Advanced Physical Analytical Methods for the Assessment of the Environment State

Abstract

Despite the major efforts that have been made over recent years to clean up the environment, pollution remains a major problem and poses continuing risks to health. Thus, the determination of contaminants in environmental samples is a challenging and critical issue. Highly accurate analytical techniques provide the possibility to assess and map the organic and inorganic pollutants in complex atmospheric, water, and soil matrices qualitatively and quantitatively. The present chapter brings together the wealth of information in the current literature, covering both the fundamentals and applications of these methodologies. The main attention is given to neutron activation analysis, inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry, and inductively coupled plasma atomic emission spectroscopy. The principles, main strengths, and weaknesses of each technique are discussed. Several examples of techniques applied in air, water, and soil sample analysis are presented.