Biogeochemical behaviour and toxicology of chromium in the soil-water-human nexus: A review
Wael Ibrahim Mortadaa, Ali El‐Naggarb c d, Ahmed Ali Mosae f✉, Kumuduni Niroshika Palansooriyab, Balal Yousafg, Ronggui Tangb, Shengsen Wangh, Yanjiang Caib, Scott X. Changb d i✉
- aUrology and Nephrology Center, Mansoura University, Mansoura, 35516, Egypt
- bState Key Laboratory of Subtropical Silviculture, College of Environmental and Resource Sciences, Zhejiang A&F University, Hangzhou 311300, China
- cDepartment of Soil Sciences, Faculty of Agriculture, Ain Shams University, Cairo, 11241, Egypt
- dDepartment of Renewable Resources, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta, T6G 2H1, Canada
- eSoils Department, Faculty of Agriculture, Mansoura University, Mansoura, 35516, Egypt. Electronic address: ahmedmosa@mans.edu.eg
- fSoils Department, Faculty of Agriculture, Mansoura University, Mansoura, 35516, Egypt
- gDepartment of Technologies and Installations for Waste Management, Faculty of Energy and Environmental Engineering, Silesian University of Technology, Konarskiego 18, 44-100 Gliwice, Poland
- hCollege of Environmental Science and Engineering, Yangzhou University, 196 W Huayang Rd, Yangzhou, Jiangsu, PR China
- iDepartment of Renewable Resources, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta, T6G 2H1, Canada. Electronic address: sxchang@ualberta.ca
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Abstract
Chromium (Cr) affects human health if it accumulates in organs to elevated concentrations. The toxicity risk of Cr in the ecosphere depends upon the dominant Cr species and their bioavailability in the lithosphere, hydrosphere, and biosphere. However, the soil-water-human nexus that controls the biogeochemical behaviour of Cr and its potential toxicity is not fully understood. This paper synthesizes information on different dimensions of Cr ecotoxicological hazards in the soil and water and their subsequent effects on human health. The various routes of environmental exposure of Cr to humans and other organisms are also discussed. Human exposure to Cr(VI) causes both carcinogenic and non-carcinogenic health effects via complicated reactions that include oxidative stress, chromosomal and DNA damage, and mutagenesis. Chromium (VI) inhalation can cause lung cancer; however, incidences of other types of cancer following Cr(VI) exposure are low but probable. The non-carcinogenic health consequences of Cr(VI) exposure are primarily respiratory and cutaneous. Research on the biogeochemical behaviour of Cr and its toxicological hazards on human and other biological routes is therefore urgently needed to develop a holistic approach to understanding the soil-water-human nexus that controls the toxicological hazards of Cr and its detoxification.