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Organic substances and sediments in water
The Science of the Total Environment, 126 (1992) 295-296 Elsevier Science Publishers B.V., Amsterdam
295
Book Review Organic Substances and Sediments in Water, edited by Robert A. Baker, Lewis Publishers, Ann Arbor, Michigan, 1990. price: $75.00; outside US $89.00.
Organic compounds enter the environment through a wide variety of natural and anthropogenic sources and their behavior, fate and toxicity have been studied intensively for many years. The role of particulates and sediments in determining the chemical behavior and biological effects of organic contaminants in aquatic ecosystems have been a particularly fruitful field for research. In 1979, an American Chemical Society (ACS) symposium on Contaminants and Sediments was held in Honolulu and resulted in the publication of the two-volume proceedings the following year. The volume was apparently well received and led naturally to another ACS symposium on Organic Substances and Sediments in Water which was held in Boston in 1990. The book under review comes from the Boston meeting and consists of three volumes with a total of 1271 pages. The first volume deals with 'humics and soils' and is divided into three parts. Part I covers the chemical and physical properties of humic and other substances (ten papers). Part II deals with sorption and mobility of humic substances in soils and sediments (six papers) and Part III is devoted to the biodegradation of organic contaminants in soils and sediments (four papers). The second volume is divided into four parts. Part I contains eight reports on aquatic particle-organic chemical interactions with emphasis on contaminant chemistry. Part II has seven papers covering the fate and transport of organic compounds while parts III and IV deal with surface characteristics and organic-inorganic itateractions (three papers) and analytical methodology (four papers), respectively. The third volume is devoted to biological processes. The papers are divided under the three principal subheadings: integrating chemistry and toxicology of sediment-water interactions (three papers), uptake and accumulation (six papers) and biodegradation with all eight papers on aerobic dechlorination and co-metabolism. In view of the inter-related nature of the topics, slotting the chapters into the different subheadings must have been a difficult task for the editor. The net result is a somewhat fragmented volume with the appearance of a 'make do' organization. The papers vary from comprehensive reviews to reports of
296
current work on specllic research topics with the depth of coverage ranging from simple descriptive presentations to detailed thermodynamic and kinetic modeling of processes. In spite of such caveats, the papers together provide a good picture of current research on the variety of ways in which sediments can influence the behavior and bioavailability of contaminants in aquatic environments. They also provide the reader with a good summary of the aqueous environmental chemistry of a broad spectrum of organic contaminants such as PCBs, alkylbenzenes, PAHs, hexachloroethane, acridine, carbon tetrachloride, hexachloroethane, acidine, polyvinyl alcohol, surfactants and hydrophobic organic chemicals. Organic Substances and Sediments in Water should be of interest to anyone concerned about organic pollutants in our waters and a copy should be available on the environmental science shelf of every library.
Ann Arbor (USA) Burlington (Canada)
Milagros S. Simmons Jerome O. Nriagu
295
Book Review Organic Substances and Sediments in Water, edited by Robert A. Baker, Lewis Publishers, Ann Arbor, Michigan, 1990. price: $75.00; outside US $89.00.
Organic compounds enter the environment through a wide variety of natural and anthropogenic sources and their behavior, fate and toxicity have been studied intensively for many years. The role of particulates and sediments in determining the chemical behavior and biological effects of organic contaminants in aquatic ecosystems have been a particularly fruitful field for research. In 1979, an American Chemical Society (ACS) symposium on Contaminants and Sediments was held in Honolulu and resulted in the publication of the two-volume proceedings the following year. The volume was apparently well received and led naturally to another ACS symposium on Organic Substances and Sediments in Water which was held in Boston in 1990. The book under review comes from the Boston meeting and consists of three volumes with a total of 1271 pages. The first volume deals with 'humics and soils' and is divided into three parts. Part I covers the chemical and physical properties of humic and other substances (ten papers). Part II deals with sorption and mobility of humic substances in soils and sediments (six papers) and Part III is devoted to the biodegradation of organic contaminants in soils and sediments (four papers). The second volume is divided into four parts. Part I contains eight reports on aquatic particle-organic chemical interactions with emphasis on contaminant chemistry. Part II has seven papers covering the fate and transport of organic compounds while parts III and IV deal with surface characteristics and organic-inorganic itateractions (three papers) and analytical methodology (four papers), respectively. The third volume is devoted to biological processes. The papers are divided under the three principal subheadings: integrating chemistry and toxicology of sediment-water interactions (three papers), uptake and accumulation (six papers) and biodegradation with all eight papers on aerobic dechlorination and co-metabolism. In view of the inter-related nature of the topics, slotting the chapters into the different subheadings must have been a difficult task for the editor. The net result is a somewhat fragmented volume with the appearance of a 'make do' organization. The papers vary from comprehensive reviews to reports of
296
current work on specllic research topics with the depth of coverage ranging from simple descriptive presentations to detailed thermodynamic and kinetic modeling of processes. In spite of such caveats, the papers together provide a good picture of current research on the variety of ways in which sediments can influence the behavior and bioavailability of contaminants in aquatic environments. They also provide the reader with a good summary of the aqueous environmental chemistry of a broad spectrum of organic contaminants such as PCBs, alkylbenzenes, PAHs, hexachloroethane, acridine, carbon tetrachloride, hexachloroethane, acidine, polyvinyl alcohol, surfactants and hydrophobic organic chemicals. Organic Substances and Sediments in Water should be of interest to anyone concerned about organic pollutants in our waters and a copy should be available on the environmental science shelf of every library.
Ann Arbor (USA) Burlington (Canada)
Milagros S. Simmons Jerome O. Nriagu