The first edition of this book established a niche as the only
volume with a wide ranging review of analytical chemistry having a
focus specific to environmental science.

This new edition has been thoroughly revised to take full
account of the rapid changes and development in the field over the
past five years. Separation science, atomic spectroscopy and
speciation determinations are areas in which significant
developments have been made, and these are reflected in the new
edition. The importance of the assessment of the effects of
pollutants on real systems has been recognised by the restructuring
of the chapter on biological testing and incorporation of a new one
on environmental toxicology. Self-assessment questions have been
added.

Environmental science was one of the key concerns of the latter
part of the twentieth century and will continue to be into the
twenty-first. Concerns for environmental protection and public
health worldwide have led to extensive legislation. The
investigation and modelling of environmental systems, together with
the implementation of laws and regulations, has led to a demand for
a large number of environmental measurements, many of which are
made by techniques falling within the broad range of analytical
chemistry. Many professionals make regular use of data obtained by
techniques of analytical chemistry. Thus, although not primarily
analytical chemists or even chemists, they need sufficient
knowledge of the background of analytical chemistry to judge the
quality and limitations of the environmental data obtained. Very
much the same situation arises in the academic world, where
students are involved in environmental science studies or projects
in which they need appropriate analytical chemistry
information.

Both analytical chemistry and environmental science have an
extensive literature at varying levels of sophistication. However,
there have been few attempts to link the two. This book sets out
the background to analytical chemistry and covers the principles of
its most important techniques. This is done in a way that enables a
user to grasp the strengths and weaknesses of a technique, together
with its principles of operation, without becoming enmeshed in the
chemical small print. Links to environmental uses are indicated in
broad terms and then exemplified in more detail by accounts of
specific and important environmental problems.

Written for students of chemistry, environmental science and
related disciplines, the book is also an essential reference source
for those who use environmental information and need to be aware of
the factors affecting its quality and reliability.

• This is still the only book to focus exclusively on the
  analytical chemistry methods relevant to environmental
  studies.


• As useful to chemists as it is to non-specialists who require
  an understanding of the techniques employed to collect data in
  their disciplines (e.g. environmental researchers,
  ecotoxicologists, etc).