"Environmental monitoring describes the processes and activities that need to take place to characterize and monitor the quality of the environment."
An examination of analytical techniques used to detect, quantify, and identify pollutants in the environment. It focuses on analytical methods and instrumentation for environmental monitoring and assessment.
Introduction to Environmental Chemistry: An overview of the basic concepts and principles of environmental chemistry, including environmental contaminants, sources, pathways, and impacts.
Environmental Sampling and Analysis: Methods for collecting and analyzing environmental samples, including air, water, soil, and biota.
Analytical Techniques: An overview of analytical techniques used in environmental chemistry, including spectroscopy, chromatography, and mass spectrometry.
Quality Control and Assurance: Principles and practices for ensuring the accuracy and precision of environmental analytical data.
Environmental Pollutants: A description of common environmental pollutants, their sources, and their effects on human and environmental health.
Fate and Transport of Pollutants: Understanding how pollutants move through the environment, including processes like air and water transport, deposition, and biodegradation.
Environmental Toxicology: The study of the effects of pollutants on living organisms, including the mechanisms for toxicity, biomarkers of exposure, and risk assessment.
Environmental Regulations: An overview of the laws and regulations governing environmental protection, including the Clean Air Act, Clean Water Act, and Resource Conservation and Recovery Act.
Environmental Remediation: Techniques for removing or reducing pollutants in the environment, including bioremediation, phytoremediation, and chemical treatment.
Emerging Contaminants: An overview of new and emerging environmental contaminants, including microplastics, pharmaceuticals, and per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS).
Gas chromatography: It is a technique that is used to separate complex mixtures of volatile organic compounds, gases, and liquids. This technique is used to identify and quantify the organic pollutants present in the environment.
Liquid chromatography: This technique is used to separate and analyze different types of dissolved compounds in water systems.
High-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC): HPLC is an advanced form of liquid chromatography that is used to separate, identify, and quantify several organic and inorganic compounds in a mixture.
Atomic absorption spectroscopy (AAS): It is a technique that is used to determine the concentration of different types of metals present in environmental samples such as soil, water, plant, and animal tissues.
Inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS): This is a highly sensitive technique that is used to measure the trace amounts of different types of elements present in a sample.
X-ray fluorescence spectrometry: This technique is used to identify and quantify the elements present in environmental samples such as rocks, soils, sediments, and air samples.
Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR): It is a technique used to identify and analyze the functional groups present in organic chemicals such as pesticides, solvents, plastics, and other materials that may be found in the environment.
Ultraviolet-visible (UV-Vis) spectroscopy: This technique is used to measure the concentration of chemical compounds present in the sample by using the absorption and transmission spectra of the sample.
Mass spectrometry: This technique is used to analyze the composition of different types of organic and inorganic materials in the environment. It is also used to identify and quantify different types of pollutants such as pesticides, fuels, and other chemicals in the environment.
Electrochemical techniques: These are a group of techniques that rely on the measurement of electrochemical potentials, currents, or charges produced by the interaction between an analyte and an electrode. These techniques are used to measure pollutants such as heavy metals, nitrates, and organic compounds present in the environment.
"Environmental monitoring is used in the preparation of environmental impact assessments, as well as in many circumstances in which human activities carry a risk of harmful effects on the natural environment."
"All monitoring strategies and programs have reasons and justifications which are often designed to establish the current status of an environment or to establish trends in environmental parameters."
"In all cases, the results of monitoring will be reviewed, analyzed statistically, and published."
"The design of a monitoring program must therefore have regard to the final use of the data before monitoring starts."
"Environmental monitoring includes monitoring of air quality, soils, and water quality."