Toxicity of Other Elements

Abstract

The characteristic features of several elements will be reviewed in this chapter. Each of these elements has its own unique properties, the differences among them being much greater than those found among the heavy metals treated in the previous chapter. The elements to be discussed are selenium, arsenic, beryllium, aluminum, vanadium, chromium, manganese, and nickel. These are some of the more important toxic elements, and represent, altogether, wide enough a variety to allow us to delineate some general principles of the toxic effects of elements and the biological defense mechanisms against them. For a comprehensive review of the toxicities of all these and other elements, the reader is referred to several monographs and reviews (Frieden, 1985a; Luckey and Venugopal, 1977; Goyer and Mehlman, 1977; Friberg et al., 1979).