"Fatty alcohols (linear alkanes > C10 with a terminal hydroxyl group) occur naturally in most organisms but are also produced as industrial chemicals from plants and petroleum for products such as detergents and cosmetics. Regardless of their origin, fatty alcohol residues eventually enter the marine environment. They are also generated in situ by freshwater and marine organisms. These long chain alcohols can be used as biomarkers due to their distinctive source allocation, although they have differential degradation rates across the range of chain lengths." "This well-illustrated book sets out the natural and synthetic pathways, sources and signatures of these compounds, along with their concentrations in the environment, their toxicity and their eco-toxicity. For the first time, environmental data are presented from many locations around the world, with the observed anthropogenic contribution to the environmental concentrations being thoroughly discussed. In consideration of the increased production of fatty alcohols, this book is an invaluable resource to researchers examining chemicals in the environment and those interested in assessing the environmental impacts of these group of chemicals."--BOOK JACKET.

Allen Nielsen is a recently retired microbiologist from the Research and Development Department of Sasol North America, Inc. Scott Belanger is a research fellow in The Procter Gamble Company corporate environmental safety organisation. Stephen Mudge is a senior lecturer at Bangor University where he has studied the occurrence and use of fatty alcohols as lipid biomarkers in the environment for several years.