Environmental Science: Processes & Impacts blog

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?

In a time of cuts to science funding, Colin Mackechnie and colleagues at the Centre for Ecology & Hydrology, UK, look at the role that volunteers can play in environmental monitoring.

They review available literature on the use of ‘citizen science’ for environmental monitoring and highlight important issues surrounding the use of volunteers – such as limited technical expertise or access to equipment, incomplete monitoring due to geographical restraints or lack of interest in certain areas of science and difficulties coordinating and exchanging information.

It’s not all doom and gloom though – the authors also give examples of successful volunteer monitoring work and conclude that ‘the current engagement of volunteers in UK monitoring provides valuable data’.

Interested?  Why not take a look on a interesting community solution to the big funding problem:

The role of ‘Big Society’ in monitoring the state of the natural environment
Colin Mackechnie, Lindsay Maskell, Lisa Norton and David Roy
J. Environ. Monit., 2011, 13, 2687-2691
DOI: 10.1039/C1EM10615E

The Environment is a messy, disordered, inherently inhomogeneous place hardly conducive to conducting precise scientific studies.  Which is unfortunate  when we need to know detailed information about how chemicals interact with our surroundings.  Mercury is a good example, a serious pollutant, but it has so many possible reactions in the environment that studying field samples can give even the most methodical researcher a headache.

In this hot paper Frank Wania et al. at the University of Toronto have sort to reduce the chaos by creating a highly controlled experimental system for studying the fate of mercury in snow.  They create, age and melt snow contaminated with mercury and with a variety of compositions to allow a detailed mechanistic study of the fate of the pollutant.

Read their detailed study, which includes a candid discussion of its potential and limitations, here.  It’s free to access for the next 4 weeks:

Mercury fate in ageing and melting snow: Development and testing of a controlled laboratory system
Erin Mann, Torsten Meyer, Carl P. J. Mitchell and Frank Wania
J. Environ. Monit., 2011, Advance Article
DOI: 10.1039/C1EM10297D

Determining the particle size distribution and particle fractionation of particles in roadway runoff is important as they carry potent organic and inorganic pollutants. To date however, no standardised, accurate method exists for analysing the micron-sized particles.

In this HOT paper Masoud Kayhanian and Brandon Givens from the University of California have compared the ability of filter paper and sieving filtration methods to determine PSDs and concentrations, finding that the commonly used method (paper filtration) is anything but accurate.

Read their full assessment of the level of inaccuracy of paper filtration here – the article is free to access for 4 weeks:

Processing and analysis of roadway runoff micro (< 20 μm) particles
Masoud Kayhanian and Brandon Givens
J. Environ. Monit., 2011, Advance Article
DOI: 10.1039/C1EM10375J