Chemical Education Today
Book & Media Reviews Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry Donald G. Crosby. Oxford University Press: New York and Oxford, 1998. xiv + 336 pp. ISBN 0-19-511713-1. $59.95.
Those teaching a one-semester chemically oriented environmental toxicology course may find this new text by Crosby an attractive choice, with its compact format and a wealth of technical topics presented with a sophisticated syntax. Demanding a background of organic chemistry but little biochemistry, the book skillfully leads its readers into applications of toxicology related to biochemical transformations, without the medical or pharmacological content found in toxicology books such as Casarett and Doull, or the less comprehensive Principles of Toxicology by Stine and Brown. With the experienced perspective of a chemical practitioner, Crosby follows a careful and logical design for the 16 chapters, coherently integrating the fields of environmental chemistry and toxicology. He avoids the segmentation of topics found in Zakrzewski’s Principles of Environmental Toxicology, or the biologically oriented and descriptive texts such as Basic Environmental Toxicology edited by Cockerham and Shane, or Introduction to Environmental Toxicology by Landis and Yu. The content is more chemical and quantitative than either of two of my previous favorites, Principles of Ecotoxicology by Walker, Hopkin, Sibly, and Peakall, and the more traditional Toxic Substances in the Environment by Francis. The writing style is engaging and concise, while the content is accurate and analytical. Crosby flavors the technical content with an appropriate sense of place or humor, always conveying an obvious but muted enthusiasm for the subject. The factual narrative is coupled with a positive problem-solving ethic for environmental responsibility and improvement. Biochemical and physiological concepts and terms are demystified to engage the novice reader in learning about the often overwhelming collections of principles, theories, and applications implied by the text title. Chemodynamics is introduced to augment and clarify intercompartmental movements, going beyond the qualitative descriptions of most competitive textbooks. Any chemist can open this book and find topics of interest, along with historical anecdotes and fascinating descriptions of natural phenomena (as in the biotoxins chapter) or pollution issues (as in the chapters on refractory and reactive pollutants). If the book were longer, I would add several favorite topics, such as the biohazards of radon daughters, and major groundwater pollution issues, including nitrate. While I plan to use the book this fall, I am already looking forward to the next edition, which should incorporate more contemporary references. For instance, the use of 1991 TRI data gives an outdated picture of this rapidly changing database. Similarly, fewer than 25% of the chapter references are dated after 1990, and only a few after 1993. The newest editions of several important sources are not listed, for example, Casarett and Doull’s Toxicology. Some rather old references from the 1940s, 1950s, and 1960s, while of historical interest, seem out of place in a modern text. Several important contemporary sources are missing, such as Thibodeaux’s challenging Chemodynamics, and Hites’s research findings on global environmental pollution. Paul Tomboulian Department of Chemistry Oakland University Rochester, MI 48309
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Journal of Chemical Education • Vol. 76 No. 5 May 1999 • JChemEd.chem.wisc.edu
