aquatic pollution (2nd edn.), e. a. laws, john wiley and sons, 1993. viii + 611 pp. price: £63.00...

1
BOOK REVIEWS 93 AQUATIC POLLUTION (2nd Edn.), E. A. Laws, John Wiley and Sons, 1993. viii + 61 1 pp. Price: f63.00 (hbk), f45.50 (pbk). ISBN 0 471 53457 9 (hbk), 0 471 5883 0 (pbk). The first edition of this textbook appeared in 1981 and one of its strengths was the detailed series of case studies that were presented. The new edition follows the original format closely but has been considerably updated, with three new chapters having been added. The first three chapters present some basic principles of aquatic ecology (food webs, primary production and physical factors) with new titles, but containing most of the material of the first edition. As in the first edition there then follow chapters on Cultural Eutrophication, Sewage Treatment, Pathogens, Toxi- cology, Industrial Pollution, Pesticides, Thermal Pollution, Metals, Oil and Radioactivity. The new chapters cover Acid Deposition, Ground Water Pollution and Plastics in the Sea, topics which have come to the fore in the past decade. The case studies are much the same as last time, a consideration of the Chernobyl accident being the only new addition. However, new material has been added to the original studies and some are replete with newspaper cuttings and court transcriptions, making for vivid and, at times, exciting reading. A case in point is the description of the Minamata Bay incident, when more * than 2000 people were poisoned by mercury discharged from a factory and entering the marine food chain. The dishonesty of company officials and inactivity of government are clearly exposed, as we read of court clashes and attempted suicides. The release of mercury was eventually halted in 1968 when the industrial process became obsolete but evidence collected as early as 1956 should have led to the shut-down of the discharge. Laws’ account is updated to 1989 and it is clear that attempts at clean-up have been less than successful. We should be thankful for the likes of Friends of the Earth and Greenpeace for keeping a wary eye on our businessmen, politicians and civil servants! Detailed case studies also have their problems because of the complex nature of many incidents. Thus Lake Erie is described in detail in the chapter on Cultural Eutrophication. However, most of the 17 pages are devoted to the effects of habitat modifications on fish- stocks, to overfishing and to toxic wastes, with more than a page of graphs of bioaccumulating contaminants in fish and birds, hardly relevant to the chapter in question but very interesting. The case study approach also leads to a lack of synthesis of some topics. Chapter 4 on cultural eutrophication is an example. After a brief definition and inadequate outline of the probIems caused, there follow three case studies and nothing more-Lake Washington, Lake Erie and the subtropical Kaneohe Bay in Hawaii with its coral reefs. One has to turn back to Chapter 2 for a discussion of limiting nutrients and a very brief description of the important whole-lake experiments in Canada. To learn about detergents and their role in eutrophication one has to read forward to Chapter 6 on sewage treatment. Other than the specific instances in the case studies there is no overview of eutrophication control methods, nothing on the topical interest in biomanipulation and very little on eutrophication modelling. Aquatic Pollution is described as an introductory text but I think it will prove most valuable to advanced students, teachers and practitioners in the water industry who are already familiar with the basic concepts of the subject. They will find it rich in examples and often entertaining-no mean achievement for a textbook on this subject. Undergraduates will find it an invaluable source of material for essays and tutorials but its price will deter its recommendation as an essential text, at least within impoverished British universities. C. F. MASON University of Essex, Colchester, UK

Upload: c-f-mason

Post on 06-Jun-2016

226 views

Category:

Documents


1 download

TRANSCRIPT

Page 1: Aquatic pollution (2nd Edn.), E. A. Laws, John Wiley and Sons, 1993. viii + 611 pp. Price: £63.00 (hbk), £45.50 (pbk). ISBN 0 471 53457 9 (hbk), 0 471 5883 0 (pbk)

BOOK REVIEWS 93

AQUATIC POLLUTION (2nd Edn.), E. A. Laws, John Wiley and Sons, 1993. viii + 61 1 pp. Price: f63.00 (hbk), f45.50 (pbk). ISBN 0 471 53457 9 (hbk), 0 471 5883 0 (pbk).

The first edition of this textbook appeared in 1981 and one of its strengths was the detailed series of case studies that were presented. The new edition follows the original format closely but has been considerably updated, with three new chapters having been added.

The first three chapters present some basic principles of aquatic ecology (food webs, primary production and physical factors) with new titles, but containing most of the material of the first edition. As in the first edition there then follow chapters on Cultural Eutrophication, Sewage Treatment, Pathogens, Toxi- cology, Industrial Pollution, Pesticides, Thermal Pollution, Metals, Oil and Radioactivity. The new chapters cover Acid Deposition, Ground Water Pollution and Plastics in the Sea, topics which have come to the fore in the past decade.

The case studies are much the same as last time, a consideration of the Chernobyl accident being the only new addition. However, new material has been added to the original studies and some are replete with newspaper cuttings and court transcriptions, making for vivid and, at times, exciting reading. A case in point is the description of the Minamata Bay incident, when more

* than 2000 people were poisoned by mercury discharged from a factory and entering the marine food chain. The dishonesty of company officials and inactivity of government are clearly exposed, as we read of court clashes and attempted suicides. The release of mercury was eventually halted in 1968 when the industrial process became obsolete but evidence collected as early as 1956 should have led to the shut-down of the discharge. Laws’ account is updated to 1989 and it is clear that attempts at clean-up have been less than successful. We should be thankful for the likes of Friends of the Earth and

Greenpeace for keeping a wary eye on our businessmen, politicians and civil servants!

Detailed case studies also have their problems because of the complex nature of many incidents. Thus Lake Erie is described in detail in the chapter on Cultural Eutrophication. However, most of the 17 pages are devoted to the effects of habitat modifications on fish- stocks, to overfishing and to toxic wastes, with more than a page of graphs of bioaccumulating contaminants in fish and birds, hardly relevant to the chapter in question but very interesting.

The case study approach also leads to a lack of synthesis of some topics. Chapter 4 on cultural eutrophication is an example. After a brief definition and inadequate outline of the probIems caused, there follow three case studies and nothing more-Lake Washington, Lake Erie and the subtropical Kaneohe Bay in Hawaii with its coral reefs. One has to turn back to Chapter 2 for a discussion of limiting nutrients and a very brief description of the important whole-lake experiments in Canada. To learn about detergents and their role in eutrophication one has to read forward to Chapter 6 on sewage treatment. Other than the specific instances in the case studies there is no overview of eutrophication control methods, nothing on the topical interest in biomanipulation and very little on eutrophication modelling.

Aquatic Pollution is described as an introductory text but I think it will prove most valuable to advanced students, teachers and practitioners in the water industry who are already familiar with the basic concepts of the subject. They will find it rich in examples and often entertaining-no mean achievement for a textbook on this subject. Undergraduates will find it an invaluable source of material for essays and tutorials but its price will deter its recommendation as an essential text, at least within impoverished British universities.

C. F. MASON University of Essex, Colchester, UK