contamination assessment Articles
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Biological effects of environmental pollutants in American Oyster, Crassostrea virginica: a field study in Laguna de Terminos, Mexico
The response of Crassostrea virginica to a complex mixture of toxic contaminants was studied at four sites in Laguna de Terminos, Mexico. Contaminants assessed were heavy metals, organochlorine compounds, and hydrocarbons. Biomarkers (cholinesterase activity, neutral red retention, and metallothionein), histopathology and prevalence of Perkinsus marinus were used to evaluate the effects of ...
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Bioavailability of copper in contaminated sediments assessed by a DGT approach and the uptake of copper by the aquatic plant Myriophyllum aquaticum
The assessment of the potentially harmful effects of metals on biota depends on the speciation and bioavailability of the metals. In this study, we investigated copper accumulation and toxicity in the aquatic plant Myriophyllum aquaticum after exposure to artificial sediments varying in peat and/or ferric hydroxide content and spiked with Cu (5 to 200 mg.kg−1). Modeling of the kinetic DGT ...
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Advanced Data Analysis Strategies for Understanding Particle Contamination in Chemical Distribution Systems
Abstract Advanced data analysis techniques can be implemented to quantitatively assess particle contamination data in state-of-the-art chemical distribution systems. Through examining the distribution of the rate of particle detection compared to Poisson’s distribution, it is possible to determine if particle variations are random or systematic and allow for the focus of improvement ...
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Global climate change and contaminants, a call to arms not yet heard?
A consensus has existed from the mid‐2000s that climate change is occurring and is the result of anthropogenic causes (Oreskes 2004). Noyes et al. (2009) published the first description of the potential interactions between a warming environment and toxicology. Four years ago, an editorial in Integrated Environmental Assessment and Management (Wenning et al. 2010) called upon members of SETAC ...
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Contemporary design, operation, and monitoring of potable reuse systems
Water scarcity driven by population growth, lack of conventional supplies, and climate change impacts have resulted in increasing interest worldwide in drinking water augmentation using treated wastewater effluents. Potable reuse can occur indirect or direct, but is also practiced in many places as ‘de facto reuse’, where upstream wastewater discharge occurs to drinking water ...
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Emission patterns of traffic–related metals and associated contamination in road deposited sediment
Road deposited sediment (RDS) is regarded as sinks for metal pollutants derived from road–traffic that may pose a danger for the nearby water environment. The reported study aims to analyse RDS build–up and associated metal emission patterns using Riccarton Campus of Heriot Watt University, Edinburgh, Scotland as a study site. The RDS samples were collected from four different sites over a four ...
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Advanced oxidation degradation kinetics as a function of ultraviolet LED duty cycle
Ultraviolet (UV) light emitting diodes (LEDs) may be a viable option as a UV light source for advanced oxidation processes (AOPs) utilizing photocatalysts or oxidizing agents such as hydrogen peroxide. The effect of UV-LED duty cycle, expressed as the percentage of time the LED is powered, was investigated in an AOP with hydrogen peroxide, using methylene blue (MB) to assess contaminant ...
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Steps to Ensuring a Successful Audit: Effective Risk Assessment Design
Abstract When designing a process, product quality is an important measure of success. To ensure product quality, it is imperative that the environment is monitored for contamination. The best way to locate sources of contamination is via risk assessment, best performed before a process has been implemented. There are multiple tools to assist in completing a risk assessment, and once completed, ...
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Opportunities and challenges of integrating ecological restoration into assessment and management of contaminated ecosystems
Ecosystem restoration planning near the beginning of the site assessment and management process (“early integration”) involves consideration of restoration goals from the outset in developing solutions for contaminated ecosystems. There are limitations to integration that stem from institutional barriers, few successful precedents and limited availability of guidance. Challenges occur in ...
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Passive sampling methods for contaminated sediments: Scientific rationale supporting use of freely dissolved concentrations
Passive sampling methods (PSMs) allow the quantification of the freely dissolved concentration (Cfree) of an organic contaminant even in complex matrices such as sediments. Cfree is directly related to a contaminant's chemical activity, which drives spontaneous processes including diffusive uptake into benthic organisms and exchange with the overlying water column. Consequently, Cfree provides ...
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The Alberta Swan Hills Special Waste Treatment Centre expansion: environmental concerns
This article examines the establishment and recent expansion of the high technology special Waste Management Treatment Centre at Swan Hills, Alberta. The focus is on a number of deficiencies in the expansion application and potential negative environmental impacts that may have been inadequately assessed by the review process then existing. These concerns include weaknesses in site geology, ...
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Passive sampling in contaminated sediment assessment: Building consensus to improve decision‐making
Contaminated sediments pose an on‐going, pervasive, global challenge to environmental managers as sediments can reflect a legacy of pollution that can impair the beneficial uses of water bodies. A formidable challenge in assessing the risks of contaminated sediments has been elucidation and measurement of contaminant bioavailability, expressed as the freely dissolved concentration (Cfree) in ...
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Accumulation and toxicity of metals (copper, zinc, cadmium, and lead) and organic compounds (geraniol and benzo[a]pyrene) in the oribatid mite Oppia nitens
The oribatid mite Oppia nitens has been suggested as a test species for ecotoxicological assessment of contaminated boreal soils. Knowledge of the ecotoxicity of pollutants of different modes of action to this species is necessary to assess its relative toxicity to other invertebrates. The toxicity of four metals and two organic chemicals to O. nitens was evaluated over a 28‐ or 35‐d period. Mite ...
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Passive sampling methods for contaminated sediments: Practical guidance for selection, calibration, and implementation
This manuscript provides practical guidance on the use of passive sampling methods (PSMs) that target the freely dissolved concentration (Cfree) for improved exposure assessment of hydrophobic organic chemicals in sediments. Primary considerations for selecting a PSM for a specific application include clear delineation of measurement goals for Cfree, whether laboratory‐based “ex‐situ” and/or ...
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Assessment of sediment quality and pore water ecotoxicity in Kebir Rhumel basin (NE-Algeria): a combined approach
The objectives of this study are to use different approaches to assess the current pollution status in the wadis of the Kebir Rhumel basin. First, sediment trace metal contents were measured by flame atomic absorption spectroscopy. Then, sediment quality was assessed on the basis of contamination assessment indexes such as: Geoaccumulation Index (Igeo), Contamination factor (Cf), Contamination ...
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Validation of a new standardized test method for the freshwater amphipod Hyalella azteca: Determining the chronic effects of silver in sediment
Environment Canada has developed a new 42 day sediment toxicity test method that includes a reproduction test endpoint with the freshwater amphipod Hyalella azteca. Due to concerns that existing standard methodologies, where adults are transferred to a water‐only exposure before release of their first brood at day 28, will lead to internal contaminant depuration and loss of sensitivity, the EC ...
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Performance assessment of pilot horizontal sub-surface flow constructed wetlands for removal of diesel from wastewater by
Scirpus grossus One of the appropriate development technology options for the treatment of wastewater contaminated with diesel is constructed wetlands (CWs). Throughout 72 days of exposure, sampling was carried out for monitoring of physical parameters, plant growth and the efficiency of total petroleum hydrocarbon (TPH) removal, as an indication for diesel contamination, to assess the pilot-scale performance. ...
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Transitioning sediment quality assessment into regulations: Challenges and solutions in implementing California's sediment quality objectives
Development and promulgation of sediment quality criteria represents a substantial challenge for water quality agencies. Unlike water quality programs that rely on individual chemical thresholds to assess water quality, the complex processes affecting contaminant bioavailability in sediments preclude the use of contaminant concentrations to independently assess impacts or identify cause. ...
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Comparison of probabilistic approaches to estimate the initial bacterial levels as a start in exposure assessment: Escherichia coli O157:H7 in beef as an example
The initial contamination of food products with pathogens is an important risk factor in microbial risk assessments. This factor contains variability and uncertainty that can be calculated from various available monitoring results. When performing dedicated quantitative risk assessments, different methods can be chosen to transform the data into probability distribution functions. This paper ...
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Coordinating ecological restoration options analysis and risk assessment to improve environmental outcomes
Ecological risk assessment as currently practiced has hindered consideration of ecosystem services endpoints and restoration goals in the environmental management process. Practitioners have created barriers between procedures to clean up contaminated areas and efforts to restore ecosystem functions. In this article, we examine linkages between contaminant risk assessment approaches and ...
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