Manfred Sager
Origin, occurrence, mobility, and biological actions should not be judged for each element separately, which is usual to set legal actions, but as a holistic approach towards harmony of the elements, in order to achieve a really scientific view. Element patterns, and in particular element proportions, have been used to trace geological origin, sources of input, and bioavailability. In living organisms, trace element actions are quite often influenced by antagonistic and synergistic effects.Multi-element determinations permit the analysis of several elements in the digestate or the leachate. Various reagents have been defined to simulate migrations in soil towards groundwater, the soil to plant transfer, and digestibility for animals. This leads to characteristic element patterns for each matrix, the discovery of interelement effects, and maybe the detection of unexpected pollutions or deficiencies. Interpretations of selective leaching, however, are limited by volatilizations, blanks, re-adsorption and special chemical properties.Soils are fundamental for terrestrial life and agriculture, and thus the basics to produce healthy nutrition. Sediments are the memory or rivers and seas, which indicate pollutions and geological events from the past.
