Publisher's Synopsis
This issue of the "International Journal of Environmental Analytical Chemistry" contains selected papers presented at the 18th International Symposium on Environmental Analytical Chemistry and the 4th International Congress on Analytical Techniques in Environmental Chemistry held in Barcelona on September 5-8, 1988.;The symposium was organized by the International Association of Environmental Analytical Chemistry, Expoquimia and the Catalan Chemical Society under the sponsorship of CICYT and CSIC (Spanish Ministry of Education and Science), CIRIT and Conselleria d'Ensenyament (Catalan Government), the Swiss Association for Environmental Research and the Swiss Society of Pharmacology and Toxicology.;During the event a total of 54 oral and 117 poster presentations were delivered and the selection offered in this volume illustrates the different topics covered. Some contributions update the reader with metal speciation procedures. The sections on instrumental methods includes different techniques such as peizo-electric and electrochemical sensing and novel FIA approaches for inorganic analysis as well as a comparison of several chromatographic methods using pre and post column dynamic systems for organic analysis. The fate, distribution and metabolism of pesticides, PCBs and PAHs is also discussed with emphasis on the formation of metabolites in human and animal tissues. The mobility of soil contaminants has been applied to the case of atrazines, a group of herbicides of increasing concern in Europe, especially with respect to groundwater contamination.;The last part introduces some applications of chemometrics to the study of metals and organic pollutants in aquatic environments. By using multivariate analysis methods a better interpretation of the results in environmetnal studies can be achieved. On the other hand, the state-of-the-art of quality assurance practices, reveals that encountered problems in sampling and analytical measurements or the prediction of harmful concentrations of pollutants can be better assessed.
