Pollutants environmental behaviour

Wania F, Hoff JT, Jia CQ, et al. 1998. The effects of snow and ice on the environmental behaviour of hydrophobic organic chemicals. Environ Pollut 102 25-41. 

This chapter will explore aspects of EOC in relation to the environmental behaviour and fate of anthropogenic pollutants and will explore the physical and chemical processes that result in their environmental partitioning and degradation specifically photodegradation for the latter. In each case practical examples and measurement techniques will be presented and illustrated. 

The same approach was applied to water samples of the Rhine river between Koblenz and the border to the Netherlands (chapter 3.2). Similarly, a comprehensive qualitative analysis of the anthropogenic organic contaminants and quantitative measurements of selected substances are the main objectives. The results are discussed with respect to emission sources, environmental behaviour of the pollutants as well as their marker properties. 

A huge proportion of the contaminants were of anthropogenic origin. Several of these compounds are known as riverine pollutants and are consequently reported in various environmental investigations. However, numerous compounds identified are obviously man made chemicals but not or rarely reported as riverine contaminants. Thus, the knowledge about their usage, emission pathway and environmental behaviour is limited. 

A considerable effort is dedicated currently to the elucidation of the mechanisms and rates of transportation and environmental behaviour for toxic substances in general, and pesticides in particular. For this purpose various predictive models to estimate the pollutant s concentration at each environmental level are being developed. The scale of complexity ranges from very simple models, based on the extnqtolation of particular examples, followed by those taking into consideration toxic distribution between different media to reach equililMium, to very complex models including all environmental levels, including biota [10]. 

It is known that the brain is one of the most sensitive sites of action of steroids in utero, and recently there have been suggestions that EDs may affect normal brain development and behaviour. For example, it has been alleged that in utero exposure to polychlorinated biphenyl compounds (PCBs) resulted in adverse effects on neurologic and intellectual function (memory and attention) in young children born to women who had eaten PCB contaminated fish in the USA." It has also been speculated that exposure to environmental pollutants with steroidal activity may be infinencing human sexual development and sexually controlled behavioiir." ... 

Hoch M, Alonso-Azcarate J, Lischick M (2003) Assessment of adsorption behaviour of dibutyltin (DBT) to clay-rich sediments in comparison to the highly toxic tributyltin (TBT). Environmental Pollution, 123(2) 217-227. 

Scott, G.R. and Sloman, K.A. (2004). Effects of environmental pollutants on complex fish behaviour integrating behavioural and physiological indicators of toxicity. Aquatic Toxicology 68, 369-392. 

The revealed preference method is an indirect approach that is used in order to monetize use values. This method observes the real choice between money and the environmental goods. Methods often include observations of consumers or producers behaviour or actions, such as the hedonic price method and the production function method. The hedonic price method determines values from actual market transactions. These transactions are used to see how the price of a market commodity varies when a related environmental good changes, such as the effects of noise or air pollution on house prices. The production function method is used to estimate the value of the environmental effects on production. This method is suitable when consumption or production of a private good is affected by the environmental good. An example is the valuation of ground-level ozone levels by valuing the impact on the production of wheat or timber, which has market prices. The problem with the revealed preference method is that it does not contain all the individuals values that affect the WTP. 

From the FIA—MS overview spectrum, speculation that there can be more than just one structurally defined molecule type behind an observable signal i.e. the presence of isobaric compounds, cannot be excluded whenever one signal defined by the m/z-ratio is examined in FIA-MS spectra. Consequently, the information obtained by FIA-MS is quite limited whenever we deal with complex mixtures of environmental pollutants rather than the analysis of pure products or formulations with a known range of ingredients. LC separation is inevitable when mixtures of isomeric compounds should be identified with MS-MS. Therefore, in FIA-MS-MS special attention has to be paid to avoid the generation of mixed product ion spectra from isomeric parent compounds. This would block identification by library search and may lead to misinterpretations of product ion spectra because of the fragmentation behaviour observed. 

A quite reliable method involves the addition of stable isotope-labelled analytes, which exhibit the same chromatographic and ionisation behaviour as unlabelled analogues present in the sample, and which can therefore be distinguished from the latter with the aid of the MS detector separating the different ion masses. However, whereas for many environmental pollutants such as pesticides, pharmaceuticals,... 

In the UK chemicals strategy the statement The Government is very concerned that we do not have adequate information about the hazards of most chemicals released into the environment in large quantities is emphasized in bold in section 1.7 (DETR, 1999). The EU strategy states that The lack of knowledge about the impact of many chemicals on human health and the environment is a cause for concern (CEC, 2001, p4). The Royal Commission on Environmental Pollution held an inquiry into chemicals that reported in 2003. They consider that our failure to understand the interactions between synthetic chemicals and the natural environment, and most of all our failure to compile even the most basic information about the behaviour of chemicals in the environment, is a serious matter (RCEP, 2003, pi). 

In comparison with other elements, there is only a small amount of information on the environmental chemistry of antimony. The reasons for this are the low environmental concentrations of antimony and the lack of analytical techniques that are sufficiently sensitive for antimony speciation. The toxicity and physiological behaviour of antimony depend upon its oxidation state, with Sbm being more biologically active than Sbv. For speciation work, the objectives of many analytical methods have been the determination of Sbm and total antimony, with Sbv being calculated by difference. Most of the information about chemical speciation of antimony in the environment has been obtained from analyses of natural and polluted waters. 

Because of differences in physiology, behaviours, body weight, and body surface area, the exposure levels in children may be different from and often higher than exposures in adults. Furthermore, in terms of risk, children may also be more susceptible to environmental pollutants because of differences in absorption, metabolism, and excretion. More information is needed about the behavioural and cultural factors that will influence the exposure to chemicals in children. Such factors may modify both the levels of exposure to chemicals and the nature and severity of health risks. Future studies must include in their analysis consideration of factors such as occupation, smoking, socioeconomic status, and nutritional conditions. 

Environmental photosensitization processes may be stimulated not only by natural but also by anthropogenic pollutants, such as phenols and dihydroxyben-zenes, which are efficient photosensitizers. Among others, phenol was found to sensitize the dehalogenation of halogenophenols [99], This behaviour shows that the simultaneous presence of adequate sensitizer and quencher in polluted environment can lead to the photosensitized decomposition of the latter and thereby to abatement of the pollution. 

---