It’s time to replace the term “heavy metals” with “potentially toxic elements” when reporting environmental research

Even if the Periodic Table of Chemical Elements is relatively well defined, some controversial terms are in still in use. Indeed, the term “Heavy Metal” is a common term used for decades in Sciences, and even more in Environmental Sciences particularly in studies of pollution impacts. The use of the term appears to increase, we emphasise the relevance of the use of the term “Potentially Toxic Element(s)” needs more explicit endorsement and we illustrate the chemical elements which need to be considered.