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Analysis of solids in natural waters
- Date_TXT
- Berlin : Springer , 1996
- Cote
- 628.11 CRO
- Auteur
- Crompton, Thomas R.
- Type de document
- Livre
Description :
The presence of toxic organic and inorganic substances in rivers and oceanic sediments is in part due to man-made pollution. Their monitoring by chemical analysis of oceanic, estuarine, and river sediments or of organisms living in the respective ecosystems are of utmost importance. The purpose of this book is to provide the chemist with all available information for the rapid development and proper carrying out of these methods of analysis. Crompton's book is the first book which covers all kinds of samples including living organisms.
Contamination of sediments is found not only in rivers but also in estuarine sediments and sometimes in oceanic sediments, and this sediment analysis provides a means of tracking elements from their sources through the ecosystem. Another consideration is that fish, particularly bottom feeding fish in rivers and oceans, pick up contaminants when sediments enter their gills and the contamination of fish by toxic substances has definite toxicological implications in the case of fish that are eaten both by man and, in the case of fish-meal, by animals. The analysis of fish samples is therefore of great importance and is dealt with fully here. Crustacea which, by their nature are bottom feeding, also pick up toxic substances from water and sediments, and, moreover, have the characteristic of concentrating such substances in their tissues at levels much higher than those occurring in their surroundings. Whereas analysis of water samples provides a spot check on the concentration of a particular substance at one point in time, analysis of crustacea provides, with much greater sensitivity, an integrated concentration level over a considerable time span. This is highlighted by the mussel watch program instigated in the USA wherein samples of living mussels are taken regularly at specified points around the coast and analyzed for metals and organics. Such studies provide vital information on whether contaminant levels are increasing or decreasing and it is expected, for example, that lead levels in mussels will soon start to fall dramatically as a result of the introduction of lead-free petroleum. Much the same can be said for the analysis of algae.