The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) was introduced on December 2, 1970 by President Richard Nixon. The agency is charged with protecting human health and the environment, by writing and enforcing regulations based on laws passed by Congress. The EPA's struggle to protect health and the environment is seen through each of its official publications. These publications outline new policies, detail problems with enforcing laws, document the need for new legislation, and describe new tactics to use to solve these issues. This collection of publications ranges from historic documents to reports released in the new millennium, and features works like: Bicycle for a Better Environment, Health Effects of Increasing Sulfur Oxides Emissions Draft, and Women and Environmental Health.

The role of the European Community in developing environmental legislation has focused the minds of pollution control agencies and industrialists on the need for, and the evidence to support, water quality standards. This is particularly so for the Dangerous Substances Directive which has led to European standards for cadmium, mercury and lindane. Additionally the United Kingdom has published standards for six other non-ferrous metals. In this book I have sought to review the aquatic toxicity information for these and other metals, not just by the collation of the results of all the published toxicity tests, but by the critical consideration of the test techniques. A surprising proportion of the reported toxicity studies for aquatic organisms are based on unsatisfactory chemical or biological methods. That such weaknesses persist at a time of limited resources for environmental research is disappointing, especially when sound metho dologies are extensively documented and widely published. Evaluation of the critically reviewed and vetted data indicates that many of the previously accepted generalisations about the toxicity of metals to aquatic life are invalid: for instance the assumption that salmonid species of fish are more susceptible to these metals than coarse fish, or that increased water hardness decreases toxicity. Too few studies have actually sought to test such hypotheses.

Each book has two main goals1. Determine baseline concentrations of metals and metalloids in tissues of representative field populations of estuarine coastal, and open ocean organisms (Book 1:algae and macrophytes, protists, sponges, coelenterates, molluscs, crustaceans, insects, chaetognaths, annelids, echinoderms, and tunicates) (Book 2: elasmobranchs, fishes, reptiles, birds, mammals) and their significance to organism health and to the health of their consumers.2. Synthesize existing information on biological, chemical, and physical factors known to modify uptake, retention, and translocation of each element under field and laboratory conditions. Recognition of the importance of these modifiers and their accompanying interactions is essential to the understanding of metals kinetics in marine systems and to the interpretation of baseline residue data. - Synthesizes existing information on biological, chemical, and physical factors known to modify uptake, retention, and translocation of each element - Aids understanding of metals kinetics in marine systems - Allows the interpretation of baseline residue data

Metal Poisoning in Fish provides a comprehensive look at many aspects of metal poisoning of euryhaline and stenohaline fish. Metals and metalloids are considered individually and collectively and include arsenic, lead, selenium, copper, cadmium, mercury, and zinc. This informative, readable volume is designed to help regulatory personnel, enforcement personnel, and scientists understand the impact of these elements on fish. Topics covered include mechanisms of action, toxicity, biological effects, accumulation, tissue distribution, concentration factors, maximum acceptable toxicant concentrations, application factors, biological half-lives, uptake kinetics, depuration kinetics, elemental speciation, and detoxification mechanisms. The book emphasizes the use of data gathered from a variety of sources to pinpoint specific elemental agents as causal factors in the morbidity and mortality of fish.

Ecotoxicology of Metals in Invertebrates reviews the state of the art in research concerning metal exposure of marine, freshwater, and terrestrial invertebrates. The book focuses on the uptake and accumulation of essential and non-essential trace metals by invertebrates, metal detoxification and involved mechanisms, adaptations to metal stress, metal regulation and elimination, distribution and speciation of metals in different organs and tissues, and interaction of metals with biotic and abiotic factors. Toxicological studies involve histopathological, electron microscopic, physiological, and biochemical methods. The book emphasizes the ecological and ecotoxicological implications that can be derived from metal exposure of invertebrates in the field. The significance of background concentrations, the evaluation of critical concentrations, and the establishment of environmental quality criteria are discussed as well. Ecotoxicology of Metals in Invertebrates is an excellent reference for ecologists, ecotoxicologists, environmental scientists, ecophysiologists, and students.

Examining tissue residues of contaminants in biota reveals the movement of contaminants within organisms and through food chains as well as the context for understanding and quantifying injuries to organisms and their communities. Yet tissue concentrations of some contaminants are especially challenging to interpret and the ability of today’s analytical chemists to provide reliable analytical data of most important environmental contaminants often surpasses the ability of ecotoxicologists to interpret those data. Offering guidance on the ecotoxicologically meaningful interpretation of tissue concentrations, Environmental Contaminants in Biota, Interpreting Tissue Concentrations, Second Edition is updated with current data and new ways of analyzing those data as well as additional contaminants not previously considered. Beginning with a history of wildlife toxicology and data interpretation, chapters cover a wide range of contaminants and their hazardous and lethal concentrations in various animals including DDT, Dioxins, PCBs, and PBDEs in aquatic organisms; methylmurcury, selenium, and trace metals in fishes and aquatic invertebrates; and pharmaceuticals and organic contaminants in marine mammals. The book considers the impact of Polychlorinated Biphenyls, Dibenzo-p-Dioxins and Dibenzofurans, and Polybrominated Diphenyl Ethers; cyclodiene; and other organochlorine pesticides in birds and mammals. Later chapters examine the effects and analysis of lead, cadmium, and radionuclides in biota. With thousands of published research papers reporting tissue concentrations each year, Environmental Contaminants in Biota, Interpreting Tissue Concentrations, Second Edition gives ecotoxicologists the ability to draw actionable value regarding the toxicological consequences of those concentrations and relate tissue concentrations quantitatively to injury: the core of ecotoxicology.

This book reviews the unique ecosystem of the Lake Skadar/Shkodra and its basin, and discusses the latest advances made in this region to face the impact of climate change. Divided into 23 chapters, the book gathers leading expertise from various scientific and engineering communities and provides readers with extensive discussions of core issues, including the water and sediment chemistry of Lake Skadar/Shkodra and the metal pollution that is evident in plants, aquatic invertebrates and fish. Readers will discover how a sustainable science-based management approach can be applied to the Lake Skadar/Shkodra region, and will learn about the environment prospects for the region. This book is intended as an essential tool for all scientists interested in the Lake Skadar/Shkodra environment – in particular those investigating the interactions between land and water, between limnology and biota, and between natural and cultural resources.