Environmental chemistry

This article is licensed under theGNU Free Documentation License.It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Environmental chemistry" (click for full Wikipedia text)

 'Environmental chemistry ' is the science of the chemical and biochemical phenomena that occur in natural places. It should not be confused with Green chemistry, which seeks to reduce potential pollution at source. It can be defined as the study of the sources, reactions, transport, effects, and fates of chemical species in the Earth's atmosphere, Soil, and Water environments; and the effect of human activity on these. Environmental chemistry is an Interdisciplinarity science that includes Atmospheric chemistry, Aquatic chemistry and Soil chemistry, as well as heavily relying on Analytical chemistry and being related to Environmental science and other areas of science. Environmental chemistry involves first understanding how the uncontaminated environment works, which chemicals in what concentrations are present naturally, and with what effects. Without this it would be impossible to accurately study the effects humans have on the environment through the release of chemicals.

Concepts

Environmental chemists draw on a range of concepts from chemistry and various environmental sciences to assist in their study of what is happening to a chemical species in the Ecosystem. Important general concepts from chemistry include understanding chemical reactions and Chemical equation, solutions, units, Sampling (statistics), and Analytical chemistry Williams, Ian.  Environmental Chemistry, A Modular Approach . Wiley. 2001. ISBN 0471489425. Various environmental concepts include:

Contamination

A Contaminant is a Chemical substance present in nature due to human activity, that would not otherwise be there http://www.buzzardsbay.org/glossary.htm http://amsglossary.allenpress.com/glossary/browse?s=c&p=84. The term contaminant is often used interchangeably with  Pollutant , which is a substance that has a detrimental impact on the environment it is in http://www.soil.ncsu.edu/publications/BMPs/glossary.html http://www.sustainabletable.org/intro/dictionary/. Whilst a contaminant is sometimes defined as a substance present in the evironment as a result of human activity, but without harmful effects, it is sometimes the case that toxic or harmful effects from contamination only become apparent at a later date Harrison, R.M (edited by).  Understanding Our Environment, An Introduction to Environmental Chemistry and Pollution, Third Edition . Royal Society of Chemistry. 1999. ISBN 0854045848. The  medium  (e.g. soil) or organism (e.g. fish) affected by the pollutant or contaminant is called a  receptor , whilst a  sink  is a chemical medium or species that that retains and interacts with the pollutant.

Environmental indicators

Chemical measures of water quality include Oxygen saturation, Chemical oxygen demand, Biochemical oxygen demand, and PH.

Applications

Environmental chemistry is used by the Environment Agency (in England and Wales), the Environmental Protection Agency (in the United States), and other List of environmental organizations and research bodies around the world to detect and identify the nature and source of pollutants. These can include:

• Heavy metals contamination of land by industry. These can then be transported into water flows and be taken up by living organisms.
• Nutrients such as nitrate and phosphate leaching from Agriculture land into water courses, which can lead to algal blooms and eutrophication.

Methods

Quantitative chemical Analytical chemistry is a key part of environmental chemistry.

References

Further reading

• Stanley E. Manahan.  Environmental Chemistry, Fifth edition . 1991.
• Julian E Andrews, Peter Brimblecombe, Tim Jickells, Peter Liss, Brian Reid.  An Introduction to Environmental Chemistry . Blackwell Publishing. 2004. ISBN 0632059052.
• Stanley E Manahan.  Environmental Chemistry . CRC Press. 2004. ISBN 1566706335.

See also

• Green chemistry
• List of publications in chemistry#Environmental chemistry.

External links

• ALOGPS: Interactive calculation of lipophilicity and aqueous solubility of chemical compounds
  
  This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License.It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Environmental chemistry" (click for full Wikipedia text) Hide