Heavy Metals in the Environment: Using Wetlands for Their Removal

by Odum; Howard T.

• ISBN13: 9781566704014
• ISBN10: 1566704014
• Edition: 1st
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2000-05-24
• Publisher: CRC Press

Summary

Much of the convenience of modern life resides in sheet metal, the cowling shield of most machines and appliances. However, the load that this takes off human shoulders has to be carried elsewhere, and the Earth has borne the burden. Many of us woke up to the environmental cost when over a century of industrialization finally surpassed the capacity of nature to assimilate it. International in scope, Heavy Metals in the Environment: Using Wetlands for Their Removal discusses wetland functions and heavy metal contamination. It addresses such questions as: Can systems powered by sunlight handle toxins more effectively than systems running on fossil fuel? At what scale and by what means do we define efficiency? These questions resonate increasingly with a number of global challenges. As inescapable as climate change, you can no longer avoid airborne toxins, acid rain, and polluted water by moving away from them. When the time comes to rely less on fossil fuel-based technology, how will we clean up the aftermath of toxic misadventures? Written by a leader in the growing field of ecological engineering, Heavy Metals in the Environment: Using Wetlands for Their Removal presents scientific studies that illustrate how natural systems use wetlands to adapt to changes in the ecosystem. It focuses primarily on lead, one of the first materials used by developing civilizations and a metal used heavily in the industrial era. The goal: to achieve a better understanding of how natural systems use wetlands to adapt to wastes.

Table of Contents

PART I INTRODUCTION AND BACKGROUND
Introduction	3	(18)
Problems and Needs	21	(8)
Background of Published Studies on Lead and Wetlands	29	(20)
Biogeochemical Cycle of Lead and the Energy Hierarchy	49	(22)
Howard T. Odum
PART II LEAD IN A CYPRESS-GUM SWAMP, JACKSON COUNTY, FLORIDA
Ecological Assessment of the Steele City Swamps	71	(10)
Lowell Pritchard, Jr.
Lead Distribution in Steele City Swamps	81	(6)
Shanshin Ton
Joseph J. Delfino
Experiments with Lead and Acid in Wetland Microcosms	87	(4)
Shanshin Ton
Simulation Model of a Lead-Containing Swamp Ecosystem	91	(6)
Shanshin Ton
Howard T. Odum
PART III LEAD AND WETLANDS IN POLAND
Lead and Zinc Retension in the Biala River Wetland of Poland	97	(18)
Wlodzimierz Wojcik
Malgorzata Wojcik
Perspectives on Lead and Zinc Manufacturing, and Environment	115	(6)
Wlodzimierz Wojcik
The Ecological Economics of Natural Wetland Retention of Lead	121	(24)
Lowell Pritchard, Jr.
PART IV VALUE AND POLICY
Emergy Evaluation of Treatment Alternatives in Poland	145	(8)
Wlodzimierz Wojcik
Slawomir Leszczynski
Howard T. Odum
The Evolution of Environmental Law and the Industrial Lead Cycle	153	(12)
Jay D. Patel
Summary, Policy for Heavy Metals and Environment	165	(118)
APPENDICES
Appendix A1 Symbols Used in Systems Diagrams	171	(2)
Appendix A4 Biogeochemical Cycle of Lead and the Energy Hierarchy	173	(4)
Howard T. Odum
Appendix A5A Field Measurement Methods	177	(6)
Lowell Pritchard, Jr.
Appendix A5B Data on Biota in Sapp Swamp	183	(4)
Lowell Pritchard, Jr.
Appendix A6A Methods Used for Chemical Analysis of Waters and Sediments	187	(6)
Shanshin Ton
Joseph J. Delfino
Appendix A6B Chemical Data on the Cypress-Gum Swamps of Steele City Bay, Jackson Country, Florida	193	(8)
Shanshin Ton
Joseph J. Delfino
Appendix A7 Details and Statistics on Microcosm Studies	201	(4)
Shanshin Ton
Appendix A8 Equations, Programs, and Calibration Table for Simulation Models	205	(6)
Shanshin Ton
Howard T. Odum
Appendix A9 Data on the Biala River Wetland and the Results of the Field Experiments	211	(44)
Wlodzimierz Wojcik
Malgorzata Wojcik
Appendix A11A Details on Economic Valuation Methods	255	(6)
Lowell Pritchard, Jr.
Appendix A11B Transformities Used in Calculations	261	(8)
Lowell Pritchard, Jr.
Appendix A12 Emergy Evaluation of Poland	269	(12)
Wlodzimierz Wojcik
Jacek Stasik
Howard T. Odum
Appendix A13 References to Laws Cited in Chapter 13	281	(2)
Jay D. Patel
References	283	(22)
Index	305