Reviews of Environmental Contamination and Toxicology attempts to provide concise, critical reviews of timely advances, philosophy and significant areas of accomplished or needed endeavor in the total field of xenobiotics, in any segment of the environment, as well as toxicological implications.

This book details three main topics: the screening and characterization of hydrocarbons from air, soil and water; technologies in the biodegradation of hydrocarbons; and the bioconversion of hydrocarbons for biofuel/chemicals, as well as recent developments in the remediation of hydrocarbons and their environmental benefits. The first section focuses on screening methods, qualitative and quantitative analysis of hydrocarbons from soil, air and water environments, speciation of hydrocarbons, and natural bioremediation strategies in such environments. The second section examines technologies for removing hydrocarbon contaminants from various environments, especially advanced technologies for the removal of hydrocarbons and in-situ and ex-situ remediation strategies and problems, as well as concrete case studies. The last section, covering the bioconversion of hydrocarbons for biofuel/chemicals, highlights the biochemicals and bioproducts developed from hydrocarbons, with a particular focus on biochemical and chemical technologies used to produce biopolymers, biofuel precursors and commodity chemicals from hydrocarbons.

This thesis examines the feasibility of using silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) as a viable disinfectant. It explores the opportunities and challenges of using AgNPs as an antimicrobial agent, and includes the latest research findings. It compares three kinds of AgNPs with regard to their antibacterial and antiviral effects; their sustainability in real water matrices; and their antiviral mechanisms. The outcome of this research equips the water industry with a better understanding of the capacity, extent and mechanisms of nanosilver disinfection. It is of interest to graduate students, academics and researchers in the area of nanotechnology and environmental engineering.

This book provides a critical, carefully researched, up-to-date summary of membranes for membrane bioreactors. It presents a comprehensive and self-contained outline of the fundamentals of membrane bioreactors, especially their relevance as an advanced water treatment technology. This outline helps to bring the technology to the readers' attention, and positions the critical topic of membrane fouling as one of the key impediments to its more widescale adoption. The target readership includes researchers and industrial practitioners with an interest in membrane bioreactors.

This book represents an important new contribution to the literature that presents practical and comprehensive solutions to mining activities. Its timely content has been prepared by several experts from around the world and its practical format addresses the major environmental predictive techniques required for the extraction and processing of metal resources. Packed with reviews and case studies, it covers current methods used to forecast environmental effects of metal mining.

The revised second edition updates and expands the discussion, and incorporates additional figures and illustrative problems. Improvements include a new chapter on basic chemistry, a more comprehensive chapter on hydrology, and an updated chapter on regulations and standards. This book presents the basic aspects of water quality, emphasizing physical, chemical, and biological factors. The study of water quality draws information from a variety of disciplines including chemistry, biology, mathematics, physics, engineering, and resource management. University training in water quality is often limited to specialized courses in engineering, ecology, and fisheries curricula. This book also offers a basic understanding of water quality to professionals who are not formally trained in the subject. Because it employs only first-year college-level chemistry and very basic physics, the book is well-suited as the foundation for a general introductory course in water quality. It is equally useful as a guide for self-study and an in-depth resource for general readers.

This SpringerBrief focuses on Acid Mine Drainage (AMD) in the three basins in the Witwatersrand, South Africa. It provides a background to AMD and its impactsfrom a social science perspective.The South African government and non-governmental organizations' response to AMD is assessed, as well the socio-economic and developmental effects of AMD. This volume, which is based on the author's Master's dissertation at UNISA, involves interviews with a range of experts in the field from government departments, environmental organisations (activists), the private sector (mining), tourism sector and the agricultural sector. The book discusses existing policy documents on AMD and provides recommendations in response to the many socio-economic impacts which have not been fully addressed. A literature review on the global context of AMD is provided. South Africa's water systems are already severely harmed by climate change, different forms of pollution, and poorly managed sanitation systems. For these reasons, the country is becoming increasingly water-stressed and therefore, water will continue to become much scarcer in the future. As a result of AMD's continued impact on South Africa's water systems, as a technical or scientific matter as well as the policy implications for the mining sector, water security and socio-economic sustainability has become a highly contested issue.

This volume offers an overview of the occurrence and distribution of personal care products in continental and marine waters, presents analytical methods and degradation technologies and discusses their impact on human health. Experts from different disciplines highlight major issues for each family of compounds related to their occurrence in the water column as well as in solid and biota samples, methodological strategies for their analysis, non-conventional degradation technologies, (eco)toxicity data and their human and environmental risk assessment. The book also includes a general introduction to personal care products, covering their properties, use, behaviour and regulatory framework, and a final chapter identifying knowledge gaps and future research trends. It will appeal to experts from various fields of research, including analytical and environmental chemistry, toxicology and environmental engineering.

This book highlights research in flood related areas and sustainable management conducted by researchers around the world, compiling their innovative work in order to share best practices for managing floods and recommended flood solutions. The individual papers cover the fundamentals and latest advances in the areas of flood research and management, providing in-depth coverage complemented by illustrations, diagrams and tables. The book offers a valuable source of information on methods and state-of-the art technology for effective flood management.

This book explores the industrial use of secure, permanent storage technologies for carbon dioxide (CO2), especially geological CO2 storage. Readers are invited to discover how this greenhouse gas could be spared from permanent release into the atmosphere through storage in deep rock formations. Themes explored here include CO2 reservoir management, caprock formation, bio-chemical processes and fluid migration. Particular attention is given to groundwater protection, the improvement of sensor technology, borehole seals and cement quality. A collaborative work by scientists and industrial partners, this volume presents original research, it investigates several aspects of innovative technologies for medium-term use and it includes a detailed risk analysis. Coal-based power generation, energy consuming industrial processes (such as steel and cement) and the burning of biomass all result in carbon dioxide. Those involved in such industries who are considering geological storage of CO2, as well as earth scientists and engineers will value this book and the innovative monitoring methods described. Researchers in the field of computer imaging and pattern recognition will also find something of interest in these chapters.

This volume provides a comprehensive perspective on geomorphic approaches to management of lowland alluvial rivers in North America and Europe. Many lowland rivers have been heavily managed for flood control and navigation for decades or centuries, resulting in engineered channels and embanked floodplains with substantially altered sediment loads and geomorphic processes. Over the past decade, floodplain management of many lowland rivers has taken on new importance because of concerns about the potential for global environmental change to alter floodplain processes, necessitating revised management strategies that minimize flood risk while enhancing environmental attributes of floodplains influenced by local embankments and upstream dams. Recognition of the failure of old perspectives on river management and the need to enhance environmental sustainability has stimulated a new approach to river management. The manner that river restoration and integrated management are implemented, however, requires a case study approach that takes into account the impact of historic human impacts to the system, especially engineering. The river basins examined in this volume provide a representative coverage of the drainage of North America and Europe, taking into account a range of climatic and physiographic provinces. They include the 1) Sacramento (California, USA), 2) San Joaquin (California), 3) Missouri (Missouri, USA), 4) Red (Manitoba, Canada and Minnesota, USA), 5) Mississippi (Louisiana, USA), 6) Kissimmee (Florida, USA), 7) Ebro (Spain), 8) Rhone (France), 9) Rhine (Netherlands), 10) Danube (Romania), and 11) Volga (Russian Federation) Rivers. The case studies covered in these chapters span a range of fluvial modes of adjustment, including sediment, channel, hydrologic regime, floodplains, as well as ecosystem and environmental associations.

This book presents the application of pulsed electrical discharges in water and water dispersions of metal nanoparticles in medicine (surgery, dentistry, and oncology), biology and ecology. The intensive electrical and shock waves represent a novel technique to destroy viruses and this way to  prepare anti-virus vaccines. The method of pulsed electrical discharges in water allows to decontaminate water from almost all known bacteria and spores of fungi being present in human beings. The nanoparticles used are not genotoxic and mutagenic. This book is useful for researchers and graduate students.

This book is intended for engineers, technicians and people who plan to use fuzzy control in more or less developed and advanced control systems for manufacturing processes, or directly for executive equipment. Assuming that the reader possesses elementary knowledge regarding fuzzy sets and fuzzy control, by way of a reminder, the first parts of the book contain a reminder of the theoretical foundations as well as a description of the tools to be found in the Matlab/Simulink environment in the form of a toolbox. The major part of the book presents applications for fuzzy controllers in control systems for various manufacturing and engineering processes. It presents seven processes and problems which have been programmed using fuzzy controllers. The issues discussed concern the field of Environmental Engineering. Examples are the control of a flood wave passing through a hypothetical, and then the real Dobczyce reservoir in the Raba River, which is located in the upper Vistula River basin in Southern Poland, the control and water management in a cascade of reservoirs, a broadly defined combustion process model, modern water heating systems  and many other.

This book is a product of Brazilian Academy of Sciences Study Group about water issue. The water cycle was addressed based on an integrated point of view, aiming at joining technological and ecological solutions and integrating quantitative and qualitative aspects of this important environmental asset. Issues such as the water resources management and irrigated agriculture, water and health, water and economy, conservation and reuse as management tools, water in the Brazilian semi arid, water in Amazon, urbanization and water resources, education for the sustainability of water resources, groundwater, availability, pollution and eutrophication of water and science, technology and innovation are of the utmost importance for this exact moment in Brazil, and particularly to the State of Sao Paulo. Addressing these issues will undoubtedly contribute towards a sustainable management of water resources trough the coordinated work of different fields of science, progressing a systemic view about water, that would then finally allow management professionals the possibility of an integral action in anticipating problems and thus anticipate solutions.

This book is about the consequences of the Fukushima disaster in light of their technological, societal, political, cultural and environmental origins. The magnitude of the nuclear accident is investigated in this book in the contexts of politics, economy, and society. The authors scrutinize the relationships between science, technology and society leading to this accident. Further, the authors reveal how these relationships were constructed historically. This book provides a case analysis on the Fukushima disaster in political, societal, economic and cultural dimensions. In addition, analyses for historically grown relationships between different societal spheres mouthing into disasters are presented using examples of the Minamata disease (Mercury pollution), Itai-Itai Disease (Cadmium pollution), BSE, and GMOs. With this book, Yuko Fujigaki achieves to connect local and cultural peculiarities with generalized scientific information and practices in a coherent, logical fashion to a comprehensive volume on a very actual topic of global significance. In light of a globally increasing energy gap, this book has a distinct global relevance, providing an honest account on different triggers mouthing into the nuclear disaster. This book not only gives a scientific account. It also can also contribute to prevent future disasters starting from similar vectors.

This book deals with the water policy and management in Canada. It discusses various problems and risks in the fresh and drinking water supply in the second largest country in the world. Mohammed Dore argues that water is underpriced and used wastefully in Canada. In selected case studies, he illustrates the major threats from human activity to Canadian freshwaters and drinking water resources, including manufacturing, mining, oil sands production, animal farming and agricultural use. Selected case studies include reviews of even dramatic incidences, e.g. the Walkerton tragedy of 2000, when 7 people were killed and 200 went onto permanent dialysis treatment because of water contamination with harmful pathogens. The book warns that wastewater treatment standards are often not sufficient, so that many drinking water resources are in peril of wastewater contamination. As most of the water resources are provincial responsibility, the book discusses the water management policies in the different provinces separately. Through a detailed discussion and statistical analyses, it can define water policy and management lessons that emerge from the investigated case studies. It ends by contrasting water policy and practice in Canada with the practice in some European countries.

This book pursues a comprehensive, multidisciplinary approach in order to analyze the relationship between water and food security. It demonstrates that most of the world’s economies lack sufficient water resources to secure their populations’ food requirements and are thus virtual importers of water. One of the most inspiring cases, which this book is rooted in, is Italy: the third largest net virtual water importer on earth. The book also shows that the sustainability of water depends on the extent to which societies recognize and take into account its value and contribution to agricultural production. Due to the large volumes of water required for food production, water and food security are in fact inextricably linked. Contributions from leading international experts and scholars in the field use the concepts of virtual water and water footprints to explain this relationship, with an eye to the empirical examples of wine, tomato and pasta production in Italy. This book provides a valuable resource for all researchers, professionals, policymakers and everyone else interested in water and food security.

This book presents a comprehensive overview of new and emerging nanotechnologies. It includes aspects of nanoparticle monitoring, toxicity, and public perception, and covers applications that address both crop growing and treatment of agricultural wastewater. Topics include nanoagrochemicals (nanofertilizers, -pesticides, -herbicides), nanobiosensors, and nanotechnologies for food processing, packaging, and storage, crop improvement and plant disease control. The group of expert authors is led by an experienced team of editors.

This book provides comprehensive research findings related to the environmental monitoring of radiation, levels of radioactive nuclides in various environments and dose estimation in residents after the Fukushima nuclear power plant accident caused severe environmental contamination with radioactive nuclides. At the beginning of the book, a technical review written by a leading researcher of nuclear reactor technology explains what happened at the power plant. The review is followed by a commentary from a former member of the International Commission on Radiological Protection, providing the reader with easily understandable information about the concept of radiation dosage. In the main part of the book, a series of scientific reports presents valuable data on the radiation surveys of the environment, environmental radioactivity, transfer models and parameters of radioactive nuclides and dose assessment among residents. These reports present a wide range of findings from the research carried out in a variety of activities by large governmental organizations as well as by small private groups and individuals. The reader thus will find a large collection of valuable and interesting data related to the environmental contamination by radioactive nuclides after the Fukushima accident. Although earlier reports on this issue have been made public, this book is the only publication to fully depict the actual situation by providing comprehensive data obtained by diverse organizations and individuals.

WATER RESOURCES AND ENVIRONMENT provides a detailed introduction to the full range of advanced, multidisciplinary techniques used in the study of water resources from understanding individual aquifers to the protection and management of water in a sustainable way, compatible with the preservation of the environment. Based on a masters course from UNESCO’s International Hydrological Program, this textbook is accompanied by color figures and graphics, illustrating clearly the content of the text and showing real examples from the field. Each chapter also contains a list of exercises and practical activities as well as case studies.

This book covers water quality indices (WQI) in depth - it describes what purpose they serve, how they are generated, what are their strengths and weaknesses, and how to make the best use of them. It is a concise and unique guide to WQIs for chemists, chemical/environmental engineers and government officials. Whereas it is easy to express the quantity of water, it is very difficult to express its quality because a large number of variables determine the water quality. WQIs seek to resolve the difficulty by translating a set of a large number of variables to a one-digit or a two-digit numeral. They are essential in communicating the status of different water resources in terms of water quality and the impact of various factors on it to policy makers, service personnel, and the lay public. Further they are exceedingly useful in the monitoring and management of water quality. With the importance of water and water quality increasing exponentially, the importance of this topic is also set to increase enormously because only with the use of indices is it possible to assess, express, communicate, and monitor the overall quality of any water source.

This book, Advances in Water Resources Engineering, Volume 14, covers the topics on watershed sediment dynamics and modeling, integrated simulation of interactive surface water and groundwater systems, river channel stabilization with submerged vanes, non-equilibrium sediment transport, reservoir sedimentation, and fluvial processes, minimum energy dissipation rate theory and applications, hydraulic modeling development and application, geophysical methods for assessment of earthen dams, soil erosion on upland areas by rainfall and overland flow, geofluvial modeling methodologies and applications, and environmental water engineering glossary.

This book examines the role of The International Maritime Organization (IMO) in the prevention and control of pollution of the marine environment from vessels with a particular reference to the current north-south tensions regarding the strategy for combating climate change in the maritime sector as well as the prevention of marine pollution from the ship-breaking industry. The IMO, a United Nations specialized agency, has been entrusted with the duty to provide machinery for cooperation among governments for the prevention and control of pollution of the marine environment from vessels. The organization is responsible for drafting legal instruments as well as for facilitating technical cooperation for the protection of the marine environment. Although IMO legal instruments are mainly targeted at the prevention of pollution of the marine environment from vessels, there is a trend towards a liberal interpretation of this, and the organization has expanded its work to areas like shipbreaking, which is essentially a land-based industry.

The various safety organizations working on drinking water all warn about unhealthy constituents, as well as elements that can cause corrosion or scaling on pipes and installations. However, drinking water may also provide a substantial portion of the daily mineral intake, especially for the elderly and children, or those at risk of deficiencies due to unhealthy eating habits or starvation. Thus, a holistic approach to drinking water is presented in this book and the scope is extended from standards for undesirable substances to the basic mineral composition of water, examining 22 nutrient elements and ions and 21 toxic substances. The function of the nutrients in the body, symptoms of deficiency and overload, and advantages of the minerals from drinking water are presented, as well as symptoms of toxic elements from drinking water. The authors also suggest healthy ranges of minerals and mineral ratios for drinking water. The book offers a valuable resource for the health evaluation of drinking waters, for private well owners, public water producers and safety organizations alike.

This volume presents the outcome of an Agriculture Workshop organized by the Gulf Research Centre Cambridge (GRCC) and held at Cambridge University, UK during the Gulf Research Meeting 11-14 July 2012. Co-directed by the editors, the workshop, entitled "Environmental Cost and Changing Face of Agriculture in the Gulf States" was attended by participants from Australia, Bahrain, India, Kuwait, Oman, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, UAE, UK and Morocco. These scientists, educators, researchers, policy makers and managers share their experience in agriculture in the Gulf States, with the aim of helping to improve agriculture production and thus bridge the gap between local production and the food import. The papers gathered here were presented at the workshop and have all passed through rigorous peer review by renowned scientists. The diverse papers present various aspects of agriculture production in the evolving face of climate change and dwindling water resources in the region. The book covers topics such as the prospects of agriculture in a changing climate; the potential of climate-smart agriculture; the impact of food prices, income and income distribution on food security; improved efficiency in water use; challenges in using treated wastewater in agriculture; investment in foreign agriculture and agricultural research and development. The papers span the nations of the Gulf Cooperation Council, with specific case studies set in Oman, Bahrain and Kuwait.