Chirality and its role in environmental toxicology.

The role of chirality is crucial in our lives as it affects various processes and phenomenon in the earth's ecosystem. The chiral pollutants are widely distributed in water, soil, sand, air, and biota. Most notorious chiral pollutants are pesticides, biphenyls, polychlorinated hydrocarbons, and some drug residues. Enantiomers of chiral xenobiotics have different toxicities, and, hence, determination of their enantioselective toxicities is essential by the environmental point of views. The toxicities of enantiomers of some chiral pollutants have been established. This chapter describes the origin, chemistry, and environmental aspects of chirality. Attempts have been made to discuss the distribution and toxicities of various chiral pollutants in the environment.