The current rate and scale of environmental change around the world makes the detection and understanding of these changes increasingly urgent. Subsequently, government legislation is focusing on measurable results of environmental programs, requiring researchers to employ effective and efficient methods for acquiring high-quality data. Focusing on pollution issues and impacts resulting from human activities, Environmental Monitoring is the first to bring together the conceptual basis behind the complex and specific approaches to the monitoring of air, water, and land. Coverage includes integrated monitoring at the landscape level, as well as case studies of existing monitoring programs such as the Chesapeake Bay Program. The book also addresses the recent legislative focus on high-quality data results and conducting monitoring programs in different ecosystems and environmental media.

Tools, Techniques and Protocols for Monitoring Environmental Contaminants describes information on the strategic integration of available monitoring methods with molecular techniques, with a focus on omics (DNA, RNA and protein based) and molecular imprinted polymer and nanomaterial based advanced biosensors for environmental applications. It discusses the most commonly practiced analytic techniques, such as HPLC, MS, GCMS and traditional biosensors, giving an overview of the benefits of advanced biosensors over commonly practiced methods in the rapid and reliable assessment of environmental contaminants. As environmental contaminants have become one of the serious concerns in terms of their rapid growth and monitoring in the environment, which is often limited due to costly and laborious methods, this book provides a comprehensive update on their removal, the challenges they create for environmental regulatory agencies, and their diverse effects on terrestrial and aquatic environments.

The National Human Monitoring Program (NHMP) identifies concentrations of specific chemicals in human tissues, including toxicologic testing and risk assessment determinations. This volume evaluates the current activities of the NHMP; identifies important scientific, technical, and programmatic issues; and makes recommendations regarding the design of the program and use of its products.

Pollution control, a key component of U.S. environmental policy, has made important progress in recent decades. Yet important problems remain and there is need for improvement in the pollution control regulatory system. This book is the most extensive evaluation of that system ever produced. It reveals many strengths and accomplishments, but also illustrates serious shortcomings and the need for reform. The volume emerges from three years of research on a fragmented 'system' of institutions, statutes, and procedures that is often inefficient and ineffective, hobbled by misplaced priorities. Part I provides an in-depth description of this system, centered on the federal Environmental Protection Agency and the labyrinthine laws it must implement. The authors evaluate the federal legislation, administrative decisionmaking, and the state-federal division of labor that defines the system. Davies and Mazurek assess the effectiveness and efficiency of U.S. pollution control. They discuss the performance of U.S. laws and regulations in comparison with those of other nations, assess the ability of the U.S. pollution control system to meet future problems, and consider proposals for reform and repair. Within this far reaching analysis, they include criteria that are often overlooked by policymakers and analysts, including social values, equity, nonintrusiveness, and public participation.