Aquatic chemistry is becoming both a rewarding and substantial area of inquiry and is drawing many prominent scientists to its fold. Its literature has changed from a compilation of compositional tables to studies of the chemical reactions occurring within the aquatic environments. But more than this is the recognition that human society in part is determining the nature of aquatic systems. Since rivers deliver to the world ocean most of its dissolved and particulate components, the interactions of these two sets of waters determine the vitality of our coastal waters. This significant vol ume provides not only an introduction to the dynamics of aquatic chem istries but also identifies those materials that jeopardize the resources of both the marine and fluvial domains. Its very title provides its emphasis but clearly not its breadth in considering natural processes. The book will be of great value to those environmental scientists who are dedicated to keeping the resources of the hydrosphere renewable. As the size of the world population becomes larger in the near future and as the uses of materials and energy show parallel increases, the rivers and oceans must be considered as a resource to accept some of the wastes of society. The ability of these waters and the sediments below them to accommodate wastes must be assessed continually. The key questions relate to the capacities of aqueous systems to carry one or more pollutants."

Metal pollution in the aquatic environment

The world’s population is concentrated in urban areas. This change in demography has brought landscape transformations that have a number of documented effects on stream ecosystems. The most consistent and pervasive effect is an increase in impervious surface cover within urban catchments, which alters the hydrology and geomorphology of streams. This results in predictable changes in stream habitat. In addition to imperviousness, runoff from urbanized surfaces as well as municipal and industrial discharges result in increased loading of nutrients, metals, pesticides, and other contaminants to streams. These changes result in consistent declines in the richness of algal, invertebrate, and fish communities in urban streams. Although understudied in urban streams, ecosystem processes are also affected by urbanization. Urban streams represent opportunities for ecologists interested in studying disturbance and contributing to more effective landscape management.

/pdf/streams-in-the-urban-landscape-mt89v53ix5.pdf

Streams in the Urban Landscape

Preface. Foreword. Part 1: LCA in Perspective. 1. Why a new Guide to LCA? 2. Main characteristics of LCA. 3. International developments. 4. Guiding principles for the present Guide. 5. Reading guide. Part 2a: Guide. Reading guidance. 1. Management of LCA projects: procedures. 2. Goal and scope definition. 3. Inventory analysis. 4. Impact assessment. 5. Interpretation. Appendix A: Terms, definitions and abbreviations. Part 2b: Operational annex. List of tables. Reading guidance. 1. Management of LCA projects: procedures. 2. Goal and scope definition. 3. Inventory analysis. 4. Impact assessment. 5. Interpretation. 6. References. Part 3: Scientific background. Reading guidance. 1. General introduction. 2. Goal and scope definition. 3. Inventory analysis. 4. Impact assessment. 5. Interpretation. 6. References. Annex A: Contributors. Appendix B: Areas of application of LCA. Appendix C: Partitioning economic inputs and outputs to product systems.

Handbook on Life Cycle Assessment: Operational Guide to the ISO Standards

The potential occurrence of endocrine-disrupting compounds (EDCs) as well as pharmaceuticals and personal care products (PPCPs) in drinking water supplies raises concern over the removal of these compounds by common drinking water treatment processes. Three drinking water supplies were spiked with 10 to 250 ng/L of 62 different EDC/PPCPs; one model water containing an NOM isolate was spiked with 49 different EDC/PPCPs. Compounds were detected by LC/MS/MS or GC/MS/MS. These test waters were subjected to bench-scale experimentation to simulate individual treatment processes in a water treatment plant (WTP). Aluminum sulfate and ferric chloride coagulants or chemical lime softening removed some polyaromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) but removed 98% of GC/MS/MS compounds (more volatile) and 10% to >95% of LC/MS/MS compounds (more polar); higher PAC dosages improved EDC/PPCP removal. EDC/PPCP per...

Fate of endocrine-disruptor, pharmaceutical, and personal care product chemicals during simulated drinking water treatment processes.

Estuaries exhibit a wide array of human impacts that can compromise their ecological integrity, because of rapid population growth and uncontrolled development in many coastal regions worldwide. Long-term environmental problems plaguing estuaries require remedial actions to improve the viability and health of these valuable coastal systems. Detailed examination of the effects of pollution inputs, the loss and alteration of estuarine habitat, and the role of other anthropogenic stress indicates that water quality in estuaries, particularly urbanized systems, is often compromised by the overloading of nutrients and organic matter, the influx of pathogens, and the accumulation of chemical contaminants. In addition, the destruction of fringing wetlands and the loss and alteration of estuarine habitats usually degrade biotic communities. Estuaries are characterized by high population densities of microbes, plankton, benthic flora and fauna, and nekton; however, these organisms tend to be highly vulnerable to human activities in coastal watersheds and adjoining embayments. Trends suggest that by 2025 estuaries will be most significantly impacted by habitat loss and alteration associated with a burgeoning coastal population, which is expected to approach six billion people. Habitat destruction has far reaching ecological consequences, modifying the structure, function, and controls of estuarine ecosystems and contributing to the decline of biodiversity. Other anticipated high priority problems are excessive nutrient and sewage inputs to estuaries, principally from land-based sources. These inputs will lead to the greater incidence of eutrophication as well as hypoxia and anoxia. During the next 25 years, overfishing is expected to become a more pervasive and significant anthropogenic factor, also capable of mediating global-scale change to estuaries. Chemical contaminants, notably synthetic organic compounds, will remain a serious problem, especially in heavily industrialized areas. Freshwater diversions appear to be an emerging global problem as the expanding coastal population places greater demands on limited freshwater supplies for agricultural, domestic, and industrial needs. Altered freshwater flows could significantly affect nutrient loads, biotic community structure, and the trophodynamics of estuarine systems. Ecological impacts that will be less threatening, but still damaging, are those caused by introduced species, sea level rise, coastal subsidence, and debris/litter. Although all of these disturbances can alter habitats and contribute to shifts in the composition of estuarine biotic communities, the overall effect will be partial changes to these ecosystem components. Several strategies may mitigate future impacts.

https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/S0376892902000061

Environmental threats and environmental future of estuaries

Crude oil in a shallow sand and gravel aquifer-III. Biogeochemical reactions and mass balance modeling in anoxic groundwater

Progression of natural attenuation processes at a crude-oil spill site: I. Geochemical evolution of the plume.

The geochemical evolution of low-molecular-weight organic acids derived from the degradation of petroleum contaminants in groundwater

L'etude prouve que les alkylbenzenes a longue chaine presents dans les sediments marins sont de bons traceurs de petrole derive de dechets

Long chain alkylbenzenes as molecular tracers of domestic wastes in the marine environment

The transformation of benzene and a series of alkylbenzenes was studied in anoxic groundwater of a shallow glacial-outwash aquifer near Bemidji, Minnesota, U.S.A. Monoaromatic hydrocarbons, the most water-soluble components of crude oil, were transported downgradient of an oil spill, forming a plume of contaminated groundwater. Organic acids that were not original components of the oil were identified in the anoxic groundwater. The highest concentrations of these oxidized organic compounds were found in the anoxic plume where a decrease in concentrations of structurally related alkylbenzenes was observed. These results suggest that biological transformation of benzene and alkylbenzenes to organic acid intermediates may be an important attenuation process in anoxic environments. The transformation of a complex mixture of hydrocarbons to a series of corresponding oxidation products in an anoxic subsurface environment provides new insight into in situ anaerobic degradation processes.

Robert P. Eganhouse

Papers

Crude oil in a shallow sand and gravel aquifer-III. Biogeochemical reactions and mass balance modeling in anoxic groundwater

Progression of natural attenuation processes at a crude-oil spill site: I. Geochemical evolution of the plume.

The geochemical evolution of low-molecular-weight organic acids derived from the degradation of petroleum contaminants in groundwater

Long chain alkylbenzenes as molecular tracers of domestic wastes in the marine environment

Transformation of monoaromatic hydrocarbons to organic acids in anoxic groundwater environment