Published online 1 January 2007
Published in Soil Sci Soc Am J 71:253 (2007)
DOI: 10.2136/sssaj2006.0012br
© 2007 Soil Science Society of America
677 S. Segoe Rd., Madison, WI 53711 USA
Managing Arsenic in the Environment—From Soil to Human Health
Ravi Naidu, Euan Smith, Gary Owens, Prosun Bhattacharya, and Peter Nadebaum (editors).
April L. Ulery*,
Timothy Jobe and
Sylvia Nemmers
CSIRO Publishing, 150 Oxford St., P.O. Box 1139, Collingwood, VIC 3066, Australia. 2006. 656p. $165 (AU). ISBN: 1-57808-425-3
* Corresponding author (aulery{at}nmsu.edu).
We found this book to be an excellent reference on arsenic in the environment. The title does not do the book justice however, as there is much more material here than just the management of arsenic. Background material on sources of contamination, health issues relating to arsenic, regional concerns, and even future directions or needs for further research are provided in addition to the fate of arsenic in the environment and various remediation strategies.
The book has a modular layout, and a good index, both of which make it convenient for finding information on various topics relating to arsenic. Since each chapter is written to stand alone, there is some redundancy in the introductions and background information. However, a book of this type would probably not be read cover-to-cover, so the modular format outweighs any repetition. The 38 chapters are collected into ten sections which provide everything from an international overview of issues relating to arsenic, to the chemistry, fate, and remediation of arsenic contamination locally and regionally. The ten sections are: Arsenic around the world—An overview (with two chapters); Analytical tools for assessing the dynamics of arsenic in environmental samples (two chapters); Dynamics of arsenic in groundwater (containing three chapters); Fate of arsenic in soil, water and plants (five chapters); Food chain issues (three chapters); Human health issues (two chapters); Remediation of arsenic-contaminated water (six chapters); Remediation of arsenic-contaminated soils (three chapters); Country overviews (eleven chapters covering several regions and countries around the world); and a Conclusion section with one chapter. The material describing arsenic chemistry, fate, and environmental interactions was particularly useful to us as soil scientists, while those chapters dealing with regional concerns and health issues were less relevant to our program though very interesting and enlightening. The chapters are well-written and provide an excellent review of the relevant literature, although so much recent work has been published on arsenic and the environment (over 225 papers just since 2005) that the editors may want to start working on the next edition.
This book is most appropriate for researchers and graduate students. It could serve as a textbook in a graduate class, but is most useful as a reference. We have gained a better understanding of arsenic's role in soils, aquatic environments, bioavailability, and health risks after reviewing this comprehensive book. We especially appreciated the sections on future research needs found in almost all of the chapters. Finally, while many of the chapters were too regionally focused to be of broad appeal, it was refreshing to read a book that was international in scope and not just limited to North America or the United States.
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A.L. Ulery, Associate Professor, Dep. of Plant & Environmental Sciences, P.O. Box 30003, MSC 3Q, New Mexico State Univ., Las Cruces, NM 88001; T. Jobe and S. Nemmers, Graduate Students, Dep. of Plant & Environmental Sciences, P.O. Box 30003, MSC 3Q, New Mexico State Univ., Las Cruces, NM 88001.
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