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Noise
BOOK REVIEWS Noise. By At.AN BALL. Geneva, 1966: World Health Organization. pp. 116: 10s. THIS account of an occupational hazard and public health nuisance contains a succinct but comprehensive compilation of present-day knowledge on the effects of noise and of hearing impairment in the general population. The measurement and control of noise by securing the co-operation of the public, by modern technological methods, and by legislation are described, whilst the suggestions for further research and for international action and co-operation will be new and attractive aspects of the problem to many readers. The booklet is in keeping with the high standards of W H O publications; above all it will be useful in stimulating discussion as well as providing suggeslions for the remedy of an increasingly troublesome nuisance.
Water Pollution Research 1965. The Report of the Water Pollution Research Laboratory Swering Committee with the Report of the Director of Water Pollution Research, MinisZry of Technology. London: Her Majesty's Stationery Office. pp. 213: 16s. OnE important characteristic of the utterances of President Kennedy before the end of ~)is }~fewas the stress he laid on purifying the rivers of the world. There is little doubt that if rivers flowing through our urban areas were fit to fish in ~ t o take a crude but usefu{ test~this would be an indication of freedom not only from objectionable pollution of water but also incidentally from pollution from the air. It is, therefore, an index of environmental health. Hence the importance of the publications of the Water Pollution Research Laboratory, where study is carried out on processes for purifying sewage and industrial effluents. Ar~ important part of the work on treatment processes has been the continued study of the activated sludge method of sewage purification and the rate at which the relevant micro-organisms are produced under various conditions. During recent years much information has been collected on the fate of anionic detergents in sewage which is treated by the activated sludge process. Research during the year has elucidated the kJnelJcs involved in this process and made it possible to give a prediction of the proportion of added detergent which will appear in an effluent under stated conditions. Some work has been done in biological filtration methods, and a systematic study of the fly larva~, worms, and other scouring organisms in filters has been started. Observations on the treatment of sewage and industrial wastes in filters of different types have been continued. A matter of topical interest is the increasing number of reports reaching the laboratory of the inhibition of anaerobic digestion of sludge. Constituents of industrial wastes have been examined and some found to be inhibiting. At some sewage works anionic synthetic detergent was present in concentrations approaching the level found to be inhibitory to digestion. Other work on the treatment processes covers the tertiary treatment of sewage eNuents and investigations on the disposal of particular types of industrial effluents. Res~hs of a study on the dispersion of sewage from a sea outfall, which included a detailed programme in bacteriological examinations and radioactive tracer work, are given in the report. •Finally, the report deals with methods ofanalysis and the development of instruments used in the Water Pollution Research Laboratory. The publicatiQn contains invaluable information to anyone interested in water pNlution; to those not directly interested it is encouraging to see that efforts are being made to clean up Britain's surface waters.
Water Pollution Research 1965. The Report of the Water Pollution Research Laboratory Swering Committee with the Report of the Director of Water Pollution Research, MinisZry of Technology. London: Her Majesty's Stationery Office. pp. 213: 16s. OnE important characteristic of the utterances of President Kennedy before the end of ~)is }~fewas the stress he laid on purifying the rivers of the world. There is little doubt that if rivers flowing through our urban areas were fit to fish in ~ t o take a crude but usefu{ test~this would be an indication of freedom not only from objectionable pollution of water but also incidentally from pollution from the air. It is, therefore, an index of environmental health. Hence the importance of the publications of the Water Pollution Research Laboratory, where study is carried out on processes for purifying sewage and industrial effluents. Ar~ important part of the work on treatment processes has been the continued study of the activated sludge method of sewage purification and the rate at which the relevant micro-organisms are produced under various conditions. During recent years much information has been collected on the fate of anionic detergents in sewage which is treated by the activated sludge process. Research during the year has elucidated the kJnelJcs involved in this process and made it possible to give a prediction of the proportion of added detergent which will appear in an effluent under stated conditions. Some work has been done in biological filtration methods, and a systematic study of the fly larva~, worms, and other scouring organisms in filters has been started. Observations on the treatment of sewage and industrial wastes in filters of different types have been continued. A matter of topical interest is the increasing number of reports reaching the laboratory of the inhibition of anaerobic digestion of sludge. Constituents of industrial wastes have been examined and some found to be inhibiting. At some sewage works anionic synthetic detergent was present in concentrations approaching the level found to be inhibitory to digestion. Other work on the treatment processes covers the tertiary treatment of sewage eNuents and investigations on the disposal of particular types of industrial effluents. Res~hs of a study on the dispersion of sewage from a sea outfall, which included a detailed programme in bacteriological examinations and radioactive tracer work, are given in the report. •Finally, the report deals with methods ofanalysis and the development of instruments used in the Water Pollution Research Laboratory. The publicatiQn contains invaluable information to anyone interested in water pNlution; to those not directly interested it is encouraging to see that efforts are being made to clean up Britain's surface waters.