Plant Sciences,
The University of Sheffield, UK
Visiting Professor, Laboratoire Sols et Environnement, ENSAIA, UMR 1120
UL – INRA, LABEX Ressources 21, Université de Lorraine, Nancy, France
Visiting Professor, School of Life Sciences, Sun Yat-sen University,
Guangzhou, China
vii
Preface
In the earth’s crust, metalloid arsenic (As) is widely distributed with an average
concentration of 2 mg kg−1. Arsenic has been known as a poison since ages. It is
commonly used in several industries like paints, dyes, metals, soaps, insecticides,
and semi-conductors. Various anthropogenic activities such as mining, burning fos-
sil fuels, paper production, and cement manufacturing lead to the release of As into
the environment. Arsenic may exist in several forms, with As(III) and As(V) being
the most prevalent toxic form of inorganic arsenic, which naturally occurs in the
ground and surface water of many parts of the world including soils. Millions of
people worldwide are exposed directly to this Group A carcinogen through drinking
water and other uses. Even ingestion of low dose of As via food or water is the main
pathway of this particular metalloid into the organism, where absorption takes place
in the stomach and intestines, followed by release into the bloodstream. At chronic
poisoning, As is converted by the liver to a less toxic form; however, the poisoning
is also associated with a range of cancers in different organs prevalently in bladder,
skin, and lung, with the highest relative risks found for cancer in the bladder. Arsenic
toxicity depends on the chemical species [As(III) > As (V)] > organic species.
Generally As contamination affects plant growth and crop yield and its accumula-
tion in food may severely affect animals as well as humans. Arsenate, chemically
analogous to phosphate, is taken up by plants mainly through root phosphate absorp-
tion systems. Once it enters inside the plant cell, As(V) interferes with essential cel-
lular processes, such as oxidative phosphorylation and ATP synthesis in mitochondria
by replacing phosphate moiety, while the toxicity of As(III) is due to its propensity
to bind to sulfhydryl groups, with subsequent damaging effects on general protein
functioning. Only a few plants are well known for which they may suppress phos-
phate transport systems and there are even few candidates, where As methylation and
volatilization would occur to a significant level. The efflux of As is also recently
discovered and it is still ambiguous to what extent it is prevalent among plants.
However, the synthesis of metalloid (As) binding peptides like glutathione (GSH)
and phytochelatins (PCs) is observed in almost all plants studied to date and leads to
instant detoxification (in terms of loss of reactivity in chelated form) of a specific
ion. Complexation of arsenite [As(III)] with phytochelatins (PCs) is an important
ix
x Preface
mechanism employed by plants to detoxify arsenic; how this complexation affects
As mobility is yet to be fully understood. In plant tissue, solubility of As increased
through chelation with cyclohexylenedinitrotetraacetic acid, nitrilotriacetic acid, or
As-sulfur complexes and thus facilitates mobilization.
Natural biodegradation/bioremediation processes can clean up wide-ranging
environmental contaminants. Organisms like bacteria and fungi or plants have the
capability to degrade or detoxify hazardous environmental pollutants into less toxic
forms. Understanding the mechanisms of As homeostasis may enable the selective
breeding of more tolerant varieties or varieties with increased concentrations of
essential minerals or decreased concentrations of As in the edible parts of the crops.
Moreover, such knowledge could be used for developing plants for the purpose of
phytoremediation.
The main purpose of the book is to provide detailed and comprehensive knowl-
edge to the academicians, scientists, and students (undergraduate, graduate, and
master) who are working in the field of arsenic contamination, sources, and their
impact on environment. This book will encompass a range of topics like historical
perspectives to recent advancement in the field of arsenic contamination and associ-
ated theories, effects of As on human health, available and prospective biological
and physico-chemical options for combating arsenic contamination issue.
Dr. Dharmendra K. Gupta and Dr. Soumya Chatterjee personally convey their
sincere thanks to Springer publisher as well as contributing authors for their valu-
able time and enthusiasm to write their perspective chapters on this very important
issue to bring this book into the present shape.
Hannover, Germany Dharmendra Kumar Gupta
Tezpur, Assam, India Soumya Chatterjee
Contents
Arsenic Contamination from Historical Aspects to the Present . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
Dharmendra K. Gupta, Sarita Tiwari, B.H.N. Razafindrabe,
and Soumya Chatterjee
Arsenic: Source, Occurrence, Cycle, and Detection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
Soumya Chatterjee, Roxana Moogoui, and Dharmendra K. Gupta
Studies on Arsenic and Human Health . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37
Soumya Chatterjee, Sibnarayan Datta, and Dharmendra K. Gupta
Epigenetics in Arsenic Toxicity: Mechanistic Response,
Alterations, and Regulations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67
Dibyendu Talukdar
Prospects of Combating Arsenic: Physico-chemical Aspects . . . . . . . . . . . . 103
Soumya Chatterjee, Mridul Chetia, Anna Voronina, and Dharmendra K. Gupta
Arsenic and Its Effect on Major Crop Plants: Stationary Awareness
to Paradigm with Special Reference to Rice Crop . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 123
Soumya Chatterjee, Sonika Sharma, and Dharmendra K. Gupta
Uptake, Transport, and Remediation of Arsenic by Algae
and Higher Plants . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 145
Anindita Mitra, Soumya Chatterjee, and Dharmendra K. Gupta
Genomics and Genetic Engineering in Phytoremediation of Arsenic . . . . . 171
Sarma Rajeev Kumar, Gowtham Iyappan, Hema Jagadeesan,
and Sathishkumar Ramalingam
Potential of Plant Tissue Culture Research Contributing
to Combating Arsenic Pollution . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 187
David W.M. Leung
xi
xii Contents
Potential Role of Microbes in Bioremediation of Arsenic . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 195
Anindita Mitra, Soumya Chatterjee, and Dharmendra K. Gupta
Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 215