Automotive Catalysts -- Release of Particulate and Acid Soluble Palladium from Catalytic Converters into the Environment -- Use and Demand of Palladium for the Industry -- Regional Distribution of Pd, Pt and Au-Emissions from the Nickel Industry on the Kola Peninsula, NW-Russia, as Seen in Moss and Humus Samples -- Analysis of Palladium by High Resolution ICP-MS -- Determination of Palladium in Environmental Samples by ICP-MS after Preconcentration / Separation -- Sources of Error and their Elimination for Spectrometric Determination of Palladium in Environmental Samples -- Collision Cell ICP-MS as Tool for the Determination of Palladium -- Solid Sampling GFAAS and ICPMS for the Determination of Trace Amounts of Palladium -- Preconcentration and Separation Methods for the Determination of Trace Palladium in Environmental Samples -- Analytical Problems and Validation of Methods for Determination of Palladium in Environmental Materials -- ICP-MS and Te Co-Precipitation after Nickel Sulphide Fire-Assay Collection for Pd Determination in Roadside Soils -- Determination of Ultra-Trace Levels of Palladium in Environmental Samples by Graphite Furnace Atomic Spectrometry Techniques -- Determination of palladium in road dust and sewage sludge ashes -- Speciation of Palladium in Plants: Method Development for Investigating Metabolic Changes -- Analytical Procedure for the Quantification of in vitro Induced Pt- and Pd-DNA Adducts in Human Lung Cells -- HPLC, Extraction and Solubilities of Pd (II) - und Rh (III)-Dialkyldithiocarbamates and Other Chelate Chemistry -- Analytical Methods to Determine Palladium in Environmental Matrices: A Review -- Regional and Global Transport of Platinum Group Elements from Automobile Catalysts -- Palladium in Waste Waters and Surface Waters of North Rhine-Westfalia -- Anthropogenic Emission of Pd and Traffic-Related PGEs — Results Based on Monitoring with Sewage Sludge -- The Importance of Assessing Variability in the Distribution of Anthropogenic Palladium, Platinum and Rhodium in Fluvial Sediments -- Man-Induced Changes of Palladium in Polar and Alpine Snow and Ice Archives -- Palladium in a Mountain Ecosystem (Aspe Valley, Pyrenees, France) -- Short-Term Variation of Palladium in Airborne Particulate Matter -- Palladium in Airborne Particulate Matter: Total Concentrations and Particle Size Distribution -- Source Characterization of Platinum Group Elements Using the Isotopic Composition of Osmium -- Temporal and Spatial Variation of Palladium in the Roadside Environment -- Spatial and Temporal Variation of Anthropogenic Palladium in the Environment -- Palladium in Environmental Matrices: A Review -- Biological Effects of Palladium -- Uptake of Palladium by the Fauna -- Biomonitoring of Palladium in the Environment Using Different Accumulation Indicators -- Biomonitoring of Pt and Pd with Mosses -- Distribution of Palladium, Platinum and Rhodium in Birds of Prey -- Contact Dermatitis to Palladium -- Palladium Occupational Exposure -- Palladium from Catalytic Converters: Exposure Levels and Human Risk -- Palladium Toxicity in Animals and in in vitro Test Systems — An Overview.

To date the investigations of metal emissions from automotive catalysts has focused mainly on platinum. Since 1993, however, platinum has been increasingly replaced by palladium as the predominant substance in pollution-control catalysts. Now the release of palladium in automotive catalysts is becoming just a critical problem as that of platinum. The editors present the latest research results related to all aspects of palladium emissions in the environment, as well as an assessment of their effects on the environment and health. The book focuses on the following topics: analytical methods; sources of palladium emissions; occurrence, chemical behaviour and fate in the environment; bioavailability and biomonitoring; and health-risk potential.