Biofiltration of Trichloroethylene-Contaminated Air: A Pilot Study

Abstract

This project demonstrated the biofiltration of a trichloroethylene (TCE)-contaminated airstream generated by air stripping groundwater obtained from several wells located at the Anniston Army Depot, Anniston, AL. The effects of several critical process variables were investigated to evaluate technical and economic feasibility, define operating limits and preferred operating conditions, and develop design information for a full-scale biofilter system. Long-term operation of the demonstration biofilter system was conducted to evaluate the performance and reliability of the system under variable weather conditions. Propane was used as the primary substrate necessary to induce the production of a nonspecific oxygenase. Results indicated that the process scheme used to introduce propane into the biofiltration system had a significant impact on the observed TCE removal efficiency. TCE degradation rates were dependent on the inlet contaminant concentration as well as on the loading rate. No microbial inhibition was observed at inlet TCE concentrations as high as 87 parts per million on a volume basis.     

An Environmental Decision-Making Tool for Evaluating Ground-Level Ozone-Related Health Effects

Abstract

A computer model called the Ozone Risk Assessment Model (ORAM) was developed to evaluate the health effects caused by ground-level ozone (O₃) exposure. ORAM was coupled with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Third-Generation Community Multiscale Air Quality model (Models-3/CMAQ), the state-of-the-art air quality model that predicts O₃ concentration and allows the examination of various scenarios in which emission rates of O₃ precursors (basically, oxides of nitrogen [NO_x] and volatile organic compounds) are varied. The principal analyses in ORAM are exposure model performance evaluation, health-effects calculations (expected number of respiratory hospital admissions), economic valuation, and sensitivity and uncertainty analysis through a Monte Carlo simulation. As a demonstration of the system, ORAM was applied to the eastern Tennessee region, and the entire O₃ season was simulated for a base case (typical emissions) and three different emission scenarios. The results indicated that a synergism occurs when reductions in NO_x emissions from mobile and point sources were applied simultaneously. A 12.9% reduction in asthma hospital admissions is expected when both mobile and point source NO_x emissions are reduced (50 and 70%, respectively) versus a 5.8% reduction caused by mobile source and a 3.5% reduction caused by point sources when these emission sources are reduced individually.     

Determination of Levoglucosan in Atmospheric Fine Particulate Matter

Abstract

A microanalytical method suitable for the quantitative determination of the sugar anhydride levoglucosan in low-volume samples of atmospheric fine particulate matter (PM) has been developed and validated. The method incorporates two sugar anhydrides as quality control standards. The recovery standard sedoheptulosan (2,7-anhydro-β-D-altro-heptulopyranose) in 20 μL solvent is added onto samples of the atmospheric fine PM and aged for 1 hr before ultrasonic extraction with ethylacetate/ triethylamine. The extract is reduced in volume, an internal standard is added (1,5-anhydro-D-mannitol), and a portion of the extract is derivatized with 10% by volume N-trimethylsilylimidazole. The derivatized extract is analyzed by gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (GC/MS). The recovery of levoglucosan using this procedure was 69 ± 6% from five filters amended with 2 μg levoglu-cosan, and the reproducibility of the assay is 9%. The limit of detection is ～0.1 μg/mL, which is equivalent to ～3.5 ng/m³ for a 10 L/min sampler or ～8.7 ng/m³ for a 4 L/min personal sampler (assuming 24-hr integrated samples). We demonstrated that levoglucosan concentrations in collocated samples (expressed as ng/m³) were identical irrespective of whether samples were collected by PM with aerodynamic diameter ≤2.5 μm or PM with aerodynamic diameter ≤10 μm impactors. It was also demonstrated that X-ray fluorescence analysis of samples of atmospheric PM, before levoglucosan determinations, did not alter the levels of levoglucosan.     

Hazardous Air Pollutants from Mobile Sources in the Metropolitan Area of Mexico City

Abstract

Environmental agencies are currently in the process of implementing a new air management program, which includes the improvement of fuel quality. In this work, exhaust emissions data and estimated relative risk for various fuels testing in-use vehicles, equipped with three different exhaust emission control technologies, are presented. Aromatics, sulfur, and olefins contents; type of oxygenated compound; and Reid vapor pressure were varied. The aim also includes calculating the ozone (O₃)of forming potential and a relative cancer risk of emissions from current and formulated gasoline blends in Mexico. The proposed gasoline decreases carbon monoxide, total hydrocarbons (THC), and nitrogen oxides emissions by 18 and 14%, respectively, when compared with gasoline sold in the rest of the country and within ozone nonattainment metropolitan areas in Mexico, respectively.     

Interaction Effects of Metals and Salinity on Biodegradation of a Complex Hydrocarbon Waste

Abstract

The presence of high levels of salts because of produced brine water disposal at flare pits and the presence of metals at sufficient concentrations to impact microbial activity are of concern to bioremediation of flare pit waste in the upstream oil and gas industry. Two slurry-phase biotreatment experiments based on three-level factorial statistical experimental design were conducted with a flare pit waste. The experiments separately studied the primary effect of cadmium [Cd(II)] and interaction effect between Cd(II) and salinity and the primary effect of zinc [Zn(II)] and interactioneffect between Zn(II) and salinity on hydrocarbon biodegradation. The results showed 42–52.5% hydrocarbon removal in slurries spiked with Cd and 47–62.5% in the slurries spiked with Zn. The analysis of variance showed that the primary effects of Cd and Cd–salinity interaction were statistically significant on hydrocarbon degradation. The primary effects of Zn and the Zn-salinity interaction were statistically insignificant, whereas the quadratic effect of Zn was highly significant on hydrocarbon degradation. The study on effects of metallic chloro-complexes showed that the total aqueous concentration of Cd or Zn does not give a reliable indication of overall toxicity to the microbial activity in the presence of high salinity levels.     

Validation of the Digital Opacity Compliance System under Regulatory Enforcement Conditions

Abstract

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Emission Measurement Center in conjunction with EPA Regions VI and VIII, the state of Utah, and the U.S. Department of Defense have conducted a series of long-term pilot and field tests to determine the accuracy and reliability of a visible opacity monitoring system consisting of a conventional digital camera and a separate computer software application for plume opacity determination. This technology, known as the Digital Opacity Compliance System (DOCS), has been successfully demonstrated at EPA-sponsored Method-9 “smoke schools,” as well as at a number of government and commercially operated industrial facilities.

Results from the current DOCS regulatory pilot study demonstrated that, under regulatory enforcement conditions, the average difference in opacity measurement between the DOCS technology and EPA Reference Method 9 (Method 9) was 1.12%. This opacity difference, which was computed from the evaluation of 241 regulated air sources, was found to be statistically significant at the 99% confidence level. In evaluating only those sources for which a nonzero visible opacity level was recorded, the average difference in opacity measurement between the DOCS technology and Method 9 was 1.20%. These results suggest that the two opacity measurement methods are essentially equivalent when measuring the opacity of visible emissions.

Given the costs and technical limitations associated with use of Method 9, there is a recognized need to develop accurate, reproducible, and scientifically defensible alternatives to the use of human observers. The use of digital imaging/processing brings current technology to bear on this important regulatory issue. Digital technology offers increased accuracy, a permanent record of measurement events, lower costs, and a scientifically defensible approach for opacity determination.     

Antioxidants in Capsicum chinense: Variation among countries of origin

The main objective of this investigation was to evaluate fruits of C. chinense accessions for their concentration of β -carotene, ascorbic acid, and phenols for use as parents in breeding for these phytochemicals. Mature fruits of 63 accessions of C. chinense originally acquired from Belize, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Mexico, Peru, Puerto Rico, and the United States were analyzed for their chemical composition. Fruits of C. chinense accessions PI-152452 (Brazil) and PI-360726 (Ecuador) contained the greatest concentrations of ascorbic acid (1.2 and 1.1 mg g^?1 fresh fruit, respectively), while PI-438648 (Mexico) contained the greatest concentration of total phenols content (349 μ g g^?1 fresh fruit) among the other 63 accessions tested. Accession PI-355817 from Ecuador contained the greatest concentrations of β -carotene (8 mg g^?1fresh fruit). These accessions were identified as potential candidates for mass production of antioxidants with health-promoting properties.     

Molecularly imprinted polymer for analysis of trace atrazine herbicide in water

A molecularly imprinted polymer (MIP) for atrazine was synthesized by non-covalent method. The binding capacity of MIP was 1.00 mg g^{? 1} polymer. The selectivity and recovery were investigated with various pesticides which are mostly, found in the environment, for both similar and different chemical structure of atrazine. The competitive recognition between atrazine and structurally similar compounds was evaluated and it was found that the system provided highest recovery and selectivity for atrazine while low recovery and selectivity were obtained for the other compounds. The highest recovery was obtained from MIP compared with non-imprinted polymer (NIP), a commercial C₁₈ and a granular activated carbon (GAC) sorbent. The method provided high recoveries ranged from 94 to 99% at two spiked levels with relative standard deviations less than 2%. The lower detection limit of the method was 80 ng L^{? 1}. This method was successfully applied for analysis of environmental water samples.     

Effect of phenobarbital and polychlorinated biphenyls on the toxicity and disposition of 1,2,4,5‐tetrachlorobenzene in the rat

Soil avoidance by earthworms has been generally considered a relevant and sensitive endpoint for assessing soil contamination by xenobiotics. However, when pesticide ecotoxicological assessment is concerned, the sensitivity of the recently standardized avoidance assay has been questioned. We hypothesized that this controversy may be due to the specific pesticide mode of action of the chemicals used rather than reveal inconsistencies in the test feasibility, i.e. provided that no pesticides interfering with neuronal pathways are tested, this bioassay should keep expected high levels of sensitivity. In this study, the avoidance behaviour of the earthworm Eisenia andrei under exposure to the carbamate insecticide methomyl [S-methyl N-(methylcarbamoyloxy)thioacetimidate] was linked to the corresponding acetylcholinesterase (AChE) inhibition. Significant AChE inhibition occurred at lower concentrations (from 0.86 mg Kg^?1 onwards) than significant avoidance of spiked soil (from 5.62 mg Kg^?1 onwards). This indicates that assessments regarding pesticides that have neurotoxic activity may be biased if behavioral endpoints are selected. Despite theoretical hypothesis that have been raised, this should be the first study providing preliminary experimental evidence on such a link between avoidance behavior and neuronal impairment levels in earthworms. Further studies are ongoing that should refine conclusions of this study.     

Uptake of metals by food plants grown on soils 10 years after biosolids application

Potentially hazardous trace elements such as Cd, Cu, Cr, Ni and Zn are expected to accumulate in biosolids–amended soil and remain in the soil for a long period of time. In this research, uptake of metals by food plants including cabbage, carrot, lettuce and tomato grown on soils 10 years after biosolids application was studied. All the five metals were significantly accumulated in the biosolids-amended soils. The accumulation of metal in soil did not result in significant increase in concentrations of Cu, Cr and Ni in the edible plant tissues. However, the Cd and Zn concentrations of the edible tissues of plants harvested from the biosolids receiving soils were significantly enhanced in comparison with those of the unaffected soils. The plant uptake under Greenfield sandy loam soil was generally higher than those under the Domino clayey loam soil. The metal concentration of edible plant tissue exhibited increasing trends with respect to the concentrations of the ambulated metals. The extents of the increases were plant species dependent. The indigenous soil metals were absorbed by the plants in much higher rates than those of the biosolids–receiving soils. It appeared that the plant uptake of the indigenous soil-borne metal and the added biosolids-borne metals are independent of one another and mathematically are additive.