Metal Toxicity and Tolerance in Plants and Animals

Contents: Preface. 1. Toxic metals in plants. 2. Sources of metals in environment. 3. Toxic metal, biological properties and health hazards. 4. Metal toxicity in plant systems. 5. Metals - bioconcentration, biotransformation and biomonitoring. 6. Removal of toxic metals from environment. 7. Toxic metals in human and animal system and therapeutic overview. Bibliography. Index.

"Many heavy metals are essential for plants and animals when present in growing medium in low concentrations; they become toxic only when a concentration limit is exceeded. The toxic metal phytotoxicity has been known for more than a century. However, the interest in this field has been developed only recently. The capacity of the plants to survive on soils that contain high concentrations of certain toxic metals has fascinated ecologists, and plant physiologists for decades.

This book is very useful to those who are interested in toxic metals and their interaction with plants, particularly students and teachers of plant physiology, eco physiology, molecular biology and environmental science." (jacket)