October 14, 2008
Exponent Principal Scientist and Practice Director Dr. Charlie Menzie recently published an article entitled, “The importance of understanding the chemical form of a metal in the environment: The case of barium sulfate (barite),” in Human and Ecological Risk Assessment: An International Journal.
Environmental assessments of metals are often simplified by referring to metals in terms of their elemental names without further consideration of specific metal compounds. Such simplifications can obscure important information on the fate and effects of the particular metal compounds. This paper illustrates this by comparing the solubility and toxicity of barite to the soluble barium salts. For ecologically relevant exposure pathways, the toxicity of barium compounds is largely controlled by their solubility. In contrast to soluble barium salts,, barite is sparingly soluble and practically nontoxic to invertebrates, plants, or wildlife. The value of considering the specific metal compounds present in exposure media applies to other metals and indicates a need to go beyond simplified characterizations of metals expressed solely in terms of their elemental names.
Menzie CA, Southworth B, Stephenson G, Feisthauer N. The importance of understanding the chemical form of a metal in the environment: The case of barium sulfate (barite). Hum Ecol Risk Asses 2008; 14:5:974–991.
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