Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) have found applications in a variety of industries including dyes, drugs, semiconductors, fluorescent reagents, chemiluminescent reagents, and as polychromatic and antistatic additives for plastics. This up-to-date, single volume reference source brings together all essential information on the physical and spectral properties, methods of synthesis, and chemical reactivity of PAHs, both alternant and nonalternant. The title also covers the investigations of PAHs as carcinogens and pollutants. As this important class of molecules are virtually ignored in...

Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, many of which have been identified as potent human carcinogens, occur widely in the environment as a result of incomplete combustion of fossil fuels and other organic matter. Major sources of emissions arise from wood and coal burning, automobiles, heat and power plants, and refuse burning. Their widespread occurrence in the air and in food and water underlines the importance of understanding their role as causes of human cancer. This 1991 volume was the first to review the chemical properties of these carcinogens and to relate their carcinogenic activity to...