The increasing production of industrial goods, heat, and energy, as well as traffic, has led to the release of considerable amounts of toxic trace metals to the atmosphere. The result is elevated concentrations of toxic metals in local populations and eco systems. Recently the problem of atmospheric long-range transport of trace metals has also been recognized. Significant amounts of these pollutants are disposed and deposited both on regional and global scales. In the atmosphere they may influence the chemical reactions. Of particular interest is their catalytic effect on the oxidation prosesses taking place in water droplets or on the surface of wet particles (e. g. the oxidation of sulphur dioxide to sulphate), however, the main environmental impact starts when the atmospheric trace metals are deposited on ground and vegetation and subsequently brought into the water circulation. During the later years significant progress has been made in the development of equipment to reduce and control the atmospheric emissions of toxic trace metals. This particularly applies to electrostatic precipitators and wet scrubbers for the collection of fine particles. The main objective of the workshop was to survey present knowledge concerning the sources, atmospheric fluxes, sinks and chemical impact of the atmospheric trace metals, and to review the developments of emission control equipment and the perspectives to reduce the potential risks from toxic metals. During the first two days of the meeting, 15 invited review papers were presented.

This volume discusses major areas of primary concern for the understanding of the complexity associated with ecological trace element research. These include sources and fates of trace elements; analytical techniques; and the distribution of trace elements in biota and soil and sediment reservoirs. Case studies, field work and laboratory studies intensively discussed in this volume are useful to enhance our knowledge about processes related to the biological response of trace metal stress under realistic environmental conditions.

The aim of this volume is to draw together state-of-the-art reviews of knowledge onlevels of heavy metals in marine environments (particularly in marine animals), the dynamicprocesses in these systems, toxic effects, and threats presented by heavy metals in foods ofmarine origin.All heavy metals, whether biologically essential or not, have the potential to be toxicto organisms at a threshold bioavailability. Such threshold concentrations vary betweenmetals, between species and with the physicochemical characteristics of the medium, somelike copper being particularly toxic even though essential in trace amounts. Responses ofanimals to metals in their medium or food depend to a large extent on the ability of speciesto regulate levels attained in their tissues. Higher animals have the capacity to regulate levelsof many metals, while marine invertebrates can regulate some within certain limits. Whereanimals cannot regulate physiological levels of metals, an alternative strategy is to detoxifyand store metals in relatively harmless forms. Knowledge of the manner in which animals deal with potentially toxic concentrations of heavy metals is of fundamental importance in the assessment of metal pollution by analysis of metal levels in biological samples. The interaction of heavy metals with biological materials is a key theme running through this volume. Toxic effects may be reflected at the individual, population, or ecosystem level, affecting species composition and production levels, or may be of direct dietary significance to man. The global cycling of metals through the marine environment is crucially affected by biological processes.

The first edition of Marine Geochemistry received strongcritical acclaim, and the reviews included the comments that it'provides a benchmark in the field' and 'is clearly recognizable asa standard text for years to come'. Marine Geochemistry offers a fully comprehensive andintegrated treatment of the chemistry of the oceans, theirsediments and biota. It addresses the fundamental question 'How dothe oceans work as a chemical system?' by capitalizing on thesignificant advances in understanding oceanic processes made overthe past three decades. These advances have been facilitated byimproved sampling and analytical techniques, a better understandingof theoretical concepts and the instigation of large-sizedinternational oceanographic programs. Designed for use as a text, the book treats the oceans as a'unified system' in which material stored in the sea water, thesediment and the rock reservoirs interacts to control thecomposition of sea water itself. Part I covers the transport ofmaterial to the oceans via rivers, the atmosphere and hydrothermalsystems, and discusses their relative flux magnitudes. Part IIconsiders the oceans as a reservoir, introducing water-columnparameters before discussing water-column fluxes and the benthicboundary layer. Part III is devoted to the sediment reservoir. Thetopics covered include diagenesis, the major components of thesediments, and the processes controlling the geochemistry ofoceanic deposit, which are discussed in terms of sediment-formingsignals. Part IV offers an overview and synthesis of the integratedmarine geochemical system. Since the publication of the first edition, there have beenfurther significant advances in several areas of the subject. Therevised text of this edition accommodates these advances, whilestill retaining the emphasis on identifying key processes operatingwithin a 'unified ocean.' Special attention has been paid tofundamental conceptual changes, such as those related to tracemetal speciation in sea water, hydrothermal activity, carbondioxide and the importance of the oceans in world climate change,the transport of particulate material to the interior of the ocean,primary production and iron limitation, colloids, and thepreservation/destruction of organic matter in marine sediments. Intermediate and advanced students with interests in chemicaloceanography, marine geochemistry, marine biology and environmentalchemistry will welcome this revised comprehensive text. Otherstudents in the broader field of earth sciences will find it to bean essential reference source dealing with the interaction betweenthe atmosphere, the ocean and the solid earth. Incorporates all significant recent advances in thefield. 'Unified system' approach to ocean chemistry. Emphasises geological contexts, e.g. sediment diagenesis.