Monitoring of Organic Contaminants

A special issue of Processes (ISSN 2227-9717). This special issue belongs to the section "Environmental and Green Processes".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (15 July 2023) | Viewed by 7161

Special Issue Editors


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Guest Editor
Department of Biology and and Comprehensive Health Research Centre (CHRC), University of Évora, 7000-071 Évora, Portugal
Interests: endocrine disrupting chemicals; indoor environment; obesogens

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Guest Editor
Department of Biology, Centre for Environmental and Marine Studies (CESAM), University of Aveiro, 3810-193 Aveiro, Portugal
Interests: house dust; indoor contamination; endocrine disrupting chemicals; ecotoxicology

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Organic contaminants, whether from natural or anthropogenic sources, are constantly being released into the environment. Consequently, they can be found in all regions around the globe. These contaminants have the potential to impact ecosystems (terrestrial and aquatic) and human health. Given their widespread occurrence and deleterious impacts, they are a matter of global concern.

In order to understand the real extension of this problem and to propose new and effective measures to reduce their deleterious impacts, it is crucial to monitor the emissions, presence, and effects of these organic contaminants. In order to achieve this goal, the different classes of chemicals should be appraised, as well as their distributions in different regions around the globe (including less studied locations, e.g., Africa, Antarctica or the deep sea environment) and in distinct environments (e.g., indoors, occupational settings).

This comprehensive knowledge will allow us not only to provide a clearer picture of the environmental risk associated with these contaminants, but also to evaluate the efficacy of the legislation already adopted and the chemical control efforts under development. It will also provide data on the effectiveness of the different treatment processes to reduce and remove organic contaminants from the environment, with the ultimate goal of protecting the environment and human health.

This Special Issue aims to address all aspects associated with the monitoring of organic contaminants, including the description of their levels in different locations and in different matrices, including air, water, soil, and biota. Exposure assessment studies in humans and domestic and wild animals will also be considered, as well as the analytical aspects of the techniques used. Studies dealing with the development of new methods and the development of reference materials are also welcomed.

Prof. Dr. Ana Catarina Sousa
Dr. Sónia Dias Coelho
Guest Editors

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Keywords

  • priority substances
  • contaminants of emerging concern
  • persistent organic pollutants
  • risk assessment

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Published Papers (2 papers)

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Research

21 pages, 4418 KiB  
Article
Reverse Osmosis Modeling Study of Lead and Arsenic Removal from Drinking Water in Tarija and La Paz, Bolivia
by Esteban Manuel Villena-Martínez, Paola Andrea Alvizuri-Tintaya, Jaime Lora-García, Juan Ignacio Torregrosa-López and Vanesa Gladys Lo-Iacono-Ferreira
Processes 2022, 10(9), 1889; https://doi.org/10.3390/pr10091889 - 17 Sep 2022
Cited by 8 | Viewed by 3262
Abstract
An investigation of primary water sources in two Bolivian basins identified the presence of heavy metals toxic to health that exceeded the permissible limits for drinking water. Lead deposited in the San Jacinto and Huacata–Tarija reservoirs within the Guadalquivir basin and arsenic in [...] Read more.
An investigation of primary water sources in two Bolivian basins identified the presence of heavy metals toxic to health that exceeded the permissible limits for drinking water. Lead deposited in the San Jacinto and Huacata–Tarija reservoirs within the Guadalquivir basin and arsenic in the Milluni–La Paz basin were identified. The work studies reverse osmosis (RO) to remove Pb and As. The main contribution of this research is the development and construction of a mathematical model based on the Spiegler–Kedem concentration polarization model using different concentrations of Pb and As. The model makes it possible to design high conversion facilities (>80%) and optimize the process from the point of view of energy efficiency in future works. The model was developed to also include an Arrhenius temperature adjustment factor that allows for an accurate prediction of the process performance. The experimentation was carried out in two RO pilot plants using polyamide membranes. The model fits correctly with a maximum relative error between the experimental and theoretical flows of 5.4% and 4.4%. Among the benefits of the study, it guarantees the rejection of metals greater than 99%, even at low pressures. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Monitoring of Organic Contaminants)
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13 pages, 4480 KiB  
Article
Disinfection By-Products (DBPs) in Seawaters, Sediments and Biota near a Marine Terminal for Regasifying Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) in the Northern Adriatic Sea (Italy)
by Federica Cacciatore, Marina Amici, Giulia Romanelli, Valentina Bernarello, Gianluca Franceschini, Massimo Gabellini and Claudia Virno Lamberti
Processes 2021, 9(12), 2175; https://doi.org/10.3390/pr9122175 - 2 Dec 2021
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 2561
Abstract
In 2009, the first Italian offshore LNG terminal, located approximately 12 km from the coast of Italy in the Northern Adriatic Sea, started its operation phase. Even if the active chlorine concentration in the discharged seawater is within limits set by Italian regulations [...] Read more.
In 2009, the first Italian offshore LNG terminal, located approximately 12 km from the coast of Italy in the Northern Adriatic Sea, started its operation phase. Even if the active chlorine concentration in the discharged seawater is within limits set by Italian regulations (0.2 mg/L), to verify the environmental impact of disinfection by-products (DBPs) on the ecosystem, a specific monitoring program was scheduled from 2010 to 2015. The present study is the first displaying results of DBPs in marine waters of the Adriatic Sea. During the first two years of monitoring activities, DBPs were slightly above limit of quantifications (LOQs) in all investigated matrices and limited to the nearest area around the terminal. In these surveys, bromoform was the most frequently detected compound in seawaters, while haloacetic acid presence, as well as transplanted mussels and fish fauna, mostly characterized sediments. In the following surveys, levels were mostly negligible in all matrices investigated, with values mostly below the specific LOQs of the different compounds. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Monitoring of Organic Contaminants)
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