Understanding Environmental Pollution, A Primer

Abstract

Understanding Environmental Pollution systematically introduces pollution issues to students and others with little scientific background. The first edition received excellent reviews, and the new edition has been com-pletely refined and updated. The book moves from the definition of pollution and how pollutants behave, to air-and water-pollution basics, pollution and global change, solid waste, and pollution in the home. It also discusses persistent and bioaccumulative chemicals and pesticides, and places greater emphasis on global pollutants. The relationship between energy generation, its use, and pollution is stressed, as well as the importance of going beyond pol-lution control, to pollution prevention. Impacts on human and environ-mental health are emphasized throughout. Students are often invited to come to their own conclusions after having been presented with a variety of opinions. This textbook provides the basic concepts of pollution, toxicology, and risk assessment for non-science majors as well as environmental-science students. Marquita Hill developed a number of environmental courses at the University of Maine, including " Issues in Environmental Pollution, " an interdisciplinary introductory course, and " Pollution Prevention and Industrial Ecology " in the Department of Chemical Engineering. She was for 7 years a visiting scholar in Environmental Health at the Harvard School of Public Health, and was a founding member and the first presi-dent of the Green Campus Consortium of Maine, an organization devoted to finding sustainable means of management for the state's institutions of higher learning.