ABSTRACT
The chemical industry has come a long way in the approximately half-century since the following rather astounding assertion was stated in American Chemical Industry—A History, by W. Haynes, Van Nostrand Publishers, 1954: “By sensible definition, any by-product of a chemical operation for which there is no profitable use is a waste. The most convenient, least expensive way of disposing of said waste—up the chimney or down the river—is the best.” Fortunately, this barbaric attitude toward waste has been long regarded as completely wrong and unacceptable. Environmental chemistry is largely involved with the problems caused by improper discharges of pollutants from the anthrosphere to the other environmental spheres. Much of this chapter deals with ways in which such problems can be avoided before environmental problems develop.
