Mudge Methods in Environmental Forensics

1. Auflage 2008
ISBN: 978-1-4200-0605-6
Verlag: Taylor & Francis
Format: PDF
Kopierschutz: Adobe DRM (»Systemvoraussetzungen)

E-Book, Englisch, 408 Seiten

While environmental catastrophes can be naturally occurring, often they are the result of criminal intent or malfeasance. Sorting out the details when the land itself is the only witness requires a special set of investigative skills. For accountability to be established, investigators must be able to answer these questions with a measure of scientific certainty:

- How and when did the contamination occur?

- Who caused the contamination?

- What are the consequences and extent of liability?

Offering investigators a complete field manual, Methods in Environmental Forensics organizes the work of leading international experts who demonstrate the most effective techniques for determining the source of environmental contaminations. The book begins with the presentation of a case and follows the tasks of an active investigator from the case’s inception up through the delivery of expert court testimony.
The text then reviews those scientific methods that have been used with success in environmental forensic investigations. Detailed information is provided on chemical fingerprinting techniques as they apply to ground water, soils, sediments, and air. Lastly, the scientific methods presented are examined from a legal perspective with an emphasis on the admissibility and presentation of evidence and the delivery of expert testimony.
This unique and comprehensive volume gives forensic chemists, investigators and attorneys the tools needed to solve mysteries of toxic devastation and build cases that will establish the accountability of those responsible. Its editor, Stephen M. Mudge, has been conducting environmental forensic investigations for many years. He has served as an expert witness in several environmental contamination cases, and he continues to research new methods for the quantification and source apportionment of chemicals around the world.

Zielgruppe

Forensic chemists and investigators, environmental chemists, attorneys

Autoren/Hrsg.

Mudge, Stephen M.

Fachgebiete

• Technische Wissenschaften Umwelttechnik | Umwelttechnologie Luftreinhaltung

Inhaltsverzeichnis

Approaching Environmental Forensics
S. M. Mudge
Radionuclides in the Environment: Tracers
and Dating
D. Assinder
Chemical Fingerprinting of Petroleum
Hydrocarbons
Z. Wang and C. Brown
Biomarkers and Stable Isotopes in Environmental
Forensic Studies
R. P. Philp and T. Kuder
Volatile Organic Compound (VOC) Analysis in
Water, Sediments, and Soils and Its Application
in Environmental Forensics
C. Bravo-Linares and S. M. Mudge
Application of Molecular Microbiology to
Environmental Forensics
A. S. Ball, J. N. Pretty,
R. Mahmud, and E. Adetutu
Biological Communities as a Forensic Tool in
Marine Environments
A. Borja and I. Muxika
Normalisation Techniques in the Forensic
Assessment of Contaminated Environments
G. F. Birch, A.T. Russell,
and S. M. Mudge
Multivariate and Geostatistical Methods in
Environmental Forensics
S. M. Mudge
Identification of Air Pollution Sources via
Modelling Techniques
I. Colbeck
Evidence and Expert Witnesses in Environmental
Forensics Cases
A. Kanner
Index