BOOK REVIEWS Flame Spectrometry In Environment Analysis A Practical Guide Malcolm S. Cresser. Pp. x + 108. Royal Society of Chemistry (London Cam- bridge). g29.50. ISBN 0 85186 734 0. This book is intended for environmental scientists who in the authors own words have ‘neither the time nor the desire to be able to learn enough to answer trivial pursuit type questions on theory or history of atomic spectroscopy. They wish instead to be able to obtain rapidly safely inexpensively and with minimal mental effort analytical results of sufficient accuracy to meet a specific purpose.’ A description that would appeal to my students I thought not just lazy environmental scientists. However after examination I decided that non- environmental scientists with no background in AAS would also find this book helpful for the determination of samples.This monograph is divided into nine chapters. Chapter one gives a very basic background to the absorption of light by atoms and the difference between atomic and molecular absorption. The history of the technique and early important discoveries are included which assist the reader’s understanding. Chapter two covers the instrument and the essential components required for element determinations. The various means by which the sample is transported to the atomizer and the importance of this is well presented. Some humour is interjected here when over efficient extraction systems are described and a poor sparrow has its flight path altered as a consequence. Other very useful material is dealt with in Chapter three on the various interferences encountered when using AAS.Throughout the author compares AAS with flame emission and atomic fluorescence which helps the reader to make decisions on the technique to use for their particular samples and the elements to be determined. Chapter four provides a good section on instrument optimization which is very helpful as most text books never mention the very important parameters which need to be adjusted in order to obtain good results. Chapter five is the key section describing how to prepare samples for analysis. Samples which are not treated correctly prior to analysis are not worth determining as the results will be in error. The seventh chapter gives guidance to the beginner on elements which can be analysed and helpful hints on how to do the analysis for a series of commonly encountered elements.In summary the final two chapters cover quality control and safety which are both very important. I liked this book as throughout the author uses analogies which make the material readable and easy to understand. Although various accessories are described which would enable one to measure low levels of elements ICP and graphite furnace are not included as they are beyond the scope of the book. It nevertheless is a practical book for anyone starting to use flame AAS. It is packed with good advice and information to help the analyst obtain reliable results and reflects the authors vast experience in AAS. A very useful book for undergraduates doing Environmental Chemistry courses or postgraduate students doing one year MSc degree courses in Analytical Chemistry.DAVID JAMES ROBERTS School of Chemistry University of Bristol Cantocks Close Bristol BS8 1TS Environmental Sampling for Trace Analysis Edited by Bernd Markert. Pp. xxx + 524. VCH (Weisheim). DM 248. ISBN 3 527 30051 1. Over the past ten years the field of Analytical Chemistry has undergone extensive development with regard to separation and detection systems and also the chemometric treatment of data thus providing adequate methodologies to carry out the simultaneous determination of several components of a same sample at very low concentrations. However during this time little attention has been paid to important aspects in some cases considered until now as minor points like sampling storage and sample pretreatment and because of that the Achilles’ heel of todays analytical chemists is these aspects.So a book on environmental sampling is very welcome. The book edited by Markert provides some basic principles and a series of practical examples in order to take representative environmental samples and to avoid their contamination or loss of trace components. The text contains twenty-seven chapters written by specialists from several countries particularly from Germany Hungary and USA but also including some studies developed in China Bulgaria Estonia etc. All these studies are organized in four sections concerning ( i ) historical aspects ( i i ) general aspects of environmental sampling and trace analysis ( i i i ) some examples of sampling air water soils and sediments and plants and animals and (iv) a literature survey including references about sampling and related topics and a list of the norms about sampling from the International Organization of Standardization in Geneva.The book covers general statistical aspects related to the representation of samples and specific topics like problems related to the results below the detection limits. However the consideration of general aspects only represents twenty percent of the book the main part being devoted to examples of sampling of various types of environmental materials. In this section the chapters concerning soils and sediments are by far the most interesting and better organized those devoted to water analysis are excessively repetitive and badly coordinated.However this section includes an interesting chapter by U. M. Cowgill which contains some references to sampling problems related to determinations in ice snow rain dew and fog and also includes a good study by H. Klapper et al. which treats aspects concerning the cost of sample collection. The section concerning air sampling is well organized and includes a very good chapter by Zielinska and Fujita about the sampling of organic gases. The section concerning plants and ani- mals contains an excellent chapter by Maavara et al. about the sampling of wood red ants but suprisingly does not contain any studies on the sampling of fish or molluscs. Chapters concerning the sampling of plants are very complete and contain some topics like that of stemflow and throughfall rain precipitation in forests which contribute to evidence on the complexity of sampling in environmental analysis. Some of the studies included in the examples for sampling section are related to specific studies on the River Elbe or the Taiwan sediment pollution by wastewaters. Unfortunately there is a lack of homogeneity throughout the text for example different chapters use different citation systems for references and not all the authors have followed the 1990 IUPAC recommendations for sampling. In addition some topics of current importance in analysis like in field sampling and speciation are not considered in the text. The book will be of interest to analytical chemists involved in environmental analysis and will enable them to improve their practices by carefully considering the sampling process. MIGUEL D E LA GUARDIA Department of Analytical Chemistry University of Valencia 46100 Buriassot. SDain Journal of Analytical Atomic Spectrometry February 1995 VoE. 10 17 N