Blogs Home

A HOT article from a team at the US Naval Research Laboratory is featured on this month’s eye-catching outside front cover, which was recently featured on the ESPI blog. In this work, CO₂ radiocarbon analysis is demonstrated as a tool to review remediation efficiency by differentiating between CO2 produced by degrading fuel contaminant and that produced naturally by organic matter. Free to access for 6 weeks*!

Radiocarbon-depleted CO2 evidence for fuel biodegradation at the Naval Air Station North Island (USA) fuel farm site
Thomas J. Boyd, Michael J. Pound, Daniel Lohr and Richard B. Coffin
DOI: 10.1039/C3EM00008G

---

 

Issue 5 contains two Perspective articles. The first written by Darrah Sleeth at University of Utah, USA, assesses the current air sampling techniques available for sampling beryllium particulates and outlines the components of the ideal aerosol sampler.

The impact of particle size selective sampling methods on occupational assessment of airborne beryllium particulates
Darrah K. Sleeth 
DOI: 10.1039/C3EM30877D

---

 

The second Perspective from Richard Brown et al. at the National Physical Laboratory, UK, follows on from their excellent HOT article featured on the front cover of Issue 3 in February. This Perspective article discusses the consequences of incomplete data coverage and evaluates strategies for making up for such data loss. The authors’ aim is to provoke debate about the best ways to address this problem, so have a read and let us know what you think by commenting below.

Improved strategies for calculating annual averages of ambient air pollutants in cases of incomplete data coverage
Richard J. C. Brown, Peter M. Harris and Maurice G. Cox
DOI: 10.1039/C3EM00039G

---

 

Issue 5 contains more HOT research, such as this article on E-waste which was highlighted on the blog last week:

Heavy metals and organic compounds contamination in soil from an e-waste region in South China
Ming Liu, Bo Huang, Xinhui Bi, Zhaofang Ren, Guoying Sheng and Jiamo Fu
DOI: 10.1039/C3EM00043E

Discover the full contents of Issue 5 here!

Follow ESPI on Twitter!

 

 *Free access to individuals is provided through an RSC Publishing personal account. Registration is quick, free and simple

The beautiful image on the outside front cover highlights important research from Beat Müller et al. This research conducted in Switzerland combines convenient technologies to develop a method for speedy, portable sediment porewater sampling and on-site analysis. This article was featured on the blog last week and you can browse the blog or read the post here. As a cover article, it’s also now free to access for 6 weeks*!

Sediment porewater extraction and analysis combining filter tube samplers and capillary electrophoresis
Natascha T. Torres, Peter C. Hauser, Gerhard Furrer, Helmut Brandl and Beat Müller
DOI: 10.1039/C3EM00068K

An interesting Frontier review from Xiao-Min Ren and ES: P&I Editorial Board member Liang-Hong Guo on the likely impact of PBDE toxicity on the body, specifically looking at what is known about the molecular mechanism of PBDE in disruption of hormone receptor pathways and how PBDE toxicity is being investigated.

Molecular toxicology of polybrominated diphenyl ethers: nuclear hormone receptor mediated pathways
Xiao-Min Ren and Liang-Hong Guo
DOI: 10.1039/C3EM00023K

Issue 4 also contains HOT articles, two of which recently featured on the blog and both are still free to access* for the next couple of weeks:

Characterization of a portable method for the collection of exhaled breath condensate and subsequent analysis of metal content
Julie R. Fox, Ernst W. Spannhake, Kristin K. Macri, Christine M. Torrey, Jana N. Mihalic, Sorina E. Eftim, Peter S. J. Lees and Alison S. Geyh
DOI: 10.1039/C3EM30906A

Read the blog post here

A case-study on the accuracy of mass balances for xenobiotics in full-scale wastewater treatment plants
Marius Majewsky, Julien Farlin, Michael Bayerle and Tom Gallé
DOI: 10.1039/C3EM30884G

Read the blog post here

Curious to know more about Environmental Science: Processes & Impacts?

 View the full issue here today

 

*Free access to individuals is provided through an RSC Publishing personal account. Registration is quick, free and simple

A team at The University of Texas at Austin, USA, present the results of a long-term study of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon monitoring at a site of contaminated sediment capping by the Anacostia River in Washington DC in this HOT paper, which was featured on the cover of Issue 3.

Capping sediments with clean material to create a barrier between benthic organisms and contamination is a technique to reduce contamination of sediments in situ. PAHs still present an environmental risk long after the source has been eliminated and capping with sand can act as a diffusive barrier giving a clean environment for benthic organisms. Often now materials that actively absorb the contaminants are used, but they usually need a sand layer for benthos organisms to survive.

The capping took place in 2004 with four different materials – AquaBlok^TM (clay-like material with permeability control), coke in a Reactive Core Mat^TM (to assess low density material in a thin mat), apatite (for heavy metal sequestration) and sand for comparison. The indicator used to assess chemical migration through these materials was monitoring of pore water concentration profiles. Solid-phase concentration could not be used to compare them due to the limited sorption capacity of sand.

They concluded that there were significant concentrations throughout the caps and that the rates of migration in the caps were as expected for the transport characteristics at the site and sorption effect of the materials slowing migration. The caps reached steady state after a few years due to surface re-contamination, however the actual contaminant concentrations were lower than uncapped areas. Tidal dispersion was the primary mixing mechanism in the caps. The team also evaluated bioaccumulation and the ability of pore-water profiling to predict the observed values. Predictions based on pore water concentrations were more accurate than those based on a solid-phase approach.

Read the full discussion of the differences between the capping materials and the results of sampling over time now, as this cover article is still free to access for 5 more weeks*

Long-term PAH monitoring results from the Anacostia River active capping demonstration using polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) fibers
David J. Lampert, Xiaoxia Lu and Danny D. Reible
DOI: 10.1039/C3EM30826J

*Free access to individuals is provided through an RSC Publishing personal account. Registration is quick, free and simple

This issue’s outside front cover features a HOT article by Richard Brown at the National Physical Laboratory focused on a simple modelling method to overcome data loss, particularly when the data varies seasonally, to provide more representative annual averages. All of our cover articles are made free to access for 6 weeks*, so read it by clicking the link:

Data loss from time series of pollutants in ambient air exhibiting seasonality: consequences and strategies for data prediction
Richard J. C. Brown
DOI: 10.1039/C3EM30918E

This was also featured in this week’s blog posts, find the post here!

---

Work from Danny Reible et al. at the University of Texas at Austin, USA is highlighted on the inside front cover. This HOT cover article presents an analysis of a long term study monitoring polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons migration through capping materials at the Anacostia Rive, Washington DC, USA. They use an innovative passive sampling method with PDMS and assess bioavailability of PAHs using pore water profiles.

Long-term PAH monitoring results from the Anacostia River active capping demonstration using polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) fibers
David J. Lampert, Xiaoxia Lu and Danny D. Reible
DOI: 10.1039/C3EM30826J

---

Issue 3 also contains high quality environmental research such as that from researchers at The University of Minnesota studying the eight volatile organic compounds that swine production workers are most exposed to. This work was also the subject of a recent blog post, so you can read the blog post here for the highlights of the work or read the full detailed study by clicking the article link below. This article is still free to access for the next 2 weeks!*

Health risk assessment of occupational exposure to hazardous volatile organic compounds in swine gestation, farrowing and nursery barns
Neslihan Akdeniz, Larry D. Jacobson and Brian P. Hetchler
DOI: 10.1039/C2EM30722G

 

To learn more about the latest Environmental Science: Processes & Impacts research, view the full issue here!

*Free access to individuals is provided through an RSC Publishing personal account. Registration is quick, free and simple

 

This issue’s front cover illustrates research from a team led by Todd Whitehead at University of California, Berkeley, USA, into the determinants of polychlorinated biphenyl levels in household dust. The group measured the levels of this persistent pollutant in 415 homes and use regression models to ascertain the potential determinants. Homes built before 1980 were more likely to contain PCBs at higher levels in dust. Here is evidence that removing your shoes and cleaning your carpets can lower the level of PCBs accumulating in the carpet. All of our cover articles are free to access for 6 weeks* so have a read of this topical article now:

Determinants of polychlorinated biphenyls in dust from homes in California, USA
Todd P. Whitehead, Mary H. Ward, Joanne S. Colt, Marcia G. Nishioka, Patricia A. Buffler, Stephen M. Rappaport and Catherine Metayer
DOI: 10.1039/C2EM30721A

---

Sohel Saikat et al. from the Health Protection Agency, London, have written an insightful critical review for Issue 2 of what we know about how perfluorooctane sulphonate impacts on human health as it persists in the environment via various exposure pathways.

The impact of PFOS on health in the general population: a review
Sohel Saikat, Irene Kreis, Bethan Davies, Stephen Bridgman and Robie Kamanyire
DOI: 10.1039/C2EM30698K

---

There are also a number of HOT articles in February’s issue of Environmental Science: Processes & Impacts:

Prevalence of respiratory adenovirus species B and C in sewage sludge
Kyle Bibby and Jordan Peccia
DOI: 10.1039/C2EM30831B

Read the recent blog article for c2em30831b here!

Role of macropore flow in the transport of Escherichia coli cells in undisturbed cores of a brown leached soil
Jean M. F. Martins, Samer Majdalani, Elsa Vitorge, Aurélien Desaunay, Aline Navel, Véronique Guiné, Jean François Daïan, Erwann Vince, Hervé Denis and Jean Paul Gaudet
DOI: 10.1039/C2EM30586K

 Read the recent blog article for c2em30586k here!

 The bioavailability of manganese in welders in relation to its solubility in welding fumes
Dag G. Ellingsen, Evgenij Zibarev, Zarina Kusraeva, Balazs Berlinger, Maxim Chashchin, Rita Bast-Pettersen, Valery Chashchin and Yngvar Thomassen
DOI: 10.1039/C2EM30750B

 Read the full issue here

 *Free access to individuals is provided through an RSC Publishing personal account. Registration is quick, free and simple 

On the outside front cover, this month’s issue features work from Kalliat Valsaraj and co-workers. In their article, the team investigate the processing of atmospheric polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) during fog events.

The authors identified two processing pathways: (i) the dissolution of OPAC from particulate matter and (ii) the uptake and oxidation of PAH in the fog water droplets.

Read more in the full article:

Processing of atmospheric polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons by fog in an urban environment
Franz S. Ehrenhauser, Kalindi Khadapkar, Youliang Wang, James W. Hutchings, Olivier Delhomme, Raghava R. Kommalapati, Pierre Herckes, Mary J. Wornat and Kalliat T. Valsaraj
DOI: 10.1039/C2EM30336A

Other HOT articles in this issue include:

Comprehensive environmental review following the pork PCB/dioxin contamination incident in Ireland
Ian Marnane
DOI: 10.1039/C2EM30374D

Using passive air samplers to assess local sources versus long range atmospheric transport of POPs
Anne Karine Halse, Martin Schlabach, Andy Sweetman, Kevin C. Jones and Knut Breivik
DOI: 10.1039/C2EM30378G

Levels and distribution of hexabromocyclododecane (HBCD) in environmental samples near manufacturing facilities in Laizhou Bay area, East China
Honghua Li, Qinghua Zhang, Pu Wang, Yingming Li, Jianxia Lv, Weihai Chen, Dawei Geng, Yawei Wang, Thanh Wang and Guibin Jiang
DOI: 10.1039/C2EM30231D

Assessment of environmental mercury discharge at a four-year-old artisanal gold mining area on Lombok Island, Indonesia
Baiq Dewi Krisnayanti, Christopher W. N. Anderson, Wani Hadi Utomo, Xinbin Feng, Eko Handayanto, Nurul Mudarisna, Hadiman Ikram and Khususiah
DOI: 10.1039/C2EM30515A

The application of biochemical responses to assess environmental quality of tropical estuaries: field surveys
Luciane Alves Maranho, Camilo Dias Seabra Pereira, Rodrigo Brasil Choueri, Augusto Cesar, Paloma Kachel Gusso-Choueri, Ronaldo José Torres, Denis Moledo de Souza Abessa, Rodofley Davino Morais, Antônio Aparecido Mozeto, Tomás Angel DelValls and María Laura Martín-Díaz
DOI: 10.1039/C2EM30465A

Also in this issue is our monthly Environmental Digest -covering legislation, environmental quality, chemical hazards, public and occupational health and research activities from Europe and around the world, it’s an invaluable source of environmental information.

Environmental digest
DOI: 10.1039/C2EM90047E

Read the rest of the issue here.

A hot article from Michael F. Hochella and colleagues Virginia Tech and Duke University is on the cover of our latest issue, describing their work to better understand the fate of TiO₂ nanomaterials in soil, and their most likely route of entry into the environment.

Characterization and environmental implications of nano- and larger TiO2 particles in sewage sludge, and soils amended with sewage sludge
Bojeong Kim, Mitsuhiro Murayama, Benjamin P. Colman and Michael F. Hochella
J. Environ. Monit., 2012, 14, 1128-1136
DOI: 10.1039/C2EM10809G

Nanoparticles your thing? Have you seen the themed issue we published on Environmental Nanotechnology?