Basic Concepts of Environmental Chemistry, Second Edition provides a theoretical basis for the behavior and biological effects of natural chemical entities and contaminants in natural systems, concluding with a practical focus on risk assessment and the environmental management of chemicals.
The text uses molecular properties such as polarity, water solubility, and vapor pressure as the starting point for understanding the environmental chemistry of various contaminants in soil, water, and the atmosphere. It explains biological processes such as respiration and photosynthesis and their relationship to greenhouse gases. The book then introduces environmental toxicology and describes the distribution, transport, and transformation of contaminants, including PCBs and dioxins, plastics, petroleum and aromatic hydrocarbons, soaps and detergents, and pesticides. The author highlights the relationship between specific chemical properties and their environmental and biological effects. Other topics discussed include partition behavior, fugacity, and genotoxicity, particularly involving carcinogens.
The second edition updates the contents and incorporates the latest advances in the field since the 1997 edition was published. It presents an entirely new chapter on metals, which underlines the correlation between metallic properties and their behavior in the environment, as well as new sections on radionuclides and acid drainage water. The chapter on atmospheric chemistry and pollution has been substantially expanded including photochemical smog, the Greenhouse Effect, and pollution processes in the atmosphere and acid rain. The author also adds recent approaches to ecotoxicology, ecological, and human risk assessments to include the probabilistic approach.
Basic Concepts of Environmental Chemistry, Second Edition is a practical textbook for teaching students the basic concepts of chemistry in the framework of the environment and a practical reference for anyone involved in the management and disposal of industrial chemicals and emissions, occupational health and safety, and the protection of the natural environment.
PRINCIPLES OF ENVIRONMENTAL CHEMISTRY
The Role and Importance of Environmental Chemistry
BASIC PROPERTIES OF CHEMICALS IN THE ENVIRONMENT
Bonds and Molecules: Their Influence on Physical-Chemical Properties in the Environment
Environmental Transformation and Degradation Processes
Environmental Toxicology
CONTAMINANTS IN THE ENVIRONMENT
Petroleum Hydrocarbons
Polychlorinated Biphenyls (PCBs) and Dioxins
Synthetic Polymers: Plastics, Elastomers and Synthetic Fibers
Pesticides
Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons (PAHs)
Soaps and Detergents
Metals in the Environment
PROCESSES IN THE NATURAL ENVIRONMENT
Atmospheric Chemistry and Pollution
Chemistry of Natural Waters and Water Pollution
Soil Contamination
Distribution of Chemicals in the Environment
Genotoxicity: The Action of Environmental Chemicals on Genetic Material
MANAGEMENT OF HAZARDOUS CHEMICALS
Monitoring of Chemicals in the Environment
Human Health and Ecological Risk Assessment Due to Exposure to Chemicals
Biography
Des W. Connell (Griffith University, Queensland, Australia)
“... is designed as a textbook for course in environmental chemistry. The objective of this fully revised edition is to provide knowledge of environmental chemistry based on a series of theoretical principles … It aims to give students not just knowledge of environmental chemistry but understanding of how and why processes in the environment occur. … This is a practical textbook for teaching students the basic concepts of chemistry in the framework of the environment and a practical reference for anyone involved in the management and disposal of industrial chemicals and emissions, occupational health and safety, and the protection of the natural environment.”
— J Albaigés, Editor in Chief, Department of Environment Chemistry CID-CSIC, Barcelona, Spain, in International Journal Of Environmental Analytical Chemistry, Vol. 86, 2006
“This is a book which has much to offer, not only to those directly concerned with environmental matters, but also as a general text which clearly demonstrates the application of both organic and physical chemistry to real-life situations.”
—Chromatographia, Dec. 2005