Human beings internal ecosystem

The Division of Chemistry and the Environment of the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (IUPAC) has recently approved the creation of an IUPAC-sponsored book series entitled Biophysico-Chemical Processes in Environmental Systems to be published by John Wiley Sons, Hoboken, NJ. This series addresses the fundamentals of physical-chemical-biological interfacial interactions in the environment and the impacts on (1) the transformation, transport and fate of nutrients and pollutants, (2) food chain contamination and food quality and safety, and (3) ecosystem health, including human health. In contrast to classical books that focus largely on separate physical, chemical, and biological processes, this book series is unique in integrating the frontiers of knowledge on both fundamentals and impacts on interfacial interactions of these processes in the global environment. 

This transition will require a new mission for the industry that promotes human health and environmental quality as seriously as the market promotes economic efficiency and product effectiveness. Put conceptually, a sustainable chemical industry would be one that optimizes value from the use of chemicals, adds no new risks to everyday life, increases natural capital, minimizes the transfer of risks from one generation to another, respects and enhances the natural functioning of the planet s ecosystems, and assures no net loss of valuable resources. Creating such an industry will require government policy and market incentives that promote sustainability. This will require financial investment institutions and international development programs that are committed to developing an industry that is as ecologically sound and socially sensitive as it is economically productive. 

Chemical contamination in the atmosphere is important for different reasons at several distinctly different scales on the indoor and local scales, the major concern is that of human health. On regional scales, as pollutants threaten forests, lakes, and agriculture, the health of natural ecosystems is the major issue. On the global scale, maintenance of a viable planetary environment is of the utmost importance and must be treated in an international context. 

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