Ecological and Health Risks of Vanadium in the Biogeosphere

Vanadium (V) is ubiquitously distributed in environmental media, imposing toxic hazards to organisms in biogeosphere. This review focuses on a comprehensive summary of the ecological and human health risks ascribed to V pollution, based on existing V toxicity relevant publications. Lower doses of V (< 2 mg/L) is beneficial to plant growth, however, V reduces plant biomass, induces toxic effects on plant morphology and adversely affects the absorption of essential plant elements at higher levels (≥ 2 mg/L). Oxidative stress induced by reactive oxygen species (ROS) produced under V stress may be the main reason for V toxicity to terrestrial and aquatic organisms. Although V contributes to high-efficient biological nitrogen fixation as a co-factor, V alters microbial community structures and drives its evolution. V can also accumulate in and harm human bodies. Knowledge gaps and further perspectives in aspects of V risks are thereby proposed, such as more toxic data reports for deriving V environmental quality criteria, elucidating the molecular mechanisms of detoxification and tolerance of organisms to V for bioremediation applications, and exploring the medical potential of V with the prevention of V toxicity to humans. This review advances our understanding of the toxic effects of V in the ecosystem and inspires future efforts on V management as well as application.