19. Novel Approaches to Environmental Monitoring

The monitoring of environmental pollutants is vital to ensure environmental management is effective and potential negative impacts to the environment and human health are understood and mitigated. The sampling and analysis of environmental matrices is often challenging and costly, which invariably curtails the extent of monitoring performed. Researchers are therefore constantly investigating novel alternatives to existing analytical methods, which may offer advantages in terms of parameters such as: cost, speed, selectivity, sensitivity, portability, and accuracy. Herein we review a number of such novel methods for organic pollutants, which we have developed primarily for application in the monitoring of air pollutants. Semi-volatile organic air pollutants, such as polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), may be present in both the gas and particle phases. Novel denuders which can simultaneously sample both phases have numerous benefits over traditional sampling approaches, including reduced sampling artifact formation and portability. Biomonitors are a cost effective means of sampling over wide geographical areas. The use of lichens as biomonitors for atmospheric PAHs as well as airborne metals can provide useful environmental monitoring information. In addition, nanomaterials, such as quantum dots, show promise in fluorescence sensor applications for the detection of organic pollutants (including PAHs) in water.