Soil, sediment and groundwater deterioration as a result of the accumulation of persistent chemicals: Towards a European research programme
✍ Scribed by P.-D. Hansen; G. Varallyay
- Publisher
- John Wiley and Sons
- Year
- 1993
- Tongue
- English
- Weight
- 144 KB
- Volume
- 4
- Category
- Article
- ISSN
- 1085-3278
No coin nor oath required. For personal study only.
✦ Synopsis
Land degradation and desertification caused by gullying, erosion, overgrazing and deforestation are highly visible environmental problems and have therefore attracted much public attention. However, we are increasingly confronted with another, almost invisible form of land degradation which captures much less public attention and thus generates less pressure for policy measures. This degradation is caused by the insidious and pervasive accumulation of persistent chemicals in sediments and soils, rendering them unsuitable for use by future generations.
This collection of papers draws attention to chemical land degradation. It contains some of the papers presented at the 1992 conference of the Society for Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry (SETAC), held in conjunction with the International Aquatic Ecosystems Health Management Society (IAEHMS) at Potsdam, Germany. Four parallel sessions were held, the session on chemical time bombs (CTBs) and soil and sediment pollution being co-ordinated by Dr G . P. Hekstra, leader of the project on the ecological sustainability of the use of chemicals at The Netherlands' Ministry of the Environment.
What is meant by a CTB? More than 12 years ago, in his inaugural speech as professor of soil protection at the Agricultural University Wageningen, The Netherlands, F. A. M. de Haan described the danger of phosphate-saturated agricultural soils as a potential CTB for soil and groundwater; he saw