In situ Remediation of Petroleum Contaminated Groundwater by Permeable Reactive Barrier with Hydrothermal Palygorskite as Medium

The permeable reactive barrier(PRB) has proven to be a cost-effective technique to remediate the petroleum contaminated groundwater at a northeast field site in China. In this study, the geology, hydrogeology and contamination characterization of the field site were investigated and the natural hydrothermal palygorskite was chosen as a reactive medium. Furthermore, the adsorption of the total petroleum hydrocarbons(TPH) in the groundwater onto hydrothermal palygorskite and the adsorption kinetics were investigated. The results indicate that the removal rates of TPH, benzene, naphthalene and phenantharene could all reach up to 90% by hydrothermal palygorskite with a diameter of 0.25―2.00 mm that had been thermally pretreated at 140 ℃. The adsorption of TPH onto hydrothermal palygorskite after pretreatment followed a pseudo-second-order kinetic model and a Langmuir adsorption isotherm, suggesting that the theoretic adsorption capacity of hydrothermal palygorskite for adsorbate could be 4.2 g/g. Scanning electron microscopy(SEM), infrared spectroscopy(IR), X-ray diffraction(XRD) and X-ray fluorescence spectroscopy(XRF) were carried out to analyze the adsorption mechanism. The results reveal that hydrothermal palygorskite is a fibrous silicate mineral enriched in Mg and Al with large surface area and porosity. The dense cluster acicular and fibrous crystal of hydrothermal palygorskite, and its effect polar group ―OH played an important role in the physical and chemical adsorption processes of it for contaminants. This study has demonstrated hydrothermal palygorskite is a reliable reactive medium for in situ remediation of petroleum contaminated groundwater at field sites.     

Role played by a natural channel on the quality of bordering environment: a chemical assessment

Based on a rational and simple chemical approach, a field-investigation aimed to assess the role played by a natural channel "lama" on the quality of underlying groundwater and neighbouring soils has been carried out. The results have demonstrated that: (a) the stream flowing through the "lama" is mainly made up of treated effluent from a nearby municipal wastewater treatment plant; (b) the occurrence of nitrates in the "lama" is due to rain-washing of nitrogen fertilized agricultural soils bordering on the "lama"; (c) hydraulic connections exist between the lama and the underlying groundwater causing contaminants flowing through the "lama" to reach groundwater within less than one week; (d) compared with the values measured in the "lama", the concentrations of TOC, N-NH4 and N-NO3 in groundwater result: lower, far lower and greater, respectively; (e) agricultural soils bordering on the "lama" result significantly contaminated by halogenated organics.     

Combination of electrokinetic remediation with permeable reactive barriers to remove organic compounds from soils

In recent years, technologies suitable for the remediation of environmental contaminants from soil have received considerable attention. Among them, electrokinetic (EK) remediation and permeable reactive barriers (PRBs) must be highlighted because of their environmental compatibility, versatility, amenability, scale-up practice, and cost-effectiveness. For this reason, the first section is focused on the fundamentals of EK remediation and PRB for environmental remediation, together with the phenomena that occur in the soil and that permit its effectiveness. The second section discusses most important materials used as barriers and describes the application, as well as the recent progress. The outlooks of PRB–EK technologies for the upcoming future are finally concluded in this minireview.     

Surfactant-enhanced remediation of organic contaminated soil and water

Surfactant based remediation technologies for organic contaminated soil and water (groundwater or surface water) is of increasing importance recently. Surfactants are used to dramatically expedite the process, which in turn, may reduce the treatment time of a site compared to use of water alone. In fact, among the various available remediation technologies for organic contaminated sites, surfactant based process is one of the most innovative technologies. To enhance the application of surfactant based technologies for remediation of organic contaminated sites, it is very important to have a better understanding of the mechanisms involved in this process. This paper will provide an overview of the recent developments in the area of surfactant enhanced soil and groundwater remediation processes, focusing on (i) surfactant adsorption on soil, (ii) micellar solubilization of organic hydrocarbons, (iii) supersolubilization, (iv) density modified displacement, (v) degradation of organic hydrocarbon in presence surfactants, (vi) partitioning of surfactants onto soil and liquid organic phase, (vii) partitioning of contaminants onto soil, and (viii) removal of organics from soil in presence of surfactants. Surfactant adsorption on soil and/or sediment is an important step in this process as it results in surfactant loss reduced the availability of the surfactants for solubilization. At the same time, adsorbed surfactants will retained in the soil matrix, and may create other environmental problem. The biosurfactants are become promising in this application due to their environmentally friendly nature, nontoxic, low adsorption on to soil, and good solubilization efficiency. Effects of different parameters like the effect of electrolyte, pH, soil mineral and organic content, soil composition etc. on surfactant adsorption are discussed here. Micellar solubilization is also an important step for removal of organic contaminants from the soil matrix, especially for low aqueous solubility organic contaminants. Influences of different parameters such as single and mixed surfactant system, hydrophilic and hydrophobic chain length, HLB value, temperature, electrolyte, surfactant type that are very important in micellar solubilization are reviewed here. Microemulsion systems show higher capacity of organic hydrocarbons solubilization than the normal micellar system. In the case of biodegradation of organic hydrocarbons, the rate is very slow due to low water solubility and dissolution rate but the presence of surfactants may increase the bioavailability of hydrophobic compounds by solubilization and hence increases the degradation rate. In some cases the presence of it also reduces the rate. In addition to fundamental studies, some laboratory and field studies on removal of organics from contaminated soil are also reviewed to show the applicability of this technology.     

Chemometric analysis of groundwater quality data of alluvial aquifer of Gangetic plain, North India

Water quality data set from the alluvial region in the Gangetic plain in northern India, which is known for high fluoride levels in soil and groundwater, has been analysed by chemometric techniques, such as principal component analysis (PCA), discriminant analysis (DA) and partial least squares (PLS) in order to investigate the compositional differences between surface and groundwater samples, spatial variations in groundwater composition and influence of natural and anthropogenic factors. Trilinear plots of major ions showed that the groundwater in this region is mainly of Na/K-bicarbonate type. PCA performed on complete data matrix yielded six significant PCs explaining 65% of the data variance. Although, PCA rendered considerable data reduction, it could not clearly group and distinguish the sample types (dug well, hand-pump and surface water). However, a visible differentiation between the water samples pertaining to two watersheds (Khar and Loni) was obtained. DA identified six discriminating variables between surface and groundwater and also between different types of samples (dug well, hand pump and surface water). Distinct grouping of the surface and groundwater samples was achieved using the PLS technique. It further showed that the groundwater samples are dominated by variables having origin both in natural and anthropogenic sources in the region, whereas, variables of industrial origin dominate the surface water samples. It also suggested that the groundwater sources are contaminated with various industrial contaminants in the region.     

Pharmacophore-Based Virtual Screening of Novel Competitive Inhibitors of the Neurodegenerative Disease Target Kynurenine-3-Monooxygenase

The pathogenesis of several neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s or Huntington’s disease has been associated with metabolic dysfunctions caused by imbalances in the brain and cerebral spinal fluid levels of neuroactive metabolites. Kynurenine monooxygenase (KMO) is considered an ideal therapeutic target for the regulation of neuroactive tryptophan metabolites. Despite significant efforts, the known KMO inhibitors lack blood–brain barrier (BBB) permeability and upon the mimicking of the substrate binding mode, are subject to produce reactive oxygen species as a side reaction. The computational drug design is further complicated by the absence of complete crystal structure information for human KMO (hKMO). In the current work, we performed virtual screening of readily available compounds using several protein–ligand complex pharmacophores. Each of the pharmacophores accounts for one of three distinct reported KMO protein-inhibitor binding conformations. As a result, six novel KMO inhibitors were discovered based on an in vitro fluorescence assay. Compounds VS1 and VS6 were predicted to be BBB permeable and avoid the hydrogen peroxide production dilemma, making them valuable, novel hit compounds for further drug property optimization and advancement in the drug design pipeline.     

New Composite Sorbent for Removal of Sulfate Ions from Simulated and Real Groundwater in the Batch and Continuous Tests

The evaluation of groundwater quality in the Dammam formation, Faddak farm, Karbala Governorate, Iraq proved that the sulfate (SO₄²⁻) concentrations have high values; so, this water is not suitable for livestock, poultry and irrigation purposes. For reclamation of this water, manufacturing of new sorbent for permeable reactive barrier was required through precipitation of Mg and Fe hydroxides nanoparticles on the activated carbon (AC) surface with best Mg/Fe molar ratio of 7.5/2.5. Mixture of 50% coated AC and 50% scrap iron was applied to eliminate SO₄²⁻ from contaminated water with efficiency of 59% and maximum capacity of adsorption equals to 9.5 mg/g for a time period of 1 h, sorbent dosage 40 g/L, and initial pH = 5 at 50 mg/L initial SO₄²⁻ concentration and 200 rpm shaking speed. Characterization analyses certified that the plantation of Mg and Fe nanoparticles onto AC was achieved. Continuous tests showed that the longevity of composite sorbent is increased with thicker bed and lower influent concentration and flow rate. Computer solution (COMSOL) software was well simulated for continuous measurements. The reclamation of real contaminated groundwater was achieved in column set-up with efficiency of 70% when flow rate was 5 mL/min, bed depth was 50 cm and inlet SO₄²⁻ concentration was 2301 mg/L.     

Span/Tween混合表面活性剂微乳液制备纳米铁及脱硝研究

研究了以Span 80和Tween 60为混合表面活性剂的微乳液的形成。以电导率及目测法为表征手段,利用正交试验,分析了多因素对W/O型微乳液最大增容水量的影响,探明了该乳液形成的适宜条件。     

Pitfalls in compound-specific isotope analysis of environmental samples

In the last decade compound-specific stable isotope analysis (CSIA) has evolved as a valuable technique in the field of environmental science, especially in contaminated site assessment. Instrumentation and methods exist for highly precise measurements of the isotopic composition of organic contaminants even in a very low concentration range. Nevertheless, the determination of precise and accurate isotope data of environmental samples can be a challenge. Since CSIA is gaining more and more popularity in the assessment of in situ biodegradation of organic contaminants, an increasing number of authorities and environmental consulting offices are interested in the application of the method for contaminated site remediation. Because of this, it is important to demonstrate the problems and limitations associated with compound-specific isotope measurements of environmental samples. In this review, potential pitfalls of the analytical procedure are critically discussed and strategies to avoid possible sources of error are provided. In order to maintain the analytical quality and to ensure the basis for reliable stable isotope data, recommendations on groundwater sampling, and sample preservation and storage are given. Important aspects of sample preparation and preconcentration techniques to improve sensitivity are highlighted. Problems related to chromatographic resolution and matrix interference are discussed that have to be considered in order to achieve accurate gas chromatography/isotope ratio mass spectrometry measurements. As a result, the need for a thorough investigation of compound-specific isotope fractionation effects introduced by any step of the overall analytical method by standards with known isotopic composition is emphasized. Finally, we address some important points that have to be considered when interpreting data from field investigations. Figure CSIA Principal (Carbon)     

Capillary ion electrophoresis, an environmental method for the determination of anions in water

Capillary ion electrophoresis has recently been introduced as a new separations technique for the analysis of of inorganic anions. Among its many attributes are rapid, highly efficient separations with different selectives (compared to ion chromatography), simplicity, and economy.

This paper demonstrates the ability of capillary ion electrophoresis to analyze primary and secondary anionic contaminants as well as other ions of environmental concern in drinking water, groundwater, and wastewater. Analysis time is less than five minutes. A comparison of the data to ion chromatography shows excellent correlation.     

Prospects on integrated electrokinetic systems for decontamination of soil polluted with organic contaminants

Overall, investigations about the utilization of electrokinetic technology alone or in combination with other processes have attracted particular attention in recent years for remediation of soils contaminated with heavy metals and organic compounds. This fact is due to its peculiar benefits together with its capability of operating in a fine and low-permeability matrix. This review aimed to ascertain the most recent developments on the commonly proposed integrated technologies (electrokinetic soil washing, electrokinetics coupled with permeable reactive barriers, electrokinetic-advanced oxidation processes, and bioelectrokinetic remediation), by evaluating the gaps, challenges, and trends of these systems in the last years. Special attention is paid to the current approaches for overcoming the main bottlenecks of electrokinetics concerning scale-up and reduction of electric energy consumption by integration of renewable energies.     

2D MOFs-based Materials for the Application of Water Pollutants Removing: Fundamentals and Prospects

Water quality can have serious impacts on human health. One crucial issue of water pollution seriously affects our safety due to the continually emerging of discovered anthropogenic pollutants. The water treatment technologies are persistent improvement to adapt such new contaminants, which accelerates the evolution of materials science to explore solving the problems. Metal-organic Frameworks (MOFs) as the significant porous and multi-dimensional networks has been concerned for toxic pollutant elimination, especially probed the applications of outstanding layered 2D skeletons MOFs-based materials. The emphases of this review highlight the 2D MOFs-based materials used in water remediation and treatment strategies including adsorption and catalysis methods. Further, the prospects and challenges of 2D MOFs-based materials for water treatments applications would be surveyed meticulously for the future research and development.     

Use of Passive and Grab Sampling and High-Resolution Mass Spectrometry for Non-Targeted Analysis of Emerging Contaminants and Their Semi-Quantification in Water

Different groups of organic micropollutants including pharmaceuticals and pesticides have emerged in the environment in the last years, resulting in a rise in environmental and human health risks. In order to face up and evaluate these risks, there is an increasing need to assess their occurrence in the environment. Therefore, many studies in the past couple of decades were focused on the improvements in organic micropollutants’ extraction efficiency from the different environmental matrices, as well as their mass spectrometry detection parameters and acquisition modes. This paper presents different sampling methodologies and high-resolution mass spectrometry-based non-target screening workflows for the identification of pharmaceuticals, pesticides, and their transformation products in different kinds of water (domestic wastewater and river water). Identification confidence was increased including retention time prediction in the workflow. The applied methodology, using a passive sampling technique, allowed for the identification of 85 and 47 contaminants in the wastewater effluent and river water, respectively. Finally, contaminants’ prioritization was performed through semi-quantification in grab samples as a fundamental step for monitoring schemes.     

Recent advances in removal of toxic elements from water using MOFs: A critical review

Water pollution with potentially toxic trace elements (PTEs) has seriously threatened the environment and human health globally. Their widespread occurrence at varied toxic levels and in different chemical forms has made remediation measures a cumbersome task. Furthermore, recent trends of PTE release via natural and/or human sources have further portended numerous detrimental events. Hence, effective remediation of PTE-contaminated aqueous media is highly substantial. Among various adsorbents, metal–organic frameworks (MOFs) have been recently characterized and tested being versatile and highly effective adsorbents for remediating pollutant/PTE-contaminated aqueous media. Owing to their plethora of structures and numerous intrinsic characteristics (high adjustability, porosity, surface area, selectivity, reusability, and structural stability), MOFs have lately received an obvious consideration in environmental remediation and analytical chemistry. This review initially summarized the most recent data (2018–2022) about PTE water contamination (rivers, lakes, canals, groundwater, city, and industrial wastewater). Then the review comprehensively highlighted the effects of synthesis techniques/conditions and post-synthetic functionalization’s on MOF structural morphology by critically conferring the underlying mechanisms. Review summarizes MOF limitations apropos their large-scale industrial applications. The latest advancements regarding MOF syntheses and structural morphology to enhance their industrial applications have been updated and critically discussed. Likewise, the stability, selectivity, reusability, and multi-metal/pollutant removal potential of MOFs have been delineated using recent findings. Finally, the future perspectives have been put forth keeping in view the recent trends and potential research gaps. This review will act as guidelines for future studies of MOF-mediated PTE removal from wastewaters.     

Use of a standard system to evaluate the matrix effect on the treatment of a solution from atrazine contaminated soils

The influence of humic substances on the electrochemical treatment of solutions resulting from the remediation of atrazine contaminated soil has been investigated. In particular the effect on the hydrogen peroxide production stage and the effect on the hydroxyl radical oxidation treatment have been separately studied. In order to quickly assess the possible inhibition of the removal, an inorganic system has been adopted as a standard system. The results confirm the validity of electrochemical technologies also for the treatment of a real effluent where a matrix effect is expected since the organic matter content affects only the hydrogen peroxide production.     

Nuclear techniques to investigate source and origin of groundwater pollutants and their flow path at Indian Rare Earths Ltd., Cochin,Kerala

Hydrochemical, environmental isotope and injected radiotracer investigations were carried out in order to investigate the possible source of contaminants and their movement in groundwater at Indian Rare Earths (IRE) site. Water samples were collected from piezometers, dug wells and river in and around IRE site for measurement of physical parameters, chemistry and isotopes. Chemical results show high fluoride, nitrate, sulphate and phosphate concentrations in piezometers whereas dug wells and river samples are free from contamination. Isotope data indicate that the contaminated groundwaters are enriched in δ²H and δ¹⁸O compared to dug well and river samples. Radiotracer experiments were carried out using single-well and multi-well techniques (radiotracers: ⁸²Br and ³H) for determining groundwater filtration velocity and flow direction, respectively. Groundwater filtration velocity was found to be about 1.3 cm/day and flow direction is from south to north. Based on the investigations it can be concluded that groundwater is getting contamination from southern part of IRE campus and the possible source for these contaminants could be the Fertilizer and Chemical of Travancore (FACT) industry.     

Deproteinization of Chitin Extracted with the Help of Ionic Liquids

The isolation of chitin utilizing ionic liquid 1-ethyl-3-methylimidazolium acetate has been determined to result in polymer contaminated with proteins. For the first time, the proteins in chitin extracted with ionic liquid have been quantified; the protein content was found to vary from 1.3 to 1.9% of the total weight. These proteins were identified and include allergenic proteins such as tropomyosin. In order to avoid ‘traditional’ hydroxide-based deproteinization of chitin, which could reduce the molecular weight of the final product, alternative deproteinization strategies were attempted. Testing of the previously reported deproteinization method using aqueous K₃PO₄ resulted in protein reduction by factors varying from 2 to 10, but resulted in significant phosphate salt contamination of the final product. Contrarily, the incorporation of GRAS (Generally Recognized as Safe) compound Polysorbate 80 into the polymer washing step provided the polymer of comparable purity with no contaminants. This study presents new options for the deproteinization of chitin that can replace traditional approaches with methods that are environmentally friendly and can produce high purity polymer.     

Geospatial and statistical approaches to nitrate health risk and groundwater quality assessment of an alluvial aquifer in SE Nigeria for drinking and irrigation purposes

In agricultural districts, like Ogbaru in southeastern Nigeria, water supplies are under obvious threats from human activities. Therefore, continuous monitoring and assessment of water quality suitability for drinking, domestic, and irrigation purposes are encouraged to keep check of the effects of water contaminants. In this paper, several quality water assessment tools were integrated to determine the suitability of the groundwater in Ogbaru for drinking and irrigation uses and to assess the ingestion and dermal health risks of nitrate occurrence. The majority of the physicochemical parameters analyzed in this study were within their respective standard limits. However, groundwater quality index classified 52.63% of the groundwaters as excellent water and 47.37% as good water. Overall index of pollution, on the other hand, classified 84.21% as excellent water and 15.79% as acceptable water. The pH ranged from 5.4 to 6.8, indicating that the groundwater is acidic. Most irrigation water quality assessment indices (SAR, Na%, PS, KR, RCO, CAI-1 and 2) revealed that the groundwater samples are suitable for irrigation. However, magnesium hazard and permeability index grouped the majority of the water samples as unsuitable resources for irrigation uses. The nitrate health risk assessment (mean score = 1.371) indicated that children are exposed to higher non-carcinogenic health risk due to ingestion of contaminated groundwater than the other populations. It was observed that 21.05% of the groundwater samples had the highest concentrations of the analyzed chemical species. Multivariate statistical methods (hierarchical cluster analysis and factor analysis) efficiently aided the contaminant source apportionment. Based on the findings of this paper, it is advised that adequate regulatory strategies and water treatment techniques be adopted in the area to protect and sustain the groundwater quality and public health.     

Analytical chemistry and the cone penetrometer: In situ chemical characterization of the subsurface

The development of novel microanalytical techniques forin situ chemical characterization of the terrestrial subsurface environment has grown significantly over the last decade, particularly those instruments that are interfaced to the cone penetrometer. Cone penetrometer testing (CPT) has emerged as an effective means to introduce samplers and probes forin situ analysis of contaminants in soil and groundwater matrices. A variety ofin situ chemical samplers for CPT have been developed that can be driven into the subsurface to collect soil gas, groundwater, or soil samples at depth, thus providing a means of determining the vertical and horizontal extent of contamination. Cone penetrometer testing is also being explored as a means to deliverin situ subsurface sensor probes, including probes based on laser-induced fluorescence, Raman, and infrared spectroscopies for organics; on laser-induced breakdown and X-ray fluorescence spectroscopies for heavy metals; and on passive gamma-ray spectroscopy for radionuclides. The range of analytical technologies used in CPT for the determination of organic and inorganic species in the subsurface is described.     

砷镉复合污染稻田修复研究进展

我国农田土壤重金属污染严重,其中稻田土壤砷镉(As/Cd)复合污染形势严峻。相较于其他粮食作物,水稻具有更强的积累As/Cd能力,稻米中As/Cd通过食物链进入人体会对人类健康带来危害。因此,修复As/Cd复合污染稻田土壤,降低稻米As/Cd含量,对保障我国粮食安全生产意义重大。本文综述农田As/Cd复合污染现状及危害,讨论了As/Cd有效性影响因素及水稻中As/Cd吸收转运机制,详细探讨了稻田中As/Cd污染的修复方法。最后针对目前修复技术提出存在的不足和展望,以期为As/Cd复合污染稻田土壤修复提供一定的指导。