The Dynamics of Tungsten in Soil: An Overview

The increasing use of tungsten in the production of green energy in the aerospace andmilitary industries, and in many other hi-tech applications, may increase the content of this elementin soil. This overview examines some aspects of the behavior of tungsten in soil, such as the importanceof characteristics of soils in relation to bioavailability processes, the chemical approaches toevaluate tungsten mobility in the soil environment and the importance of adsorption and desorptionprocesses. Tungsten behavior depends on soil properties of which the most important is soil pH,which determines the solubility and polymerization of tungstate ions and the characteristics of theadsorbing soil surfaces. During the adsorption and desorption of tungsten, iron, and aluminumoxides, and hydroxides play a key role as they are the most important adsorbing surfaces for tungsten.The behavior of tungsten compounds in the soil determines the transfer of this element in plants andtherefore in the food chain. Despite the growing importance of tungsten in everyday life, environmentalregulations concerning soil do not take this element into consideration. The purpose of thisreview is also to provide some basic information that could be useful when considering tungsten inenvironmental legislation.