Environmental chemistry

Short description: Scientific study of the chemical and phenomena that occur in natural places

White bags filled with contaminated stones line the shore near an industrial oil spill in Raahe, Finland

Environmental chemistry is the scientific study of the chemical and biochemical phenomena that occur in natural places. It should not be confused with green chemistry, which seeks to reduce potential pollution at its source. It can be defined as the study of the sources, reactions, transport, effects, and fates of chemical species in the air, soil, and water environments; and the effect of human activity and biological activity on these. Environmental chemistry is an interdisciplinary science that includes atmospheric, aquatic and soil chemistry, as well as heavily relying on analytical chemistry and being related to environmental and other areas of science.

Environmental chemistry involves first understanding how the uncontaminated environment works, which chemicals in what concentrations are present naturally, and with what effects. Without this it would be impossible to accurately study the effects humans have on the environment through the release of chemicals.

Environmental chemists draw on a range of concepts from chemistry and various environmental sciences to assist in their study of what is happening to a chemical species in the environment. Important general concepts from chemistry include understanding chemical reactions and equations, solutions, units, sampling, and analytical techniques.[1]

## Contents

* 1 Contaminant
* 2 Environmental indicators
* 3 Applications
* 4 Methods
* 5 Published analytical methods
* 6 Notable environmental chemists
* 7 See also
* 8 References
* 9 Further reading
* 10 External links

## Contaminant

A contaminant is a substance present in nature at a level higher than fixed levels or that would not otherwise be there.[2][3] This may be due to human activity and bioactivity. The term contaminant is often used interchangeably with pollutant, which is a substance that has a detrimental impact on the surrounding environment.[4][5] Whilst a contaminant is sometimes defined as a substance present in the environment as a result of human activity, but without harmful effects, it is sometimes the case that toxic or harmful effects from contamination only become apparent at a later date.[6]

The "medium" such as soil or organism such as fish affected by the pollutant or contaminant is called a receptor, whilst a sink is a chemical medium or species that retains and interacts with the pollutant such as carbon sink and its effects by microbes.

## Environmental indicators

Main article: Earth:Freshwater environmental quality parameters

Chemical measures of water quality include dissolved oxygen (DO), chemical oxygen demand (COD), biochemical oxygen demand (BOD), total dissolved solids (TDS), pH, nutrients (nitrates and phosphorus), heavy metals, soil chemicals (including copper, zinc, cadmium, lead and mercury), and pesticides.

## Applications

Environmental chemistry is used by the Environment Agency in England , Natural Resources Wales, the United States Environmental Protection Agency, the Association of Public Analysts, and other environmental agencies and research bodies around the world to detect and identify the nature and source of pollutants. These can include:

* Heavy metal contamination of land by industry. These can then be transported into water bodies and be taken up by living organisms.
* PAHs (Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbon) in large bodies of water contaminated by oil spills or leaks. Many of the PAHs are carcinogens and are extremely toxic. They are regulated by concentration (ppb) using environmental chemistry and chromatography laboratory testing.
* Nutrients leaching from agricultural land into water courses, which can lead to algal blooms and eutrophication.[7]
* Urban runoff of pollutants washing off impervious surfaces (roads, parking lots, and rooftops) during rain storms. Typical pollutants include gasoline, motor oil and other hydrocarbon compounds, metals, nutrients and sediment (soil).[8]
* Organometallic compounds.[9]

## Methods

Quantitative chemical analysis is a key part of environmental chemistry, since it provides the data that frame most environmental studies.[10]

Common analytical techniques used for quantitative determinations in environmental chemistry include classical wet chemistry, such as gravimetric, titrimetric and electrochemical methods. More sophisticated approaches are used in the determination of trace metals and organic compounds. Metals are commonly measured by atomic spectroscopy and mass spectrometry: Atomic Absorption Spectrophotometry (AAS) and Inductively Coupled Plasma Atomic Emission (ICP-AES) or Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometric (ICP-MS) techniques. Organic compounds, including PAHs, are commonly measured also using mass spectrometric methods, such as Gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC/MS) and Liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (LC/MS). Tandem Mass spectrometry MS/MS and High Resolution/Accurate Mass spectrometry HR/AM offer sub part per trillion detection. Non-MS methods using GCs and LCs having universal or specific detectors are still staples in the arsenal of available analytical tools.

Other parameters often measured in environmental chemistry are radiochemicals. These are pollutants which emit radioactive materials, such as alpha and beta particles, posing danger to human health and the environment. Particle counters and Scintillation counters are most commonly used for these measurements. Bioassays and immunoassays are utilized for toxicity evaluations of chemical effects on various organisms. Polymerase Chain Reaction PCR is able to identify species of bacteria and other organisms through specific DNA and RNA gene isolation and amplification and is showing promise as a valuable technique for identifying environmental microbial contamination.

## Published analytical methods

Peer-reviewed test methods have been published by government agencies[11][12] and private research organizations.[13] Approved published methods must be used when testing to demonstrate compliance with regulatory requirements.

## Notable environmental chemists

Joan Berkowitz
Paul Crutzen (Nobel Prize in Chemistry, 1995)
Philip Gschwend
Alice Hamilton
John M. Hayes
Charles David Keeling
Ralph Keeling
Mario Molina (Nobel Prize in Chemistry, 1995)
James J. Morgan
Clair Patterson
Roger Revelle
Sherry Roland (Nobel Prize in Chemistry, 1995)
Robert Angus Smith
Susan Solomon
Werner Stumm
Ellen Swallow Richards
Hans Suess
John Tyndall

## See also

* Environmental monitoring
* Freshwater environmental quality parameters
* Green chemistry
* Green Chemistry Journal
* Journal of Environmental Monitoring
* Important publications in Environmental chemistry
* List of chemical analysis methods

## References

1. ↑ Williams, Ian. Environmental Chemistry, A Modular Approach. Wiley. 2001. ISBN 0-471-48942-5
2. ↑ "Glossary to the Buzzards Bay Watershed Management Plan". http://www.buzzardsbay.org/glossary.htm.
3. ↑ American Meteorological Society. Glossary of Meteorology
4. ↑ North Carolina State University. Department of Soil Science. "Glossary."
5. ↑ Global Resource Action Center for the Environment (GRACE). New York, NY. Sustainable Table: Dictionary
6. ↑ Harrison, R.M (edited by). Understanding Our Environment, An Introduction to Environmental Chemistry and Pollution, Third Edition. Royal Society of Chemistry. 1999. ISBN 0-85404-584-8
7. ↑ United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Washington, DC. "Protecting Water Quality from Agricultural Runoff." Document No. EPA 841-F-05-001. March 2005.
8. ↑ EPA. "Protecting Water Quality from Urban Runoff." Document No. EPA 841-F-03-003. February 2003.
9. ↑ Sigel, A. (2010). Sigel, H.. ed. Organometallics in Environment and Toxicology. Metal Ions in Life Sciences. 7. Cambridge: RSC publishing. ISBN 978-1-84755-177-1.
10. ↑ vanLoon, Gary W.; Duffy, Stephen J. (2000). Environmental Chemistry. Oxford: Oxford. pp. 7. ISBN 0-19-856440-6. https://archive.org/details/environmentalche0000vanl.
11. ↑ "Clean Water Act Analytical Methods". EPA. 2022-07-27. https://www.epa.gov/cwa-methods.
12. ↑ "Hazardous Waste Test Methods / SW-846". EPA. 2022-06-15. https://www.epa.gov/hw-sw846.
13. ↑ Standard Methods For the Examination of Water and Wastewater (21 ed.). American Public Health Association. 2005. Also available on CD-ROM and online by subscription. ISBN 978-0-87553-047-5.

## Further reading

* Stanley E Manahan. Environmental Chemistry. CRC Press. 2004. ISBN 1-56670-633-5.
* Julian E. Andrews; Peter Brimblecombe; Tim D. Jickells; Peter S. Liss; Brian Reid (25 April 2013). An Introduction to Environmental Chemistry. John Wiley & Sons. ISBN 978-1-118-68547-1. https://books.google.com/books?id=TaWA34oW2G4C.
* Rene P Schwarzenbach, Philip M Gschwend, Dieter M Imboden. Environmental Organic Chemistry, Second edition. Wiley-Interscience, Hoboken, New Jersey, 2003. ISBN 0-471-35750-2.

* NCERT XI textbook.[ unit 14]

## External links

* List of links for Environmental Chemistry \- from the WWW Virtual Library
* International Journal of Environmental Analytical Chemistry

* v
* t
* e

Environmental science

Main fields|

* Atmospheric sciences
* Biogeochemistry
* Ecology
* Environmental chemistry
* Geosciences
* Hydrology
* Limnology
* Oceanography
* Soil science

Related fields|

* Biology
* Chemistry
* green
* Ecological economics
* Environmental design
* Environmental economics
* Environmental engineering
* Environmental health
* epidemiology
* Environmental studies
* Environmental toxicology
* Geodesy
* Physics
* Sustainability science
* Systems ecology
* Urban ecology

Applications|

* Energy conservation
* Environmental technology
* Natural resource management
* Pollution control
* Recycling
* Remediation
* Renewable energy
* Road ecology
* Sewage treatment
* Urban metabolism
* Water purification
* Waste management

Lists|

* Degrees
* Journals
* Research institutes
* Glossary

See also|

* Human impact on the environment
* Sustainability

* Category
* scientists
* Commons
* Environment portal
* WikiProject

* v
* t
* e

Branches of chemistry

* Glossary of chemical formulas
* List of biomolecules
* List of inorganic compounds
* Periodic table

Physical|

* Chemical kinetics
* Chemical physics
* Chemical thermodynamics
* Cryochemistry
* Nuclear chemistry
* Electrochemistry
* Femtochemistry
* Geochemistry
* Micromeritics
* Photochemistry
* Quantum chemistry
* Solid-state chemistry
* Spectroscopy
* Spin chemistry
* Surface science
* Thermochemistry

Organic|

* Biochemistry
* Bioorganic chemistry
* Biophysical chemistry
* Chemical biology
* Clinical chemistry
* Fullerene chemistry
* Medicinal chemistry
* Molecular biology
* Neurochemistry
* Physical organic chemistry
* Polymer chemistry

Inorganic|

* Bioinorganic chemistry
* Bioorganometallic chemistry
* Ceramic chemistry
* Cluster chemistry
* Coordination chemistry
* Materials science
* Organometallic chemistry
* Physical inorganic chemistry

Others|

* Actinide chemistry
* Analytical chemistry
* Astrochemistry
* Atmospheric chemistry
* Carbochemistry
* Petrochemistry
* Carbohydrate chemistry
* Chemistry education
* Clay chemistry
* Click chemistry
* Computational chemistry
* Cosmochemistry
* Environmental chemistry
* Food chemistry
* Forensic chemistry
* Green chemistry
* Ocean chemistry
* Post-mortem chemistry
* Sonochemistry
* Stereochemistry
* Supramolecular chemistry
* Theoretical chemistry
* Wet chemistry

See also|

* History of chemistry
* Nobel Prize in Chemistry
* Timeline of chemistry
* Timeline of chemical element discoveries
* The central science
* Chemical reaction
* Chemical element
* Chemical compound
* Atom
* Molecule
* Ion
* Chemical bond

* Category
* Commons
* Portal
* WikiProject

0.00

(0 votes)

Original source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Environmental chemistry. Read more

|

Retrieved from "https://handwiki.org/wiki/index.php?title=Biology:Environmental_chemistry&oldid=361513"
*[v]: View this template
*[t]: Discuss this template
*[e]: Edit this template