Evolution of the Targets in Environmental Analysis

Abstract

This article provides an overview of the evolution and trends of the targets in the main environmental compartments, air, water, soil/sediments, and biota. Air and water are the most important assets for our survival, but in certain areas these are heavily contaminated by notorious pollutants. Water is most often targeted for pollutants because of its good solubility power for a wide range of contaminants. Among the well‐known and regulated contaminants, several groups of substances have emerged as particularly relevant as environmental pollutants. These compounds constitute new risks for environmental and human health. In order to face up to these new risk challenges, there is an increasing need to assess their occurrence, behavior, and degradation products in the environment. Under the Stockholm Convention and other agreements, the European countries compelled themselves to eliminate or reduce the production, use, and emissions of persistent organic pollutants (POPs) and to decrease human and ecosystem exposure. Now, one aspect under discussion is the extension of the pollutants with POPs properties to new compounds needing environmental monitoring. This article, divided into four sections (air, water, soil/sediments, and biota), covers the main targets, among POPs, endocrine‐disrupting compounds, and emerging contaminants (EMCs), on which analytical chemistry is focused nowadays. Moreover, the last trends in techniques and strategies to develop suitable methods to analyze these target compounds are briefly commented. Particular attention is focused on those novel aspects and approaches that have attracted interest from the scientific community in recent years.