Biomethylation of Arsenic in Contaminated Soils - Environmental Contamination: Health Risks and Ecological Restoration - page 254

process. is. continuous.. This. is. especially. true. when. environmental. factors.
affecting.biomethylation.have.been.optimized.
Moreover,. due. to. the. slow. rate. of. arsine. evolution,. it. is. unlikely. for. the.
released.biomethylated.arsenical.gases.to.cause.health.issues..To.date.there.
is. not. any. evidence. that. volatile. As. formed. by. biomethylation. would. lead.
to.any.environmental.risk.(Edvantoro.et.al..2004)..Some.argue.the.inal.As.
methylation. products. could. be. more. toxic. to. human. and. animals. because.
they.can.cause.stronger.DNA.damages.than.inorganic.As.forms.(Dopp.et.al..
2004)..However,.the.concentration.of.methylated.arsenics.released.to.atmo-
sphere.would.be.much.lower.than.the.concentration.that.could.lead.to.DNA.
damages.
In. short,. As. biomethylation. has. potential. as. an. inexpensive. and. feasible.
method.for.bioremediation.of.As-contaminated.soils..However,.recent.stud-
ies. on. As. biomethylation. are. limited. to. laboratory. studies. and. most. are.
using. artiicially. contaminated. soils. rather. than. soils. from. polluted. sites..
Furthermore,. most. researchers. evaluated. this. process. with. soil. enriched.
with.As.as.the.sole.contaminant.(Edvantoro.et.al..2004)..Thus,.such.results.
may. fail. to. represent. the. real. situation. of. As. biomethylation. in. soils. that.
are. typically. contaminated. with. multiple. inorganic. and/or. organic. chemi-
cal. contaminants.. Many. studies. do. not. quantify. the. potential. of. biometh-
ylation. to. remove. As. from. polluted. soil.. Basic. and. applied. research. is.
needed.to.develop.biomethylation.as.a.viable.bioremediation.technology.for.
As-contaminated.soils.
References
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