Environmental chemistry
The Environmental Chemistry (English environment environmental chemistry ), with a similar meaning also called Ecological Chemistry, is an interdisciplinary scientific field of study that deals with the propagation, transformation and the effects of chemical substances on the animate and inanimate environment. Here, both substances from natural sources are examined, such as from volcanoes (gases) and organisms ( toxins ) as well as those from anthropogenic sources, such as from traffic, industrial processes and use of fertilizers.
History
The environmental chemistry originated in Germany as an independent field of research end of the 1960s, prior to the beginning of the big environmental debates, whereby in particular the chemist Friedhelm Korte took this then new research direction and probably also coined the term Ecological Chemistry. Much of the content, however, overlap with the also incurred approximately this time the concept of ecotoxicology ( engl. environmental toxicology or ecotoxicology ).
Sub-areas of environmental chemistry
Research areas of environmental chemistry include:
- The transformation of substances in the environment (soil, water, air)
- The transport and the distribution of environmental chemicals
- Problems of waste, especially waste incineration
- The interaction or the influence of environmental chemicals or their Umwandlungs-/Abbauprodukten on the environment (humans, animals, plants, etc. )
Due to the interdisciplinary theme is environmental chemistry in close reciprocal relationships with other areas of science such as biology, ecology, meteorology and chemistry.
Methods
The analysis correspond to a large extent those of the environmental analysis and analytical chemistry, biochemistry and toxicology.