Environmental Analytical Chemistry

Notwithstanding the vast amount of environmental analytical chemical literature available, publications dealing with environmental analytical chemistry in a general, integrated manner are rather scant. In fact, most literature on such a relevant topic appears to touch on individual aspects such as water or air pollution, applicable conventional or special equipment used with given matrices and specific pollutant groups. Most of these books are of interest to experts and only a few, if any, provide less experienced readers with a systematic, comprehensive description of environmental analytical issues. This book, which is intended to fill the gap, approaches the subject by focusing on the sample and its handling.

The fourteen chapters that make up the book follow a logical sequence of sample matrices and analyte types. The first six are of paramount importance, as they lay the foundations for a basic, yet comprehensive coverage of the subject in the others. Following the required introduction to environmental chemistry, Chapters 2 to 6 deal sequentially with environmental quality assurance, quality control fundamentals and practical aspects of environmental sampling, the preconcentration of environmental samples and environmental control standards. Chapters 7 to 12 are concerned with the analytical control of inorganic and organic pollutants in air, water and soil. Finally, the last two chapters are devoted to speciation and chemometrics in environmental analysis. Each chapter presents the state-of-the-art of the environmental topic covered, and illustrates it with a wealth of practical examples. Overall, the book contains about one hundred tables, almost two hundred figures and more than 1700 references, all of which make it a pedagogical, current reference work.

On the borderline between a textbook and a monograph, it is intended to be useful both as an academic text for the burgeoning number of undergraduate and postgraduate courses on the subject, as a reference book for those starting work in the environmental field and as a source of first-hand information on environmental science and its practical laboratory aspects.