Chemistry Reference
In-Depth Information
22
Environmental Analysis
Ricardo Erthal Santelli
1
, Marcos Almeida Bezerra
2
, Julio Carlos Afonso
1
, Maria de Fátima Batista de
Carvalho
3
, Eliane Padua Oliveira
4
and Aline Soares Freire
1
1
Departamento de Química Analítica, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
2
Departamento de Química e Exatas, Universidade Estadual do Sudoeste da Bahia, Jequié, Brazil
3
Centro de Pesquisa e Desenvolvimento, Cidade Universitária, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
4
Departamento de Geoquímica, Universidade Federal Fluminense, Niterói, Brazil
22.1
Pollution and its control
In recent decades, increasing attention has been focused on the pollution of the natural environment. The
reduction of pollutants from the air, water, sediment and soil is an important and very complex task, requiring
the cooperation of specialists from various areas of expertise, including analytical chemistry. Data generated
from environmental analyses provide information that forms the basis from which it is possible to make
decisions on the procedures to be adopted for the preservation or remediation of a region.
The purpose of environmental analysis can be separated into two topics: (1) to determine the natural
concentrations of substances in the environment with the objective of performing background monitoring and
(2) to determine the concentration of harmful pollutants in the environment for pollution monitoring [1]. For
these purposes, analytical chemists have used classic instrumental methods developed for obtaining rapid and
accurate results. The methods for environmental and monitoring are currently well established, and some are
adopted as standard methods recommended for international environmental agencies.
Although these methods present analytical characteristics (such as sensitivity, accuracy, precision, detection
and quantification limits) suitable for the determination of several chemical species in environmental samples
of concern, a paradoxical situation emerges due to the chemical waste generated by most of these analytical
methods, which can impact nature. In some circumstances, the chemicals employed in an environmental
analysis can be even more toxic than the species being monitored. As a consequence, some analytical chemists
have focused their efforts on the development of methodologies that are less harmful to humans and to the
