Over the last decade and a half, an environmental conference series has emerged to become one of the major international forums on the chemical aspects of environmental protection. The forum is called Chemistry for the Protection of the Environment CCPE). The sponsors of this CPE series have included the Chemical Societies of Poland, France, Belgium, Italy, and the U.S.A., the European Federation of Chemical Societies, the American Institute of Chemical Engineers, the American Society of Testing and Materials, the International Ozone Association, the United Nations Industrial Development Organization, the Ministries of the Environment of Poland, France, Belgium, and Italy, US Environmental Protection Agency, more than twenty universities and institutes of higher learning, and five academies of sciences. The first meeting in this series was organized in 1976 at the Marie Curie-Sklodowska University in Lublin, Poland. The conference dealt with various physicochemical methodologies for water and wastewater treatment research projects that were jointly sponsored by US EPA and Poland.

Over the past two decades, this environmental conference series has emerged to be come one of the major international forums on the chemical aspects of environmental pro tection. The forum is called Chemistry for the Protection of the Environment (CPE). The sponsors of this CPE series have included the Chemical Societies of Poland, France, Bel gium, Italy, Egypt, and the U.S.A., the American Institute of Chemical Engineers, the American Society of Testing and Materials, the International Ozone Association, the United Nations Industrial Development Organization, the Ministries of the Environment of Poland, France, Belgium, and Italy, U.S. Agency for International Development, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, more than twenty universities and institutes of higher learning, and five national academies of sciences. The first meeting in this series was organized by Prof. Pawlowski and Dr. Lacy in 1976 at the Marie Curie-Sklodowska University in Lublin, Poland. The conference dealt with various physicochemical methodologies for water and wastewater treatment research projects that were jointly sponsored by U.S. EPA and Poland.

These proceedings provide a forum for chemical scientists and engineers dedicated to making a cleaner, healthier world for everyone. They cover a wide range of related subjects such as environmental monitoring, wastewater treatment, and sludge management.

The Chemistry for Protection of the Environment series of conferences has become a most prestigious gathering of leading international scientists and engineers. Like its predecessors, this sixth conference brought together chemists and chemical engineers involved in environmental protection activities from all over the world.

Environmental chemistry is a fast developing science aimed at deciphering fundamental mechanisms ruling the behaviour of pollutants in ecosystems. Applying this knowledge to current environmental issues leads to the remediation of environmental media, and to new, low energy, low emission, sustainable processes. Nanotechnology applications for alternative energies such as solar power, fuel cells, hydrogen and lithium batteries are reviewed in the first section. Recent investigations on carbon nanotubes, nanocatalysts and cyclodextrins disclose unprecedented techniques to monitor and clean pollutants such as greenhouse gases, heavy metals, pesticides, pathogens occurring in water, air and soil. The second section reviews the risks for human health of critical pollutants such as endocrine disruptors, dioxins and heavy metals contaminating seafood and sediments. An exhaustive review of DDT isomers reveals unexpected mechanisms of DDT transfer to fishes. A chapter on pollutant geochronology using river sedimentary archives provides novel insights on pollution history since the beginning of the anthropocene. This book will be a valuable source of information for engineers and students developing novel applied techniques to monitor and clean pollutants in air, wastewater, soils and sediments.