Archive for the ‘News’ Category

DGT: using hydrogels to determine antimony

A photo of a disassembled DGT device, showing piston and cap. The device in this picture has been fitted with activated carbon for assimilating gold and/or bisphenols.

Researchers at Griffith University in Australia have developed a new diffusive gradients in thin films (DGT) method to determine the concentration of antimony in polluted waters. This new technique also allows them to measure in situ the speciation of this metalloid in its different oxidation states. Speciation could be carried out before using solid phase extraction (SPE) cartridges, but these present some limitations when it comes to analysing some complex mixtures like seawater.

On the other hand, DGT is a sampling technique that can be used to measure a myriad of analytes in different mixtures. DGT uses a combination of hydrogel-based layers to extract and retain the analyte, that can be eluted and determined later on. This technique has been used to measure trace metals, metalloids, sulphides, phosphates and ammonium. In this case, to enhance the affinity of DGT membranes to antimony, researchers have used thiol-based silica gel layers.

In this paper, the authors present a combination of methods that, ultimately, allows them to calculate the speciation of Sb(III) and Sb(V). The first method is used to determine the total amount of antimony in solution. This method, based on a Metsorb-DGT technique, was originally described in the literature for measuring Sb(V). The team demonstrated that it was equally effective absorbing Sb(III), which allows to determine the total amount of this metalloid. The second method presents a high selectivity of Sb(III) over Sb(V) using a new binding layer featuring a 3-mercaptopropyl functionalized silica gel. Subtracting both measurements, researchers can easily determine amounts of the different oxidation states.

World production trend of antimony (US Geological Survey, Wikimedia).

Antimony is a dangerous and toxic pollutant listed as a priority by the US Environmental Protection Agency. The production of this metalloid, mostly used in flame retardants and lead-acid batteries has grown over the last century, inevitably leading to pollution of the environment. Developing new methods to quantify antimony is always interesting to understand its behaviour and the biogeochemical processes it follows. The DGT method presented in this paper can measure antimony in situ, avoiding common issues (mostly speciation changes) of off-site analyses. Moreover, it has been proven to have an appropriate capacity to measure antimony even in highly polluted areas. Finally, these new methods have been tested in a wide range of pH, ionic strengths, and also in artificial seawater, proving the superiority of DGT over SPE in the determination of antimony in complex samples.

To read the full article for free* click the link below:

In situ speciation of dissolved inorganic antimony in surface waters and sediment porewaters: development of a thiol-based diffusive gradients in thin films technique for Sb(III).
W. W. Bennett, M. Arsic, D. T. Welsh, and P. R. Teasdale.
Environ. Sci.: Processes Impacts, 2016, Advance Article
DOI: 10.1039/C6EM00189K

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About the webwriter

Fernando Gomollón-Bel is a PhD Student at the ISQCH (CSICUniversity of Zaragoza). His research focuses on asymmetric organic synthesis using sugars as chiral-pool starting materials towards the production of fungical transglycosidase inhibitors.

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*Access is free until 29/07/2016 through a registered publishing personal account.

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Unconventional hydrocarbons – Understanding the Potential Environmental Impacts

In the continuing drive to meet the world’s future energy needs, few can have missed the increased recent prominence of unconventional hydrocarbons. The extraction of resources such as shale gas, using techniques like hydraulic fracturing (or fracking) has gained attention from around the world, both for its potential to fulfil our energy requirements, as well as due to concerns around possible environmental impacts.

Chemistry has a strong role to play in helping us to understand potential environmental impacts, particularly areas such as air and water quality. The Royal Society of Chemistry supports the research community examining these issues, as chemical sciences research can help to inform broader policy decisions on this issue. We publish papers and books across our portfolio of journals, including those that encourage scientific debate and have actively supported those in the research community to share knowledge and advance science. To mark the publication of a report that explores research questions in this area, we have gathered some of our best publications on this topic to share with readers.

Unconventional hydrocarbon extraction in different countries has evolved at different rates. In the US there has been rapid exploration that has led to commercial scale production, whilst in the UK we are at a much earlier stage of the debate. Examining the situation in places like the US, which has a comparatively more established shale gas industry, can help us to determine what is known about the potential environmental impacts and where research, including chemistry, can help to address unknowns.

In November 2015, the UK Natural Environment Research Council (NERC), the US National Science Foundation (NSF) and the Environment, Sustainability and Energy Division of the Royal Society of Chemistry brought together researchers from the US and the UK at a workshop on Improving the Understanding of the Potential Environmental Impacts Associated with Unconventional Hydrocarbons. The aim of the workshop was to share knowledge in this rapidly changing area, particularly with respect to identifying research gaps and areas where future research may be needed. The range of topics covered by the workshop was broad, including areas such as air quality and wastewater treatment, which have a direct link with the chemical sciences, through to seismicity and socioeconomic impacts.

Participants at the workshop had the opportunity to present current research in their field, taking into account the specific situation in their country.  Discussions at the workshop examined similarities and differences between the different nations, leading onto the identification of knowledge gaps and future research needs.

The workshop’s co-chairs, Professor Richard Davies of Newcastle University and Professor Danny Reible at Texas Tech used the discussions from the meeting to produce a report, Joint US-UK Workshop on Improving the Understanding of the Potential Environmental Impacts Associated with Unconventional Hydrocarbons. The report captures key research gaps and needs in a whole range of areas from community engagement, to human health to waste water management.

Professor Richard Davies commented: “This workshop represented a valuable opportunity to prioritise and tailor research questions that could help us to better understand any potential environmental impacts if unconventional hydrocarbon extraction were to take place in the UK. The report examines both near-term and long-term research priorities for the research communities working in this area”.

The report will be relevant to researchers working on unconventional hydrocarbon extraction, outlining future research opportunities and needs. You can watch Professor Fred Worrall, one of the UK workshop participants talk about some of the points covered at the workshop in his lecture Exploring the impact of the unknown: a potential UK shale gas industry. Fred’s work on monitoring emissions relating to onshore oil and gas operations is also the subject of a recent Education in Chemistry article.

We hope that you will enjoy reading about both recent research advances and future areas for investigation in an area that will likely continue to feature in both scientific and public discourse.

Books

Fracking
Editors: R E Hester, R M Harrison
Print publication date: 02 Sep 2014
DOI: 10.1039/9781782620556

Principles and Practice of Analytical Techniques in Geosciences
Editor: Kliti Grice
Print publication date: 11 Sep 2014
DOI: 10.1039/9781782625025

Reviews

Evolving shale gas management: water resource risks, impacts, and lessons learned
Brian G. Rahm and Susan J. Riha
Environ. Sci.: Processes Impacts, 2014,16, 1400-1412
DOI: 10.1039/C4EM00018H

Use of stable isotopes to identify sources of methane in Appalachian Basin shallow groundwaters: a review
J. Alexandra Hakala
Environ. Sci.: Processes Impacts
, 2014,16, 2080-2086
DOI:
10.1039/C4EM00140K

Unconventional oil and gas extraction and animal health
M. Bamberger and   R. E. Oswald
Environ. Sci.: Processes Impacts
, 2014,16, 1860-1865
DOI:
10.1039/C4EM00150H

Practical measures for reducing the risk of environmental contamination in shale energy production
Paul Ziemkiewicz, John D. Quaranta and Michael McCawley
Environ. Sci.: Processes Impacts
, 2014,16, 1692-1699
DOI: 10.1039/C3EM00510K

Air quality concerns of unconventional oil and natural gas production
R. A. Field, J. Soltis and   S. Murphy
Environ. Sci.: Processes Impacts
, 2014,16, 954-969
DOI:
10.1039/C4EM00081A

Analysis

Deciphering the true life cycle environmental impacts and costs of the mega-scale shale gas-to-olefins projects in the United States
Chang He and   Fengqi You
Energy Environ. Sci.
, 2016,9, 820-840 DOI: 10.1039/C5EE02365C

Wells to wheels: water consumption for transportation fuels in the United States
David J. Lampert, Hao Cai and Amgad Elgowainy
Energy Environ. Sci.
, 2016,9, 787-802
DOI:
10.1039/C5EE03254G

Papers

Solid-phase extraction followed by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry for the quantitative analysis of semi-volatile hydrocarbons in hydraulic fracturing wastewaters
Julia Regnery, Bryan D. Coday, Stephanie M. Riley and  Tzahi Y. Cath
Anal. Methods
, 2016,8, 2058-2068
DOI:
10.1039/C6AY00169F

Partitioning of naturally-occurring radionuclides (NORM) in Marcellus Shale produced fluids influenced by chemical matrix
Andrew W. Nelson, Adam J. Johns, Eric S. Eitrheim, Andrew W. Knight, Madeline Basile, E. Arthur Bettis III, Michael. K. Schultz and   Tori Z. Forbes
Environ. Sci.: Processes Impacts
, 2016,18, 456-463
DOI:
10.1039/C5EM00540J

A liter-scale microbial capacitive deionization system for the treatment of shale gas wastewater
Casey Forrestal, Alexander Haeger, Louis Dankovich IV, Tzahi Y. Cath and   Zhiyong Jason Ren
Environ. Sci.: Water Res. Technol.
, 2016,2, 353-361
DOI:
10.1039/C5EW00211G

Detection of water contamination from hydraulic fracturing wastewater: a μPAD for bromide analysis in natural waters
Leslie J. Loh,a Gayan C. Bandara,a Genevieve L. Webera and  Vincent T. Remcho*a

Analyst, 2015,140, 5501-5507
DOI:
10.1039/C5AN00807G

Microbial capacitive desalination for integrated organic matter and salt removal and energy production from unconventional natural gas produced water
Casey Forrestal, Zachary Stoll, Pei Xu and  Zhiyong Jason Ren
Environ. Sci.: Water Res. Technol.
, 2015,1, 47-55
DOI: 10.1039/C4EW00050A

Stimuli-responsive/rheoreversible hydraulic fracturing fluids as a greener alternative to support geothermal and fossil energy production
H. B. Jung, K. C. Carroll, S. Kabilan, D. J. Heldebrant, D. Hoyt, L. Zhong, T. Varga, S. Stephens, L. Adams, A. Bonneville, A. Kuprat and   C. A. Fernandez
Green Chem.
, 2015,17, 2799-2812
DOI:
10.1039/C4GC01917B

Geo-material microfluidics at reservoir conditions for subsurface energy resource applications
Mark L. Porter, Joaquín Jiménez-Martínez, Ricardo Martinez, Quinn McCulloch, J. William Carey and Hari S. Viswanathan
Lab Chip
, 2015,15, 4044-4053
DOI:
10.1039/C5LC00704F

Shale gas-to-syngas chemical looping process for stable shale gas conversion to high purity syngas with a H2:CO ratio of 2:1
Siwei Luo, Liang Zeng, Dikai Xu, Mandar Kathe, Elena Chung, Niranjani Deshpande, Lang Qin, Ankita Majumder, Tien-Lin Hsieh, Andrew Tong, Zhenchao Sun and Liang-Shih Fan
Energy Environ. Sci.
, 2014,7, 4104-4117
DOI:
10.1039/C4EE02892A

Organic compounds in produced waters from shale gas wells
Samuel J. Maguire-Boyle and Andrew R. Barron
Environ. Sci.: Processes Impacts
, 2014,16, 2237-2248
DOI:
10.1039/C4EM00376D

Automated method for determining the flow of surface functionalized nanoparticles through a hydraulically fractured mineral formation using plasmonic silver nanoparticles
Samuel J. Maguire-Boyle, David J. Garner, Jessica E. Heimann, Lucy Gao, Alvin W. Orbaek and  Andrew R. Barron
Environ. Sci.: Processes Impacts
, 2014,16, 220-231
DOI:
10.1039/C3EM00718A

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Introducing our new Associate Editors

We are delighted to introduce Helen Hsu-Kim, Matthew MacLeod and Paul Tratnyek as three new Associate Editors for Environmental Science: Processes & Impacts.

Helen, Matt and Paul join Liang-Hong Guo and Ed Kolodziej as Associate Editors handling submissions to the journal – more details about their research interests are given below.


Helen Hsu-Kim
Duke University, USA

Heileen (Helen) Hsu-Kim is the Yoh Family Associate Professor of Environmental Engineering at Duke University. Her expertise areas include aquatic geochemistry, biogeochemistry of metal pollutants in the environment, and nanogeoscience.

Ongoing research activities in Dr. Hsu-Kim’s group include studies on mercury biogeochemistry and remediation, mineral-microbe interactions, the disposal implications and reuse opportunities for coal ash, and the environmental impacts of nanotechnology. Additional details of the Hsu-Kim research group can be found online here.

Please note that Professor Hsu-Kim will start handling submissions starting on June 2016.


Matthew MacLeod
Stockholm University, Sweden

Matthew MacLeod is Professor of Environmental Chemistry at the Department of Environmental Science and Analytical Chemistry at Stockholm University. He holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Chemistry from the University of Victoria (British Columbia, Canada), and a PhD in Environmental Chemistry from Trent University (Ontario, Canada).

He was a post-doctoral fellow at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory in Berkeley, California, USA, and a Research Group Leader at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH) in Zürich, Switzerland.

Since 2010 he has been a faculty member at Stockholm University, Sweden.  Prof. MacLeod’s research interests include the fate, exposure and effects of persistent organic pollutants (POPs), modeling chemical pollutants, and environmental impacts of micro- and macro-plastics.


Paul Tratnyek
Oregon Health & Science University, USA

Paul G. Tratnyek is currently Professor, and Associate Head, in the Division of Environmental and Biomolecular Systems (EBS) and Institute of Environmental Health (IEH), at the Oregon Health & Science University (OHSU).

He received his Ph.D. in Applied Chemistry from the Colorado School of Mines (CSM) in 1987; served as a National Research Council Postdoctoral Fellow at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Laboratory in Athens, GA (ERD-Athens), during 1988; and as a Research Associate at the Swiss Federal Institute for Water Resources and Water Pollution Control (EAWAG) from 1989 to 1991.

His research concerns the physico-chemical processes that control the fate and effects of environmental substances, including minerals, metals (for remediation), organics (as contaminants), and nanoparticles (for remediation, as contaminants, and in biomedical applications).

Dr. Tratnyek is best known for his work on the degradation of groundwater contaminants with zero-valent metals, but his interests extend to all aspects of contaminant reduction and oxidation (redox) in all aquatic media. Some of his recent work emphasizes the fate/remediation of emerging contaminants (e.g., nanoparticles and 1,2,3-trichloropropane).

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The appointments of Helen, Matt, and Paul, illustrate the exciting future for Environmental Science: Processes & Impacts, as outlined by Editor-in-Chief Professor Kris McNeill in his recent Editorial. We are delighted to welcome them to the Environmental Science: Processes & Impacts team.

Interested in the latest news, research and events of the Environmental Science journals? Find us on Twitter: @EnvSciRSC

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Joint US-UK Workshop on Understanding the Potential Environmental Impacts of Unconventional Hydrocarbons

The UK Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) and the United States National Science Foundation (NSF), along with the Environment Sustainability & Energy Division of the Royal Society of Chemistry, are inviting applications from UK scientists to attend a jointly organised workshop on Improving Understanding of Potential Environmental Impacts Associated with Unconventional Hydrocarbons in Washington DC on 5-6 November 2015.

The deployment of hydraulic fracturing technology to exploit shale oil and gas reservoirs in the USA and now potentially in the UK has raised a number of environmental concerns. This workshop brings together researchers in the USA and the UK to learn from each other to identify the areas of major environmental uncertainty, the focused scientific research questions that need to be addressed, and the opportunities for innovation and translation of existing research within this area.

For further information, please see the Announcement of Opportunity online. The deadline for applications is 16:00 (BST) on Wednesday 9 September 2015.

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1st Chemistry in Energy Conference

The Energy Sector interest group of the Royal Society of Chemistry successfully organised the 1st Chemistry in Energy conference. This event was hosted at Heriot-Watt University in Edinburgh, Scotland, on 20th-22nd July 2015.

During the conference, Professor John Irvine (St Andrew’s University) was presented as the winner of the 2015 Sustainable Energy Award. This prestigious RSC Award is given for the contributions of chemical sciences to sustainable energy, including development or understanding of materials and processes and the improvement of existing technologies through the application of the chemical sciences.

We would like to congratulate John on his award and thank him for his outstanding and sustained contributions to low carbon energy generation, in particular the development of electrode materials for solid oxide fuel cells.

He was presented with his medal by Professor Mercedes Maroto-Valer (Energy Sector representative) and gave his inaugural award lecture titled “Low carbon energy generation and the development of electrode materials for solid oxide fuel cells” as part of a special session during the conference.

The picture shows Cesar Palmero, (RSC Development Editor), John Irvine (2015 Sustainable
Energy Award Winner) and Mercedes Maroto-Valer (RSC Energy Sector Representative)



Take a look at some of the latest publications by Professor John Irvine:

Guan Zhang, Chengsheng Ni, Lingjuan Liu, Guixia Zhao, Federica Fina and John T. S. Irvine
J. Mater. Chem. A, 2015,3, 15413-15419

Nano-composite structural Ni–Sn alloy anodes for high performance and durability of direct methane-fueled SOFCs
Jae-ha Myung, Sun-Dong Kim, Tae Ho Shin, Daehee Lee, John T. S. Irvine, Jooho Moon and Sang-Hoon Hyun
J. Mater. Chem. A, 2015,3, 13801-13806

Hierarchically nanoporous La1.7Ca0.3CuO4−δ and La1.7Ca0.3NixCu1−xO4−δ (0.25 ≤ x ≤ 0.75) as potential cathode materials for IT-SOFCs
Xiubing Huang, Tae Ho Shin, Jun Zhou and John T. S. Irvine
J. Mater. Chem. A, 2015,3, 13468-13475

Oxygen storage capacity and thermal stability of the CuMnO2–CeO2 composite system
Xiubing Huang, Chengsheng Ni, Guixia Zhao and John T. S. Irvine
J. Mater. Chem. A, 2015,3, 12958-12964

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Additionally, ES: Processes & Impacts is delighted to announce a high profile web collection on chemistry in energy, in conjunction with the organisers of this 1st Chemistry in Energy conference. Authors of accepted conference presentations (oral and poster) are invited to submit a full paper for possible inclusion in this web collection.

All manuscripts must fit within the scope of the journal to be considered for the collection and will be refereed in accordance to the standard procedures of Environmental Science: Processes & Impacts. In this respect, invited articles will be treated in the same way as regular submissions to the journal.

The deadline for receipt of manuscripts for this themed is 30 September 2015. Please feel free to get in touch with the editorial office at ESPI-RSC@rsc.org if you have any questions about this collection.

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RSC awards and prizes recognise excellence across the chemical sciences. Why not nominate someone?
Nominations for 2016 open on the 1st October 2015.

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2nd National Environmental Eco-Toxicology Conference

The 2nd National Environmental Eco-Toxicology Conference was held in Xiamen, China, 25th-28th of April, 2015.

This exciting conference was jointly organised by the Research Center for Eco-environmental Sciences of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), Xiamen University and the Institute of Urban Environment of CAS.

More than 700 attendees shared new ideas and recent development on the are six topics discussed during this conference:

  • Screening and assessment of high risk chemical contaminants
  • Transfer and distribution of chemical contaminants in the environment and organisms
  • Chemical hazards evaluation
  • Toxicology mechanism of chemical ecology
  • Toxicological mechanism of chemical health effects
  • Chemical risk management


During the conference, the Environmental Science (ES) series of journals sponsored three poster prizes. Let’s introduce the winners!

ES: Processes & Impacts: ‘Study on the toxicity behavior of organic phosphate ester flame retardant to pattern fish’, by Liwei Sun (Zhejiang Institute of Technology)

ES: Water Research & Technology: ‘Bioaccumulation behaviour of short chain chlorinated paraffins in Antarctic ecosystem’, by Huijuan Li and Aiqian Zhang (Research Center for Eco-Environmental Sciences)

ES: Nano: ‘Proinflammatory effects of silver nanoparticles and silver ions on human skin keratinocytes’, by Yang Di, Wei Hong-ying, Wang Bin, Fan Jing-pu, Qin Yu, Liu Yue, Guo Xin-biao and Deng Fu-rong (Peking Universty)

Congratulations to all the winners!

The judges of the prize thought the quality of the posters was really high and, from the Environmental Science team, we would like to thank all the researchers that attended or presented at the conference.

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Environmental Science: Processes & Impacts

Here is a few reminders of the great benefits of publishing with Environmental Science: Processes & Impacts:

Environmental Science: Processes & Impacts
Free colour on all figures

– No page charges and no page limits

Fast Publication (<90 days on average)

– Wide exposure

Not-for-profit publisher: we reinvest any surplus in supporting the global scientific community

– Individual promotion of HOT articles

– Papers processed by peers in the field

– High quality content

– Indexed in ISI

– Free electronic reprints

– Simple and effective submission process


Submit now!

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Chemistry in Climate Change

Here we present a collection of research papers, review articles, and themed collections published by the Royal Society of Chemistry, designed to answer a variety of questions related to the causes and impacts of climate change. From atmospheric chemistry to geochemical cycling and analytical techniques, this collection contains the latest research at the cutting edge.

“In the lead up to the UN climate change conference in Paris in late 2015, it is timely to consider the importance of chemistry in climate science,” comments Susan Solomon, advisory board member of Environ. Sci.: Processes Impacts, “This collection showcases the essential contributions of chemical science to understanding climate change.  As the world weighs mitigation and adaptation options, chemists will be part of the search for solutions.”

“The chemical sciences play a pivotal role in a sustainable and prosperous future” says Dominic Tildesley, President of the Royal Society of Chemistry “whether it’s developing new antibiotics to combat infection, converting waste to energy, or developing efficient solar energy cells, chemists are designing and applying tomorrow’s technologies.”

You can read all of these articles for free until 20 December 2014!  We truly hope you enjoy this collection.

Learn more about our work to support the chemical sciences community working on solutions in climate change, energy, food, health and water.

Nina Notman meets some of the atmospheric chemists fitting the pieces of the climate change jigsaw together – find out more in Education in Chemistry.

Relevant Themed Issues:

Analytical Methods themed collection on Emerging analytical methods for global energy and climate issues.

ChemSocRev themed issued on Atmospheric chemistry.

ChemComm web collection on CO2 separation, capture and reuse.

Photochemical & Photobiological Sciences collection on the Environmental effects of ozone depletion and its interactions with climate change: 2014 Assessment.

Faraday Discussions on Tropospheric Aerosol – Formation, Transformation and Impacts.


Reviews and Perspectives:

Global air quality and climate
Arlene M. Fiore, Vaishali Naik, Dominick V. Spracklen, Allison Steiner, Nadine Unger, Michael Prather, Dan Bergmann, Philip J. Cameron-Smith, Irene Cionni, William J. Collins, Stig Dalsøren, Veronika Eyring, Gerd A. Folberth, Paul Ginoux, Larry W. Horowitz, Béatrice Josse, Jean-François Lamarque, Ian A. MacKenzie, Tatsuya Nagashima, Fiona M. O’Connor, Mattia Righi, Steven T. Rumbold, Drew T. Shindell, Ragnhild B. Skeie, Kengo Sudo, Sophie Szopa, Toshihiko Takemura and Guang Zeng  
Chem. Soc. Rev., 2012,41, 6663-6683
DOI: 10.1039/C2CS35095E, Critical Review
From themed collection Atmospheric chemistry

Air quality and climate – synergies and trade-offs
Erika von Schneidemesser and Paul S. Monks
Environ. Sci.: Processes Impacts, 2013,15, 1315-1325
DOI: 10.1039/C3EM00178D, Frontier
From themed collection Environmental Science: Processes & Impacts: 2013 Review Articles

Chemical signals of past climate and environment from polar ice cores and firn air
Eric W. Wolff  
Chem. Soc. Rev., 2012,41, 6247-6258
DOI: 10.1039/C2CS35227C, Tutorial Review
From themed collection Atmospheric chemistry

Climate change and adaptational impacts in coastal systems: the case of sea defences
Louise B. Firth, Nova Mieszkowska, Richard C. Thompson and Stephen J. Hawkins
Environ. Sci.: Processes Impacts, 2013,15, 1665-1670
DOI: 10.1039/C3EM00313B, Frontier
From themed collection Environmental Science: Processes & Impacts: 2013 Review Articles

Particles, air quality, policy and health
Mathew R. Heal, Prashant Kumar and Roy M. Harrison  
Chem. Soc. Rev., 2012,41, 6606-6630
DOI: 10.1039/C2CS35076A, Critical Review
From themed collection Atmospheric chemistry

Impact of a possible future global hydrogen economy on Arctic stratospheric ozone loss
Bärbel Vogel, Thomas Feck, Jens-Uwe Grooß and Martin Riese
Energy Environ. Sci., 2012,5, 6445-6452
DOI: 10.1039/C2EE03181G, Minireview

Productivity of aquatic primary producers under global climate change
Donat-P. Häder, Virginia E. Villafañe and E. Walter Helbling
Photochem. Photobiol. Sci., 2014,13, 1370-1392
DOI: 10.1039/C3PP50418B, Perspective

Ice nucleation by particles immersed in supercooled cloud droplets
B. J. Murray, D. O’Sullivan, J. D. Atkinson and M. E. Webb  
Chem. Soc. Rev., 2012,41, 6519-6554
DOI: 10.1039/C2CS35200A, Critical Review
From themed collection Atmospheric chemistry Open Access

Ocean-atmosphere trace gas exchange
Lucy J. Carpenter, Stephen D. Archer and Rachael Beale  
Chem. Soc. Rev., 2012,41, 6473-6506
DOI: 10.1039/C2CS35121H, Critical Review
From themed collection Atmospheric chemistry

The influence of glacial meltwater on alpine aquatic ecosystems: a review
Krista E. H. Slemmons, Jasmine E. Saros and Kevin Simon
Environ. Sci.: Processes Impacts, 2013,15, 1794-1806
DOI: 10.1039/C3EM00243H, Critical Review

Multiphase chemistry of atmospheric amines
Chong Qiu and Renyi Zhang
Phys. Chem. Chem. Phys., 2013,15, 5738-5752
DOI: 10.1039/C3CP43446J, Perspective


Original research articles:

Exploring the potential influence of climate change and particulate organic carbon scenarios on the fate of neutral organic contaminants in the Arctic environment
James M. Armitage and Frank Wania
Environ. Sci.: Processes Impacts, 2013,15, 2263-2272
DOI: 10.1039/C3EM00315A, Paper
From themed collection Open access articles from Environmental Science: Processes & Impacts

A reproducible method for the extraction, identification and quantification of the Arctic sea ice proxy IP25 from marine sediments
Simon T. Belt, Thomas A. Brown, Alba Navarro Rodriguez, Patricia Cabedo Sanz, Andrew Tonkin and Rebecca Ingle
Anal. Methods, 2012,4, 705-713
DOI: 10.1039/C2AY05728J, Paper

CO2 concentration and pH alters subsurface microbial ecology at reservoir temperature and pressure
Djuna M. Gulliver, Gregory V. Lowry and Kelvin B. Gregory
RSC Adv., 2014,4, 17443-17453
DOI: 10.1039/C4RA02139H, Paper

Changes in metal mobility associated with bark beetle-induced tree mortality
Kristin M. Mikkelson, Lindsay A. Bearup, Alexis K. Navarre-Sitchler, John E. McCray and Jonathan O. Sharp
Environ. Sci.: Processes Impacts, 2014,16, 1318-1327
DOI: 10.1039/C3EM00632H, Paper
From themed collection 2014 Emerging Investigators

Determination of spatial and temporal variability of pH and dissolved oxygen concentrations in a seasonally hypoxic semi-enclosed marine basin using continuous monitoring
Timothy Sullivan, Ciara Byrne, Luke Harman, John Davenport, Rob McAllen and Fiona Regan
Anal. Methods, 2014,6, 5489-5497
DOI: 10.1039/C3AY42162G, Paper
From themed collection Emerging analytical methods for global energy and climate issues

Temporal trends of selected POPs and the potential influence of climate variability in a Greenland ringed seal population
Frank Rigét, Katrin Vorkamp, Keith A. Hobson, Derek C. G. Muir and Rune Dietz
Environ. Sci.: Processes Impacts, 2013,15, 1706-1716
DOI: 10.1039/C3EM00189J, Paper

Heterogeneous and multiphase formation pathways of gypsum in the atmosphere
Qingxin Ma, Hong He, Yongchun Liu, Chang Liu and Vicki H. Grassian
Phys. Chem. Chem. Phys., 2013,15, 19196-19204
DOI: 10.1039/C3CP53424C, Paper

Volatile organic compounds in Arctic snow: concentrations and implications for atmospheric processes
Gregor Kos, Visahini Kanthasami, Nafissa Adechina and Parisa A. Ariya
Environ. Sci.: Processes Impacts, 2014, Advance Article
DOI: 10.1039/C4EM00410H, Paper

A simplified coulometric method for multi-sample measurements of total dissolved inorganic carbon concentration in marine waters
Natchanon Amornthammarong, Peter B. Ortner, James Hendee and Ryan Woosley
Analyst, 2014,139, 5263-5270
DOI: 10.1039/C4AN01049C, Paper

Full-color CO2 gas sensing by an inverse opal photonic hydrogel
Wei Hong, Yuan Chen, Xue Feng, Yang Yan, Xiaobin Hu, Binyuan Zhao, Fan Zhang, Di Zhang, Zhou Xu and Yijian Lai  
Chem. Commun., 2013,49, 8229-8231
DOI: 10.1039/C3CC44825H, Communication

Analysis of secondary organic aerosols in air using extractive electrospray ionization mass spectrometry (EESI-MS)
Lambert A. Doezema, Teresa Longin, William Cody, Véronique Perraud, Matthew L. Dawson, Michael J. Ezell, John Greaves, Kathleen R. Johnson and Barbara J. Finlayson-Pitts
RSC Adv., 2012,2, 2930-2938
DOI: 10.1039/C2RA00961G, Paper

The use of climatologies and Bayesian models to link observations to outcomes; an example from the Torres Strait
Scott Bainbridge and Ray Berkelmans
Environ. Sci.: Processes Impacts, 2014,16, 1041-1049
DOI: 10.1039/C3EM00675A, Paper

Gas–particle partitioning of atmospheric aerosols: interplay of physical state, non-ideal mixingand morphology
Manabu Shiraiwa, Andreas Zuend, Allan K. Bertram and John H. Seinfeld
Phys. Chem. Chem. Phys., 2013,15, 11441-11453
DOI: 10.1039/C3CP51595H, Paper

Organic matrix effects on the formation of light-absorbing compounds from α-dicarbonyls in aqueous salt solution
Greg T. Drozd and V. Faye McNeill
Environ. Sci.: Processes Impacts, 2014,16, 741-747
DOI: 10.1039/C3EM00579H, Paper
From themed collection Aquatic photochemistry

Three years (2008–2010) of measurements of atmospheric concentrations of organochlorine pesticides (OCPs) at Station Nord, North-East Greenland
Rossana Bossi, Carsten Ambelas Skjøthb and Henrik Skovac
Environ. Sci.: Processes Impacts, 2013,15, 2213-2219
DOI: 10.1039/C3EM00304C, Paper

Optical classification of algae species with a glass lab-on-a-chip
Allison Schaap, Thomas Rohrlack and Yves Bellouard
Lab Chip, 2012,12, 1527-1532
DOI: 10.1039/C2LC21091F, Paper

Responses of Fraxinus excelsior L. seedlings to ambient ozone exposure in urban and mountain areas based on physiological characteristics and antioxidant activity
Petya Parvanova, Nikolina Tzvetkova, Svetla Bratanova-Doncheva, Nesho Chipev, Radka Fikova and Evgeni Donev
Environ. Sci.: Processes Impacts, 2013,15, 1452-1458
DOI: 10.1039/C3EM30614C, Paper

Raman microspectroscopy and vibrational sum frequency generation spectroscopy as probes of the bulk and surface compositions of size-resolved sea spray aerosol particles
Andrew P. Ault, Defeng Zhao, Carlena J. Ebben, Michael J. Tauber, Franz M. Geiger, Kimberly A. Prather and Vicki H. Grassian
Phys. Chem. Chem. Phys., 2013,15, 6206-6214
DOI: 10.1039/C3CP43899F, Paper

Modelling phosphorus loading and algal blooms in a Nordic agricultural catchment-lake system under changing land-use and climate
Raoul-Marie Couture, Koji Tominaga, Jostein Starrfelt, S. Jannicke Moe, Øyvind Kaste and Richard F. Wright
Environ. Sci.: Processes Impacts, 2014,16, 1588-1599
DOI: 10.1039/C3EM00630A, Paper
From themed collection Environmental Science: Processes & Impacts 2014 HOT Articles

Organic aerosols and inorganic species from post-harvest agricultural-waste burning emissions over northern India: impact on mass absorption efficiency of elemental carbon
Prashant Rajput, M. M. Sarin, Deepti Sharma and Darshan Singh
Environ. Sci.: Processes Impacts, 2014,16, 2371-2379
DOI: 10.1039/C4EM00307A, Paper

Theoretical investigation of vibrational relaxation of highly excited O3 in collisions with HO2
Lei Zhang, Pingya Luo, Ke Guo, Rong Zeng, Pedro J. S. B. Caridade and António J. C. Varandas
RSC Adv., 2014,4, 9866-9874
DOI: 10.1039/C3RA45634J, Paper

Determining the unique refractive index properties of solid polystyrene aerosol using broadband Mie scattering from optically trapped beads
Stephanie H. Jones, Martin D. King and Andrew D. Ward
Phys. Chem. Chem. Phys., 2013,15, 20735-20741
DOI: 10.1039/C3CP53498G, Paper

A method for determination of PGE–Re concentrations and Os isotopic compositions in environmental materials
Peipei Zhao, Jie Li, Lifeng Zhong, Shengling Sun and Jifeng Xu
Anal. Methods, 2014,6, 5537-5545
DOI: 10.1039/C3AY42064G
From themed collection Emerging analytical methods for global energy and climate issues

A compact comprehensive two-dimensional gas chromatography (GC×GC) approach for the analysis of biogenic VOCs
Samuel J. Edwards, Alastair C. Lewis, Stephen J. Andrews, Richard T. Lidster, Jacqueline F. Hamilton and Christopher N. Rhodes
Anal. Methods, 2013,5, 141-150
DOI: 10.1039/C2AY25710F

Brown carbon formation from ketoaldehydes of biogenic monoterpenes
Tran B. Nguyen, Alexander Laskin, Julia Laskin and Sergey A. Nizkorodov
Faraday Discuss., 2013,165, 473-494
DOI: 10.1039/C3FD00036B, Paper
From themed collection Tropospheric Aerosol – Formation, Transformation and Impacts

Carbon footprint of geopolymeric mortar: study of the contribution of the alkaline activating solution and assessment of an alternative route
A. Mellado, C. Catalán, N. Bouzón, M. V. Borrachero, J. M. Monzó and J. Payá
RSC Adv., 2014,4, 23846-23852
DOI: 10.1039/C4RA03375B, Paper

Energy demand and emissions of the non-energy sector
Vassilis Daioglou, Andre P. C. Faaij, Deger Saygin, Martin K. Patel, Birka Wicke and Detlef P. van Vuuren
Energy Environ. Sci., 2014,7, 482-498
DOI: 10.1039/C3EE42667J, Analysis

On the role of surface charges for homogeneous freezing of supercooled water microdroplets
Daniel Rzesanke, Jens Nadolny, Denis Duft, René Müller, Alexei Kiselev and Thomas Leisner
Phys. Chem. Chem. Phys., 2012,14, 9359-9363
DOI: 10.1039/C2CP23653B, Paper
From themed collection Structure and reactivity of small particles: from clusters to aerosols

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Introducing Associate Editor, Edward P. Kolodziej

We are delighted to welcome new Associate Editor Ed Kolodziej to the Environmental Science: Processes & Impacts Editorial Board in the fifth of our Introducing series of blog posts.

Ed received a Ph.D. in Environmental Engineering at the University of California, Berkeley in 2004. He is currently an Associate Professor at the University of Washington, with joint appointments  in the School of Interdisciplinary Arts and Sciences (UW Tacoma), and the Department of Civil & Environmental Engineering (UW Seattle).   He is also affiliated with the Center for Urban Waters, also located in Tacoma, Washington.

Ed’s Research

Ed’s research investigates the transport, fate, reactions and ecological implications of human-derived pollutants in natural and engineered aquatic systems. He also investigates how engineered treatment systems work and optimizes their performance for contaminant removal, with a special interest in non-point source pollution and engineered natural systems.

MY RESEARCH VISION:

It is evident that human activities have significant impacts on water quality, but I think we don’t actually know the answers to “how, what, when” type questions yet to understand what these impacts really are.  These are key questions to answer: Which chemicals matter? Which don’t?  What should we do about them?  We are discharging tens and even hundreds of thousands of chemicals into water, air, and soil, yet we have an surprisingly incomplete understanding of whether this is a bad idea or not, whether any adverse impacts occur on our ecosystems or us from these pervasive  exposures. We still struggle to prioritize our efforts on understanding chemical fate and impacts, and for those with adverse impacts, what the best mitigation and treatment strategies are.  So, I’d say my research vision is to try and figure out which of these chemical impacts on water quality are important and which are not.  Once we understand that question, we can move on to technical and policy solutions for problematic compounds.

Having grown up in the outdoors, especially fishing with my family, I am pretty sure that I really like water and spending time around it!  So I am inspired and motivated by the thought that I can be part of this larger effort in making sure humans and ecosystems have enough of the high quality water we all need. It’s so clear that we are not on a sustainable path, and we need to figure out some good solutions to the worst problems, including preventing future problems, in a world of limited resources.

Ed is now accepting submissions – submit your manuscript to him today!

Make sure you don’t miss out on the latest journal news by registering your details to receive the regular Environmental Science: Processes & Impacts e-alert.

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Concerns over chemical treatment of reclaimed fracking fluid

The study analysed water samples from shale gas wells in Marcellus (Pennsylvania), Eagle Ford (Texas), and Barnett (New Mexico) © Michael J Mullen Scranton Times-Tribune/AP/Press Association Images

Estimates suggest that in the next 50 years, over one trillion gallons of water will be used in shale gas extraction but research from scientists in the US suggests that environmentally detrimental compounds are being created when this fluid is recycled.

Shale gas is found in rock formations kilometres underground. Hydraulic fracturing, also known as fracking, facilitates the release of this energy dense fuel in a cost-effective and timely manner. Water, sand and a combination of other additives are pumped into the ground at high pressure, breaking the shale formations apart, allowing the gas to migrate to the surface where it can be collected.

To read the full article, please visit Chemistry World.

Organic compounds in produced waters from shale gas wells
Samuel J. Maguire-Boyle and Andrew R. Barron
Environ. Sci.: Processes Impacts, 2014, Advance Article
DOI: 10.1039/C4EM00376D, Paper

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