Technologies based on nanomaterials are developing daily, finding applications as diverse as new sensors for improved monitoring and detection, new medical imaging techniques, novel approaches to the treatment and remediation of contaminated land and green technologies for chemical production. An inevitable consequence of Man's exploitation of nanotechnology is both the deliberate and accidental release of manufactured nanomaterials into the environment. This presents the analytical science community with a challenge for which it is, at present, poorly prepared--the quantification of specific nanoparticles in the environment. The problem is the development of trace analysis methods targeted at solid phase species, rather than the dissolved species measured, for example, in a typical pesticide residue analysis. This will require the adoption of radically different approaches and techniques, many of which will be unfamiliar to the conventionally trained environmental analyst. This paper sets out to give a very brief overview of the techniques that are available, specifically questioning their suitability for the quantification of man-made nanoparticles in the aquatic environment. Suggestions are made as to how these techniques might be transferred from the characterization of synthetic products to the field of trace analysis. The analytical community is presented with a new frontier of environmental investigation that can only commence with the development of innovative approaches to the quantitative measurement of man-made nanomaterials in the environment.

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A surface-modified silica gel has been developed for the pre-concentration of arsenite from natural waters. The reaction of silica gel with (3-mercaptopropyl)trimethoxysilane produces a mercapto-modified silica gel with a silver capacity of ca. 0.9 mmol 9-1. This material selectively removes arsenite from samples that also contain arsenate, monomethylarsonate and dimethylarsinate, and can be employed for both the column and batch pre-concentration of arsenite. Under column and batch conditions recoveries of ca. 96 and 94% are obtained but reproducibility is better for the column technique.

The Manila clam Ruditapes philippinarum was introduced for aquacultural purposes to Europe in the 1970s. In 1987, brown ring disease (BRD), caused by Vibrio tapetis, appeared in clams cultivated in Brouënou (Finistère, France) and later became increasingly widespread and was reported in cultivated and wild clams existing on the Atlantic coasts of France and Spain. The present study reports, for the first time, the presence of BRD in clams cultivated in England. The etiologic bacterium was isolated and identified using bacteriological and serological techniques. The defence response of affected clams was also studied and significant changes in the hematological and biochemical characteristics of hemolymph and extrapallial fluids were demonstrated. Significant mobilization of hemocytes toward the extrapallial fluids, in contact with the main site of infection (mantle-periostracal lamina area), was observed, suggesting a role for these pseudo-internal compartments in the preservation of clam health.

Silica modified by the addition of mercapto chelating groups has been developed for the pre-concentration of trace metals from natural waters. This material removes cadmium, copper, lead and zinc from aqueous solution and can be employed for the pre-concentration of these metals by both column and batch techniques. Under column and batch conditions recoveries larger than 95% were common. For batch extractions of cadmium, zinc, copper and lead from sea water, recoveries of 91 k 5,98 f 4,97 f 4 and 96 k 5%, respectively, we re o bt a i n ed .