The Use of Radio-Release Methods for the Determination of Some Water Pollutants

Water pollution is a global problem of expanding concern, not only because of an ever larger number of chemicals being added by man to the hydrologic cycle, but also because of the greatly increased need for larger and larger amounts of useable water. The latter factor has required multiple reuse in many parts of the world, and hence placed greater demands on pollution control technology. At the same time, we are gradually becoming more aware of the sometimes subtle and complex effects of pollutants on the behavior of the hydrologic cycle itself; problems of accelerated eutrophoication, long-term contamination of underground water, and unexpected effects of sediment contamination are only a few examples. A potentially far-reaching factor is the surprisingly recent realization that we have inadequate information about the environmental behavior and ultimate fate of many pollutants; e.g. the heavy metals.