ABSTRACT

In the last 2000 years, industrial activity and associated technological developments have led to the world of computers, space exploration, and nanotechnology that we live in today. An unfortunate by-product has been environmental pollution, the majority of which has occurred since the onset of the industrial revolution in the 1800s, but examples can be 394traced back to Roman and Greek settlements. The quantity and type of emissions have changed over the past 50–60 years, with pollution from complex chemicals, dense non-aqueous liquid phases (DNAPLs), and radioactive metals adding to those released into the environment. Only in recent years has their fate, transport, and toxicology begun to be thoroughly investigated, revealing their potential impact on the environment and ultimately the human population.