Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
determinations, and has brought detection limits
down to the levels required to quantify the low con-
centrations of trace elements and organic compounds
collected in cascade-impactor fi lters, dissolved in
street runoff, or recovered in the individual fractions
of sequential extraction procedures.
Urban geochemistry has proved to be a clearly
applied scientifi c discipline with an obvious focus on
the environmental aspects of life in the city. In the
near future, therefore, it is likely that one of the
major research interests will concern the adaptation
and development of risk assessment tools for urban
environment and has already led to the development
of the subject of medical geology (Bowman
et al
.
2003). Geochemistry already plays a relevant role in
risk analysis, as it helps to evaluate how a contami-
nant can partition between different phases and
migrates from its source to the potential receptors.
In turn, risk assessment provides a means to quantify
the severity of the adverse health effects associated
with the toxic elements and compounds that urban
geochemistry investigates. Urban geochemistry and
risk assessment are currently used together to char-
acterize “brownfi elds”, i.e. “abandoned, idled, or
underused industrial and commercial facilities where
expansion or redevelopment is complicated by real
or perceived “environmental contamination” as
defi ned by the USEPA. The next development will
probably involve evaluation of completely urban
areas from an environmental risk perspective (Beer
& Ricci 1999).
Urban geochemistry will have to keep growing in
pace with the increase in urban population around
the world, soon becoming “the most dominant
human habitat in history” (Wong
et al
. 2006, p. 12).
It has already proved to have the capacity to bring
about fundamental changes in urban life, as demon-
strated by the gradual phasing out of leaded petrol
after decades of geochemical research on urban lead.
However, many questions about the urban environ-
ment have not been adequately or completely
addressed yet. The modeling of the urban environ-
ment in terms of geochemical cycles, for example, is
diffi cult owing to the complex mixtures of materials
constantly undergoing change. The challenges of this
“multicomponent, multiphase” environment (Turner
1992) are likely to keep geochemists busy for some
time to come. Urban geochemistry has been charac-
terized from the beginning by the high social impact
of its research, an ingenious ability to modify,
combine, and improve tools borrowed from other
disciplines, and a wide spectrum of interests and
challenges. Taking all these considerations into
account, it is fair to assume that urban geochemistry
will continue to generate exciting scientifi c results,
and that it will become one of the most stimulating
and dynamic branches of geochemistry.
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