Traces Of Contamination

Fundamental Aspects of Pollution Control and Environmental Science 1: Trace-Element Contamination of the Environment investigates the global biological consequences of dispersal of trace elements that are mined from localized limited deposits in the environment. It considers the problem of trace-element contamination of the biosphere as an environmental pollution and as part of the ecological crisis as a whole. Comprised of eight chapters, this volume begins with an overview of trace-element contaminants, such as lead, cadmium, and mercury. It then discusses factors affecting the trace-element composition of soils, including sulfur, lime, and fertilizers. It explains as well the trace-element contamination of the atmosphere and hydrosphere, the sources of trace-element contamination of soils, and the availability of trace elements in the soil. The consequences of trace-element contamination of the soil, including its effects on crops and animals, are also discussed. The book also provides ways to prevent dispersal of metals in the environment. This book will be an essential reading for undergraduates, law students, and those who are interested about environmental pollution caused by trace elements.

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 ofthe views oftwo 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.

Trace Analysis, Volume 3 focuses on critical discussions of selected topics in organic and inorganic analytical chemistry including instrumentation, techniques, and applications to the detection, identification, and quantitation of trace quantities of substances in a large variety of sample materials. The book is divided into two parts: Section 1, biological fluids and tissues, and Section 2, environmental analysis. Chapters are devoted in the discussion of subjects on the analysis of carbonyl compounds; the use of enzymatic methods for clinical analysis; the use of fluorescence spectroscopy for single compounds or multicomponent analysis of pollutants in air, water, and soils, with emphasis on fuel oils; and the analysis of polycyclic aromatic compounds in combustion emissions. Organic and inorganic chemists and medical technicians will find the book a good reference text.

In the early 1980s, two water-supply systems on the Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune in North Carolina were found to be contaminated with the industrial solvents trichloroethylene (TCE) and perchloroethylene (PCE). The water systems were supplied by the Tarawa Terrace and Hadnot Point watertreatment plants, which served enlisted-family housing, barracks for unmarried service personnel, base administrative offices, schools, and recreational areas. The Hadnot Point water system also served the base hospital and an industrial area and supplied water to housing on the Holcomb Boulevard water system (full-time until 1972 and periodically thereafter). This book examines what is known about the contamination of the water supplies at Camp Lejeune and whether the contamination can be linked to any adverse health outcomes in former residents and workers at the base.