The global prevalence of neurodevelopmental disorders is accelerating. Numbers of children affected by an autism spectrum disorder (ASD) in the United States have reached 1 in 88 -- 1 in 56 among boys -- and even more children have developed attention deficit/hyperactivity disorders (ADHD). The burden of these disorders to individuals and society overall is enormous; ASD alone costs the United States a staggering $130 billion, with ADHD costs reaching similar heights. Genetic causes of these neurodevelopmental disorders cannot account for such radically increased rates of incidence. The causes must also implicate environmental chemicals, many of which have been shown to disrupt normal thyroid function. In this book, Barbara Demeneix makes the case that thyroid hormone signaling bridges the environment and gene programs needed for brain development--and that environmental chemicals that disrupt normal thyroid function pose significant risks to the inherited intelligence and mental health of future generations. The first chapter provides an historical overview of documented cases in which environmental pollution has caused IQ loss across populations. The following chapters explain the physiology of thyroid hormone action, the importance of iodine and selenium for thyroid hormone signaling and brain development, and why thyroid hormone is such a sensitive target for environmental pollution. The final chapters discuss the role of gene-environment interactions in neurodevelopmental disorders and address what can and must be done by individuals, associations, and decision-makers to staunch these epidemics.

As the public increasingly questioned the war in Vietnam, a group of American scientists deeply concerned about the use of Agent Orange and other herbicides started a movement to ban what they called "ecocide."

David Zierler traces this movement, starting in the 1940s, when weed killer was developed in agricultural circles and theories of counterinsurgency were studied by the military. These two trajectories converged in 1961 with Operation Ranch Hand, the joint U.S.-South Vietnamese mission to use herbicidal warfare as a means to defoliate large areas of enemy territory.

Driven by the idea that humans were altering the world's ecology for the worse, a group of scientists relentlessly challenged Pentagon assurances of safety, citing possible long-term environmental and health effects. It wasn't until 1970 that the scientists gained access to sprayed zones confirming that a major ecological disaster had occurred. Their findings convinced the U.S. government to renounce first use of herbicides in future wars and, Zierler argues, fundamentally reoriented thinking about warfare and environmental security in the next forty years.

Incorporating in-depth interviews, unique archival collections, and recently declassified national security documents, Zierler examines the movement to ban ecocide as it played out amid the rise of a global environmental consciousness and growing disillusionment with the containment policies of the cold war era.

International concern in scientific, industrial, and governmental communi ties over traces of xenobiotics in foods and in both abiotic and biotic en vironments has justified the present triumvirate of specialized publications in this field: comprehensive reviews, rapidly published research papers and progress reports, and archival documentations. These three international publications are integrated and scheduled to provide the coherency essential for nonduplicative and current progress in a field as dynamic and complex as environmental contamination and toxicology. This series is reserved ex clusively for the diversified literature on "toxic" chemicals in our food, our feeds, our homes, recreational and working surroundings, our domestic an imals, our wildlife and ourselves. Tremendous efforts worldwide have been mobilized to evaluate the nature, presence, magnitude, fate, and toxicology of the chemicals loosed upon the earth. Among the sequelae of this broad new emphasis is an undeniable need for an articulated set of authoritative publications, where one can find the latest irr,portant world literature pro duced by these emerging areas of science together with documentation of pertinent ancillary legislation. Research directors and legislative or administrative advisers do not have the time to scan the escalating number of technical publications that may contain articles impbrtant to current responsibility. Rather, these individuals need the background provided by detailed reviews and the assurance that the latest information is made available to them, all with minimal literature searching.

This book introduces readers to the fundamentals of simulating and analyzing built and natural environments using the Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) method. CFD offers a powerful tool for dealing with various scientific and engineering problems and is widely used in diverse industries. This book focuses on the most important aspects of applying CFD to the study of urban, buildings, and indoor and outdoor environments. Following the logical procedure used to prepare a CFD simulation, the book covers e.g. the governing equations, boundary conditions, numerical methods, modeling of different fluid flows, and various turbulence models. Furthermore, it demonstrates how CFD can be applied to solve a range of engineering problems, providing detailed hands-on exercises on air and water flow, heat transfer, and pollution dispersion problems that typically arise in the study of buildings and environments. The book also includes practical guidance on analyzing and reporting CFD results, as well as writing CFD reports/papers.

This two-volume work is an effort to provide a common platform to environmental engineers, microbiologists, chemical scientists, plant physiologists and molecular biologists working with a common aim of sustainable solutions to varied environmental contamination issues. Chapters explore biological and non-biological strategies to minimize environmental pollution. Highly readable entries attempt to close the knowledge gap between plant - microbial associations and environmental remediation. Volume 1 focuses on important concepts such as biological remediation strategies to enhance soil quality at contaminated sites; synergistic influences of tolerant plants and rhizospheric microbial strains on the remediation of pesticide contaminated soil, and the role of plant types such as hyperaccumulator plants in the cleanup of polluted soils. Readers will discover mechanisms and underlying natural inherent traits of various plants and microbes for tolerating, excluding, remediating, accumulating, or metabolizing a variety of pollutants.

The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) established the "Committee on the Challenges of Modern Society" (CCMS) at the November 1969 meeting of the North Atlantic Council. The CCMS was charged with developing meaningful environmen tal and social programs that complement other international pro grams, and with showing leadership, first, in solution of exist ing problems and, second, in development of long-range goals for environmental protection in the NATO sphere of influence and in other countries as well. A first Pilot Study on Air Pollution was initiated by the CCMS at its inaugural meeting in December 1969. The United States (Environmental Protection Agency) has been the pilot nation with the Federal Republic of Germany (Federal Minis try of the Interior) and Turkey (Scientific and Technical Rese arch Council) as co-pilot nations. The Pilot Study on Air Pollution was an action program de signed to demonstrate and encourage the utilization of existing knowledge for the development of air quality management programs. It entailed the demonstration of a systems approach to air quali ty management. Case studies have been carried out in Ankara, Turkey; Frankfurt, Federal Republic of Germany; St. Louis, U.S.; Oslo, Norway; and South Holland Region, The Netherlands (NATO/CCMS Report No. 6, Appendices A- E)."

The population explosion that began in the 1960s has been accompanied by a decrease in the quality of the natural environment, e.g. pollution of the air, water and soil with essential and toxic trace elements. Numerous poisonings of people and animals with highly toxic anthropogenic Hg and Cd in the 20th century prompted the creation of the abiotic environment, mainly in developed countries. However, the system is insufficient for long-term exposure to low concentrations of various substances that are mainly ingested through food and water. This problem could be addressed by the monitoring of sentinels - organisms that accumulate trace elements and as such reflect the rate and degree of environmental pollution. Usually these are long-lived vertebrates - herbivorous, omnivorous and carnivorous birds and mammals, especially game species. This book describes the responses of the sentinels most commonly used in ecotoxicological studies to 17 trace elements.

Reviews of Environmental Contamination and Toxicology publishes authoritative reviews on the occurrence, effects, and fate of pesticide residues and other environmental contaminants. It will keep you informed of the latest significant issues by providing in-depth information in the areas of analytical chemistry, agricultural microbiology, biochemistry, human and veterinary medicine, toxicology, and food technology.

This book aims to stimulate new thinking on the roles of river contracts in the protection and management of hydrographic resources and ecosystems and in the sustainable development of dependent territories and communities. Up-to-date information is provided on a range of topics relating to river contracts, including their relevance to implementation of the EU Water Framework Directive on integrated river basin management. The importance of river contracts for innovation in territorial planning and governance is explored with the aid of comparative analysis between France and Italy that encompasses water management policies, legislative frameworks, contents and procedures, and stakeholder rules and participation. This analysis is supported by enlightening case studies in urbanized and rural contexts within the two countries. The book will be of high interest for all who wish to understand the potential of river contracts to create innovative forums for dialogue and knowledge sharing between public/private stakeholders and local communities and to prompt a new form of governance of river ecosystems and territories that is compliant with the subsidiarity principle.

In a time when an unquestionable link between anthropogenic emissions of greenhouse gases and climatic changes has finally been acknowledged and * widely documented through IPCC reports, the need for precise estimates of greenhouse gas (GHG) production rates and emissions from natural as well as managed ecosystems has risen to a critical level. Future agreements between nations concerning the reduction of their GHG emissions will - pend upon precise estimates of the present level of these emissions in both natural and managed terrestrial and aquatic environments. From this viewpoint, the present volume should prove to a benchmark contribution because it provides very carefully assessed values for GHG emissions or exchanges between critical climatic zones in aquatic en- ronments and the atmosphere. It also provides unique information on the biases of different measurement methods that may account for some of the contradictory results that have been published recently in the literature on this subject. Not only has a large array of current measurement methods been tested concurrently here, but a few new approaches have also been developed, notably laser measurements of atmospheric CO concentration 2 gradients. Another highly useful feature of this book is the addition of - nitoring and process studies as well as modeling.

This is the first publication to offer a comprehensive and balanced view of atmospheric acidity. It is organised in three sections. The first part consists of reviews of sources of acidic compounds, the second part outlines the environmental consequences and the final part discusses the technological, legal and political aspects of control strategies.

"Curlews give their liquid, burbling call, a call of pure happiness, the music of the fells." Ella Pontefract, 1936, Wensleydale The North of England abounds with beauty, from unspoiled beaches in Northumberland to the dramatic Lakeland Fells, for so long celebrated by writers and artists. Wide estuaries, winding rivers, sheer cliffs, rushing waterfalls, ancient woodland, limestone pavements, and miles of hedgerows and drystone walls sustainably built and rebuilt over centuries - all form part of its rich heritage. But these are, too, contested and depleted landscapes. Today the curlew's call is isolated, and many other species are in decline. Industry, urban sprawl and climate chaos threaten our environment on a previously unimagined scale. And while stereotypes persist - of dark satanic mills or "bleak" moorland - the imperative of conservation is all too often overlooked for short-term economic interests. This essential volume reminds us how and why Northern people have risen to the challenge of defending their open spaces, demanding action on pollution and habitat loss. Contemporary writers including Sarah Hall, Lee Schofield, Benjamin Myers and Lemn Sissay take their place alongside those who wrote in previous centuries. Together, the voices in this one-of-a-kind anthology testify that North Country is a place apart.

Recognized experts present incisive analysis of both fundamental and applied problems in this continuation of a highly acclaimed series. Topics discussed include: A thorough and mathematical treatment of periodic phenomena, with consideration of new theories about the transition between `order' and `chaos'; Impedance spectroscopy as applied to the study of kinetics and mechanisms of electrode processes; The use of stoichiometric numbers in mechanism analysis; The electro-osmotic dewatering of clays with important implications for the processing of industrial waste and geotechnical; stabilization; Magnetic effects in electrolytic processes and the electrolytic Hall effect; and The computer analysis and modeling of mass transfer and fluid flow. These authoritative studies will be invaluable for researchers in engineering, electrochemistry, analytical chemistry, materials science, physical chemistry, and corrosion science.

The end result of policy-related experimental and theoretical scientific work on the abatement of atmospheric emissions is a hierarchy of computer models that can be used to analyse and predict the behaviour of pollutants on urban, local regional and global scales. Such models are required to simulate an extremely complex natural situation in which a non-linear chemistry must be included together with the vagaries of the meteorology and the terrain. This book describes recent advances in the development and application of models on all scales, and in the techniques for the estimation and verification of emissions. It includes reviews of recent work together with detailed results and provides a useful picture of the field in a European context.

This monograph is devoted to different aspects associated with citric acid, inorganic citrates and their aqueous and organic solutions. It includes information about properties, occurrence and technological applications of citric acid and inorganic citrates. Phase equilibria - melting, freezing, boiling, vapour pressures, solubilities of citric acid in water, organic solvents and ternary systems are presented, correlated, and analyzed. Dynamic properties - viscosities, diffusion coefficients, electrical conductivities and surface tensions are examined. Mathematical representations of citric acid dissociation, in electrolyte solutions and in buffers are discussed. Citric acid chemistry - syntheses of citric acid, neutralization, degradation, oxidation, esterification, formation of anhydrides, amides and citrate-based siderophores is reviewed.

Environmental chemistry is a fast developing science aimed at deciphering fundamental mechanisms ruling the behaviour of pollutants in ecosystems. Applying this knowledge to current environmental issues leads to the remediation of environmental media, and to new, low energy, low emission, sustainable processes. Nanotechnology applications for alternative energies such as solar power, fuel cells, hydrogen and lithium batteries are reviewed in the first section. Recent investigations on carbon nanotubes, nanocatalysts and cyclodextrins disclose unprecedented techniques to monitor and clean pollutants such as greenhouse gases, heavy metals, pesticides, pathogens occurring in water, air and soil. The second section reviews the risks for human health of critical pollutants such as endocrine disruptors, dioxins and heavy metals contaminating seafood and sediments. An exhaustive review of DDT isomers reveals unexpected mechanisms of DDT transfer to fishes. A chapter on pollutant geochronology using river sedimentary archives provides novel insights on pollution history since the beginning of the anthropocene.

This book will be a valuable source of information for engineers and students developing novel applied techniques to monitor and clean pollutants in air, wastewater, soils and sediments.

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The twelve chapters of this volume aim to provide a complete manual for using noble gases in terrestrial geochemistry, covering applications which range from high temperature processes deep in the Earth's interior to tracing climatic variations using noble gases trapped in ice cores, groundwaters and modern sediments. Other chapters cover noble gases in crustal (aqueous, CO2 and hydrocarbon) fluids and laboratory techniques for determining noble gas solubilities and diffusivities under geologically relevant conditions. Each chapter deals with the fundamentals of the analysis and interpretation of the data, detailing sampling and sampling strategies, techniques for analysis, sources of error and their estimation, including data treatment and data interpretation using recent case studies.

This book presents a unified outlook on counter-current, ion size exclusion, supercritical fluids, high-performance thin layers, and gas and size exclusion chromatographic techniques used for the separation and purification of organic and inorganic analytes. It also describes a number of green techniques, green sample preparation methods and optimization of solvent consumption in the chromatographic analysis of organic and inorganic analytes. This book offers a valuable resource not only for learners, but also for more experienced chromatographers, conveying a deeper understanding of green chromatographic techniques, green solvents and preparation methods.
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This two-volume work is a testament to the increasing interest in the role of microbes in sustainable agriculture and food security. Advances in microbial technologies are explored in chapters dealing with topics such as plant-microbe interactions, rhizoremediation and cyanoremediation, and bio-immobilization. Volume II is a collection of research findings that invites readers to examine the application of microbes in pollution reduction, decontamination of agro- and aquatic ecosystems, and remediation of various toxic compounds. Highly readable entries attempt to close the knowledge gap between soil microbial associations and sustainable agriculture. Traditional agricultural management techniques have relied heavily on application of chemical fertilizers and pesticides; and recent land use change practices have led to over exploitation of natural resources. Strategies outlined here simplify a complicated picture of the way microbial communities can improve the quality of environment and eliminate food scarcity in the coming generations. This work is a significant contribution to research in this increasingly important discipline of soil sciences, and will appeal to researchers in microbiology, agriculture, environmental sciences, and soil and crop sciences.

"Climatic Change and Water Resources in the Middle East and North Africa" is dedicated to high-priority topics related to the impact of climate change on water resources in a water scarce region. The subject is described and discussed in three main chapters and different case studies. The three main chapters are (1) Climatic changes - sources and effects on the water cycle, (2) Impact of climate change on water resources, (3) Water resources and water management. These chapters are split up into further 26 sections. A total of 64 individuals from many countries have made contributions to this book. All topics in this book are complimentary and contribute to a comprehensive understanding of the interactions between global climate change, world water cycle and water resources. A valuable and meaningful interdisciplinary mixture of topics is combined in this book which will be of great interest to many scientists.

There is widespread public concern about the effects of nitrate derived from farming on water quality and public health. But research on nitrate during the past decade has revealed wide discrepancies between public perceptions and reality. The main problems from nitrate are ecological changes in coastal and estuarine waters and nitrous oxide in the atmosphere. This gas, largely derived from nitrate, is a threat to the ozone layer in the stratosphere and is also a greenhouse gas. This book builds on "Farming, Fertilizers and the Nitrate Problem" (CABI, 1991) by Addiscott, Whitmore and Powlson but has been restructured to take account of new developments and to bring out more clearly the role of politicians and economists in the "nitrate problem."

The 9th Highway and Urban Environment Symposium (9HUES) was held in Madrid, Spain, from 9-11 June 2008. HUES is run by Chalmers University of Technology within the Alliance for Global Sustainability (The AGS). HUES was initiated by Professor Ron Hamilton at Middlesex Polytechnic (now University) in the early 1980s and had the title "Highway Pollution." The initial aim was to measure and assess challenges in highway pollution, with a strong emphasis on urban photochemical smog, ozone formation and particle release. After the first symposium, the emphasis on air pollution issues continued through to Munich in 1989 where diesel particulate issues and the relevance to health through measurements of PM10 emerged. The focus on air quality issues was also strengthened. In parallel, the symposium started to receive an increasing number of scientific contributions from the area of urban run off, indeed to the extent that the title of the symposium was changed to "Highway and Urban Pollution." Since then the importance of science in support of policy became increasingly important as a key aspect of the symposium. 9HUES was held at TRANSyT- Universidad Politecnica de Madrid, Spain to provide a professional and scientific forum on global examples of the science required to support pathways to a positive and sustainable future in the highway and urban environment."

Subject of the book is Uranium and its migration in aquatic environments. The following subjects are emphasised: Uranium mining, Phosphate mining, mine closure and remediation, Uranium in groundwater and in bedrock, biogeochemistry of Uranium, environmental behavior, and modeling. Particular results from the leading edge of international research are presented.

Miao Guo's PhD thesis provides scientific insights into the environmental issues related to biocomposites based on starch-polyvinyl alcohol (PVOH) blends. The author contributes significantly to the methodological issues underlying the Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) modelling approach. As well as presenting complete LCA inventories using primary data from a variety of sources, Guo develops a new modelling approach incorporating the process-oriented biogeochemistry model Denitrification-Decomposition (DNDC) into site-specific LCA studies to simulate carbon and nitrogen dynamics in the wheat agro-ecosystem. This thesis addresses important LCA data quality issues by using comprehensive sensitivity and uncertainty analyses and has resulted in a large number of publications in internationally renowned journals.