Morrison and Murphy reported in 2006 that environmental forensics is the systematic and scientific evaluation of physical, chemical and historical information for the purpose of developing defensible scientific and legal conclusions regarding the source or age of a contaminant release into the environment. Within this general definition, the science of environmental forensics has evolved into a global scientific discipline with numerous applications.
The purpose of this book is to provide the student or scientist of environmental forensics with a contaminant-specific resource for investigating and solving the questions of when a contaminant release occurred, the origin of the release, and a basis for apportioning liability among multiple responsible parties. The impetus for structuring a book on a contaminant-specific approach rather than a methodological or analytical perspective is to provide the reader with the ability to quickly review contaminant-specific information that is most germane to their particular contaminant-based inquiry. While the media for these investigations vary widely (air, soil, sediments, groundwater, surface water, etc.), the available forensic techniques are remarkably similar.
The basic structure of each contaminant-specific chapter was so devised that the reader is provided with an overview of the chemistry of the contaminant, current analytical methods used for detection, identification of natural and anthropogenic sources, and finally a presentation of forensic techniques for consideration. As with many sciences, certain contaminants are more studied and forensically evolved than others. Petroleum hydrocarbons, for example, have decades of forensic technique development, as contrasted with the emerging contaminants, such as dioxins or perchlorate. The sophistication of the forensic technique is also often a function of the global interest of the scientific community in a particular contaminant or forensic technique. As a result, many forensic techniques are rapidly changing not only as a function of their global interest but also due to their migration from an existing scientific field or study. An example of this migration is the development of microbiological forensics.
While this scientific discipline is extensively employed in criminal and bioterrorism applications, it is only recently being employed in environmental forensic investigations. Another reason for the evolution of environmental forensics is rapid advances in analytical methods, such as comprehensive gas chromatography, gas chromatography with isotopic ratio mass spectrophometry, and laser ablation inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry, that provide greater analytical precision, lower detection limits, and a greater number of contaminants to examine forensically. When used in concert, these techniques as well as emerging statistical tools provide the forensic investigator with a multitude of possible techniques for answering the forensic questions of contaminant age dating and origin.
The authors trust that the material in this book will be a useful contaminant-specific reference and will nurture ideas for developing additional techniques for use by the environmental forensic community. The authors wished you the greatest success in your environmental investigation and in your contributions to this emerging science.
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