The estimated cost of repairing damage caused by fungal decay in buildings amounts to 400 million pounds a year in the UK alone. This book deals with the study of fungi in and around the building environment, having direct and indirect effects on the health of the building, its materials, structures and occupants. Fungi can be responsible for damage to building structures, to contents, decorations and food stuff; and to the health of occupants. This text provides an authoritative survey of present knowledge. This book should be of interest to construction, industrial, health research laboratories, public health and building pathology specialists and conservationists.

A study of local government and politics in China, exploring when and why local government officials comply with policy directives from above. The author draws on interviews with government officials in various municipalities and a review of county records and other government documents.

A study of local government and politics in China, exploring when and why local government officials comply with policy directives from above. The author draws on interviews with government officials in various municipalities and a review of county records and other government documents.

Agrochemicals and agricultural practices have a tremendous impact on environmental quality, particularly their role in water quality degradation. Soil Processes and Water Quality examines principles and practices that minimize the risks of water pollution while enhancing agricultural intensification and productivity. It focuses on how agricultural practices-such as tillage methods, use of fertilizers and manures, cropping systems, and the use of agrochemicals and pest control measures-impact soil processes and affect water quality. Extensive coverage of such topics as water contamination by runoff, leaching, macropore flow, and sediments is also included.
Rapid increases in the use of agrochemicals make Soil Processes and Water Quality an indispensable reference for soil scientists, water quality professionals, researchers, environmental chemists, agrochemicals professionals, government agency employees, academic instructors, agronomists, and students.

Practical and provocative, Bioavailability reviews prevalent understanding of the physical-chemical-biological mechanisms that control the bioavailability of both organic and inorganic contaminants in aquatic environments.
Discusses the complex issues that surround many regulatory issues
Emphasizes the need to identify and control that portion of the total concentration that is biologically available and can cause adverse effects, i.e., "active"
Examines the influence of dynamic factors, such as pH, alkalinity, and light on these mechanisms
Addresses the subject of speciation for both organic and inorganic contaminants

This study of China blends historical documentation with contemporary assessment to determine the degree of human impact upon the country's vegetation, soils, water, air and wildlife. This introduces the development of environmental ideas as found in the ancient Chinese classics and traces the history of vegetation degradation. The pattern of land degradation is described with emphasis on soil erosion and desertification. Pollution, which increased dramatically throughout the 1980s, is analyzed employing national statistics and local examples; the various policies recently introduced for pollution control are assessed. Wildlife management is scrutinized largely through a discussion of the evolution of China's nature reserve network. Regional variation in degradation and protection is stressed throughout. Aiming to fill a gap in the literature on China's environment by providing a comprehensive assessment of China's environment as of the early 1990s, this book is designed as a reference, both for understanding the historical scope of environmental degradation and for assessing attempts to control environmental degradation since the 1980s.

Organic dusts are particles of vegetable, animal, and microbial origin and are found in a wide range of occupational and general environments. This comprehensive handbook discusses organic dusts and their effects on man. Organic Dusts describes the different environments in which organic dusts are present; it also explains the major components of dusts and which diseases they can induce after inhalation. The first book to completely cover this important environmental exposure, this valuable reference presents a systematic approach to disease pathology and offers revised terminology for diagnosis based on the latest information on cell reactions and the functioning of the immune system.

"This timesaving guide addresses nearly every aspect of pollution control for the mining, production, transportation, and distribution of chemical fertilizers covering current and emerging technologies for all segments of the industry, including raw materials production, end products, and by-products."

This completely updated and revised Second Edition of the popular Workbook of Atmospheric Dispersion Estimates provides an important foundation for understanding dispersion modeling as it is being practiced today. The book and accompanying diskette will help you determine the impacts of various sources of air pollution, including the effects of wind and turbulence, plume rise, and Gaussian dispersion and its limitations. Information is shown in summary graphs as well as in equations. The programs included on the diskette allow you to "get the feel" for the results you'll obtain through the input of various combinations of parameter values. The sensitivity of data to various parameters can be easily explored by changing one value and seeing the effect on the results. The book presents 37 example problems with solutions to show the estimation of atmospheric pollutant concentrations for many situations.

This text/reference provides an excellent introduction to fundamental topics in radiation protection, including energetics, kinetics, interaction, external radiation protection, dosimetry, standards, and measurement. Chapters on radioactive waste and radon, topics not normally covered in introductory texts, have been incorporated as well. An extensive glossary of terms, abbreviations, acronyms, physical constants, units, and unit conversions provides a ready source of frequently needed information. Several appendices contain specifications and vendors for commercially available portable radiation survey instruments, personal dosimeters, and radon/radon progeny monitors.

The Stannic Oxide Gas Sensor presents a comprehensive overview of the background science and technology of the subject, including practical information on its applications and the electronic circuits with which it is associated. The book explains the chemistry of the device and covers typical methods of fabrication. Sensitivity and selectivity are addressed, and the problems of drift with ambient temperature, relative humidity, and time are fully discussed.
The book also presents examples of industrial, commercial, and domestic applications. It explains the design of appropriate electronic circuits and describes methods for testing and characterizing sensors. Advantages and disadvantages of sensors are assessed as well.

Freshwater field tests are an integral part of the process of hazard assessment of pesticides and other chemicals in the environment. This book brings together international experts on microcosms and mesocosms for a critical appraisal of theory and practice on the subject of freshwater field tests for hazard assessment. It is an authoritative and comprehensive summary of knowledge about freshwater field tests, with particular emphasis on their optimization for scientific and regulatory purposes. This valuable reference covers both lotic and lentic outdoor systems and addresses the choice of endpoints and test methodology. Instructive case histories show how to extrapolate test results to the real world.

This book provides an overview of recent advances in technologies for water treatment processes, such as green technology, nano-adsorbents, photocatalysts, advanced oxidation, membranes separation and sustainable technologies. Advances in membrane technology and fabrication process is presented in detail. Latest approaches like microbial treatment, electro chemical and solar energy-based treatment techniques were presented. Also, the use of sustainable and energy efficient approaches were discussed.* The book presents the negative impact of inorganic and organic pollutants on the natural environment and human health. It describes and discussing the advanced membrane technologies, novel green adsorbents, microbial treatment techniques, electro chemical and solar based removal techniques It also compares the most effective methods of removing toxic contaminants from water solutions with the use of sustainable and energy efficient approaches It also presents the life cycle assessment of emerging technologies in industrial wastewater treatment and desalination as well as presents the benchmarking of energy efficiency during treatment process

This second edition of EPA's bestselling book, Description and Sampling of Contaminated Soils: A Field Guide, Second Edition, has been revised and significantly expanded over the original edition. An ideal reference for anyone involved in site investigations, this guide describes how to determine the amount and extent of soil contamination and potential for movement of contaminants in the soil and groundwater. It contains checklists, tables, and step-by-step descriptions of methods and procedures for:
Cost-effective, detailed site investigations for evaluating the potential for contaminant transport
Field collection of information on soil engineering properties required for remediation selection and design
This guide also features an adaptation of soil description procedures used by the U.S. Soil Conservation Service (SCS) for investigating contaminated sites. The SCS soil description and classification procedures, when used in combination with the Unified Soil Classification System currently used by geologists and engineers, greatly improves contaminated site assessments.

This volume examines every potential means of exposure to water contaminants, provides in-depth discussions on toxicology, and explains up-to-date techniques for evaluating human health risk. It develops a methodology for assessing the cumulative absorbed dose of contaminants through all routes of exposure, including ingestion, inhalation and dermal. Federal and state efforts to monitor and treat water are examined.

Federal regulations have required thousands of underground storage tanks (USTs) to be dug up and removed or replaced. The contamination of soil and ground water from leaking USTs has become widespread and has produced an overwhelming number of sites that require remediation.
Assessment and Remediation of Petroleum Contaminated Sites presents the broad scope of the remedial process from initial site assessment to closure in an integrated, understandable format. The book guides you effortlessly through regulatory requirements, site assessments and sampling, and remediation methods. RCRA and CERCLA federal regulations are addressed. The chemistry and toxicology of petroleum hydrocarbons in the remediation process are explained, and factors affecting soil remediation are discussed. Environmental assessments, site characterizations, remediation planning, and remediation methods are all covered in detail. The book is an essential guide for environmental consultants, regulatory agency personnel, engineers, and environmental attorneys.

The ocean is the ultimate sink for all liquid waste and has for many years been the recipient of both treated and untreated sewage waste. This book offers a comprehensive study on the subject of ocean disposal of these effluents. The early chapters cover the philosophy of outfall design, properties of sewage from developed towns and an overview of water quality regulations in New Zealand, Great Britain and the U.S. Alternative ways of satisfying these regulations are discussed. The book also provides information required to design outfall pipelines and diffusers. The methods of calculating the initial dilution and the investigations necessary to compute the further dispersion of the effluent are discussed. A brief discussion of the problems of salt water intrusion, of outfall construction and post construction monitoring is presented at the end of the book.

Protecting environmental quality while pursuing economic development poses a particularly difficult challenge to the countries of Central and Eastern Europe, where political and economic systems are changing rapidly following decades of environmental neglect and economic mismanagement. Advanced industrial nations also face difficult decisions about priorities and procedures for providing financial assistance to the region. In order to identify workable solutions, Pollution Abatement Strategies in Central and Eastern Europe investigates some of the leading pollution problems that these countries now face and examines the link between economic restructuring and environmental improvement. Contributors to the volume assess the changes in the region's environmental conditions likely to result from economic restructuring and the benefits that might arise from improvements. They also consider the design of effective environmental policies for economies in transition, including the need to introduce or reform basic economic, legal, and regulatory constructs. Comparisons of incentive-based versus command-and-control environmental policies suggest that, despite the difficulties in implementing them, incentive-based policy options are worth pursuing in Central and Eastern Europe.

Assessing natural resource damages often requires the use of nonmarket valuation techniques that were developed for use in benefit-cost analyses. Natural resource damage assessment dramatically changes the context for applying them. Two aspects of this context are especially important. First, damages are to be measured by the monetary value of the losses people experience, including their use and nonuse values, because of injuries to natural resources---a process requiring careful delineation of how the injuries connect to the resource's services. Second, a single identified entry---not generalized, anonymous taxpayers---must pay damages based on what is measured, and evaluations of the measurement techniques take place not in agency meeting rooms but in courtrooms. Contributors to Valuing Natural Assets examine the ways in which requirements for damage assessment change how the measures are used, presented, received, and defended. Drawing upon their personal involvement with the process and the research issues it has raised---both in providing analysis for defendants or plaintiffs in damage assessment cases and in writing for academic journals---their chapters reflect individual research programs that temper the rigorous demands of scholarship with the equally demanding standards of litigation.

Environmental pollution resulting from widespread pesticide application has become a serious worldwide problem. Plant Pathogenesis and Disease Control is an important new reference that addresses this problem by exploring the biochemical and molecular mechanisms of plant pathogenesis and emphasizing the use of "pest control agents" rather than "pesticides" for plant disease control. Topics examined include pathogenicity, the resistance of plants against pathogens, the offensive and defensive struggle between hosts and parasites, methods for using natural defense mechanisms to develop environmentally sound disease control agents, and the use of modern biotechnology for plant disease control. The book will be an essential reference for phytopathologists, plant biochemists, pesticide chemists, mycologists, plant cell technologists, and agricultural researchers.

Introduces the most up-to-date techniques for soil remediation, including chemical fixation/stabilization, soil vapor extraction, thermally enhanced vapor stripping, biodegradation, and air spargingwritten in a style accessible to nonspecialists. Desc4ibes the ex shu technique of thermal desorption of soil contaminants-a low-cost aftemative to incineration for the removal of organics.

Basic Environmental Toxicology provides a thorough, systematic introduction to environmental toxicology and addresses many of the effects of pollutants on humans, animals, and the environment. Readers are introduced to the fundamentals of toxicology and ecotoxicology, the effects of different types of toxicants, and how toxicants affect different compartments of the environment. Fundamental aspects of environmental health, occupational health, detection of pollutants, and risk assessment are discussed. The book is excellent for anyone involved in risk assessment or risk management, toxicologists, state and local public health officials, environmental engineers, industrial managers, consultants, and students taking environmental toxicology courses.

A Special Publication of the Society of Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry (SETAC)
Aquatic Mesocosm Studies in Ecological Risk Assessment discusses the methods currently used for conducting simulated field studies and provides a series of case histories in which mesocosm type studies have been used to assess the impact of pesticides on aquatic ecosystems. Specific chapters address the dosing and exposure components of such studies and how they influence experimental design. Advantages and disadvantages of various statistical designs are addressed in detail. Regulatory aspects of the design and interpretation of these studies are also covered. The book will be a superb reference for aquatic biologists, ecologists, toxicologists, environmental toxicologists, environmental chemists, and regulatory personnel.

Trace Elements in Coal and Coal Combustion Residues focuses on trace metal chemistry of coal and coal combustion residues. Special emphasis is placed on management of coal combustion residues in electric power plants and the influence of coal and associated residues on soils, plants, water, and animals. Topics covered include a brief summary of research sponsored by Electric Power Research Institute, environmental pollution from coal combustion plants in low-rainfall regions, accumulation of trace elements in freshwater mussels near a power plant, testing to evaluate fossil fuel wastes by chemicals and isotopes, transport of metals from coal piles and ash impoundments, leachability and toxicity of metals in fly ash, and plant absorption of chemicals from ash. The book will be a useful reference for environmental and reclamation consultants, environmental engineers, toxicologists, environmental regulatory personnel, officials with electric power utilities and water treatment plants, and soil scientists.

This volume sets out the issues behind environment-related diseases caused by inadequate sanitation, contaminated water, airborne pollution, garbage, overcrowding and dangerous sites. It describes the development of actions to address these hazards and to rectify living conditions in the long term.