News – Environmental Science: Water Research & Technology blog

Archive for the ‘News’ Category

PFAS: cleaning up drinking water

17 Nov 2023

Over the past decade PFAS (per-and polyfluoroalkyl substances) have quickly established themselves as one of the most infamous environmental pollutants. They have featured in a Hollywood film and are regularly reported upon by local and national media outlets. For humans, one of our main concerns is PFAS in our drinking water. This a topic that the RSC have been raising awareness of recently through fundamental research and policy-based workshops.

The world of PFAS is a rapidly evolving field. We are currently debating; what is a PFAS, how many there are, how they behave in the environment, how to measure them, how toxic they are, how to regulate them, and how to remediate them. We have learnt a lot about PFAS over the last decade but for every question we answer, more seem to emerge. Now is a truly exciting and challenging time to be involved in this field of research, and that is set to continue for some time to come.

Within this collection, curated by Dr David Megson (Manchester Metropolitan University, UK) we have highlighted recently published manuscripts in RSC journals that have made a significant contribution to our understanding of PFAS in water.

Policy

The case for a more precise definition of regulated PFAS
T. J. Wallington et al., Environ. Sci.: Processes Impacts, 2021,23, 1834-1838
10.1039/D1EM00296A

Reviews

Reverse osmosis and nanofiltration membranes for highly efficient PFASs removal: overview, challenges and future perspectives
Teresa F. Mastropietro et al., Dalton Trans., 2021,50, 5398-5410
10.1039/D1DT00360G

A review of PFAS fingerprints in fish from Norwegian freshwater bodies subject to different source inputs
Håkon A. Langberg et al., Environ. Sci.: Processes Impacts, 2022,24, 330-342
10.1039/D1EM00408E

PFAS fate and destruction mechanisms during thermal treatment: a comprehensive review
Grace K. Longendyke et al., Environ. Sci.: Processes Impacts, 2022,24, 196-208
10.1039/D1EM00465D

Photo-chemical/catalytic oxidative/reductive decomposition of per- and poly-fluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), decomposition mechanisms and effects of key factors: a review
Ehsan Banayan Esfahani et al., Environ. Sci.: Water Res. Technol., 2022,8, 698-728
10.1039/D1EW00774B

Adsorption as a remediation technology for short-chain per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) from water – a critical review
Hajar Smaili et al., Environ. Sci.: Water Res. Technol., 2023,9, 344-362
10.1039/D2EW00721E

Current progress in the environmental analysis of poly- and perfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS)
Andreas Androulakakis et al., Environ. Sci.: Adv., 2022,1, 705-724
10.1039/D2VA00147K

Measurement

Towards deployable electrochemical sensors for per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS)
Rebecca B. Clark and Jeffrey E. Dick, Chem. Commun., 2021,57, 8121-8130
10.1039/D1CC02641K

A graphene-based hydrogel monolith with tailored surface chemistry for PFAS passive sampling
Jitka Becanova and Zachary S. S. L. Saleeba et al., Environ. Sci.: Nano, 2021,8, 2894-2907
10.1039/D1EN00517K

Evaluation, optimization, and application of three independent suspect screening workflows for the characterization of PFASs in water
Paige Jacob et al., Environ. Sci.: Processes Impacts, 2021,23, 1554-1565
10.1039/D1EM00286D

Development of a PFAS reaction library: identifying plausible transformation pathways in environmental and biological systems
Eric J. Weber et al., Environ. Sci.: Processes Impacts, 2022,24, 689-753
10.1039/D1EM00445J

Detection and differentiation of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in water using a fluorescent imprint-and-report sensor array
Emily E. Harrison and Marcey L. Waters, Chem. Sci., 2023,14, 928-936
10.1039/D2SC05685B

A field-validated equilibrium passive sampler for the monitoring of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in sediment pore water and surface water
Blessing Medon et al., Environ. Sci.: Processes Impacts, 2023,25, 980-995
10.1039/D2EM00483F

Environment

Laboratory validation of an integrative passive sampler for per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances in water
Paul L. Edmiston et al., Environ. Sci.: Water Res. Technol., 2023,9, 1849-1861
10.1039/D3EW00047H

Distribution and fate of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in wastewater treatment facilities
Elham Tavasoli et al., Environ. Sci.: Processes Impacts, 2021,23, 903-913
10.1039/D1EM00032B

Surface-water/groundwater boundaries affect seasonal PFAS concentrations and PFAA precursor transformations
Andrea K. Tokranov, Environ. Sci.: Processes Impacts, 2021,23, 1893-1905
10.1039/D1EM00329A

Distributions and sources of traditional and emerging per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances among multiple environmental media in the Qiantang River watershed, China
Zhengzheng Liu et al., RSC Adv., 2022,12, 21247-21254
10.1039/D2RA02385G

Non-targeted identification and semi-quantitation of emerging per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in US rainwater
Yubin Kim et al., Environ. Sci.: Processes Impacts, 2023,25, 1771-1787
10.1039/D2EM00349J

Pyrolysis transports, and transforms, PFAS from biosolids to py-liquid
Patrick McNamara et al., Environ. Sci.: Water Res. Technol., 2023,9, 386-395
10.1039/D2EW00677D

Remediation

Amyloid fibril-based membranes for PFAS removal from water
Tonghui Jin et al., Environ. Sci.: Water Res. Technol., 2021,7, 1873-1884
10.1039/D1EW00373A

Mechanochemical destruction of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances in aqueous film-forming foams and contaminated soil
Kapish Gobindlal et al., Environ. Sci.: Adv., 2023,2, 982-989
10.1039/D3VA00099K

Proteins as adsorbents for PFAS removal from water
Erik T. Hernandez et al., Environ. Sci.: Water Res. Technol., 2022,8, 1188-1194
10.1039/D1EW00501D

Efficient removal of short-chain and long-chain PFAS by cationic nanocellulose
Duning Li et al., J. Mater. Chem. A, 2023,11, 9868-9883
10.1039/D3TA01851B

High temperature behaviour of Ag-exchanged Y zeolites used for PFAS sequestration from water
Maura Mancinelli et al., Phys. Chem. Chem. Phys., 2023,25, 20066-20075
10.1039/D3CP01584J

Monitoring the adsorption of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances on carbon black by LDI-MS capable of simultaneous analysis of elemental and organic carbon
Ke Min et al., Environ. Sci.: Processes Impacts, 2023,25, 1311-1321
10.1039/D3EM00129F

Exploring the adsorption of short and long chain per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) to different zeolites using environmental samples
Maura Mancinelli et al., Environ. Sci.: Water Res. Technol., 2023,9, 2595-2604
10.1039/D3EW00225J

Comments Off on PFAS: cleaning up drinking water

Read our collection of papers on UN SDG 6: Clean water & sanitation

12 May 2022

Urgent action is needed to combat the climate emergency and associated impacts – and across the world, our community are collaborating to address UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

We have put together a collection of leading content on clean water and sanitation from across our energy and environmental science journals. This diverse collection features work on wastewater treatment and disinfection, water resource recovery and monitoring water quality – vital technologies that will help us to improve access to sustainable water for all and address SDG 6.

Read on to discover this exciting collection, featuring:

Opportunities for nanotechnology to enhance electrochemical treatment of pollutants in potable water and industrial wastewater – a perspective by Paul Westerhoff et al.

The potential contribution of urine source separation to the SDG agenda – a review of the progress so far and future development options by Tove A. Larsen et al.

A case study on tap water quality in large buildings recommissioned after extended closure due to the COVID-19 pandemic by Maryam Salehi et al.

A flexible copper sulfide composite membrane with tunable plasmonic resonance absorption for near-infrared light-driven seawater desalination by Zhenmin Xu, Shiping Yang, Zhenfeng Bian et al.

Join us in tackling the climate crisis and contribute to our cross-journal collection showcasing research advancing UN SDGs

The principles of the UN SDGs align closely with our own – to help the chemical science community make the world a better place. So that we can achieve this, we are curating a cross-journal collection across our energy and environmental science journals.

This collection will cover studies which advance our understanding of the climate situation, and present new technologies & innovations to combat climate change – inclusive of environmental engineering, materials science, energy science disciplines and beyond.

We invite you to publish your next paper in this collection – quote ‘XXSDG0622’ when submitting your manuscript. You can put your trust in both our rigorous peer review process and fast times to publication – which are less than 9 weeks after submission across all our journals.

If you have some exciting results to publish on these topics, we would be delighted to hear from you – we are also very happy to guide you on which RSC journal would be the most appropriate for your paper.

Submit your manuscript to the collection

Comments Off on Read our collection of papers on UN SDG 6: Clean water & sanitation

New Advisory Board Members for Environmental Science: Water Research & Technology

11 Feb 2021

We are delighted to announce new members of the Environmental Science: Water Research & Technology Advisory Board.

David Weissbrodt
David is an Assistant professor at TU Delft, the Netherlands. His research interests are in microbial systems, process engineering, water, energy and health sciences.
Read his work in the journal

Tom Bond
Tom is a Senior Lecturer at the University of Surrey, UK. His research interests are drinking water disinfection byproducts, aquatic microplastics and sustainable treatment technologies.
Read his work in the journal

Jingyun Fang
Jingyun is a Professor at Sun Yat-Sen University, China. Her research focuses on the aqueous chemistry of radicals and high-valent manganese in both natural and engineering systems.
Read her work in RSC journals

Maria José Farré
Maria is a Research Scientist at ICRA, Spain. She researches water treatment, including disinfection byproducts and novel strategies for the holistic diagnosis of water samples.
Read her work in the journal

Jochen Hack
Jochen is Leader of the Engineering Ecology department and SEE-URBAN-WATER research group at TU Darmstadt, Germany. His research interests include urbanization and water resources, green infrastructure, nature-based solutions and water management.

Yong Sik Ok
Yong is a Professor at Korea University, South Korea, and Director, APRU Sustainable Waste Management. His research focuses on strategies for waste management, including conversion to energy and value-added products.
Read his work in RSC journals

Xin Wang
Xin is a Professor at Nankai University, China. His research focuses on electroactive bacteria in the environment, and their uses to recover energy from waste, sense biotoxicity and accelerate anaerobic bio-processes.

Defeng Xing
Defeng is a Professor at Harbin Institute of Technology, China. His research interests are in genomics and proteomics of hydrogen-producing bacteria, metagenomic analysis of activated sludge and biofilms, and bioelectrochemical systems.
Read his work in RSC journals

Long Nghiem
Long is the Director of the Centre for Technology in Water and Wastewater and a Professor in Environmental Engineering at the University of Technology Sydney, Australia. His work focuses on technologies for improving the provision of clean water, and wastewater purification.
Read his work in the journal

Michael Templeton
Michael is a Professor at Imperial College London, UK. His research focuses on addressing public health challenges related to water supply and sanitation.
Read his work in the journal

April Gu
April is a Professor at Cornell University, USA. Her research focuses on water quality and environmental health, including biotechnology for wastewater treatment, the impact of climate change on global phosphorus cycling, and next-generation toxicogenomics-based toxicity assessment technology to enable water quality monitoring.
Read her work in RSC journals

Peng Liang
Peng is a Professor at Tsinghua University, China. His research interests are in the development of novel wastewater treatment technologies to recover water, energy, nutrients and value-added products from wastewater.
Read his work in the journal

Comments Off on New Advisory Board Members for Environmental Science: Water Research & Technology

New Associate Editor: Wenhai Chu

10 Feb 2021

We are glad to announce that Wenhai Chu (Tongji University) has joined the Environmental Science: Water Research & Technology team as an Associate Editor.

Wenhai Chu is a Professor at College of Environmental Science and Engineering at Tongji University, China. His research focuses on water disinfection and disinfection by-products (DBPs). He has made achievements in identification, transformation and collaborative control of DBPs as well as other emerging contaminants. His interests also include exploring the relationship between micro pollutants such as disinfection by-products and human health, and exploring the migration, transformation and source prevention and control of new pollutants from the perspective of whole urban water systems.

He has published more than 150 papers and edited two monographs. He also authorized 20 invention patents in China and the United States, his relevant patent technology has been applied in water quality monitoring institutions and large-scale water plants in the Yangtze River Delta and Taihu Lake Basin, China.

Read his work in the journal:

Ecotoxicological effects of disinfected wastewater effluents: a short review of in vivo toxicity bioassays on aquatic organisms
Xinmiao Luan, Xiaoyu Liu, Chao Fang, Wenhai Chu* and Zuxin Xu*
Environ. Sci.: Water Res. Technol., 2020,6, 2275-2286

Emerging investigator series: formation of brominated haloacetamides from trihalomethanes during zero-valent iron reduction and subsequent booster chlorination in drinking water distribution
Pengzhou Luo, FeiFei Wang, Stuart W. Krasner, Chao Fang, Shenghua Chenab and Wenhai Chu*
Environ. Sci.: Water Res. Technol., 2020,6, 1244-1255

Comments Off on New Associate Editor: Wenhai Chu

New Editorial Board Member: Takahiro Fujioka

02 Feb 2021

We are pleased to announce that Takahiro Fujioka (Nagasaki University, Japan) is joining the Environmental Science: Water Research & Technology team as an Editorial Board member.

Takahiro is an Associate Professor at Nagasaki University, Japan. His research interests centre on advanced wastewater treatment technologies for potable water reuse. His research team is working on the development of reverse osmosis and nanofiltration membrane technologies for enhancing the removal of pathogens and trace organic chemicals, and the development of online monitoring technologies for ensuring pathogen removal.

Read his work in the journal:

Validation of a novel direct-injection chemiluminescence-based method for N-nitrosamine analysis in advanced-treated recycled water, drinking water, and wastewater
Shannon L. Roback, Hitoshi Kodamatani, Takahiro Fujioka and Megan H. Plumlee*
Environ. Sci.: Water Res. Technol., 2020,6, 1106-1115

Integrity of reverse osmosis membrane for removing bacteria: new insight into bacterial passage
Takahiro Fujioka,* Anh T. Hoang, Tetsuro Ueyama and Long D. Nghiem
Environ. Sci.: Water Res. Technol., 2019,5, 239-245

Comments Off on New Editorial Board Member: Takahiro Fujioka

New Associate Editor: Zhiyong “Jason” Ren

27 Jan 2021

We are delighted to announce that Jason Ren (Princeton University, USA) is joining the Associate Editor team for Environmental Science: Water Research & Technology. Jason has been an Editorial Board member of the journal since 2018.

Jason is a professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering at Princeton University, USA. His research focuses on water-energy nexus and resource recovery. His group analyzes reaction mechanisms and develops novel environmental processes, with the goal of expanding environmental engineering from pollution control to sustainable development of resource recovery systems.

Read his work in the journal:

Capacitive deionization and electrosorption: from desalination to ion management
Peng Liang, Zhiyong Jason Ren and Xia Huang*
Environ. Sci.: Water Res. Technol., 2020,6, 241-242

Oily bilge water treatment using DC/AC powered electrocoagulation
Yanhong Bian, Zheng Ge, Carl Albano, Fernanda Leite Lobobd and Zhiyong Jason Ren*
Environ. Sci.: Water Res. Technol., 2019,5, 1654-1660

Comments Off on New Associate Editor: Zhiyong “Jason” Ren

Latest HOT, Review and Open Access content from ESWRT

07 Oct 2020

We are delighted to share with you a hand-picked selection of papers recently published in Environmental Science: Water Research & Technology (ESWRT).

HOT papers – as recommended by our referees

Low-cost desalination of seawater and hypersaline brine using nanophotonics enhanced solar energy membrane distillation
Ibrahim A. Said et al

Landfill leachate contributes per-/poly-fluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) and pharmaceuticals to municipal wastewater
Jason R. Masoner et al

Insight into ferrihydrite effects on methanogenesis in UASB reactors treating high sulfate wastewater: reactor performance and microbial community
Zhen Jin et al

Read more HOT papers at rsc.li/eswrt-hot

Reviews – timely and insightful overviews of water research and technologies

The forest or the trees: a critical review on the analysis of total organic halogen (TOX) in drinking waters and its utility as a water quality parameter
Ina Kristiana et al

Magnetic scaffolds in oil spill applications
Baljeet Singh et al

Biochar-augmented biofilters to improve pollutant removal from stormwater – can they improve receiving water quality? (Open Access)Alexandria B. Boehm et al

Read more Reviews at rsc.li/eswrt-reviews

Open Access – read for free!

Chemical regeneration of granular activated carbon: preliminary evaluation of alternative regenerant solutions
Amanda Larasati et al

Microbiological water quality in a decentralized Arctic drinking water system
Stephanie L. Gora et al

Exploring resource recovery potentials for the aerobic granular sludge process by mass and energy balances – energy, biopolymer and phosphorous recovery from municipal wastewater
Philipp Kehrein et al

Read more Open Access content at rsc.li/eswrt-oa

We hope you enjoy reading these papers, and we welcome your future submissions to the journal.

Comments Off on Latest HOT, Review and Open Access content from ESWRT

Latest HOT, Review and Open Access content from ESWRT

23 Jun 2020

We are delighted to share with you a hand-picked selection of papers recently published in Environmental Science: Water Research & Technology (ESWRT).

HOT papers – as recommended by our referees

Harnessing salinity gradient energy in coastal stormwater runoff to reduce pathogen loading
Kristian L. Dubrawski et al

Rapid degradation of PFAS in aqueous solutions by reverse vortex flow gliding arc plasma
Asa J. Lewis et al

Micro-nanobubble aeration promotes senescence of submerged macrophytes with low total antioxidant capacity in urban landscape water
Shuo Wang et al

Read more HOT papers at rsc.li/eswrt-hot

Reviews – timely and insightful overviews of water research and technologies

Reduction of reverse solute flux induced solute buildup in the feed solution of forward osmosis
Matthew Ferby et al

Magnetic scaffolds in oil spill applications
Baljeet Singh et al

Technoproductive evaluation of the energyless microbial-integrated diffusion dialysis technique for acid mine drainage valorization
Hanaa M. Hegab et al

Read more Reviews at rsc.li/eswrt-reviews

Open Access – read for free!

Emerging investigator series: carbon electrodes are effective for the detection and reduction of hexavalent chromium in water
Callie M. Stern et al

Investigation of metaldehyde removal by powdered activated carbon from different water samples
Zhuojun Li et al

Field testing of an onsite sanitation system on apartment building blackwater using biological treatment and electrochemical disinfection
Siva Kumar Varigala et al

Read more Open Access content at rsc.li/eswrt-oa

**************************************************

We hope you enjoy reading these papers, and we welcome your future submissions to the journal.

Comments Off on Latest HOT, Review and Open Access content from ESWRT

Outstanding Reviewers for Environmental Science: Water Research & Technology in 2019

09 Apr 2020

We would like to highlight the Outstanding Reviewers for Environmental Science: Water Research & Technology in 2019, as selected by the editorial team, for their significant contribution to the journal. The reviewers have been chosen based on the number, timeliness and quality of the reports completed over the last 12 months.

We would like to say a big thank you to those individuals listed here as well as to all of the reviewers that have supported the journal. Each Outstanding Reviewer will receive a certificate to give recognition for their significant contribution.

Kyle Bibby, University of Notre Dame, ORCID: 0000-0003-3142-6090
Maarten Biesheuvel, Wetsus, ORCID: 0000-0002-5468-559X
Sunayna Dasgupta, American Water
Takahiro Fujioka, Nagasaki University, ORCID: 0000-0001-9111-5628
Younggy Kim, McMaster University, ORCID: 0000-0001-7766-9990
Tamar Kohn, EPFL, ORCID: 0000-0003-0395-6561
James Landon, University of Kentucky, ORCID: 0000-0001-8113-5166
Yang Liu, University of Alberta
Zhiyong Ren, Princeton University, ORCID: 0000-0001-7606-0331
Dengsong Zhang, Shanghai University, ORCID: 0000-0003-4280-0068

We would also like to thank the Environmental Science: Water Research & Technology board and the Environmental Nanotechnology community for their continued support of the journal, as authors, reviewers and readers.

If you would like to become a reviewer for our journal, just email us with details of your research interests and an up-to-date CV or résumé. You can find more details in our author and reviewer resource centre

Comments Off on Outstanding Reviewers for Environmental Science: Water Research & Technology in 2019

UV AOPs: Themed Issue

26 Oct 2017

Environmental Science: Water Research & Technology seeks your high-impact research for our upcoming Themed Issue on Ultraviolet-based Advanced Oxidation Processes (UV AOPs)

Guest Edited by Dion Dionysiou (University of Cincinnati, USA), Graham Gagnon (Dalhousie University, Canada), Stuart Khan (University of New South Wales, Australia) and Mike Templeton (Imperial College London, UK), this issue will showcase original research, perspectives, and reviews, relating to the following aspects of UV AOPs:

- By-products, kinetics, and toxicity (e.g. mutagenicity, cytotoxicity) of UV AOP treatment of natural organic matter and micro-pollutants (e.g. pesticides, pharmaceuticals)
- Topics on UV AOPs that use light-emitting diodes (LED) and/or other alternative UV sources besides mercury lamps are particularly encouraged
- Comparisons of alternative UV AOP oxidants/processes (e.g. hydrogen peroxide, titanium dioxide, other emerging photocatalysts, chlorine, ozone, others)
- The impact of pre-treatment steps on UV AOP performance
- UV AOP fluence measurement; UV-LED-AOP measurement and performance monitoring during operation
- Novel UV AOP reactor design and application of functionality
- Life cycle assessments of UV AOPs
- The impact of changing water matrices on UV AOP performance (e.g. different natural organic matter types, alkalinity)
- UV AOP applications for wastewater treatment and water reuse
- Modeling, scale up, process integration, and pilot/full scale performance evaluation of UV AOPs
- Role of UV AOPs in water-energy-food nexus applications
- Submissions that simply report the effectiveness of UV AOPs at degrading a particular target compound or set of compounds in pure lab-grade waters will not be considered.

Submissions for this Themed Issue are due by March 2018 – if you would like to submit to this Themed Issue, please contact the Environmental Science: Water Research & Technology Editorial Office at eswater-rsc@rsc.org to register your interest.

Guest Editors: Left to Right – Dion Dionysiou (University of Cincinnati, USA), Graham Gagnon (Dalhousie University, Canada), Stuart Khan (University of New South Wales, Australia) and Mike Templeton (Imperial College London, UK)

Comments Off on UV AOPs: Themed Issue

Environmental Science: Water Research & Technology blog

Archive for the ‘News’ Category

PFAS: cleaning up drinking water

Read our collection of papers on UN SDG 6: Clean water & sanitation

New Advisory Board Members for Environmental Science: Water Research & Technology

New Associate Editor: Wenhai Chu

New Editorial Board Member: Takahiro Fujioka

New Associate Editor: Zhiyong “Jason” Ren

Latest HOT, Review and Open Access content from ESWRT

Latest HOT, Review and Open Access content from ESWRT

Outstanding Reviewers for Environmental Science: Water Research & Technology in 2019

UV AOPs: Themed Issue

Links

Categories

Archives

Meta