Environmental Chemistry

Description

There is no need in the 1970s to explain the writing of a book on "Environmen­ tal Chemistry. " The despoliation of the environment by man's activities has long been clear to chemists. However, it has been the subject of public debate for a short time-since the late 1960s. Curiously, there has been little reaction in the textbook literature to reflect this concern. Apart from some brief and sketchy paperbacks for schools, there has not yet been published a substantial review of environmental chemistry. One reason for this is the breadth of the chemistry involved: it could scarcely be covered by one or two authors, for it is as wide as chemistry itself. The ideal way to write such a book would be to gather a couple of dozen authors in one place and keep them together for 6 months of discussions and writing. This not being very practical, it was decided to do the next best thing and to attempt to network a number of men together in mutual correspondence and interaction, which would lead to a book that had the advantages of the expertise of a large number of persons, and lacked many of the usual disadvan­ tages of the multi author book. Thus, synopses of the various articles were sent to each author, and they were encouraged to interact with each other in attempting to avoid repetition and in keeping their symbols uniform and their presentation style coordinated. Front Matter....Pages i-xi Environmental Chemistry....Pages 1-18 Biochemical Control of Human Fertility....Pages 19-31 The Psychochemistry of Pollutants....Pages 33-52 Chemical Sources of Food: An Approach to Novel Food Sources....Pages 53-94 The Chemistry of Sewage Purification....Pages 95-119 Resources....Pages 121-178 Formation and Control of Air Pollutants....Pages 179-212 The Interaction of Gaseous Pollutants with Materials at the Surface of the Earth....Pages 213-241 Control of Noxious Emissions from Internal Combustion Engines....Pages 243-284 Possible Climatic Changes from Carbon Dioxide Increase in the Atmosphere....Pages 285-311 Aerosol Production in the Atmosphere....Pages 313-330 The Chemistry of Water Pollution....Pages 331-400 Organic Chemical Pollution: Petroleum, Pesticides, and Detergents....Pages 401-427 Pollution through Trace Elements....Pages 429-476 Radioactivity....Pages 477-515 Abundant, Clean Energy....Pages 517-548 The Hydrogen Economy....Pages 549-582 Environmentally Clean Fuels for Transportation....Pages 583-604 Notes on Electrochemical Transportation....Pages 605-615 The Desalination of Water....Pages 617-676 Analytical Chemistry of Pollutants....Pages 677-747 The Public Policy Issues Involved in Dealing with Environmental Degradation: A Dynamic Approach....Pages 749-759 A Few Lines in Research Relevant to Environmental Chemistry....Pages 761-770 Back Matter....Pages 771-795