An Introduction to Environmental Chemistry

oceans. Perhaps most infamous was the fire and explosion at the Ukranian
Chernobyl power plant in 1986 which released a cocktail of radionuclides
(e.g.^131 I (iodine),^134 Cs and^137 Cs) into the local area and the atmosphere. Most
of the fallout at distance from the source was mediated by rainfall over parts of
Europe, resulting in the contamination of upland pasture, where rainfall was
heaviest, and ultimately of livestock and milk.

2.9 Finding more chemical tools in this book

Most of the other basic chemical ‘tools’ are dispersed in boxes elsewhere in the
book, sited where the concept is first needed to understand a term or process. To
help you find some of these more easily, Fig. 2.5 maps out the position of some
of the key boxes. We have ordered these under three main headings: (i) system
acidity and oxidation; (ii) water; and (iii) physical chemistry.

Environmental Chemist’s Toolbox 29

System acidity

and oxidation

Water Physical

chemistry

Acids and bases

Box 3.3, p. 40

pH

Box 3.5, p. 49

Alkalinity and

pH buffering

Boxes 5.2 and 5.3,

pp. 150,153

Oxidation and reduction

(Eh and redox)

Box 4.3, p. 78

Eh – pH diagrams

Box 5.4, p. 163

Chemical energy

Box 4.8, p. 98

Reaction kinetics

Box 4.4, p. 80

Equilibrium

Box 3.2, p. 37

Solubility

Box 4.12, p. 107

Ion interactions

and ion pairs

Box 6.4, p. 198

Salinity

Box 6.1, p. 185

Ionic strength

Box 5.1, p. 150

Water and

hydrogen bonds

Box 4.1, p. 69

Fig. 2.5Diagram to show location of more chemical ‘tools’ in this book.