This book is written for researchers and students interested in the function and role of chemical elements in biological or environmental systems. Experts have long known that the Periodic System of Elements (PSE) provides only an inadequate chemical description of elements of biological, environmental or medicinal importance. This book explores the notion of a Biological System of the Elements (BSE) established on accurate and precise multi-element data, including evolutionary aspects, re...

The second edition of The Biomarker Guide is a fully updated and expanded version of this essential reference. Now in two volumes, it provides a comprehensive account of the role that biomarker technology plays both in petroleum exploration and in understanding Earth history and processes. Biomarkers and Isotopes in the Environment and Human History details the origins of biomarkers and introduces basic chemical principles relevant to their study. It discusses analytical techniques, and ap...

Applications of radioactive and stable isotopes have revolutionized our understanding of the Earth and near-earth surface processes. The utility of the isotopes are ever-increasing and our sole focus is to bring out the applications of these isotopes as tracers and chronometers to a wider audience so that they can be used as powerful tools to solve environmental problems. New developments in this field remain mostly in peer-reviewed journal articles and hence our goal is to synthesize thes...

This successful textbook undergoes a change of character in the third edition. Where earlier editions covered organic polymer chemistry, the third edition covers both physical and organic chemistry. Thus kinetics and thermodynamics of polymerization reactions are discussed.This edition is also distinct from all other polymer textbooks because of its coverage of such currently hot topics as photonic polymers, electricity conducting polymers, polymeric materials for immobilization of...

Aqueous-based film coating has become routine in the pharmaceutical industry. This process eliminates the use of organic solvents and thus avoids economic, environmental, and toxicological issues related to residual solvents and solvent recovery. Aqueous-based coating, however, is complex and many variables may impact the final product and its performance. This fourth edition of Aqueous Polymeric Coatings for Pharmaceutical Dosage Forms aims to provide insight into the factors and...

This book describes the interlaced histories of life and oxygen. It opens with the generation of oxygen in ancient stars and its distribution to newly formed planets like the Earth. Free O2 was not available on the early Earth, so the first life forms had to be anaerobic. Life introduced free O2 into the environment through the evolution of photosynthesis, which must have been a disaster for many anaerobes. Others found ways to deal with the toxic reactive oxygen species and even developed...

Interest in biochar among soil and environment researchers has increased dramatically over the past decade. Biochar initially attracted attention for its potential to improve soil fertility and to uncouple the carbon cycle, by storing carbon from the atmosphere in a form that can remain stable for hundreds to thousands of years. Later it was found that biochar had applications in environmental and water science, mining, microbial ecology and other fields. Beneficial effects of biochar and its...

This book provides an overview of the fundamentals and reference values for Ca stable isotope research, as well as current analytical methodologies including detailed instructions for sample preparation and isotope analysis. As such, it introduces readers to the different fields of application, including low-temperature mineral precipitation and biomineralisation, Earth surface processes and global cycling, high-temperature processes and cosmochemistry, and lastly human studies and biomedi...

Earlier works on plant essential elements have revealed a series of complicated, counter-intuitive relationships among various chemical elements in different plant species, due to both unlike usage of certain elements in plants and to different carriers effecting resorption and transport.In an attempt to provide a more coherent theory behind plant mineral nutrition, this groundbreaking book adopts a very different approach from the existing literature, presenting an explanation of ...

In the last decade, numerous studies have demonstrated the existence of alternative pathways to nucleation and crystallisation that oppose the classical view. Such proposed scenarios include multistage reactions proceeding via various precursor species and/or intermediate phases. The aim of this book is to review and discuss these recent advances in our understanding of the early stages of mineralisation through a series of contributions that address both experimental and theoretical studi...

This book evolved from the 5th School of Environmental Research entitled„Persistent Pollution – Past, Present and Future", which has set a focus on Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs), heavy metals and aerosols.-reconstruction of past changes based on the scientific analysis of natural archives such as ice cores and peat deposits,-evaluation of the present environmental state by the integration of measurements and modelling and the establishment of ...

Environmental Chemistry is a relatively young science. Interest in this subject, however, is growing very rapidly and, although no agreement has been reached as yet about the exact content and limits of this interdisciplinary discipline, there appears to be increasing interest in seeing environmental topics which are based on chemistry embodied in this subject. One of the first objectives of Environmental Chemistry must be the study of the environment and of natural chemical processes whic...