Sediments:: Chemistry and Toxicity of In-Place Pollutants

This important volume-the product of a meeting of a select group of scientists-provides the most recent research results from the world's leaders in the study of toxic pollutants in sediments. It gives practical information on measuring and mapping distributions of concentrations of pollutants and their toxic effects in sediments. Also covered are the use and relative advantages and disadvantages of benthic chambers, sedimentation traps, box corers, "peepers" and other sampling techniques in sediment research and assessment. Important topics covered include: bioassay, elemental speciation, diffuse source problems, nutrient flux, biomethylation, bioavailability, and toxicity assessment. Will help in assessment and monitoring of chemistry, dynamics, bioavailability, and toxicity of pollutants, as well helping to chart courses for remedial action. This book will be of interest to anyone interested in the processes controlling the chemistry and movement of pollutants in sediments, especially: limnologists aquatic toxicologists engineers lake managers ecologists biologists environmental chemists

Table of Contents:
In-Place Pollutants and Diffuse Source Problems: Focus on Less Known Pollutants. Sediment Sampling Mapping and Data Analysis. Inorganic Sediment Chemistry and Elemental Speciation. Spatial and Temporal Variations in Microbial Processes in Aquatic Sediments: Implications for the Nutrient Status of Lakes. Mechanisms Controlling Fluxes of Nutrients Across the Sediment/Water Interface in a Eutrophic Lake. The Biomethylation and Cycling of Selected Metals and Metalloids in Aquatic Sediments. Biogenic Gas Production and Mobilization of In-Place Sediment Contaminants by Gas Ebullition. Bioavailability: How Sediment-Associated Organic Contaminants are Accumulated by Benthos or is Interstitial Water the Answer. Freshwater Sediment Quality Criteria: Toxicity Assessment. Pollution and Recovery of Lake Orta (N. Italy). An Operative System for Environmental Consequence Analysis for Aquatic Ecosystems. Subject Index.

About the Author :
Dr. Renato Baudo is Senior Scientist at the Italian Institute of Hydrobiology, National Research Council. He graduated from the High School of Chemical Engineering in 1969, adding a degree in Biological Sciences from the University of Milan in 1975. Since 1970 he has worked at the Italian Institute of Hydro-biology, National Research Council; his main interests are in the fields of cycling and ecotoxicological effects of trace elements and organic micropollutants in aquatic environments., He has been Consultant to the Italian Government and to the Commission of the European Communities for the protection of freshwater and marine life; he is also a member of the Council of the Society of Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry—Europe., John P. Giesy is Professor of Fisheries and Wildlife at Michigan State University in East Lansing, Michigan, where he is also affiliated with the Pesticide Research Center, Center for Environmental Toxicology and Ecology, and Evolutionary Biology Program. He attended Alma College in Alma, Michigan where he obtained a Bachelors of Science Degree summa cum laude with honors in Biology in 1970. Prof. Giesy obtained Masters and Doctor of Philosophy Degrees in Limnology from Michigan State University in 1971 and 1974, respectively. From 1974 until 1981 he was affiliated with the Savannah River Ecology Laboratory and a faculty member in the Department of Zoology at the University of Georgia. Prof. Giesy considers himself an aquatic toxicologist with interests in many aspects of this field, including both the fates and effects of potentially toxic compounds and elements. He has conducted research into the movement, bioaccumula-tion, and effects of toxic substances at different levels of biological organization, ranging from biochemical to ecosystem. Prof. Giesy has done extensive research in the areas of metal speciation, multispecies toxicity testing, biochemical indicators of stress in aquatic organisms, fate and effects of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, and photo-enhanced toxicity of organic compounds. Currently Prof. Giesy and his research group are actively studying the toxicity and reproductive effects of organic compounds on fish and fish-eating birds and mammals with a special interest in raptors such as hawks and eagles. Prof. Giesy has been active in the development and application of methods for the assessment of the toxicity of contaminated sediments, especially in the North American Great Lakes. He has received more than $6,000,000 from many local, state, federal, and international agencies and organizations to conduct his research, which has resulted in the publication of 121 peer-reviewed publications and hundreds of lectures, world-wide. Prof. Giesy works frequently in Europe with many universities, research establishments, and government agencies. He is the recipient of the Sigma Xi Meritorious Research Award and the Ciba-Geigy Agricultural Recognition Award. Prof. Giesy served as President of the Society of Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry in 1990-1991., Herbert Muntau is Senior Scientist at the Environment Institute Joint Research Centre of the Commission of the European Communities, Ispra, Italy. He holds degrees in Chemical Engineering and Chemistry, dedicating most of his 25-year professional career to the biogeochemical cycling of trace metals in aquatic ecosystems and the analytical aspects of such studies, including speciation. In the frame of these activities much attention was paid to the general problem of analytical reliability leading to the development of some one hundred environmental reference materials. In recent years the problems of in-place pollutants and pollutant non-point source identification and quantification have occupied major space in his research activities.