From the global to the cellular level, oxidants have provided the chemical dynamic for reactions both harmful and benign. As varied in type as in effect, oxidants include the oxides of nitrogen, sulfur, and carbon - implicated in the generation of smog - as well as oxidants useful in hypoxic cell-specific anticancer drugs and the treatment of contaminated waters.

The complex nature of oxidants as well as their pervasiveness in the environment have made them keenly interesting to scientists monitoring environmental hazards and human health.

Environmental Oxidants is a broad-based, multidisciplinary study of the environmental chemistry and toxicology of oxidants as well as their widening role in pollution control.

Featuring up-to-date research from internationally renowned scientists, the book sheds light on such critical topics as the evolution, production, distribution, and fate of oxidants in the atmosphere, hydrosphere, and biosphere; the influence of human activities on oxidative processes in the atmosphere; oxidative stress at the cellular, systemic, and ecosystem levels; and the use of oxidants to remediate polluted sites.

Specific studies include photosynthetic oxygen evolution, oxidants in the unpolluted marine atmosphere, ozone formation in urban plumes, the impact of dynamics and transport on stratospheric ozone and other constituents, health effects and toxicology of ozone and nitrogen dioxide, and some hematological effects of oxidants.

Reflecting current health concerns, the book also addresses such timely issues as oxidative stress and asbestos, the role of oxygen in lung toxicity induced by mineral fibers and particulates, as well as an alternative attainment criteria for a secondary federal standard for ozone.

A selective and incisive look at the current state of research on oxidants, Environmental Oxidants provides environmental scientists and engineers with an informative, detailed discussion of just how and why oxidants have emerged as a key issue in human health and environmental integrity.