ABSTRACT
Environmental pollution from industrial, energy, and defense-related operations is widespread in many countries and results in contamination of the land, water, and air with which all living organisms interact, often producing toxic responses. For example, approximately 16,000 U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) installations are currently thought to be contaminated (1). Those with the worst problems (in terms of contaminant ubiquity and human health hazards) appear on the National Priorities List (NPL). Developing valid methods for recording the extent of pollution is central to assessing environmental damage and remediation efforts. This development is often difficult, however, due to speciation effects and distribution of contaminants among multiple phases. In addition, contaminants are of ten present in the environment as mixtures of unknown composition, making the task of assessing hazards even more difficult.
