Synopses & Reviews
This lab manual provides an interdisciplinary collection of 23 extensively tested environmental chemistry experiments — with extensive introductory background material for each experiment. It covers a broad range of methods and provides detailed instructions on calculation of results. Experiments involve, for example: inorganic and organic profile of sediment and soil cores; the pH of environmental waters and buffer capacity; alkalinity of streams and lakes; trace levels of ions in natural waters; conductivity of natural waters; cloride ion in natural waters; colorimetry and absorption spectra; metals in natural waters and in sediments; atomic absorption spectrometry; the chemical oxygen demand of natural waters and wastewaters; the fluorimetric determination of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons; environmental hydrocarbons; air sampling-particulates in urban air; carbon dioxide in the atmosphere; acid rain; decomposition of pollutants with an application to plasticizers, and detergents. For chemists and technicians with environmental agencies.
Table of Contents
I. FUNDAMENTALS FOR STUDIES OF ENVIRONMENTAL CHEMISTRY. Introduction to Laboratory Work. Experiment 1. Statistical Treatment of Raw Data and Properties of Natural Waters.
Experiment 2. Collection and Preservation of Water and Sediment Samples: Inorganic and Organic Profiles of Soil and Sediment Cores.
II. INORGANIC CHEMICAL PROPERTIES OF NATURAL WATERS AND WASTEWATERS. Experiment 3. The pH and Buffer Capacity of Environmental Waters.
Experiment 4. Alkalinity of Streams and Lakes.
Experiment 5. Use of Ion-Selective Electrodes to Determine Trace Levels of Ions in Natural Waters.
Experiment 6. Conductivity of Various Waters.
Experiment 7. Determination of Chloride Ion in Natural Waters: A Comparison of Methods.
Experiment 8. Determination of the Hardness of Natural Waters: A: Conventional EDTA Complexometric Titration. B: Commercial Test Kit Determination.
Experiment 9. Spectrophotometry, Colorimetry and Absorption Spectra: Determining Iron and Manganese in Natural Waters and Sediments.
Experiment 10. Determination of Trace Amounts of Metals by Atomic Absorption Spectrometry.
Experiment 11. Removal of Chromium (VI) from Wastewater at the Part-Per-Million Level.
Experiment 12. Solubility of Oxygen in Pure and Natural Waters and Its Dependence on Temperature and Salinity.
Experiment 13. Spectrophotometric Determination of the Chemical Oxygen Demand of Natural Waters and Wastewaters Using a Standard Method.
III. ORGANIC CHEMICAL PROPERTIES OF NATURAL WATERS AND WASTEWATERS. Experiment 14. Determination of Oils and Greases by Soxhlet Extraction.
Experiment 15. Fluorimetric Determination of Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons.
Experiment 16. Determination of the Octanol/Water Partition Coefficients for Organic Pollutants of Varying Hydrophobic/Hydrophilic Character.
Experiment 17. Determination of Oil-Spill Sources Using Pattern Recognition of Known Petroleum Product Gas Chromatograms.
Experiment 18. Analysis of Environmental Hydrocarbons Using Simple Extraction and Analysis by Flame Ionization Detection Gas Chromatography.
Experiment 19. Kinetics of the Decomposition of Pollutants in the Environment with an Application to Plasticizers.
Experiment 20. Properties of Detergents: Surface Tension Measurement of Critical Micelle Concentration.
IV. AIR SAMPLING AND ANALYSIS. Experiment 21. Introduction to Air Sampling: Particulates in Urban Air.
Experiment 22. Determination of the Concentration of Carbon Dioxide in the Atmosphere.
Experiment 23. Collection and Chemistry of Acid Rain.
Glossary.
Acronyms.
Index.