Walter Giger
Walter Giger (6 September 1943 – 6 November 2025) was a Swiss chemist. He worked at the Swiss Federal Institute of Aquatic Science and Technology (Eawag), where he was the head of the division Chemische Problemstoffe. He was a professor for environmental chemistry at the ETH Zurich from 1995.
Giger was a pioneer who advanced the field of trace organic analysis and its application to significant environmental problems.[1] His research topics included development of analytical techniques for identification of organic pollutants in drinking water, wastewater and natural waters. He investigated their sources, occurrence and fate. In 1984, he discovered that in wastewater treatment plants nonylphenol ethoxylates are transformed to 4-nonylphenols, which are toxic to aquatic life.[2] After several additional studies the use of nonylphenols and nonylphenol ethoxylates was restricted in the European Union in 2003.[3]
Life and career
[edit | edit source]Giger was born in Zürich on 6 September 1943. He received his PhD in chemistry from ETH Zurich in 1971.[4] In 1972, he was a Postdoc at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution. In the same year, he took a new place of employment at the Eawag in Dübendorf and stayed there till his retirement. In the meantime, he was visiting scientist at the Stanford University and lecturer at the Universität Karlsruhe. In 2002, he became a member of the ISI Highly Cited Researchers Database.[5]
In September 2008, the journal Environmental Science & Technology dedicated a special issue to him.[6]
Giger died on 6 November 2025, at the age of 82.[7]
Literature
[edit | edit source]- Naomi Lubick: Scaling Peaks: The Life and Science of Walter Giger. Environmental Science & Technology, 42(17), 2008, Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
References
[edit | edit source]- ^ Jennifer A. Field, Robert P. Eganhouse: In honor of Walter Giger: setting standards of excellence in environmental organic chemistry. Environmental Science & Technology, 42(17), 2008, Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
- ^ W. Giger, P. H. Brunner, C. Schaffner: 4-Nonylphenol in sewage sludge: accumulation of toxic metabolites from nonionic surfactants. Science, 225(4662), 1984, 623–625, Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
- ^ Official Journal of the European Union: DIRECTIVE 2003/53/EC OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL of 18 June 2003 amending for the 26th time Council Directive 76/769/EEC relating to restrictions on the marketing and use of certain dangerous substances and preparations (nonylphenol, nonylphenol ethoxylate and cement), 17 July 2003
- ^ Walter Giger: Beitrag zur Stickstoff-14-Kernresonanzspektroskopie, 1971, Diss. ETH Zürich, No. 4691; Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value)., Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value)..
- ^ Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
- ^ Environmental Science & Technology, 42(17), 2008 („Walter Giger Tribute“)
- ^ Traueranzeige, Tages-Anzeiger, 18. November 2025, S. 25.
External links
[edit | edit source]- Environmental chemist Walter Giger has passed away, eawag
- Walter Giger in the German National Library catalogue
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