Buildings with large open spaces in which chemicals are handled are often exposed to the risk of explosions.Computational fluid dynamics is a useful and convenient way to investigate contaminant dispersion in such lar...Buildings with large open spaces in which chemicals are handled are often exposed to the risk of explosions.Computational fluid dynamics is a useful and convenient way to investigate contaminant dispersion in such large spaces.The turbulent Schmidt number(Sct)concept has typically been used in this regard,and most studies have adopted a default value.We studied the concentration distribution for sulfur hexafluoride(SF6)assuming different emission rates and considering the effect of Sct.Then we examined the same problem for a light gas by assuming hydrogen gas(H2)as the contaminant.When SF6 was considered as the contaminant gas,a variation in the emission rate completely changed the concentration distribution.When the emission rate was low,the gravitational effect did not take place.For both low and high emission rates,an increase in Sct accelerated the transport rate of SF6.In contrast,for H2 as the contaminant gas,a larger Sct could induce a decrease in the H2 transport rate.展开更多
The existence and risk of emerging organic contaminants(EOCs)have been under consideration and paid much effort to degrade these pollutants.Fenton system is one of the most widely used technologies to solve this probl...The existence and risk of emerging organic contaminants(EOCs)have been under consideration and paid much effort to degrade these pollutants.Fenton system is one of the most widely used technologies to solve this problem.The original Fenton system relies on the hydroxyl radicals produced by Fe(Ⅱ)/H_(2)O_(2) to oxidize the organic contaminants.However,the application of the Fenton system is limited by its low iron cycling efficiency and the high risks of hydrogen peroxide transportation and storage.The introduction of external energy(including light and electricity etc.)can effectively promote the Fe(Ⅲ)/Fe(Ⅱ)cycle and the reduction of oxygen to produce hydrogen peroxide in situ.This review introduces three in-situ Fenton systems,which are electro-Fenton,Photo-Fenton,and chemical reaction.The mechanism,influencing factors,and catalysts of these three in-situ Fenton systems in degrading EOCs are discussed systematically.This review strengthens the understanding of Fenton and in-situ Fenton systems in degradation,offering further insight into the real application of the in-situ Fenton system in the removal of EOCs.展开更多
This paper is intended to explore soil organic matter and carbon isotope fractionation at three locations of the Passaic River to determine if microbial degradation of organic contaminants in soil is correlated to the...This paper is intended to explore soil organic matter and carbon isotope fractionation at three locations of the Passaic River to determine if microbial degradation of organic contaminants in soil is correlated to the surrounding physical environment. Microbial degradation of organic contaminants is important for the detoxification of toxic substances thereby minimizing stagnation in the environment and accumulating in the food chain. Since organic contaminants are not easily dissolved in water, they will penetrate sediment and end up enriching the adjacent soil. The hypothesis that we are testing is microbial activity and carbon isotope fractionation will be greater in preserved soils than urban soils. The reason why this is expected to be the case is the expectation of higher microbial activity in preserved environments due to less exposure to pollutants, better soil structure, higher organic matter content, and more favorable conditions for microbial growth. This is contrasted with urban soils, which are impacted by pollutants and disturbances, potentially inhibiting microbial activity. We wish to collect soil samples adjacent to the Passaic River at a pristine location, Great Swamp Wildlife Refuge, a suburban location, Goffle Brook Park, Hawthorne NJ, and an urban location, Paterson NJ. These soil samples will be weighed for soil organic matter (SOM) and weighed for isotope ratio mass spectrometry (IRMS) to test organic carbon isotopes. High SOM and δ13C depletion activity indicate microbial growth based on the characteristics of the soil horizon rather than the location of the soil sample which results in degradation of organic compounds.展开更多
Clean drinking water is one of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.Despite significant progress in the water purification technology,many regions still lack access to clean water.This paper provides a rev...Clean drinking water is one of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.Despite significant progress in the water purification technology,many regions still lack access to clean water.This paper provides a review of selected water contaminants and their impacts on human health.The World Health Organization(WHO)guidelines and regional standards for key contaminants were used to characterise water quality in the European Union and UK.The concept of safe drinking water was explained based on the non-observed adverse effect level,threshold concentrations for toxic chemicals,and their total daily intake.Various techniques for monitoring water contaminants and the drinking water standards from five different countries,including the UK,USA,Canada,Pakistan and India,were compared to WHO recommended guidelines.The literature on actual water quality in these regions and its potential health impacts was also discussed.Finally,the role of public water suppliers in identifying and monitoring drinking water contaminants in selected developed countries was presented as a potential guideline for developing countries.This review emphasised the need for a comprehensive understanding of water quality and its impacts on human health to ensure access to clean drinking water worldwide.展开更多
The US Commonwealth of Puerto Rico is comprised of 143 islands, atolls, cays, and islets. Of the 143 localities, only 3 islands are inhabited: The mainland (often referenced as Puerto Rico), Culebra, and Vieques. To p...The US Commonwealth of Puerto Rico is comprised of 143 islands, atolls, cays, and islets. Of the 143 localities, only 3 islands are inhabited: The mainland (often referenced as Puerto Rico), Culebra, and Vieques. To properly analyze the water supply quality, the mainland will be the focal point for examining environmental and social injustices. Puerto Rico is a racially diverse but ethnically homogenous territory, with most of the commonwealth living below the poverty level. Access to clean water sources is always tenuous in Puerto Rico. Over 70 percent of the island is served by water, violating US health standards. However, the recent hurricanes made the situation even more detrimental. According to data reported between January 2015 and March 2018 by the Consumer Confidence Report (CCR), 97 percent of the population of Puerto Rico utilizes a common drinking water system with one or more recent violations of the Safe Drinking Water Act for its testing requirements for lead and copper levels. The amounts found were far higher than any US state, meaning that virtually everyone on the island gets water from systems that violated testing or reporting requirements. In this study, we have collected and analyzed the levels of trihalomethanes (THMs), haloacetic acids (HAAs), copper, lead, and total organic compounds (TOCs) in drinking water providing systems in Puerto Rico and compared them with the recommended levels of contaminants provided by the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) guidelines. Many of these reported contaminants can have serious and detrimental health effects after prolonged exposure to higher concentrations of the contaminants found in the drinking water sources of Puerto Rico.展开更多
The paper designed a non-contact system in order to perform the application (on a runway) of the Global Reporting Format (GRF) developed by International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO). The system involves devices...The paper designed a non-contact system in order to perform the application (on a runway) of the Global Reporting Format (GRF) developed by International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO). The system involves devices that film the surface (a runway in our case) from the air and displays the contaminant (water) body and measures the depth of the water automatically during the inspection. While measuring, data are sent to a computer used as a receiver. The developed devices are automatic devices implemented specially to use during rainy weather or even for some other cases. The aerial system uses a raspberry pi 4 model B, a camera, a laser sensor, an ultrasonic module, a Virtual Network Computing (VNC) and python codes developed by the authors. Results obtained show that using these devices to retrieve the Runway Condition Report (RCR) is very fast and human presence on the runway is not needed. The results obtained using these devices show that the method used herein is a proper solution to the GRF issues in the rainy areas, where the contaminant body detection and the accurate depth measurement were not well estimated because of the lack of a suitable method.展开更多
Antibiotic contamination adversely affects human health and ecological balance.In this study,gasliquid underwater discharge plasma was employed to simultaneously degrade three antibiotics,sulfadiazine(SDZ),tetracyclin...Antibiotic contamination adversely affects human health and ecological balance.In this study,gasliquid underwater discharge plasma was employed to simultaneously degrade three antibiotics,sulfadiazine(SDZ),tetracycline(TC),and norfloxacin(NOR),to address the growing problem of antibiotic contaminants in water.The effects of various parameters on the antibiotic degradation efficiency were evaluated,including the discharge gas type and flow rate,the initial concentration and pH of the solution,and the discharge voltage.Under the optimum parameter configuration,the average removal rate of the three antibiotics was 54.0% and the energy yield was 8.9 g(kW·h)-1after 5 min treatment;the removal efficiency was 96.5% and the corresponding energy yield was4.0 g(kW·h)-1 after 20 min treatment.Reactive substance capture and determination experiments indicated that ·OH and O3 played a vital role in the decomposition of SDZ and NOR,but the role of reactive substances in TC degradation was relatively less significant.展开更多
Increasing demand for timely and accurate environmental pollution monitoring and control requires new sensing techniques with outstanding performance, i.e.,high sensitivity, high selectivity, and reliability. Metal–o...Increasing demand for timely and accurate environmental pollution monitoring and control requires new sensing techniques with outstanding performance, i.e.,high sensitivity, high selectivity, and reliability. Metal–organic frameworks(MOFs), also known as porous coordination polymers, are a fascinating class of highly ordered crystalline coordination polymers formed by the coordination of metal ions/clusters and organic bridging linkers/ligands. Owing to their unique structures and properties,i.e., high surface area, tailorable pore size, high density of active sites, and high catalytic activity, various MOF-based sensing platforms have been reported for environmental contaminant detection including anions, heavy metal ions,organic compounds, and gases. In this review, recent progress in MOF-based environmental sensors is introduced with a focus on optical, electrochemical, and field-effect transistor sensors. The sensors have shown unique and promising performance in water and gas contaminant sensing. Moreover, by incorporation with other functional materials, MOF-based composites can greatly improve the sensor performance. The current limitations and future directions of MOF-based sensors are also discussed.展开更多
The occurrence and impacts of emerging organic contaminants(EOCs)in the aquatic environment have gained widespread attention over the past two decades.Due to large number of potential contaminants,monitoring campaigns...The occurrence and impacts of emerging organic contaminants(EOCs)in the aquatic environment have gained widespread attention over the past two decades.Due to large number of potential contaminants,monitoring campaigns,treatment plants,and proposed regulations should preferentially focus on specific pollutants with the highest potential for ecological and human health effects.In the present study,a multi-criteria screening approach based on hazard and exposure potentials was developed for prioritization of 405 unregulated EOCs already present in Chinese surface water.Hazard potential,exposure potential,and risk quotients for ecological and human health effects were quantitatively analyzed and used to screen contaminants.The hazard potential was defined by contaminant persistence,bioaccumulation,ecotoxicity,and human health effects;similarly,the exposure potential was a function of contaminant concentration and detection frequency.In total,123 compounds passed the preselection process,which involved a priority index equal to the normalized hazard potential multiplied by the normalized exposure potential.Based on the prioritization scheme,11 compounds were identified as top-priority,and 37 chemicals were defined as high-priority.The results obtained by the priority index were compared with four other prioritization schemes based on exposure potential,hazard potential,or risk quotients for ecological effects or human health.The priority index effectively captured and integrated the results from the more simplistic prioritization schemes.Based on identified data gaps,four uncertainty categories were classified to recommend:①regular monitoring,derivation of environmental quality standards,and development of control strategies;②increased monitoring;③fortified hazard assessment;and④increased efforts to collect occurrence and toxicity data.Overall,20 pollutants were recommended as priority EOCs.The prioritized list of contaminants provides the necessary information for authoritative regulations to monitor,control,evaluate,and manage the risks of environmentally-relevant EOCs in Chinese surface water.展开更多
Two biodegradation models are developed to represent natural attenuation of fuel-hydrocarbon contaminants as observed in a comprehensive natural-gradient tracer test in a heterogeneous aquifer on the Columbus Air Forc...Two biodegradation models are developed to represent natural attenuation of fuel-hydrocarbon contaminants as observed in a comprehensive natural-gradient tracer test in a heterogeneous aquifer on the Columbus Air Force Base in Mississippi, USA. The first, a first-order mass loss model, describes the irreversible losses of BTEX and its individual components, i.e., benzene (B), toluene (T), ethyl benzene (E), and xylene (X). The second, a reactive pathway model, describes sequential degradation pathways for BTEX utilizing multiple electron acceptors, including oxygen, nitrate, iron and sulfate, and via methanogenesis. The heterogeneous aquifer is represented by multiple hydraulic conductivity (K) zones delineated on the basis of numerous flowmeter K measurements. A direct propagation artificial neural network (DPN) is used as an inverse modeling tool to estimate the biodegradation rate constants associated with each of the K zones. In both the mass loss model and the reactive pathway model, the biodegradation rate constants show an increasing trend with the hydraulic conductivity. The finding of correlation between biodegradation kinetics and hydraulic conductivity distributions is of general interest and relevance to characterization and modeling of natural attenuation of hydrocarbons in other petroleum-product contaminated sites.展开更多
Production and storage-transportation of crude oil can not only give rise to soil pollution but also destroy ecological environment. Degradation of microbes for oily soil was studied with the instnunent, Geofina Hydro...Production and storage-transportation of crude oil can not only give rise to soil pollution but also destroy ecological environment. Degradation of microbes for oily soil was studied with the instnunent, Geofina Hydrocarbon Meter (GHM), by experimental analysis qualitatively and quantitatively in the paper. Analytical result showed that the crude oil could be considerably degraded by eating-oil microbes in oily soil and the number of eating-oil microbes increased while the working hours of oil-well risi...展开更多
If the vertically-mixing time is comparable with that of period oscillatory current,the contaminant contraction may occur.The coefficient of shear dispersion is negative（singularity）.According to the two-dimensional...If the vertically-mixing time is comparable with that of period oscillatory current,the contaminant contraction may occur.The coefficient of shear dispersion is negative（singularity）.According to the two-dimensional delay-diffusion equation derived by theauthor:where u（t）,v（t）are vertically-averaged velocities,the equations for X（t）,Y（t）,central displacement,dispersion tensor,had been derived.αD<sub>ij</sub>/τis positivewhenτis small.If theτis large,the memory functions may be negative.Also theexpressions for D<sub>ij</sub>and X,Y had been obtained.展开更多
From the view of both objective and subjective factors,the indoor air quality(IAQ)evaluation was considered.Carbon dioxide(CO2)and formaldehyde(HCHO)were selected as the typical contaminants of indoor air,and the eval...From the view of both objective and subjective factors,the indoor air quality(IAQ)evaluation was considered.Carbon dioxide(CO2)and formaldehyde(HCHO)were selected as the typical contaminants of indoor air,and the evaluation method of logarithmic index was adopted as the evaluation means of IAQ.Then the recommended limits(RL)of typical contaminants CO2 and HCHO were given through analysis and calculation.The limits of CO2 and HCHO in Indoor Air Quality Standard of China or other existing standards probably correspond to the level of PD=25(%).The result shows that the existing standards fail to meet the requirement of the definition of "acceptable indoor air quality",that is to say,less than 20% of the people express dissatisfaction.When PD=20%,RL of CO2 and HCHO are 728×10-6 and 0.068×10-6 respectively,which are stricter than the limits in the existing standards.The method proposed in this paper is applicable to 13.1%≤PD≤86.7%.展开更多
Clay-solidified grouting curtains are commonly used for remediation by containment or pollution prevention, in addition to their use as a barrier to water flow in municipal solid waste(MSW) landfills. A hydrological m...Clay-solidified grouting curtains are commonly used for remediation by containment or pollution prevention, in addition to their use as a barrier to water flow in municipal solid waste(MSW) landfills. A hydrological model.of water flow and a hydrodynamic model of contaminant are presented to simulate the migration of leachate through clay-solidified grouting curtain in MSW landfills, with particular attention paid to the role of diffusive and adsorptive fluxes in contaminant transport. The models were applied to simulate the sensitivity of the curtain's behavior to changes in parameters, such as thickness, depth, permeability coefficient, diffusion coefficient,resistance coefficient and concentration, and also to demonstrate the contaminant distribution on the evolution of travel time and offset distance of clay-solidified grouting curtain in landfills. It is found that a part of leachate components stays or is retarded in clay-solidified grouting curtain by precipitate or exchange, the retention rate is closely related to composition of clay-solidified grouting curtain, more than 800%, and the maximum occurs at the cementclay ratio of 2: 4 under experimental conditions. Contamination distribution is variable on travel time and offset distance, the highest concentration takes place where the contamination intensity is nearest to the pollution resource or takes place at early middle period of transport, and the pollutant attenuates gradually. The results indicate that claysolidified grouting curtain with a proper thickness, a low permeability coefficient and a high resistance coefficient might serve as a sufficiently effective vertical barrier against leachate seepage and contamination migration in MSWlandfills.展开更多
In order to understand the effect of low temperature on the formation process of aerobic granules and contaminants removal characteristics,the aerobic granules-membrane bioreactor (AGS-MBR) has been started up and ope...In order to understand the effect of low temperature on the formation process of aerobic granules and contaminants removal characteristics,the aerobic granules-membrane bioreactor (AGS-MBR) has been started up and operated at low temperature using the carbon resource of sodium acetate. Aerobic granules cultivated in AGS-MBR possess smooth surface and compact structure in morphology as well as better settling property and higher biomass after 38 days. The average parameters of aerobic granules are: diameter 3. 1 mm,wet density 1. 041 g/mL,sludge volume index 42. 35 mL/g and settling velocity 20. 6 - 45. 2 cm/min. During the start-up of AGS-MBR,the respectively average contaminants removal efficiencies at low temperature are 91. 9% for chemical oxygen demand (COD) ,89. 2% for NH4 + -N and 86. 3% for PO43- -P,and the overgrowth of filamentous bacteria has been well controlled. In addition,the hollow fiber microfiltration (MF) membrane fouling is light and the regime membrane layer is capable of enhancing membrane filtration as well as the average growth of trans-membrane pressure (TMP) is 1. 07 kPa/d. Compared with the conventional cultivation of aerobic granules,the sludge granulation time significantly decreases from 73 days to 38 days by the application of microfiltration membrane at low temperature.展开更多
Radioactive contaminants, such as radium, radon, and uranium isotopes are naturally present in drinking water, and gas and oil extraction like hydraulic fracturing can exasperate radionuclide leakage into groundwater....Radioactive contaminants, such as radium, radon, and uranium isotopes are naturally present in drinking water, and gas and oil extraction like hydraulic fracturing can exasperate radionuclide leakage into groundwater. The concentration of radionuclide in drinking water is dependent upon the water source and the underlying lithology within the aquifers. In United States, the Environmental Protection Agency regulates the level of radioactivity in drinking water via the gross alpha test, which is conducted to measure the emitted alpha particles as a result of the radioactive elements’ natural decay. Radionuclides, such as radium and uranium, are known to cause bone cancer and other forms of cancer. Communities with crippling water purification infrastructure may be at a higher risk of being exposed to radionuclides, and this is a significant environmental justice concern. The radionuclide concentrations for the metropolitan or most populated city in each state in the United States and its territories (Puerto Rico, US Virgin Islands and Guam) were analyzed and correlated to the annual household income, to determine any disparities that maybe present. Lower income communities had elevated levels of radionuclides when compared to higher income communities which had lower frequency in elevated radionuclide contaminants.展开更多
Ball bearings’ rating life is reduced with the presence of hard particle contaminants in the lubricant. This life reduction is taken into account when calculating the modified rating life by using the contamination f...Ball bearings’ rating life is reduced with the presence of hard particle contaminants in the lubricant. This life reduction is taken into account when calculating the modified rating life by using the contamination factor. The contamination factor is based on a general characterization of the lubrication conditions but the impact of contaminant’s variables such as size, hardness and concentration level is not determined in detail. In this work, greases contaminated with hard corundum (alumina, Al2O3) particles of different sizes are tested aiming at finding a pattern in the relationship between particle sizes’ and wear’s progress. A laboratory rig is utilized for these tests and vibration analysis tools regarding bearings’ condition and estimated residual life are being assessed. After the tests, optical inspections using a stereoscope verify the vibration analyses results. The experimental results show that wear is progressing faster when smaller particles are used. The crystalline structure of the corundum and the different degree of brittleness of the contaminants seem to be the reasons for this behavior, whereas severe abrasion and deformation of the raceways have been detected.展开更多
基金funded by the National Natural Science Foundation of China and the Machinery Industry Innovation Platform Construction Project of China Machinery Industry Federation,Grant Numbers 52378103 and 2019SA-10-07.
文摘Buildings with large open spaces in which chemicals are handled are often exposed to the risk of explosions.Computational fluid dynamics is a useful and convenient way to investigate contaminant dispersion in such large spaces.The turbulent Schmidt number(Sct)concept has typically been used in this regard,and most studies have adopted a default value.We studied the concentration distribution for sulfur hexafluoride(SF6)assuming different emission rates and considering the effect of Sct.Then we examined the same problem for a light gas by assuming hydrogen gas(H2)as the contaminant.When SF6 was considered as the contaminant gas,a variation in the emission rate completely changed the concentration distribution.When the emission rate was low,the gravitational effect did not take place.For both low and high emission rates,an increase in Sct accelerated the transport rate of SF6.In contrast,for H2 as the contaminant gas,a larger Sct could induce a decrease in the H2 transport rate.
基金supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China(No.21906056No.22176060)+2 种基金the Undergraduate Training Program on Innovation and Entrepreneurship(S202110251087)the Science and Technology Commission of Shanghai Municipality(22ZR1418600)Shanghai Municipal Science and Technology(No.20DZ2250400).
文摘The existence and risk of emerging organic contaminants(EOCs)have been under consideration and paid much effort to degrade these pollutants.Fenton system is one of the most widely used technologies to solve this problem.The original Fenton system relies on the hydroxyl radicals produced by Fe(Ⅱ)/H_(2)O_(2) to oxidize the organic contaminants.However,the application of the Fenton system is limited by its low iron cycling efficiency and the high risks of hydrogen peroxide transportation and storage.The introduction of external energy(including light and electricity etc.)can effectively promote the Fe(Ⅲ)/Fe(Ⅱ)cycle and the reduction of oxygen to produce hydrogen peroxide in situ.This review introduces three in-situ Fenton systems,which are electro-Fenton,Photo-Fenton,and chemical reaction.The mechanism,influencing factors,and catalysts of these three in-situ Fenton systems in degrading EOCs are discussed systematically.This review strengthens the understanding of Fenton and in-situ Fenton systems in degradation,offering further insight into the real application of the in-situ Fenton system in the removal of EOCs.
文摘This paper is intended to explore soil organic matter and carbon isotope fractionation at three locations of the Passaic River to determine if microbial degradation of organic contaminants in soil is correlated to the surrounding physical environment. Microbial degradation of organic contaminants is important for the detoxification of toxic substances thereby minimizing stagnation in the environment and accumulating in the food chain. Since organic contaminants are not easily dissolved in water, they will penetrate sediment and end up enriching the adjacent soil. The hypothesis that we are testing is microbial activity and carbon isotope fractionation will be greater in preserved soils than urban soils. The reason why this is expected to be the case is the expectation of higher microbial activity in preserved environments due to less exposure to pollutants, better soil structure, higher organic matter content, and more favorable conditions for microbial growth. This is contrasted with urban soils, which are impacted by pollutants and disturbances, potentially inhibiting microbial activity. We wish to collect soil samples adjacent to the Passaic River at a pristine location, Great Swamp Wildlife Refuge, a suburban location, Goffle Brook Park, Hawthorne NJ, and an urban location, Paterson NJ. These soil samples will be weighed for soil organic matter (SOM) and weighed for isotope ratio mass spectrometry (IRMS) to test organic carbon isotopes. High SOM and δ13C depletion activity indicate microbial growth based on the characteristics of the soil horizon rather than the location of the soil sample which results in degradation of organic compounds.
文摘Clean drinking water is one of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.Despite significant progress in the water purification technology,many regions still lack access to clean water.This paper provides a review of selected water contaminants and their impacts on human health.The World Health Organization(WHO)guidelines and regional standards for key contaminants were used to characterise water quality in the European Union and UK.The concept of safe drinking water was explained based on the non-observed adverse effect level,threshold concentrations for toxic chemicals,and their total daily intake.Various techniques for monitoring water contaminants and the drinking water standards from five different countries,including the UK,USA,Canada,Pakistan and India,were compared to WHO recommended guidelines.The literature on actual water quality in these regions and its potential health impacts was also discussed.Finally,the role of public water suppliers in identifying and monitoring drinking water contaminants in selected developed countries was presented as a potential guideline for developing countries.This review emphasised the need for a comprehensive understanding of water quality and its impacts on human health to ensure access to clean drinking water worldwide.
文摘The US Commonwealth of Puerto Rico is comprised of 143 islands, atolls, cays, and islets. Of the 143 localities, only 3 islands are inhabited: The mainland (often referenced as Puerto Rico), Culebra, and Vieques. To properly analyze the water supply quality, the mainland will be the focal point for examining environmental and social injustices. Puerto Rico is a racially diverse but ethnically homogenous territory, with most of the commonwealth living below the poverty level. Access to clean water sources is always tenuous in Puerto Rico. Over 70 percent of the island is served by water, violating US health standards. However, the recent hurricanes made the situation even more detrimental. According to data reported between January 2015 and March 2018 by the Consumer Confidence Report (CCR), 97 percent of the population of Puerto Rico utilizes a common drinking water system with one or more recent violations of the Safe Drinking Water Act for its testing requirements for lead and copper levels. The amounts found were far higher than any US state, meaning that virtually everyone on the island gets water from systems that violated testing or reporting requirements. In this study, we have collected and analyzed the levels of trihalomethanes (THMs), haloacetic acids (HAAs), copper, lead, and total organic compounds (TOCs) in drinking water providing systems in Puerto Rico and compared them with the recommended levels of contaminants provided by the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) guidelines. Many of these reported contaminants can have serious and detrimental health effects after prolonged exposure to higher concentrations of the contaminants found in the drinking water sources of Puerto Rico.
文摘The paper designed a non-contact system in order to perform the application (on a runway) of the Global Reporting Format (GRF) developed by International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO). The system involves devices that film the surface (a runway in our case) from the air and displays the contaminant (water) body and measures the depth of the water automatically during the inspection. While measuring, data are sent to a computer used as a receiver. The developed devices are automatic devices implemented specially to use during rainy weather or even for some other cases. The aerial system uses a raspberry pi 4 model B, a camera, a laser sensor, an ultrasonic module, a Virtual Network Computing (VNC) and python codes developed by the authors. Results obtained show that using these devices to retrieve the Runway Condition Report (RCR) is very fast and human presence on the runway is not needed. The results obtained using these devices show that the method used herein is a proper solution to the GRF issues in the rainy areas, where the contaminant body detection and the accurate depth measurement were not well estimated because of the lack of a suitable method.
基金supported by the Key R&D Plan of Anhui Province(No.201904a07020013)Collaborative Innovation Program of Hefei Science Center,CAS(No.CX2140000018)the Funding for Joint Lab of Applied Plasma Technology(No.JL06120001H)。
文摘Antibiotic contamination adversely affects human health and ecological balance.In this study,gasliquid underwater discharge plasma was employed to simultaneously degrade three antibiotics,sulfadiazine(SDZ),tetracycline(TC),and norfloxacin(NOR),to address the growing problem of antibiotic contaminants in water.The effects of various parameters on the antibiotic degradation efficiency were evaluated,including the discharge gas type and flow rate,the initial concentration and pH of the solution,and the discharge voltage.Under the optimum parameter configuration,the average removal rate of the three antibiotics was 54.0% and the energy yield was 8.9 g(kW·h)-1after 5 min treatment;the removal efficiency was 96.5% and the corresponding energy yield was4.0 g(kW·h)-1 after 20 min treatment.Reactive substance capture and determination experiments indicated that ·OH and O3 played a vital role in the decomposition of SDZ and NOR,but the role of reactive substances in TC degradation was relatively less significant.
基金supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No.21707102)1000 Talents Plan of China
文摘Increasing demand for timely and accurate environmental pollution monitoring and control requires new sensing techniques with outstanding performance, i.e.,high sensitivity, high selectivity, and reliability. Metal–organic frameworks(MOFs), also known as porous coordination polymers, are a fascinating class of highly ordered crystalline coordination polymers formed by the coordination of metal ions/clusters and organic bridging linkers/ligands. Owing to their unique structures and properties,i.e., high surface area, tailorable pore size, high density of active sites, and high catalytic activity, various MOF-based sensing platforms have been reported for environmental contaminant detection including anions, heavy metal ions,organic compounds, and gases. In this review, recent progress in MOF-based environmental sensors is introduced with a focus on optical, electrochemical, and field-effect transistor sensors. The sensors have shown unique and promising performance in water and gas contaminant sensing. Moreover, by incorporation with other functional materials, MOF-based composites can greatly improve the sensor performance. The current limitations and future directions of MOF-based sensors are also discussed.
基金supported by the Major Science and Technology Program for Water Pollution Control and Treatment in China (2017ZX07202)Beijing Science and Technology Planning Project (Z191100006919003)
文摘The occurrence and impacts of emerging organic contaminants(EOCs)in the aquatic environment have gained widespread attention over the past two decades.Due to large number of potential contaminants,monitoring campaigns,treatment plants,and proposed regulations should preferentially focus on specific pollutants with the highest potential for ecological and human health effects.In the present study,a multi-criteria screening approach based on hazard and exposure potentials was developed for prioritization of 405 unregulated EOCs already present in Chinese surface water.Hazard potential,exposure potential,and risk quotients for ecological and human health effects were quantitatively analyzed and used to screen contaminants.The hazard potential was defined by contaminant persistence,bioaccumulation,ecotoxicity,and human health effects;similarly,the exposure potential was a function of contaminant concentration and detection frequency.In total,123 compounds passed the preselection process,which involved a priority index equal to the normalized hazard potential multiplied by the normalized exposure potential.Based on the prioritization scheme,11 compounds were identified as top-priority,and 37 chemicals were defined as high-priority.The results obtained by the priority index were compared with four other prioritization schemes based on exposure potential,hazard potential,or risk quotients for ecological effects or human health.The priority index effectively captured and integrated the results from the more simplistic prioritization schemes.Based on identified data gaps,four uncertainty categories were classified to recommend:①regular monitoring,derivation of environmental quality standards,and development of control strategies;②increased monitoring;③fortified hazard assessment;and④increased efforts to collect occurrence and toxicity data.Overall,20 pollutants were recommended as priority EOCs.The prioritized list of contaminants provides the necessary information for authoritative regulations to monitor,control,evaluate,and manage the risks of environmentally-relevant EOCs in Chinese surface water.
文摘Two biodegradation models are developed to represent natural attenuation of fuel-hydrocarbon contaminants as observed in a comprehensive natural-gradient tracer test in a heterogeneous aquifer on the Columbus Air Force Base in Mississippi, USA. The first, a first-order mass loss model, describes the irreversible losses of BTEX and its individual components, i.e., benzene (B), toluene (T), ethyl benzene (E), and xylene (X). The second, a reactive pathway model, describes sequential degradation pathways for BTEX utilizing multiple electron acceptors, including oxygen, nitrate, iron and sulfate, and via methanogenesis. The heterogeneous aquifer is represented by multiple hydraulic conductivity (K) zones delineated on the basis of numerous flowmeter K measurements. A direct propagation artificial neural network (DPN) is used as an inverse modeling tool to estimate the biodegradation rate constants associated with each of the K zones. In both the mass loss model and the reactive pathway model, the biodegradation rate constants show an increasing trend with the hydraulic conductivity. The finding of correlation between biodegradation kinetics and hydraulic conductivity distributions is of general interest and relevance to characterization and modeling of natural attenuation of hydrocarbons in other petroleum-product contaminated sites.
基金Supported by the nature scientific fund of Heilongjiang province(No.110210).
文摘Production and storage-transportation of crude oil can not only give rise to soil pollution but also destroy ecological environment. Degradation of microbes for oily soil was studied with the instnunent, Geofina Hydrocarbon Meter (GHM), by experimental analysis qualitatively and quantitatively in the paper. Analytical result showed that the crude oil could be considerably degraded by eating-oil microbes in oily soil and the number of eating-oil microbes increased while the working hours of oil-well risi...
基金Project supported by National Natural Science Fundation of China
文摘If the vertically-mixing time is comparable with that of period oscillatory current,the contaminant contraction may occur.The coefficient of shear dispersion is negative（singularity）.According to the two-dimensional delay-diffusion equation derived by theauthor:where u（t）,v（t）are vertically-averaged velocities,the equations for X（t）,Y（t）,central displacement,dispersion tensor,had been derived.αD<sub>ij</sub>/τis positivewhenτis small.If theτis large,the memory functions may be negative.Also theexpressions for D<sub>ij</sub>and X,Y had been obtained.
文摘From the view of both objective and subjective factors,the indoor air quality(IAQ)evaluation was considered.Carbon dioxide(CO2)and formaldehyde(HCHO)were selected as the typical contaminants of indoor air,and the evaluation method of logarithmic index was adopted as the evaluation means of IAQ.Then the recommended limits(RL)of typical contaminants CO2 and HCHO were given through analysis and calculation.The limits of CO2 and HCHO in Indoor Air Quality Standard of China or other existing standards probably correspond to the level of PD=25(%).The result shows that the existing standards fail to meet the requirement of the definition of "acceptable indoor air quality",that is to say,less than 20% of the people express dissatisfaction.When PD=20%,RL of CO2 and HCHO are 728×10-6 and 0.068×10-6 respectively,which are stricter than the limits in the existing standards.The method proposed in this paper is applicable to 13.1%≤PD≤86.7%.
文摘Clay-solidified grouting curtains are commonly used for remediation by containment or pollution prevention, in addition to their use as a barrier to water flow in municipal solid waste(MSW) landfills. A hydrological model.of water flow and a hydrodynamic model of contaminant are presented to simulate the migration of leachate through clay-solidified grouting curtain in MSW landfills, with particular attention paid to the role of diffusive and adsorptive fluxes in contaminant transport. The models were applied to simulate the sensitivity of the curtain's behavior to changes in parameters, such as thickness, depth, permeability coefficient, diffusion coefficient,resistance coefficient and concentration, and also to demonstrate the contaminant distribution on the evolution of travel time and offset distance of clay-solidified grouting curtain in landfills. It is found that a part of leachate components stays or is retarded in clay-solidified grouting curtain by precipitate or exchange, the retention rate is closely related to composition of clay-solidified grouting curtain, more than 800%, and the maximum occurs at the cementclay ratio of 2: 4 under experimental conditions. Contamination distribution is variable on travel time and offset distance, the highest concentration takes place where the contamination intensity is nearest to the pollution resource or takes place at early middle period of transport, and the pollutant attenuates gradually. The results indicate that claysolidified grouting curtain with a proper thickness, a low permeability coefficient and a high resistance coefficient might serve as a sufficiently effective vertical barrier against leachate seepage and contamination migration in MSWlandfills.
基金Sponsored by the National High Technology Research and Development Program of China (863 Program,Grant No.2008AA06Z304)State Water Pollution Control and Harnessing of the Major Projects (Grant No.2009ZX07424-005)International Cooperation Program (Grant No.2010DFA92460)
文摘In order to understand the effect of low temperature on the formation process of aerobic granules and contaminants removal characteristics,the aerobic granules-membrane bioreactor (AGS-MBR) has been started up and operated at low temperature using the carbon resource of sodium acetate. Aerobic granules cultivated in AGS-MBR possess smooth surface and compact structure in morphology as well as better settling property and higher biomass after 38 days. The average parameters of aerobic granules are: diameter 3. 1 mm,wet density 1. 041 g/mL,sludge volume index 42. 35 mL/g and settling velocity 20. 6 - 45. 2 cm/min. During the start-up of AGS-MBR,the respectively average contaminants removal efficiencies at low temperature are 91. 9% for chemical oxygen demand (COD) ,89. 2% for NH4 + -N and 86. 3% for PO43- -P,and the overgrowth of filamentous bacteria has been well controlled. In addition,the hollow fiber microfiltration (MF) membrane fouling is light and the regime membrane layer is capable of enhancing membrane filtration as well as the average growth of trans-membrane pressure (TMP) is 1. 07 kPa/d. Compared with the conventional cultivation of aerobic granules,the sludge granulation time significantly decreases from 73 days to 38 days by the application of microfiltration membrane at low temperature.
文摘Radioactive contaminants, such as radium, radon, and uranium isotopes are naturally present in drinking water, and gas and oil extraction like hydraulic fracturing can exasperate radionuclide leakage into groundwater. The concentration of radionuclide in drinking water is dependent upon the water source and the underlying lithology within the aquifers. In United States, the Environmental Protection Agency regulates the level of radioactivity in drinking water via the gross alpha test, which is conducted to measure the emitted alpha particles as a result of the radioactive elements’ natural decay. Radionuclides, such as radium and uranium, are known to cause bone cancer and other forms of cancer. Communities with crippling water purification infrastructure may be at a higher risk of being exposed to radionuclides, and this is a significant environmental justice concern. The radionuclide concentrations for the metropolitan or most populated city in each state in the United States and its territories (Puerto Rico, US Virgin Islands and Guam) were analyzed and correlated to the annual household income, to determine any disparities that maybe present. Lower income communities had elevated levels of radionuclides when compared to higher income communities which had lower frequency in elevated radionuclide contaminants.
文摘Ball bearings’ rating life is reduced with the presence of hard particle contaminants in the lubricant. This life reduction is taken into account when calculating the modified rating life by using the contamination factor. The contamination factor is based on a general characterization of the lubrication conditions but the impact of contaminant’s variables such as size, hardness and concentration level is not determined in detail. In this work, greases contaminated with hard corundum (alumina, Al2O3) particles of different sizes are tested aiming at finding a pattern in the relationship between particle sizes’ and wear’s progress. A laboratory rig is utilized for these tests and vibration analysis tools regarding bearings’ condition and estimated residual life are being assessed. After the tests, optical inspections using a stereoscope verify the vibration analyses results. The experimental results show that wear is progressing faster when smaller particles are used. The crystalline structure of the corundum and the different degree of brittleness of the contaminants seem to be the reasons for this behavior, whereas severe abrasion and deformation of the raceways have been detected.
