Handbook of ecotoxicology /

This is a substantial attempt to embrace ecotoxicology as an evolving discipline, although, contrary to the preface, it is hardly "new." Indeed, one of the strengths is its excellent historical coverage. However, a corresponding weakness is the prevailing lack of current references (this book must have been in production for many years, since many chapters have only one or two references after 1991). But it is a history worth telling. One thinks of a handbook as a convenient compendium of information and methods, so this is hardly a handbook. It is, however, an assemblage of valuable chapters on many aspects of pollutants and the environment, and it covers most topics. It is hard to single out the most valuable of the 34 chapters. The convergence between ecotoxicology and ecological risk assessment has yet to be bridged, and one chapter introduces the reader to EPA's version of ecological risk assessment. There are, of course, far too many aspects in ecotoxicology to fit between two covers, and this reviewer would have wanted more on the global transport of mercury, but the general "global disposition" chapter was excellent and thought-provoking. Similarly, the growing impact of organotin deserves attention, and given the growing importance of ecological effects at former nuclear weapons sites, a whole volume could be devoted to radioecology. Many thought-provoking chapters on novel areas; valuable case studies. Chapters vary in technical detail and hence accessibility to nontechnical readers. Informed general readers; upper-division undergraduate through professional; two-year technical program students. J. Burger; Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, New Brunswick