BOOKS
Unanswered Questions About Acid Rain Reviewed by Myron F. Uman
Acid rain is the quintessential modern environmental issue. Its effects are related to the events that initiate them through a variety of complex environmental processes and occur at times and places that may be far removed from the acts of pollution. In the good old days, we were concerned with the immediate consequences of nearby and clearly identified sources of pollution, such as discharges of sewage into rivers or emissions that visibly affect urban air quality. Today, however, we struggle with problems of a fundamentally different character—ones in which the consequences may not be apparent for some time and the polluted may be far removed from polluters. As a result, identifying specific sources responsible for pollution may be difficult, impractical, or even impossible. Examples are the presence of hazardous substances in the environment and, of course, acid rain. The complexity of the biogeochemical processes involved and the displacements of cause and effect in the phenomenon of acid rain offer challenges not only to the scientific community but to political institutions. The fundamental challenge is to establish liability—scientifically, politically, or both. The kernel of the political problem is that different groups enjoy the benefits and suffer the consequences of the polluting activities. For acid rain, the sources and receptors usually are in different political jurisdictions, often not even contiguous ones. A book that addresses the modern challenges inherent in the science and politics of acid rain—and the relationships between them— would be most welcomed. In "Going Sour/' however, Roy Gould has overlooked or ignored the most important questions and produced yet another book that just sounds an alarm and points a finger. Although
Both scientific and political questions must be resolved in forming a practical approach to controlling acid rain "Going Sour: Science and Politics of Acid Rain'' by Roy Gould, Birkhauser Boston, 380 Green St., Cambridge, Mass. 02139, 1985, 155 pages, $11.95 Myron F. Uman, staff director of the Environmental Studies Board of the National Research Council, has conducted research on air quality issues, especially acid precipitation; he taught in the college of engineering at the University of California, Davis, before joining the staff of NRC in 1973
the book succeeds in this purpose, it is unlikely to contribute to overcoming the current political impasse that he decries. "Going Sour" may help to inform the uninitiated about acid rain, but scientists in general and those working in the field in particular will be worried about the book's generalizations (sometimes sweeping) and occasional misstatements of fact, as well as a troublesome tendency for timid expressions of the uncertainties to appear four or five pages after affirmative declarations of technical opinions that support Gould's view of good and evil. The treatment of acid rain politics is highly selective and, at least in areas of my own personal knowledge, contains significant errors. Regarding the state of scientific understanding, Gould, a biophysicist who recently completed a threeyear study of acid rain while a research fellow at the Harvard School
of Public Health, correctly describes the evidence for the existence of the phenomenon as compelling. Acid deposition (wet and dry) exists. In large regions in North America, the levels of acidity in deposition exceed those reasonably attributable to natural sources, and the acidification of surface waters can lead to dramatic changes in ecosystems. Long-range transport and chemical transformation of air pollution have been observed and, to one degree of accuracy or another, modeled numerically. The acid tolerance of fish and other species has been tested in the laboratory, and the response of lakes to acidification has been tested experimentally in the field. Gould understates the uncertainties, however, regarding the effects of deposition chemistry on soils and how acid deposition leads to acidification of lakes and streams. And the extent to which acid deposition or ambient concentrations of related pollutants are responsible for declines in certain forests at high elevations in the Northeast remains an open scientific question. These and similar uncertainties are not unimportant because, combined with political expressions of social values, they frame the debate about what, if anything, to do about acid rain. Gould also overlooks important questions about acid rain that require both scientific and political analysis. For example, how widespread are the adverse effects? Substantial areas do receive excess acidity and are classified as geochemically sensitive, but many other human activities influence the chemistry of rural ecosystems, including agricultural practices, forestry, and tourism. To study the effects of just acid rain on lakes, one must find watersheds that are uninfluenced by such activities. So far in the U.S., only a few high-elevation stands of red spruce have declined and the cause or causes are as yet unidentified. If protection of relatively pristine lakes and forests is February 17,1986 C&EN
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Characterization and Measurement of Flavor Compounds
Donald D. Bills, Editor U.S. Department of Agriculture Cynthia J . Mussinan, Editor International Flavors and Fragrances Examines the sensory, chemical, and physical methods for characterizing and measuring flavor compounds. Highlights state-of-the-art instrumental techniques and their application to studies of flavor. Also covers sensory methods as well as new methods for extracting, derivatizing, and manipulating flavor compounds. CONTENTS Sensory Evaluation of Food Flavors • Substances That Modify the Perception of Sweetness • Sensory Responses to Oral Chemical Heat • Analysis of Chiral Aroma Components in Trace Amounts • New Analytical Method for Volatile Aldehydes • The Use of HighPerformance Liquid Chromatography in Flavor Studies • Capillary Gas Chromatographic Analysis of Volatile Flavor Compounds • High-Resolution Gas Chromatography-Fourier Transform IR Spectroscopy in Flavor Analysis • Tandem Mass Spectrometry Applied to the Characterization of Flavor Compounds • Automated Analysis of Volatile Flavor Compounds • Supercritical Fluid Extraction in Flavor Applications Developed from a symposium sponsored by the Flavor Subdivision of the Division of Agricultural and Food Chemistry of the American Chemical Society ASC Symposium Series No. 289 185 pages (1985) Clothbound LC 85-22913 ISBN 0-8412-0944-8 US & Canada $42.95 Export $51.95 Order from: American Chemical Society Distribution Dept. 89 1155 Sixteenth St.N.W. Washington, DC 20036 or CALL TOLL FREE 800-424-6747 I and use your credit card!
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Books the objective, how important is acid deposition compared with other influences on them? If the political will were marshaled to implement a control program, which emissions and what sources should be controlled and by how much? Early on, proposals for control programs focused on sulfur emissions, but now we recognize that we do not know the relative importance of sulfur and nitrogen emissions for either fish populations or forests. Should damage be risked by delaying control programs until we have a better idea, or should we implement a less discriminate program as insurance? Also, how are the practical political problems inherent in the regional nature of acid rain to be addressed? Can a politically acceptable program that applies controls to selected sources or regions of sources be devised? Castigating Congress and the courts for failing to act in the public interest, however one may wish to define it, does little good. Gould's book won't help either, but apparently defining the importance of acid rain and finding practical approaches for its control were not his objectives. Otherwise, Gould's treatment of acid rain politics might not have excluded such central features as the interests and personalities of the important committees of the Senate and House of Representatives, the history of air pollution control programs regarding national vs. regional air quality standards, emissions and performance standards, and the roles of the various states and the National Governors Association. Ultimately, these factors, along with the more readily recognized interests of emitting and affected industries, labor, and environmental interests, will determine public policy regarding acid rain. To be charitable, the weaknesses of "Going Sour" might be attributed to an attempt to write simply and directly for the scientific layman. On the other hand, reading the book leaves the clear impression that Gould is politically committed and trying to sway the reader to his view. For a balanced analysis of the science and politics of acid rain, look elsewhere. D
Integrated Circuits: Chemical and Physical Processing
Pieter Stroeve, Editor University of California-Davis Explores the complex physical and chemical operations that are designed to build structures or modify properties of materials in very thin films. Covers fundamental phenomena occuring in unit processes used to manufacture integrated circuits. Examines the most significant fundamental manufacturing processes. CONTENTS The Manufacture of Integrated Circuits • Application bf Three Fundamental Conservation Laws • Silicon Oxidation • Zone Refining of Low Prandtl Number Liquid Metals • Research Opportunities in Resist Technology • Modifications of Photoresists •Developer Concentration Effects • Molecular-Beam Epitaxy for Device Applications • Ion-Implanted Integrated Circuits • Plasma-Assisted Processing • Oxides and Nitrides of Germanium • Group lll-IV Compound Optoelectronic Devices • Advanced Device Isolation for VLSI • Ternary Group lll-V Semiconductor Materials • Device-Quality Strained-Layer Superlattices • Wafer Design and Characterization Developed from a symposium sponsored by the Division of Industrial and Engineering Chemistry of the American Chemical Society ACS Symposium Series No. 290 360 pages (1985) Clothbound LC 85-19944 ISBN 0-8412-0940-5 US & Canada $69.95 Export $83.95 Order from: American Chemical Society Distribution Dept. 90 1155 Sixteenth St., N.W. Washington, DC 20036 or CALL TOLL FREE 800-424-6747 and use your credit card!
