Environmental Science: Processes & Impacts blog

Detecting airborne flu virus particles and a micronucleus study of water contamination on the cover of Issue 12

01 Dec 2011

Welcome to the final issue of 2011!

On the front cover of Issue 12 we have a hot article from a team at NIOSH on detecting flu virus particles in the air with a two-stage cyclone bioaerosol sampler. The device is able to separate particles based on size, and may be useful in providing information about the infectivity of the airborne particles, and informing subsequent risk assessments.

Development of an improved methodology to detect infectious airborne influenza virus using the NIOSH bioaerosol sampler
G. Cao, J. D. Noti, F. M. Blachere, W. G. Lindsley and D. H. Beezhold
DOI: 10.1039/C1EM10607D

On the inside front cover is an article from Sílvia Regina Batistuzzo de Medeiros and coworkers on the contamination of a large water reservoir in Brazil with various mutagenic entities such as heavy metals, cyanobacteria and radiation, using the Tradescantia-micronucleus (Trad-MCN) test and cytokinesis-blocked micronucleus (CBMN) assay to confirm the presence of micronuclei in human peripheral blood lymphocytes.

Micronucleus study of the quality and mutagenicity of surface water from a semi-arid region
Anuska Conde Fagundes Soares Garcia, Alexandre Endres Marcon, Douglisnilson de Morais Ferreira, Esdras Adriano Barbosa dos Santos, Viviane Souza do Amaral and Sílvia Regina Batistuzzo de Medeiros
DOI: 10.1039/C1EM10582E

As with all our cover articles these are free to access for 6 weeks.

View the rest of the issue here

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Bomb squad plants

01 Dec 2011

By Nathalie Horner.

Scientists from Puerto Rico have discovered plants that are not only resistant to high levels of TNT but can remove it completely from aqueous media in under 48 hours.

The explosive trinitrotoluene (TNT) is a persistent contaminant that is toxic and mutagenic, and thanks to its use in over 80 per cent of the landmines worldwide, it can be found throughout the globe at military sites and war zones alike.

Military sites and war zones contaminated with TNT could be cleared by tough Caribbean plants

Samuel Hernández-Rivera and co-workers at the University of Puerto Rico-Mayagüez investigated the ability of three Caribbean plants – Rubia tinctorum, Lippia dulcis and Spermacoce remota – to remove TNT. Plantlets of each were added to flasks containing solutions of TNT and samples were taken at timed intervals for high performance liquid chromatography analysis, with a flask containing just the TNT solution used for comparison.

R. tinctorum and L. dulcis removed nearly 100 per cent of the TNT from the liquid medium, showing a roughly 10-fold increase in the rate of TNT removal compared to loss by evaporation in the control flask. What is even more significant is that S. remota, under identical conditions, can completely remove TNT from the media in under 48 hours.

Hernández-Rivera and his colleague Fernando Souto-Bachiller say that the main mechanism for TNT removal from the media is via adsorption through the roots, but once adsorbed, S. remota seems to have a different mechanism of action. They say that this result was initially attributed to either ‘a possible enzyme exudate, which would then be responsible for TNT degradation, or a symbiotic relationship between the plant roots and a persistent microorganism, fungus or bacteria.’ Future work within the group will involve isotopically labelling TNT to investigate the enhanced behaviour of S. remota.

Tomás E. Macek from the Institute of Organic Chemistry and Biochemistry, Czech Academy of Sciences, Czech Republic, says that the work deals with an ‘important topic and that detoxification of contaminated sites is a global problem’, but ‘there is much to be done to allow effective exploitation in the field’.

Hernández-Rivera says that ongoing experiments are focused on using the plants in TNT contaminated soil, and although ‘physical and biochemical processes in soils are much more complicated’, initial results look promising.

Interested? Read James Anson’s full Chemistry World article here or download the JEM paper:

TNT removal from culture media by three commonly available wild plants growing in the Caribbean
Sandra N. Correa-Torres, Leonardo C. Pacheco-Londoño, Eduardo A. Espinosa-Fuentes, Lolita Rodríguez, Fernando A. Souto-Bachiller and Samuel P. Hernández-Rivera
J. Environ. Monit., 2012, Advance Article
DOI: 10.1039/C1EM10602C

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HOT: Improved detection of pathogenic viruses in water

25 Nov 2011

By Michael Smith.

With enteric viruses as emerging waterborne pathogens improved methods for detection and quantification in environmental samples are needed. Adelaide Almeida and colleagues employed ultracentrifugation with epifluorescence microscopy in this increasingly important area of analysis.

Check out the details and read the article – FREE to access for 4 weeks.

Ultracentrifugation as a direct method to concentrate viruses in environmental waters: virus-like particle enumeration as a new approach to determine the efficiency of recovery

Catarina Prata, Andreia Ribeiro, Ângela Cunha, Newton. C. M. Gomes and Adelaide Almeida
J. Environ. Monit., 2012, Advance Article
DOI: 10.1039/C1EM10603A, Paper

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HOT: New passive air samplers for long-term monitoring of POPs

11 Nov 2011

By Michael Smith.

Choosing the right sorbent materials for passive air samplers is vital for monitoring persistent organic pollutants (POPs) over long time periods. Jasmin Schuster and Kevin Jones from the University of Lancaster joined forces with colleagues from the Meteorological Service of Canada and Environment Canada to test out passive samplers in a year-long field study.

Discover what they found out and read the article – FREE to access for 4 weeks.

Assessment of sorbent impregnated PUF disks (SIPs) for long-term sampling of legacy POPs

Jasmin K. Schuster, Rosalinda Gioia, Tom Harner, Sum Chi Lee, Knut Breivik and Kevin C. Jones
J. Environ. Monit., 2012, Advance Article
DOI: 10.1039/C1EM10697J, Paper

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JEM now publishing Accepted Manuscripts

09 Nov 2011

By Francesca Burgoyne.

Journal of Environmental Monitoring now offers you the chance to publish your accepted article as an Accepted Manuscript. This means that your research is available, in citable form, to the community even more rapidly. Find out more …

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PAHs in fog and fingerprinting oil spills on the cover of Issue 11

03 Nov 2011

By Francesca Burgoyne.

The hot articles on our cover this month are from Xiang Li and Jiamin Chen (Fudan University) and Zhendi Wang (Environment Canada).

The futuristic image on the outside front cover image highlights the work from Li et al on solid-phase microextraction (SPME) analysis of PAHs in fog. Polluted fog is a serious problem in Shanghai, where the study took place, and this research should provide a basis for better understanding of PAHs in fog-rain events.

Characterization of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in fog–rain events
Xiang Li, Pengfei Li, Lili Yan, Jianmin Chen, Tiantao Cheng and Shifen Xu
J. Environ. Monit., 2011, 13, 2988-2993
DOI: 10.1039/C1EM10543D

On the inside front cover another serious environmental issue is highlighted – oil spills. Wang et al present a case study of the 2009 Sarnia (Ontario) spill, using GC and GC-MS to characterize the chemical composition and determine the source of the oil spill by identifying oil ‘fingerprints’ through characteristic biomarkers and statistical correlation of target diagnostic ratios.

Forensic fingerprinting and source identification of the 2009 Sarnia (Ontario) oil spill
Zhendi Wang, C. Yang, Z. Yang, J. Sun, B. Hollebone, C. Brown and M. Landriault
J. Environ. Monit., 2011, 13, 3004-3017
DOI: 10.1039/C1EM10620A

View the rest of Issue 11 including a Focus article on the current state of the art in passive sampling devices

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HOT: 2D gas chromatography TOF mass spectrometry to identify organic compounds in aerosols

28 Oct 2011

By Francesca Burgoyne.

Marja-Liisa Riekkola at the University of Helsinki and coworkers have used a new two-dimensional gas chromatography-time-of-flight mass spectrometry (GCxGC-TOF-MS) method to screen and provide a semi-quantitative analysis of organic compounds in aerosol particles.

Analytes in 30 nm, 50 nm and total suspended particles, collected at 3 different timepoints, were identified by comparison to reference libraries and classified by main functional group or element. The classifications allowed the authors to successfully clarify particle composition and determine the influence of particle size on the composition of the different sized particles. They found that the number of compounds increased with increasing particle size, whereas the normalized response factor decreased, aldehydes being the exception.

Comprehensive two-dimensional gas chromatography, a valuable technique for screening and semiquantitation of different chemical compounds in ultrafine 30 nm and 50 nm aerosol particles
José Ruiz-Jiménez, Jevgeni Parshintsev, Totti Laitinen, Kari Hartonen, Marja-Liisa Riekkola, Tuukka Petäjä and Markku Kulmala
DOI: 10.1039/C1EM10486A

This hot paper is currently free to access (following a simple registration for individual users), so why not take a look if aerosols and atmospheric chemistry are your area?

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Hot article: Exposure of workers in aluminium smelters to beryllium

17 Oct 2011

By Francesca Burgoyne.

Data published in recent years has raised concern that the current occupational exposure limits (OELs) may not be low enough to protect workers from the toxic effects of exposure to beryllium. Beryllium is present in aluminium ores, and therefore workers in the primary production process of aluminium may be at risk from exposure, even at low levels, to Be.

Yngvar Thomassen and coworkers have investigated the exposure of workers across 7 Norwegian aluminium smelters, collecting a total of 480 samples across two sampling campaigns. Water soluble Be, Al, F^– and Na inhalable, thoracic and respirable aerosol fractions were determined, providing information on the amount and composition of the particulate matter which will be useful in better understanding the potential risks of occupational Be exposure.

Download the full article to read the authors discussion of their results and potential implications – this hot article is currently free to access for 4 weeks:

Occupational exposure to beryllium in primary aluminium production
Nils Petter Skaugset, Dag G. Ellingsen, Kari Dahl, Ivar Martinsen, Lars Jordbekken, Per Arne Drabløs and Yngvar Thomassen
J. Environ. Monit., 2012, Advance Article
DOI: 10.1039/C1EM10539F

This article is part of our forthcoming collection from the AIRMON 2011 conference, the 7th International Symposium on Modern Principles for Air Monitoring and Biomonitoring held on June 19–23 this year in Loen, Norway. Check back soon for more hot articles in the collection.

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Environmental Science: Processes & Impacts blog

Detecting airborne flu virus particles and a micronucleus study of water contamination on the cover of Issue 12

Bomb squad plants

Top ten most accessed articles in October

HOT: Improved detection of pathogenic viruses in water

HOT: New passive air samplers for long-term monitoring of POPs

JEM now publishing Accepted Manuscripts

PAHs in fog and fingerprinting oil spills on the cover of Issue 11

HOT: 2D gas chromatography TOF mass spectrometry to identify organic compounds in aerosols

Top ten most accessed articles in September

Hot article: Exposure of workers in aluminium smelters to beryllium

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