Speciation in water and soil: A literature review

It is well known by now that the study of environmental pollution should be focused on the chemical forms of pollutants rather than on total concentrations. The need for more research on elemental speciation increases as pollutants are constantly released into the air, water and soil. The present report is the result of a literature review which was made as part of the "Speciation project" at VTT/REA. Work on elemental speciation associated with environmental pollution includes several other topics in addition to speciation. The work focuses mainly on heavy metal pollution in Finnish soil/water systems. The following topics are dealt with: 1) The geology and geochemistry of Finland, 2) pollution, 3) chemical time bombs (CTBs), 4) computer modelling, and 5) speciation.