Chemistry And Ecotoxicology Of Pollution

Pollution and its control are now one of the most serious problems in environmental management, affecting localized areas, regions, and, increasingly, the entire ecosphere.

Chemistry and Ecotoxicology of Pollution provides a basic understanding of the chemical, toxicological, and ecological factors involved when major classes of pollutants act on natural systems. The nature and effects of these pollutants are examined from the primary level of their sources and chemical properties, through their interactions in the environment, to their ultimate ecological effects on organisms and ecosystems. Pollutants are divided into groups, with similar properties, and then the chemistry and ecotoxicology of each group is defined. More importantly, in collating and evaluating available information on pollution processes, the book develops unifying theories on the fundamental chemical and ecological nature of pollution processes.

The book uses a conceptual framework to evaluate the impact of pollutants on the components and functions of natural ecosystems. It is based on the chemical and physical properties of a pollutant, its environmental behavior and fate, exposure to and toxic effects on organisms, their populations, communities, and responses of affected ecosystems. This sequence can be applied to known, potential, and emerging pollutants of concern. As government initiatives for the control of chemicals take greater effects, pollution research, particularly in ecotoxicology, will be further developed. Chemistry and Ecotoxicology of Pollution helps play an important role in determining the future direction of research activities in environmental management and pollution control on a worldwide scale.

It is a basic resource for students (e.g. environmental chemistry, ecology, land and water management, environmental or public health, environmental engineering, and sustainability science), scientists, researchers, policy makers, and professionals in need of a clear understanding of the nature and effects of environmental pollution from an ecological perspective.

DES W. CONNELL is a Reader at Griffith University's School of Australian Environmental Studies in Queensland. He has served as a Visiting Professor at the State University of New York's Marine Sciences Research Center in Stony Brook. His professional experience includes positions as Director of the Gippsland Lakes Environmental Study for the Victorian Ministry of Conservation (VMC) and Marine Studies Coordinator for the VMC's Westernport Bay Environmental Study. He is a member of the Water Quality Council of Queensland, the Australian Environmental Council's Chemicals Review Subcommittee, and a former member of the Great Barrier Reef Consultative Committee. His other books include Water Pollution: Causes and Effects in Australia and New Zealand (1981) and Experiments in Environmental Chemistry (1980). In 1964 Dr. Connell received a Commonwealth Postgraduate Award and, later, the Australian Institute of Food Science and Technology Research Award. He received his PhD in chemistry from the University of Queensland.

GREGORY J. MILLER is a Senior Teaching Fellow in Environmental Chemistry at Griffith University's School of Australian Environmental Studies. Previously, he worked as a chemist and state analyst in the Department of Health and Medical Services at the Queensland Government Chemical Laboratory. He is a member of the Australian Littoral Society and the Queensland Conservation Council. In 1976 he was awarded a Griffith University Postgraduate Scholarship. He earned his MPhil. in environmental chemistry from the School of Australian Environmental Studies in 1981.