ABSTRACT
The heterogeneous nature of soils, in terms of having a discontinuous water phase and limited nutrient exchange, makes it difficult to predict or manage transformations of organometallic compounds in soil. This chapter explains some developments in different areas, and examines the role of microorganisms in soils in relation to more extensive work carried out with sediments and aquatic environments. Most studies of transformations of organometals in soil have had a limited range of objectives: to monitor the products that result from additions of inorganic metals and organometallic compounds under varied conditions or to evaluate genetic and community-level responses. Organometal transformations that occur under both aerobic and anaerobic conditions must be considered when studying a soil that is nominally aerobic. Most studies of the release of inorganic and organoselenium compounds from soils have been concerned with management of selenium in agricultural soils and reservoir sediments.
