Contamination
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Contamination Articles
Below is a list of articles that have been published on this topic.
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Heavy Metals' Monitoring [Jun 2010]
Monitoring airborne heavy metals in rural areas
Much of the focus on measuring heavy metals in the ambient atmosphere has been to establish monitoring sites at locations close to local sources of heavy metals in industrial and urban areas. However, there is also a specific legislative requirement to monitor heavy metals in rural areas where concentrations are considerably lower. The Rural Heavy Metals Monitoring and Deposition Network determines the concentrations of heavy metals in samples of ambient air and rainwater collected at remote rural sites across the UK, which are not unduly influenced by local sources of anthropogenic emissions. This article describes the operation of this monitoring network and how the data are used to determine background levels of heavy metals in the UK (and thereby demonstrate compliance of the UK with the relevant EU legislation for rural areas), and in the quantification of heavy metal deposition from the atmosphere.
Analysis of Water Samples [Jun 2010]
Automated Analysis of PAHs by HPLC in Drinking Water and Surface Water Samples
The Water Framework Directive (WFD) is a body of legislation that is geared towards achieving “good quality” status for all bodies of water throughout the EU by the year 2015.
Biological Treatment of Produced Water [Mar 2010]
What is Produced Water?
Produced water, also known as drilling water, is waste water formed during the process of petroleum extraction from underground reservoirs. To better understand what produced water is, it is important to take a closer look at the actual oil drilling process. Drilling for oil, referred to in the industry as the ‘upstream mining process’ frequently involves pumping large quantities of high pressure, extremely hot water into the petroleum reservoir beneath the ground. The water pressure forces the petroleum upwards, and the heat of the forced water lowers the viscosity of the petroleum. The fluid that returns to the surface is known as produced water and is comprised of hot petroleum, water that was trapped underground, as well as the pumped water, along with earth and debris.
Enviromental Lab Testing [Mar 2010]
Getting the best value from laboratory biodegradability testing by avoiding some common pitfalls.
Enviromental Land Remediation [Mar 2010]
Identifying and treating contaminated land and groundwater.
The industrial legacy of the United Kingdom and some current industrial activity has left large areas of land contaminated in the UK and the contamination which has been introduced into the soil poses a risk to the wider environment, human health and natural resources such as groundwater. A very large proportion of our drinking water is pumped form aquifers beneath our feet and this water can be rendered unfit for consumption by trace quantities of some contaminants, some of these contaminants, such a chlorinated hydrocarbons can originate from apparently innocuous places as dry cleaning businesses. Other facilities such as petrol filling stations can leak contaminants into the ground for many years unnoticed.
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Methods of Soil Analysis - A summary of some of the many methods of soil analysis [Dec 2009]
Soils are an extremely complex matrix to analyse, particularly on contaminated sites - the actual soil matrix can vary from a sand (silica) to limestone (calcium carbonate) to clay (complexed minerals), or a mixture of many. In addition to this, the range of contaminants varies from fairly innocuous construction materials to toxic gasworks waste to highly toxic pharmaceutical waste/ mercury/explosives, etc.
Hazardous Waste Cost or Benefit? [Sep 2009]
Reuse and recycling in preference to disposal
Contaminated Soils [Sep 2009]
Expanding the potential of biomass crop production: reusing brownfield sites and biodegradable wastes
Heavy Metal Pollution of Soil [Jun 2009]
The determination of metals in soil through on-site and laboratory analysis
Soil and its uses have been neglected or have been taken for granted for centuries. The human race has been disposing of waste via the soil for as long as we have been on the earth.
Soil Sampling of Contaminated Land [Mar 2009]
Sample selection, handling, transportation and storage
Site investigation and risk assessment have evolved into a major industry over the last two decades, with little legislation or guidance in the earlier years. The errors associated with sampling are now better documented, and any environmental consultant or site contractor needs to be well aware of the large differences which can result from poor site investigation design, and incorrect procedures on site, particularly with respect to sample selection, handling, transportation and storage. The assessment of potential contamination within a site is of critical importance for the future use of the site, predicting the cost of possible remediation, and the re-sale value. One of the main drivers for site investigation is SPOSH - ‘the significant possibility of significant harm’ being caused by the presence of contamination on the site.
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Land Remediation Measurement [Mar 2008]
Molecular tools can provide lines of evidence for biological remediation
There are 3.5 million suspected contaminated sites within the EU. The EU Soil Framework Directive will soon require member states to compile a national database of these sites, measure the contamination and put in place a national remediation strategy.
Contaminated Soils [Sep 2007]
Are they a waste or a re-usable material?
Across Europe, the management of contaminated soils by landfilling is being replaced by recovery/reuse. This is due amongst other things to the Landfill Directive and its waste treatment and acceptance criteria (WAC; EU Council Decision 2003/33/EC), the limited number of hazardous landfills, and the taxing of landfilling. Site owners and their consultants now pay more attention to the reduction in waste soil volumes and the classification of waste soils to minimise the quantity of waste (some of which may be hazardous), but not always to good effect. Misclassification of waste is still ongoing and methodologies to deal with soil classification are misunderstood. However, soil re-use can be well managed in countries with practical legislation such as the Flanders VLAREBO Decree, which allows re-use as building material. More recent waste guidance documents such as those issued by the UK EA (2004a) allow logical characterisation of soils and assessment for re-use. Nevertheless, the management of land contamination and its contaminated soils, either in the ground, or excavated as a stockpile, are made more difficult by the debate arising from the ‘Van de Walle’ case ECJ (C-1/03).
Putting Smart Molecules to Work [Jun 2007]
A nanotechnology to predict bioremediation potential
For the past six years Alcontrol Laboratories have been working in collaboration with The University of East Anglia and Lancaster University (within the DTI LINK Bioremediation Programme) to establish and validate laboratory methods to assess bioremediation potential of contaminated land. This work has now validated a method that, through the application of ‘smart molecules’, can be used to extract contaminants from soil in a way that reflects their microbial bioaccessibility.
Water Quality Monitoring Below the Sea [Mar 2007]
Assessing environmental risk to natural waters from industry
An old saying goes: ‘If you don’t monitor it; you can’t manage it’, and this has never been truer than when applied to the management of Water. States, industry sectors and individual processes all have water quality objectives and monitoring is essential in order to be able to measure the effects of improvement initiatives and to demonstrate compliance with regulations. Historically, water quality monitoring has relied on sampling or spot checking, however, the trend has been for process operators to move towards continuous monitoring. This, in turn, has created a need for sensors to be developed that are more robust and reliable and require less maintenance and ongoing calibration. At the same time, data collection and communication technologies have advanced considerably and it is now possible to view real- time water quality data at any time from anywhere. This article will outline some of the latest sensor technologies and examine the ways in which they are now able to resolve the problems traditionally associated with continuous monitoring.
On-line and In-situ UV/Vis Spectroscopy [Mar 2007]
Real time multi parameter measurements with a single instrument
The advantages of online sensors for water quality analysis are becoming ever more widely recognised. The actual number of applications, nevertheless, remains rather limited to this date due to the limited capabilities of the instruments available. The introduction of spectrometric multi parameter probes with low maintenance requirements, however, is now changing the face of online monitoring significantly.
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Environmental Laboratory Testing Contaminated land analysis in the 21st century: A European perspective [Jun 2006]
'In the present advanced state of chemistry, very expensive and complicated instruments are becoming indispensably necessary for ascertaining the analysis ... of bodies with the requisite precision as to quantity and proportion.' Antoine Laurent Lavoisier (1743-1794) in 'Elements of Chemistry in a New Systematic Order.'
State-of-the-Art Spectroscopy [Mar 2006]
Protecting our environment is the most important strategy for maintaining a high quality of life for current and future generations.
Remediating Contaminated Land [Mar 2006]
The costs and benefits of land remediation
The Generation of Dust is Not a New Phenomenon [Sep 2005]
An effective approach to ambient dust monitoring in the UK
The Unseen Threat of VOCs [Mar 2005]
How photoionisation detection is used for worker protection, fenceline monitoring and environmental remediation.
Organic compounds are chemicals that contain carbon and are found in all living things. Volatile organic compounds, often referred to as VOCs, are organic compounds that easily become vapours or gases.
Links to Products and Services
You may be interested in the following products and services on our sister site - OSE Directory.
Head Protection, Clean Up Products, Contamination Equipment, Land Remediation, Landfill Gases, Odour Monitoring, Control and Treatment, Protective Footwear, Sludge Treatment and Management, Water Analysis, Testing and Treatment
Dealing With Contaminated Land [Mar 2005]
The Environment agency estimates that there are some 300,000 hectares of land in the UK affected to by contamination left by industrial activity alone.
Contaminated land is a general term used to describe land containing substances that, when present in sufficient concentrations, are likely to cause harm to man, the environment, or materials used in construction. This contamination can manifest in soil, in air, as a waterborne hazard or as a combination of these.
