Chemical substances, physical agents and built structures bear various types of hazard due to their immanent toxic, mutagenic, carcinogenic, reprotoxic and sensitizing character or being destructive for the immune and hormone system. The first step in managing the environment contaminated by chemical substances is to characterize the hazard and quantify their risk manifested when the chemical substances interact with the environment. Chemical models - using only chemical analytical data - are still the most widespread ones for the assessment of adverse effects and the fate and behavior of chemicals in the environment. The chemical models rely on the assumption that the adverse effect is proportional to the concentration, which does not apply in most cases. Other models, such as biological and ecological ones or the regression models are discussed in detail and compared to each other. Environmental risk management has two compartments: risk assessment and risk reduction. Environmental risk comes to a large extent from adverse effects of chemicals and contaminated land; that is why measuring and testing these adverse effects play a key role in risk management.Environmental Toxicology deals with direct measurement of adverse effects of pure chemicals or environmental samples. This book overviews hundreds of standardized and non-standardized, generic and site-specific, conventional and innovative, animal and alternative test methods and demonstrates the utilization of their results for the purposes of regulation and managing environmental risk. The volume gives a general overview on environmental toxicology adapted for engineers. In addition to human, aquatic and terrestrial toxicity measuring methods, new trends in environmental analytics and the integration and complementary use of chemical analyses and the testing of effects are described. Bioavailability and accessibility as key parameters are detailed and the interactive and dynamic testing for their characterization is introduced. Great emphasis is placed on the evaluation and interpretation of environmental fate and adverse effect data as well as the simulation of environmental processes and effects in microcosms and mesocosms.

The four volumes of the book series "Engineering Tools for Environmental Risk Management" deal with environmental management, assessment & monitoring tools, environmental toxicology and risk reduction technologies. This last volume focuses on engineering solutions usually needed for industrial contaminated sites, where nature's self-remediation is inefficient or too slow. The success of remediation depends on the selection of an increasing number of conventional and innovative methods. This volume classifies the remedial technologies and describes the reactor approach to understand and manage in situ technologies similarly to reactor-based technologies. Technology types include physicochemical, biological or ecological solutions, where near-natural, sustainable remediation has priority. A special chapter is devoted to natural attenuation, where natural changes can help achieve clean-up objectives. Natural attenuation and biological and ecological remediation establish a serial range of technologies from monitoring only to fully controlled interventions, using ' just' the natural ecosystem or sophisticated artificial living systems. Passive artificial ecosystems and biodegradation-based remediation - in addition to natural attenuation - demonstrate the use of these 'green' technologies and how engineering intervention should be kept at a minimum to limit damage to the environment and create a harmonious ecosystem. Remediation of sites contaminated with organic substances is analyzed in detail including biological and physicochemical methods. Comprehensive management of pollution by inorganic contaminants from the mining industry, leaching and bioleaching and acid mine drainage is studied in general and specifically in the case of an abandoned mine in Hungary where the innovative technology of combined chemical and phytostabilization has been applied. The series of technologies is completed by electrochemical remediation and nanotechnologies. Monitoring, verification and sustainability analysis of remediation provide a comprehensive overview of the management aspect of environmental risk reduction by remediation. This book series focuses on the state of knowledge about the environment and its conscious and structured application in environmental engineering, management and decision making.

The past fifty years have seen rapid development of public and governmental awareness of environmental issues. Engineers and scientists have made tangible contributions to environmental protection. However, further theoretical and practical developments are necessary to address mankind 's growing demands on the environment. Construction for a Sustainable Environment includes recent developments relating to construction and the environment, including: (1) engineered disposal of wastes; (2) treatment of contaminated and derelict land; (3) sustainable construction and infrastructure; (4) supporting the natural environment. Construction for a Sustainable Environment presents clear evidence that common sustainability issues are encountered throughout the world and that only a concerted, international and interdisciplinary approach can tackle these issues.

The co-disposal of domestic waste with industrial waste can represent a serious hazard to prime sources of drinking water throughout the world. Containing the latest research on the risks to groundwater over time, this book provides a scientific case for more sustainable landfill construction - over overwhelming implications for changes in waste management legislation as well as engineering practice.

Deponieabdichtungssysteme sollen ihre Funktionsfahigkeit uber einen weitaus langeren Zeitraum als konventionelle Bauwerke erhalten. Bei Basisabdichtungen kommt erschwerend hinzu, dass sie praktisch nicht zu reparieren sind, keiner Wartung unterzogen werden konnen und Schadensfalle, d. h. Grundwasserkontaminationen erst mit grosser zeitlicher Verzogerung registriert werden konnen. Daher ist die Optimierung von Deponieabdichtungen besonders im Hinblick auf das Langzeitverhalten der zum Einsatz kommenden Baumaterialien von grossem Interesse. Neueste Erkenntnisse erlauben einen aktuellen Einblick in die Eigenschaften von Materialien und deren Langzeitverhalten, vor allem in ihrer Funktion zur Erfullung des Vorsorgeprinzips fur Deponien als Bauwerke mit hoher sicherheitstechnischer Relevanz.

The theory and practice of reducing the environmental risk of chemicals is a key issue in environmental protection. This volume deals with remediation technologies and introduces their functional classification, applicability and relation to natural risk reduction processes. We demonstrate how the proper characterization and understanding of the environmental technologies helps decision making and finding the problem-suited engineering tools. The reactor approach is an important model for "in situ "remediation which supports professionals in applying well-controlled bioengineering or eco-engineering tools combined with conventional physical or chemical technologies and processes. The first task is finding the best catalyst which may be a chemical agent, a living organism or the soil community. The second task is ensuring optimal conditions for the operation of the catalyst by environmental parameter control; redox-potential manipulation; optimal nutrient supply, etc. The final engineering task is the verification of the applied technology feedbacks to the complex environmental risk management. The risk management and decision-making procedure relies to a great extent on innovation, problem-specific solutions, evaluation and verification of remedial technologies, as well as their integration into a risk reduction strategy.
The comprehensive overview on the approaches, concepts and technologies is followed by the analysis of natural attenuation, biological and ecological engineering tools, artificial ecosystems and living machines, biodegradation-based remediation, including those based on co-metabolism, bioleaching, phytoremediation, physical, chemical, electrochemical and thermal remediation. The book deals with nanotechnologies, reactive barriers and zones, soil amelioration and remediation using wastes. General technology descriptions and concrete applications are discussed. Risk reduction strategies and options, decision making, fitting the strategies and technologies to the problem or the contaminated site are also dealt with in detail.
The evaluation of a technology in advance in aid of decision making and planning, during technology application for the validation of the plan, and after the application for verifying the technology are differentiated and explained in detail. The methodologies of risk assessment, socio-economic assessment, eco-efficiency and life-cycle assessment as well as multicriteria-analysis as an aggregating tool are presented and demonstrated by examples.

This is the third volume of the five-volume book series "Engineering Tools for Environmental Risk Management". The book series deals with the following topics: * Environmental deterioration and pollution, management of environmental problems * Environmental toxicology - a tool for managing chemical substances and contaminated environment * Assessment and monitoring tools, risk assessment * Risk reduction measures and technologies * Case studies for demonstration of the application of engineering tools The authors aim to describe interactions and options in risk management by providing a broad scientific overview of the environment, its human uses and the associated local, regional and global environmental problems; interpreting the holistic approach used in solving environmental protection issues; striking a balance between nature's needs and engineering capabilities; understanding interactions between regulation, management and engineering; obtaining information about novel technologies and innovative engineering tools. This third volume provides an overview on the basic principles, concepts, practices and tools of environmental monitoring and contaminated site assessment. The volume focuses on those engineering tools that enable integrated site assessment and decision making and ensure an efficient control of the environment. Some topics supporting sustainable land use and efficient environmental management are listed below: * Efficient management and regulation of contaminated land and the environment; * Early warning and environmental monitoring; * Assessment of contaminated land: the best practices; * Environmental sampling; * Risk characterization and contaminated matrix assessment; * Integrated application of physical, chemical, biological, ecological and (eco) toxicological characterization methods; * Direct toxicity assessment (DTA) and decision making; * Online analyzers, electrodes and biosensors for assessment and monitoring of waters.; * In situ and real-time measurement tools for soil and contaminated sites; * Rapid on-site methods and contaminant and toxicity assessment kits; * Engineering tools from omics technologies, microsensors to heavy machinery; * Dynamic characterization of subsurface soil and groundwater using membrane interface probes, optical and X-ray fl uorescence and ELCAD wastewater characterization; * Geochemical modeling: methods and applications; * Environmental assessment using cyclodextrins. This book series focuses on the state of knowledge about the environment and its conscious and structured application in environmental engineering, management and decision making.