Tungsten: Environmental Pollution and Health Effects

A. D. Koutsospyros, N. Strigul, W. Braida, C. Christodoulatos

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingChapterpeer-review

15 Scopus citations

Abstract

Tungsten, an element of moderate abundance in nature, is used widely by society in a variety of applications. The environmental and toxicological behavior of tungsten and its compounds remain for the most part unknown. Tungsten's chemistry, one of the most varied and complex among the transition elements, is similar to that of molybdenum. To date, tungsten's essentiality is limited to some prokaryotic organisms and thus a biological role for this element in humans is highly unlikely. Trace amounts of tungsten exist in the earth's crust, which is this metal's pool in the ecosphere. Tungsten and its compounds turn up in the other environmental domains from both natural and anthropogenic sources via a variety of transformation and transport mechanisms. Enrichment is observed in various environmental systems; however, its magnitude and extent are difficult to assess due to lack of available data. Tungsten's effects on plants and microorganisms vary widely from adverse to indifferent to beneficial depending on prevailing conditions and genotype. Animal studies to determine possible human health and toxicity effects of tungsten and tungsten compounds are rather limited when compared to other metal substances.

Original languageEnglish
Title of host publicationEncyclopedia of Environmental Health
Pages418-426
Number of pages9
DOIs
StatePublished - 1 Jan 2011

Keywords

  • Environmental chemistry
  • Environmental effects
  • Essentiality
  • Fate and transport
  • Health effects
  • Occurrence
  • Tungsten
  • Tungsten toxicology
  • Tungstoenzymes

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