ABSTRACT

The presence in the United States of large soil masses contaminated with "heavy metals" poses a serious threat to life and the environment. The mitigation of this hazard nationwide has become a matter of high priority for state and federal regulatory agencies. Besides being toxic to human beings and other living organisms, the heavy metals affect ecological cycles under various redox and chemical environments (1). The most common heavy metals of concern are https://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML"> P b , Z n , C d , C u , H g https://s3-euw1-ap-pe-df-pch-content-public-p.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/9780429080050/6559e41b-64b9-4256-96a3-5980cbb6d757/content/eq3430.tif" xmlns:xlink="https://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"/> , and Ni.