| Abstract: | Zinc in the Environment. In 1990 the world production of zinc ammounted to 7 Mio. metric tons. The main areas of application were: galvanization, alloys like brass and zinc metal. The content in the earth crust varies between 10–300 ppm zinc with a mean of 70 ppm. Uncontaminated surface waters contain less than 10 mg/m3 zinc. Apart from civilization air contains 1–10 ng zinc per m3. These background concentrations are exceeded by orders of magnitude in zinc deposit areas and where anthropogenic influences predominate. Accumulation can occur in sediments and sewage sludge. Molluscs and Algae also accumulate zinc. Zinc is essential for live. With normal food the zinc supply of man is just sufficient. Bioaccumulation of zinc towards man or chronic oversupply of man is not known. Zinc has no teratogenic or mutagenic effects, a suspicion on a carcinogenic effect proved wrong. In stockbreeding and plant cultivation a minimum supply of zinc is necessary. Plants are relatively less sensitive against higher soil contents of zinc. Considering the toxicological and ecotoxicological effects of zinc in the environment, the critical organismens are marine invertebratae like tubifex, daphnia, gammarus and algae. But normally only a minor part of the total zinc contest is biologically available, depending on salt content and pH of the waters. |
