BOOKSHELF
Beryllium-A balanced view of its history, chemistry, and toxicology Beryllium: Its Industrial Hygiene Aspects. Edited by Herbert E. Stokinger. xiii 394 pages. Academic Press, Inc., New York. N.Y. 10003. 1966. $1 1.60, hard cover. Lloyd B. Tepper is associate director, College of Medicine, Kettering Lnhoratory, University of Cincinnati, Cincinnari, Ohio.45219.
+
This collaborative effort represents the most recent thinking in the field of beryllium and industrial health by observers whose experience over the course of years gives them the right to speak with authority on this subject. Although the title suggests that the scope of the monograph is restricted to industrial hygiene, an examination of the volume reveals a comprehensive coverage of historical, chemical, and toxicological aspects as well. Moreover, significant reference is made to subjects not dealt with in detail, such as those Lvhich might be described as clinical. The intended briefness of the clinical section can lead to the incorrect inference that animal and enzyme studies have been of more importance than actual observations in instances of human disease. This is, of course, not the case, and careful reading and interpretation of the text should dispel such assumptions.
tional health problems arising from beryllium operations and exposures are aware of the fact that a number of topics are subjects of considerable discussion and controversy. Included in this category would be the “high-fired low-fired beryllia” controversy, the question of the extent to which acute disease can be attributed to beryllia and chronic disease to acid salts, and the matter of altered immunity as a fundamental factor in chronic beryllium disease. On the whole, this monograph deals with controversial material by presenting both sides of questions and by describing approaches and points of view which are not necessarily those of the contributors. The section on analytical methods, for example, makes useful and instructive remarks with regard to morin fluorometric methods, although the author’s choice in practice is based upon spectrographic techniques. A similar balanced position and discussion pertains to such topics as bases for beryllium threshold limit values and industrial hygiene control measures. The chapter on the historical aspects of clinical beryllium disease is a fascinating piece of writing and includes material which has not until now been of public record. It is fortunate that Dr. Shipman has been able to make this contribution from his personal knowledge and experience.
be overlooked by many persons interested in beryllium chemistry since the title of the volume does not suggest that this material is included in the text. Criticism can be directed to only a few isolated points or statements. It is, for example, inappropriate to use unpublished work from one’s own laboratory as a reference or to suggest that the prevalence of chronic beryllium disease is very low today. One can also take issue with the position that particle sizing is important in determining whether or not work is being conducted i n compliance with standards which were set on total (rather than respirable fraction) beryllium-in-air criteria. It is further not made clear that the beryllium content of an alloy is a much less important health consideration than the air concentration of beryllium that may arise from metalworking operations upon that particular alloy. Obviously a 4% beryllium alloy is a more potent potential source of trouble than 2% alloy, but the critical consideration reflects the treatment which is administered to the respective materials and the resultant qualitative and quantitative characteristics of the dust which is produced. This is, of course, not greatly different from situations in which silica in air rather than silica in rock is the important consideration.
Chemistry of beryllium
A useful reference
More than one fifth of the monograph is devoted to a chapter on the chemistry of beryllium. This represents a thorough and up-to-date review of the subject and a guide to over 500 original references in the world literature. As such, it is a valuable source of information. Unfortunately, it will
This is an important contribution which will for some time represent the most useful available industrial hygiene reference devoted to beryllium. The volume itself is prepared in a craftsmanlike manner and should stand up well under the heavy use it is likely to receive.
Balanced viewpoint
In any multi-authored work of this sort, a certain amount of redundancy is anticipated, and it is found in this volume. While it is not a generally desirable characteristic. it does permit each section to stand independently so that the reader need not persue the full text to understand a portion of it. Readers conversant with occupa.
Volume 1, Number 11, November 1967
943
1
I
NOWa true Total Organic Carbon analysis in minutes
Significance of viruses in public water systems Transmission of Viruses by the Water Route. Edited by Gerald Berg. A symposium. xviii 484 pages. Interscience Publishers, Inc., New York, N.Y. 10016. 1967. $15.00, hard cover. John R . Paul is an epidemiologist in the School of Medicine, Department of History of Science and Medicine, Yale University, New Haven, Conn. 065 11.
+
I
I
By John R.Paul Less than 30 years ago, poliovirus was detected in urban sewage effluents during epidemics of that disease. Since that time, there has been very little evidence that poliomyelitis is actually a water-borne disease. Nevertheless, the discovery was important because it demonstrated that this virus could exist in polluted water and could be assayed there as a manifestation of the amounts of poliovirus being excreted from a given urban population or sections of this population, at a given time. Twenty years ago, with the discovery of Coxsackie virus by Dalldorf, the situation was expanded to include the whole growing family of enteroviruses, into which polioviruses have been absorbed. Most of these viruses have the property of existing in the human intestinal tract and, accordingly, of being excreted in sewage; and practically all of them are extraordinarily hardy and resistant to chemicals when compared to other families of viruses. And yet, as in poliomyelitis, there has been practically no evidence to date that human infections have been caused by Coxsackie and Echo viruses which have been transmitted via potable water.
The new Beckman Model 915 Total Organic Carbon Analyzer gives a complete TOC determination i n less than 5 minutes by eliminating time-consuming sample preparation procedures. It quickly determines both total carbon and total inorganic carbon with TOC calculated by the difference. The 915 is modular, compact, and versa t i I e-o f f e r i n g a n a Iys is ra n ges from 0-50 up to 0-4000 milligrams organic carbon per liter of sample. I t s operation follows an approved ASTM procedure for TOC, and the data obtained can be related to BOD, COD, and other criteria. With its time-and-labor-saving tures, the 915 helps you fight a ter battle against water pollution. the details, call your Beckman cess Sales Engineer. or write Data File PT-16-168.
feabetFor
Viral hepatitis
Profor
I N STRUM ENTS, I N C . PROCESS INSTRUMENTS DIVISION FULLERTON, CALIFORNIA
92634
,, 81 - E P N A T
1
O V A L S U S S l C I l ~ l L S i E ‘ > i i . l l.’uhlCH, S L E \ F C T + E J , S t G T L A N 3 . - O K V G . F:FFS, c:PE-~.~\ L C Z C ~ N ‘MEXICO t
--
] I Circle NO. 31 on Readers’ Service Card
944 Environmental Science and Technology
On the other hand, from the standpoint of a disease other than enterovirus infections, there has been no end of clear-cut evidence that water-borne epidemics of viral hepatitis do exist and are indeed quite common. But the fly in the ointment here is that the agent of infectious hepatitis is a mythical one-as no virus has, as yet, been discovered. Some have even made the remote claim that it is not actually a true virus, but is the major human “viral” disease which can be truly de-
scribed as water-borne in the sense that typhoid fever is said to be a waterborne disease. O n the other hand, swimming pools, particularly backyard swimming pools, as described in the article in this volume by McLean of Toronto, may be a different matter. There are authenticated evidences of adenovirus 3 infections and febrile vesicular exanthema being spread in this manner. Misleading title
The title of this book might be said to be slightly misleading: the book does not emphasize the transmission of viruses by the water route, per se, but rather, the detection of viruses in water-and, to a far lesser extent, what it means. Despite the wording of the title, however, the book is an excellent review which has brought together an immense and surprising amount of information dealing with practical and theoretical considerations of viruses in water and the methodology of handling them. This information has been compiled within relatively recent times, for before 1940 and for a short time thereafter, the usual methods of treating sewage were oriented toward the elimination of bacteria. Thus, sanitary engineers were caught off-balance when confronted with questions as to how to detect and what to do about viruses in the 1940’s and even in the early 1950’s. A symposium
Actually the book is composed of a series of articles and the discussion which accompanies them, which represent the proceedings of a symposium held in December 1965 in Cincinnati, Ohio (conducted by the Research Board of the Division of Water Supply and Pollution Control, Public Health Service, U.S. Department of Health, Education, and Welfare). The object of the symposium was to review facts and current research so that the meeting might act as a clearing house for thinking and discussion problems dealing with viruses in waon some important areas relating to ter-an object which was achieved remarkably well. The 30 articles include studies on viruses either as they exist in natural waters or as they behave when artificially introduced in water. These are dealt with under a number of dif-
E S & T READER SERVICE NOVEMBER 1967 numbers on one of the attached cards corresponding t o the number shown beneath each advertisement. The New Product and New Literature Digests also have corresponding numbers for each item. This is a free service provided by ES&T.
VALID THROUGH APRIL 1968
ADVERTISED PRODUCTS:
r
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 1 0 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55
1 1 26 41 56
1 2 27 42 57
1 3 28 43 58
1 4 29 44 59
1 5 30 45 60
70 71 76 77 78 79 80 81 82 83 84 85 86 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 100 101 106 107 108 109 110 111 112 113 114 115 116
72 87 102 117
73 88 103 118
74 89 104 119
75 90 105 120
1 4 29 44 59
1 5 30 45 60
71 72 73 74 86 87 88 89 101 102 103 104 116 117 118 119
75 90 105 120
NEW PRODUCTS, NEW LITERATURE: 6 1 62 63 64 65 66 67 68 69
Position Affiliation Address Zip
NOVEMBER 1967
VALID THROUGH APRIL 1968
ADVERTISED PRODUCTS:
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 1 0 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55
1 1 26 41 56
1 2 27 42 57
1 3 28 43 58
NEW PRODUCTS, NEW LITERATURE:
61 62 63 64 76 77 78 79 91 92 93 94 106 107 108 109
65 80 95 110
66 81 96 111
67 82 97 112
68 83 98 113
69 84 99 114
70 85 100 115
Name
Affiliation Address Zip
NOVEMBER 1967
VALID THROUGH APRIL 1968
ADVERTISED PRODUCTS:
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 101112 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 NEW PRODUCTS, NEW LITERATURE: 6 1 62 63 64 65 66 67 68 69
70 76 77 78 79 80 81 82 83 84 85 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 100 106 107 108 109 110 111 112 113 114 115 Name
Affiliation Address Zip
71 86 101 116
72 87 102 117
13 28 43 58 73 88 103 118
1415 29 30 44 45 59 60 74 89 104 119
75 90 105 120
ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY-
READER SERVICE
I -I FIRST CLASS Permit No. 1538 New York, N. Y.
BUSINESS REPLY M A I L
No Postage Stamp Necessary if Mailed in the United States
POSTAGE WlLl BE PAID BY-
ENVIRONMENTAL Science & Technology READER SERVICE CENTER 430 PARK AVENUE NEW YORK, N. Y. 10022
I
=-
I
I
FIRST CLASS Permit No. 1538 New York, N. Y.
BUSINESS REPLY MAIL No Postage Stamp Necessary if Mailed in the United States
POSTAGE WILL BE PAID BY-
ENVIRONMENTAL Science & Technology READER SERVICE CENTER 430 PARK AVENUE NEW YORK, N. Y. 10022
FIRST CLASS Permit No. 1538 New York, N. Y.
BUSINESS REPLY MAIL No Postage Stamp Necessary if Mailed in the United States ~
~~
~
POSTAGE W l l l BE PAID BY-
ENVlRONMENTAL Science & Technology READER SERVICE CENTER 430 PARK AVENUE NEW YORK, N. Y. 10022
If you would like to receive any of the material made available by advertisers in this issue, circle the numbers on one of the attached cards corresponding to the number shown beneath each advertisement. The New Product and New Literature Digests also have corresponding numbers for each item. This is a free service provided by ES&T.
ferent headings: epidemiological considerations. quantitative recovery, minimal infective dose in water, waterborne viruses besides enteroviruses, and their survival in water-truly such a wealth of technical data and information that it is hard to determine which heading is the most important. The array of new ideas and new sophisticated techniques for the detection of small quantities of virus in large volumes of water reported here is amazing and goes far beyond the methods in vogue only a few years ago. Such new methods as concentration by electrophoresis, the adsorption of viruses on various particles, ultrafiltration, and membrane chromatography are described. And some of these new methods have already been put to good use. Interpretation
Quite apart from the actual detection of viruses in water is the interpretation of what this all means. Can minimal amounts of enteroviruses in water be disregarded as unimportant? What is the threshold of concentration in which different viruses are actually dangerous to human health? Or, conceivably, do small amounts of virus act in the capacity of immunizing agents? Here ideas and interpretations have progressed much more slowly. The tacit assumption is that the minimal presence of enteroviruses in sewage waters is to be avoided, and yet this interpretation has seldom been subject to proof. As an example in the field of bacteria, most urban sewage contains tubercle bacilli, yet epidemiologists do not believe that tuberculosis is transmitted via water or that they are obligated to do much about the eradication of minimal amounts of tubercle bacilli in sewage water which has undergone treatment. F i e l d studies
To the reviewer at least, some of the most significant articles in this book are those few dealing with situations as they actually exist in natureand, incidentally, what interpretations can be placed upon these findings. Of great importance are such studies as are reported by Beatrice England, et al., of the San Diego Department of Public Health, which is one of virological assessment of sewage treatment at Santee, California, where rec-
reational facilities from water re. claimed from sewage are being tried out; and those such as the epidemiological field studies at the Kansas City Field Station of the U S . Public Health Service by Dr. Chin and his collabora. tors, who made surveys of sewage samples from multiple socioeconomic areas in Des Moines, Iowa, during a poliomyelitis epidemic and afterward; anc a most interesting survey made undeI the Department of Microbiology at the University of New Hampshire, (Durham). by Metcalf and Stiles, on the long-term survival of enteric viruses in estuary waters and shellfish, and the influence of temperature thereon. These are studies which, it would seem, are urgently needed just at this time. Such surveys might logically lead on to others which could have as their object the sampling of the sewage of different urban populations under totally different environmental conditions and different methods of treating sewage, conditions perhaps in different international locations, during campaigns of feeding attenuated poliovirus (Sabin vaccine), and in cities where only inactivated poliovirus vaccine is given. The point is that now methods far more sophisticated and delicate than ever before are available, to which this symposium testifies. Field studies based on these methods ought to be pursued to the limit with a view to interpreting their meaning both from the standpoint of pathogenesis and from the standpoint of epidemiology. I earnestly hope, therefore, that this will not be the last of such symposiums and that we can look forward to more of them.
The Advancement of Knowledge for the Nation’s Health. A Report to the President on the Research Programs to the National Institutes of Health. 202 pages. U.S. Government Printing Office. Washington, D.C. 20402. 1967. $1.25, paper. “Out of the $43 billion that Americans spent for health in 1966 from both public and private sources, only about $2 billion, or 5 % , went for basic and applied research on the causes, prevention, and treatment of disease and the improvement of health sew-
Answerland? H a m b u r g , D u s s e l d o r f , F r a n k f u r t ... Lufthansa has arranged special urban problem study tours to as many as eight European cities to give you first-hand, specific information on new and astonishing progress made in air and water pollution, waste disposal, noise abatement and urban renewal. In cooperation with the U S . German Cooperative Program in National Resources, Pollution Control and Urban Development, special Lufthansa 17 and 21 day tours will enable you to make on the spot surveys, plant inspections and hold consultations with the officials and committees that made the new answers work. A lot of what you’ll learn is so new it hasn’t been published; a lot more will never b e p u b l i s h e d i n English. B u t Lufthansa can help you check your methods and approaches at the places breakthroughs have been made. And talk to the men who made them. For detailed information and itineraries, send for the brand-new Lufthansa booklet on Urban Problem tours. Just send your request on your letterhead t o : Lufthansa German Airlines, 410 Park Avenue, New York, N.Y. 10022, PL 9-5522. #1GT $647.00 17 days: The Central European City: New York- Amsterdam - Dijsseldorf-Cologne- Frankfurt-StuttgartMunich-Hamburg-New York. Departure May 12. # 2 G l $789.00 21 days: International Cong r e s s o n Water P o l l u t i o n Research (Prague). New York-Hamburg- Dusseldorf- Frankfurt- Prague-Zurich-Rome -Paris-Amsterdam-New York. Departure August 29. #3TX $716.00 17 days: l o u r For Urban Planning Engineers: New York- Amsterdam - Hanover- Dijsseldorf - Rhine Steamer - Munich - Zurich - Frankfurt Hamburg-New York. Departures September 2, 16.
@ Lufthansa Circle No. 39 on Readers’ Service Card
Volume 1, Number 11, November 1967 947
ices. For an ‘industry’ whose vigor and capability are critically dependent upon new knowledge and technology, this is a low investment in research and technological development.” So states the Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare in transmitting to the President this report on the advancement of knowledge for the Nation’s health. The report describes the nature of the major National Institutes of Health programs of medical research and reflects the direction of the country’s accelerating attack upon disease and disability. The substance of the report is a description of the current research efforts and activities of the nine institutes that make up NIH. These institutes encompass virtually every known disease and include every scientific discipline that is significant to health. The major research programs account for $725 million, which is about four fifths of the total research budget and more
than one half of the total funds of NIH and the National Institute of Mental Health. (The National Institute of Mental Health became a separate bureau of the Public Health Service in January 1967.) In addition to the research programs, $330 million is directed to the development of research resources in the form of training grants and fellowship funds and for the construction of research facilities; $178 million for community-related activities designed to improve the delivery of health care to the public; and $41 million for the direction and administration of N I H programs.
transferred from ocean to atmosphere. from atmosphere to land, and from land back to the sea. The processes taking place at each stage in the cycle are explained. The pamphlet also describes the work of the Weather Bureau of the Environmental Science Services Administration in recording precipitation and outlines the bureau’s flood warning service.
The Hydrologic Cycle. Pamphlet No. 670003 of the U.S. Department of Commerce. 8 pages. U.S. Government Printing Office, Washington, D.C. 20402. 1967. 15 cents, paper.
“Man disturbs his environment by digging into the earth to obtain the minerals that satisfy his needs through technology and processing. Society benefits in many ways. But man has left behind a residue of devastation with pure streams defiled and the country laid bare. This need not be! Planned
This pamphlet describes the continuing sequence through which water is
Surface Mining and Our Environment. A Report of the U S . Department of Interior. 124 pages. U.S. Government Printing Office, Washington, D.C. 20402. $2.00, paper.
Gas Mixtures For Air Pollution Studies and Instrument Cali bration Custom mixtures; ppm SO2 in nitrogen or air; ppm H2S in nitrogen; hydrocarbon mixtures for auto exhaust studies; oxides of nitrogen in air. Available from 6 plants. Write for catalog to: The Matheson Co., Inc.
P.O.Box 85 East Rutherford, N. J. &e.Write for a eo
Corporation, Bedford,
Circle No. 8 on Readers’ Service Card
948
Environmental Science and Technology
W MATHESON Mass. 01730.
Plants in: E. Rutherford, N. J., Cucamonga, Calif., Joliet, Ill., La Porte, Texas, Morrow, Ga., Newark, Calif., Matheson of Canada, Whitby, Ont. Circle No. 35 on Readers’ Service Card
mining and reclamation can return the land to use and beauty." This is the message of this special report to the nation, vividly shown in a picture essay indicating the full circle of surface mining and reclamation. This report contains the recommendations for a long-range, comprehensive program for reclamation and rehabilitation of strip and surface mining areas in the U S . and for the policies under which the program should be conducted. These recommendations include: Development of federal standards and reclamation requirements that would prevent future surface-mining damage to land and water resources, regardless of their ownership. Evolution of federal cost-sharing agreements with state and local governments and with private landowners to reclaim damaged lands. Acquisition of privately owned surface-mined lands and adjoining lands where such acquisition is necessary to further an effective mined-land conservation program. .Support for research on surface mining and reclamation practices and provision for technical advisory assistance to mine operators. Under a national program built on such recommendations, surface mining in the U.S. can be regulated, and areas already damaged by surface mining can be reclaimed.
Burner Fuel Oils, 1967. Petroleum Products Survey No. 51. 0. C. Blade. 30 pages. US. Bureau of Mines, Pittsburgh, Pa. 15213. Free on request. This report contains properties data for various grades of domestic fuel oils which were produced and made available during 1967. Data are given on 350 samples, which represented the products of 35 companies and which were collected from 108 refineries throughout the country. The samples were analyzed for sulfur, water and sediment, viscosity, and other properties. The data are divided into groups corresponding to the six grades of fuel oil. Each group is subdivided according to geographic marketing distribution of the various grades.
The results of the current survey when compared with those of earlier surveys reveal certain trends: for example, Grades 1 and 5 (heavy) burner fuel oils have less sulfur content than 1966 oils, whereas Grades 2 and 6 burner fuel oils have more sulfur content than last year's oils. Other properties are also touched on.
Solid Waste-Disease Relationships. Thrift G. Hanks. Public Health Service Publication No. 999-UIH-6. ix 179 pages. U.S. Department of Health, Education, and Welfare, National Center for Urban and Industrial Health. Cincinnati, Ohio. 45226. 1967.
+
This report is a comprehensive literature survey of the public health aspects of the relationship between disease and solid wastes. The publication summarizes current scientific knowledge of the health implications of solid waste disposal. Thus, the report should prove useful to those involved in the safe and sanitary management of solid waste disposal. Thus, the report should prove useful to those involved in the safe and sanitary management of solid wastes. The literature surveyed in this HEW publication fails to supply data which would permit a quantitative estimate of any solid waste-disease relationship. However, the circumstantial and epidemiologic information presented does support the conclusion that, to some diseases, solid wastes bear a definite, if not well defined, etiologic relationship. The diseases so implicated are infectious. The report also presents a considerable body of data on diseases associated with chemical wastes, as well as on such communicable diseases as those which are fly-borne, rodent-borne, mosquito-borne, associated with human and animal fecal wastes, and miscellaneous other communicable diseases. Each postulated solid waste-disease relationship is discussed in the following manner: A general statement on the disease under consideration. .A postulation on its association with wastes. * T h e evidence found in the literature supporting this postulation.
You don't. But now, for the first time, you can separate, analyze, and know what's in it. Bacteria. Inorganics. Previously tough-to-separate colloidal particulates. Everything. Quickly. And continuously.
With a compact item called the "Continuous Particle Electrophoresis System." It's from AT0 -Advanced Technology Operations of Beckman Instruments. With it, you can also analyze on the spot. Most important, you can collect specific fractions for more detailed analysis. Fractions that were formerly inseparable from other components. Two things that are inseparable - AT0 and truly advanced technological achievements. AT0 is a "think" team of 200 project-oriented scientists and engineers who think. In all disciplines. And then produce. We were set up to solve the unsolvable. May we for you?
A T 0 Marketing.
Volume 1. Number 11, November 1967 949
Discussion of the evidence. Conclusions relating to the disease-waste association and to possible projections of the observation. Recommendations for research or other activities. Close to 350,000 titles were screened from the indexes of Index Medicus, Chemical Abstracts, Biological A b stracts, Applied Science and Technology, Engineering Index, International Abstracts, Annual Review of Psychology, and Readers Guide to Periodical Literature.
They're coming-at all levels of government. New laws are underway to curb industrial waste in the air. Without proper monitoring equipment, you won't be able to tell how serious the problem is in time to protect yourself. Research Appliance Company designs and manufactures a complete line of precision air sampling equipment, including the nationallyaccepted A.I.S.I. Sampler. We have one exactly the right size, the right price for your operation. For our catalog, contact us.
Dust Fall Stanchion with Jar and SO2 Station$54 less SO2 Shelter.
Hydrogen Sulfide Alarm Sampler-$1400.
# Lead Peroxlde lnstrument for Monitoring Sulfur D i o x i d e 4 4 8 I S t a t i 0 n . V
A.I.S.I. Sampler with built-in Evaluator and Recorder-$748 to 8858.
Battery 0 erated Midget Air Sampler LightweigRt, Compact, versatile-$2&),v
Research Appliance Company Route 8, Allison Park, Pennsylvania Pittsburgh District (412) 961-0588 Circle No. 17 on Readers' Service Card 950 Environmental Science and Technology
Waste Water Renovation and Conservation. Penn State Studies Monograph No. 23. R. R. Parizek, L. T. Kardos, W. E. Sopper, E. A. Myers. D. E. Davis, M. A. Farrell, and J. B. Nesbitt. 71 pages. The Pennsylvania State University, University Park. Pa. 16802. 1967. $2.00, paper. Covering five years of research on possible uses of waste water, this report presents an unusual approach to the final disposal of treated sewage effluent. The approach is interdisciplinary in that contributing to the overall program were scientists in the agricultural, biological, chemical, engineering, and geological fields. The concept centers on the disposal of treated sewage effluent on land rather than into water systems. This land disposal treated sewage effluent is an effective means of purifying water and making it available for reuse. The report emphasizes that soil can be considered a living filter (ES&T, April 1967, page 3 5 2 ) . The report details studies devoted to geology and soils of the test areas (mainly in central Pennsylvania). These soil and geologic studies involved extensive drilling operations, exhaustive monitoring to provide data on water quality of the effluent. The studies also included the design of an irrigation system, and thousands of analyses which provided information on the changes that occurred in the effluent, soils, and crops.
Aqueous Wastes from Petroleum and Petrochemical Plants. Milton R. Beychok. ix 370 pages. John Wiley & Sons, Inc., New York, N.Y. 10016. 1967. $12.75, hard cover.
+
