Aquatic Pollutants

Aquatic Pollutants: Transformation and Biological Effects contains the proceedings of the Second International Symposium on Aquatic Pollutants held at Noordwijkerhout (Amsterdam), The Netherlands on September 26-28, 1977. Organized into 47 chapters, this book first describes the aquatic pollutants and their potential biological effects. Subsequent chapters elucidate chemicals with pollution potential; multidetection approach to analysis of organic pollutants in water; volatilization of pollutants from water; microbial transformations of aromatic pollutants; and photochemical transformation of pollutants in water. Other chapters address oxidation of organic compounds in aquatic systems; laboratory microcosms for use in determining pollutant stress; continuous biomonitoring systems for detection of toxic levels of water pollutants; and health aspects of water recycling practices. This book will be useful as a review of existing knowledge in this field. It will also stimulate further thought and research.

Since the publication of the third edition of Aquatic Pollution in 2000, there have been many major developments within the field in terms of research, regulations, and also large-scale catastrophes that have had a significant impact on the aquatic environment; the Deepwater Horizon oil spill and the Fukushima nuclear disaster have taken their toll, and research on ocean acidification has developed enormously over the last decade. Recognizing, controlling, and mitigating aquatic pollution on a global scale is one of the most important and most difficult challenges facing society today. Fully updated to reflect current understanding and discussing these major recent developments, this fourth edition of Aquatic Pollution covers every aspect of pollution associated with urban runoff, acid rain, sewage disposal, pesticides, oil spills, nutrient loading, and more. Case studies of major pollution sites, all original to this new edition, help to illustrate points made in general discussion. Offering unprecedented depth of coverage, and discussing both fresh and sea water environments, this unique text provides a key teaching and learning tool for courses in environmental science, zoology, oceanography, biology, and civil or sanitary engineering, as well as a vital book for government policy makers. It is also an excellent primer for policymakers and activists focused on environmental issues.

This book provides examples of pollutants, such as accidental oil spills and non-degradable plastic debris, which affect marine organisms of all taxa. Terrestrial runoff washes large amounts of dissolved organic materials from agriculture and industry, toxic heavy metals, pharmaceuticals, and persistent organic pollutants which end up into rivers, coastal habitats, and open waters. While this book is not intended to encyclopaedically list all kinds of pollution, it rather exemplifies the problems by concentrating on a number of serious and prominent recent developments. The chapters in this book also discuss measures to decrease and remove aquatic pollution to mitigate the stress on aquatic organisms. Aquatic ecosystems provide a wide range of ecological and economical services. In addition to providing a large share of the staple diet for a fast growing human population, oceans absorb most of the anthropogenically emitted carbon dioxide and mitigate climate change. As well as rising temperatures and ocean acidification, pollution poses increasing problems for aquatic ecosystems and organisms reducing its functioning and services which are exposed to a plethora of stress factors.

Aquatic chemistry is becoming both a rewarding and substantial area of inquiry and is drawing many prominent scientists to its fold. Its literature has changed from a compilation of compositional tables to studies of the chemical reactions occurring within the aquatic environments. But more than this is the recognition that human society in part is determining the nature of aquatic systems. Since rivers deliver to the world ocean most of its dissolved and particulate components, the interactions of these two sets of waters determine the vitality of our coastal waters. This significant vol ume provides not only an introduction to the dynamics of aquatic chem istries but also identifies those materials that jeopardize the resources of both the marine and fluvial domains. Its very title provides its emphasis but clearly not its breadth in considering natural processes. The book will be of great value to those environmental scientists who are dedicated to keeping the resources of the hydrosphere renewable. As the size of the world population becomes larger in the near future and as the uses of materials and energy show parallel increases, the rivers and oceans must be considered as a resource to accept some of the wastes of society. The ability of these waters and the sediments below them to accommodate wastes must be assessed continually. The key questions relate to the capacities of aqueous systems to carry one or more pollutants.

Twenty years ago, researchers wishing to identify contaminated areas in aquatic environments generally took water samples, and analysed them badly (as we have since discovered) for a few "pollutants" which were of topical note at the time (and which could be quantified by the methods then available). Today, the use of aquatic organisms as biomonitors in preference to water analysis has become commonplace, and many national and interna tional programmes exist around the world involving such studies. We believe that this trend will continue, and have complete faith in the methodology (when it is employed correctly). We hope that the following text assists in some part in attaining this goal, such that the quality of our most basic global resource -water - is adequately protected in the future. DAVE PHILLIPS, PHIL RAINBOW England, March 1992 vii Acknowledgements Our thanks for contributions to this book are due to several individuals and groups, for varying reasons. Firstly, a co-authored book is always a triumph, and we trust that the following text is an acceptable compromise of the views of two individual authors, on a complex and developing topic. Secondly, many of the ideas herein have crystallised over the last two decades as the field has grown, and we are individually and collectively grateful to a number of researchers for their insight and assistance.

Since the publication of the third edition of Aquatic Pollution in 2000, there have been many major developments within the field in terms of research, regulations, and also large-scale catastrophes that have had a significant impact on the aquatic environment; the Deepwater Horizon oil spill and the Fukushima nuclear disaster have taken their toll, and research on ocean acidification has developed enormously over the last decade. Recognizing, controlling, and mitigating aquatic pollution on a global scale is one of the most important and most difficult challenges facing society today. Fully updated to reflect current understanding and discussing these major recent developments, this fourth edition of Aquatic Pollution covers every aspect of pollution associated with urban runoff, acid rain, sewage disposal, pesticides, oil spills, nutrient loading, and more. Case studies of major pollution sites, all original to this new edition, help to illustrate points made in general discussion. Offering unprecedented depth of coverage, and discussing both fresh and sea water environments, this unique text provides a key teaching and learning tool for courses in environmental science, zoology, oceanography, biology, and civil or sanitary engineering, as well as a vital book for government policy makers. It is also an excellent primer for policymakers and activists focused on environmental issues.

This new volume addresses the environmental impacts of pollution on freshwater aquatic ecosystems and presents sustainable management and remediation practices and advanced technology help to address the different types of pollutants. Freshwater Pollution and Aquatic Ecosystems: Environmental Impact and Sustainable Management considers the need for sustainable, efficient, and cost-effective tools and technologies to assess, monitor, and properly manage the increasing issues of aquatic pollution. It provides detailed accounts of the phenomena and mechanisms related to aquatic pollution and highlights the problems and threats associated with pollution contamination in freshwater. It provides useful insight into the sustainable and advanced pollution remediation technology adopted by different countries for the monitoring, assessment, and sustainable management of pollution. The chapters in the volume evaluate the sources of harmful pollutants, which include industrial effluents, sewage, and runoff from agricultural industries, which result in toxic microbes, organic waste, oils, and high load of nutrients. Unsustainable management practices of domestic sewage and indiscriminate use of chemical pesticides lead to the technological disturbance of aquatic biota. In addition to harming aquatic biota, these pollutants find their way into the human body through inhalation, ingestion, or absorption and finally tend to bio-accumulate in trophic levels of the food chain, which poses a major risk to human beings. This book will be a valuable resource for ecologists, environmentalists, scientists, and many others for their work in understanding and management of aquatic pollutants in freshwater biospheres.

Photodegradation of Water Pollutants, the only complete survey available of current photocatalytic methods for treating water pollutants, covers all aspects of light-stimulated detoxification. Ideal for researchers and students, this new book explains methods for pollution treatment that have proven more effective than conventional biodegradation. Photodegradation of Water Pollutants examines advanced oxidation processes that have been successful in treating the chemical substances produced by industrial effluents and intensive agriculture. These oxidation processes include irradiation with ultraviolet or visible light, the use of homogenous sensitizers, such as dyes, and the use of heterogeneous photocatalysts, such as dispersed semiconductors. In addition, Photodegradation of Water Pollutants addresses the naturally occurring self-cleaning of some pollutants in sunlit surface waters, as well as several alternative non-photochemical approaches to water treatment. Available treatment options are discussed for the main groups of water pollutants, including toxic inorganic ions (cyanides, heavy metals), hydrocarbon derivatives (oil spills, surfactants, pulp and paper wastes), halocarbons, organo-N, organo-P, and organo-S compounds. The text also contains a unique section on the economics of advanced oxidation pollution treatments.