Personal Care Compounds in the Environment: Pathways, Fate, and Methods for Determination

h e release of personal care compounds (PCCs) with wastewater effl uent is increasingly becoming a pertinent environmental problem. PCCs once released are persistent in the environment and are detected in surface waters and sediments. In addition, PCCs can interfere with the endocrine systems of humans and wildlife. h is is seen by an increasing incidence of intersex fi sh exposed to PCCs downstream of wastewater outfl ows. h e author addresses the issue of PCC release by providing a few studies on the occurrence and fate of specifi c PCCs including polycyclic musk fragrances, the antimicrobial agent Triclosan, organophosphate fl ame retardants, and estrogenic hormones and mimics in the environment. According to the author, the purpose of this book is to cover the most important classes of toxic chemicals from personal care compounds and provide data on the toxicity and bioaccumulation in various ecosystems. h e introduction of the book includes a basic description of sewage treatment processes followed by a description of enantioselective separation systems such as gas chromatography– mass spectroscopy (GC–MS) or high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) systems. h e body of the book covers the fate of diff erent PCCs by presenting studies of the mass balance of a compound in a standard treatment facility, followed by fate and transformation in surface, marine, or drinking waters. h e book concludes with a more detailed description of the analytical chemistry methods used in the case reviews. h e methods cover in more detail the sample collection, compound extraction from diff erent environmental matrices, and optimization of the analytical detection methods. h e book was written “to help fellow scientists, students, and people purely interested in the environmental sciences.” While a general audience would be able to follow the introduction, only an audience with a scientifi c background could follow the analytical methods discussion and the case studies included after it. h is book is an excellent source for scientists interested in the fate and analytical detection methods of polycyclic musk fragrances, anti-microbial agent Triclosan, organophophate fl ame retardants, and estrogenic hormones in standard treatment facilities as well as surface waters. h e book very specifi cally addresses these compound categories and, therefore, should not be used as a general text for students or by the public interested in the eff ects of personal care compounds in the environment.