Environmental and Toxicological Chemistry of the Atmosphere

Fundamentals of Environmental and Toxicological Chemistry Sustainable Science, Fourth Edition covers university-level environmental chemistry, with toxicological chemistry integrated throughout the book. This new edition of a bestseller provides an updated text with an increased emphasis on sustainability and green chemistry. It is organized based on the five spheres of Earth s environment (1) the hydrosphere (water), (2) the atmosphere (air), (3) the geosphere (solid Earth), (4) the biosphere (life), and (5) the anthrosphere (the part of the environment made and used by humans). 

Chapters 6 through 8 address the atmosphere. Chapter 6 explains the atmosphere as one of the five spheres of the environment and discusses the composition of air, the structure of the atmosphere, and the importance of the atmosphere for protecting life on Earth. Chapter 7 addresses air pollutants and their environmental and toxicological chemistry. Chapter 8 outlines how atmospheric quality can be sustained and enhanced. 

The importance of toxic elements in environmental chemistry is rarely questioned, but a relatively small number of elements (mercury, lead, and cadmium) have received a large share of researchers attention. The environmental chemistry of the transition metals, e.g., chromium, nickel, manganese, cobalt, copper, etc., has also been investigated principally because of their roles in metabolism, especially enzymatic processes. However, two non-metals, arsenic and selenium, and two metals, beryllium and vanadium, are elements which will become more significant in the future from environmental and toxicological points of view. Arsenic and selenium have been investigated, but much more work is needed because of the importance of these two elements in the environment. The author considers beryllium and vanadium to be problem metals of the future . The primary exposure route for both beryllium and vanadium is via the atmosphere and as lower environmental standards are imposed, more uses are found for each element, and more fossil fuels (source of V) are burned, the amounts added to the atmosphere will have more significance. 

Mueller, J.A., Ditoro, D.M., et al. (1995) Fate of octamethylcyclotetrasiloxane (OMCTS) in the atmosphere and in sewage-treatment plants as an estimation of aquatic exposure. Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry, 14(10) 1657-1666. 

The first chapter defines environmental chemistry and each of the five environmental spheres. The second chapter presents the basics of toxicological chemistry and its relationship to environmental chemistry. Subsequent chapters are grouped by sphere, beginning with the hydrosphere and its environmental chemistry, water pollution, sustainability, and water as nature s most renewable resource. Chapters then describe the atmosphere, its structure and importance for protecting life on Earth, air pollutants, and the sustainability of atmospheric quality. The author explains the nature of the geosphere and discusses soil for growing food as well as geosphere sustainability. He also describes the biosphere and its sustainability. 

Meylan, W.M. Howard, P.H. (2003) A Review of Quantitative Structure-Activity Relationship Methods for the Prediction of Atmospheric Qxidation of Qrganic Chemicals. Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry, 22(8), 1724—1732. 

Eisenreich, S.J., K.C. Hornbuckle, and D.A. Achman. 1997. Air-water exchange of semivolatile organic chemicals (SOCs) in the Great Lakes. In J.E. Baker, Ed. Atmospheric Deposition of Contaminants to the Great Lakes and Coastal Waters, Society of Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry, SETAC Press, Pensacola, Florida, 109-135. 

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