Characterizing sorption processes is essential to understand the environmental distribution and toxicity potential of endocrine disruptors in terrestrial and aquatic systems. The sorption behaviors of three endocrine disruptors (bisphenol A (BPA), 17β-estradiol (E2), and 17α-ethynylestradiol (EE2)) on sediments were investigated using batch techniques. Samples were taken from some representative reaches in several major Chinese rivers. More attention has been paid to the effect of sediment organic components on the sorption of BPA, E2, and EE2. The results show that the sediment organic carbon-normalized partition coefficients (K oc (sed)) for three endocrine disruptors are in the order of EE2 > E2 > BPA, which corresponds to the octanol-water partitioning coefficients (logK ow) of the compounds. Moreover, the K oc values for humic substances (K oc (hs)) are comparable with the K oc (sed) values and highly dependent on the physico-chemical properties of humic substances in sediments. The UV absorptivity at 272 nm (A ₂₇₂), which suggests the abundance of aromatic rings in humic substance structure, correlates well with the K oc (hs) values. In addition, the infrared spectra of the humic substances extracted from sediments show four strong bands centered at 3,400 cm-¹, 1,625 cm-¹, 1,390 cm-¹, and 1,025 cm-¹. The K oc (hs) values have a positive linear relation with the peak area ratio for peak at 1,025 cm-¹ and a negative linear relation with the peak area ratio between peaks at 1,625 cm-¹ and 1,025 cm-¹. Hence, the hydrogen bonds play a critical role to the sorption of selected endocrine disruptors.

Soil erosion and associated off-site environmental impacts have attracted increasing attention in recent decades, and there is a growing need for reliable information on rates of soil loss. The potential for using ¹³⁷Cs fallout to quantify rates and patterns of soil redistribution over medium-term timescales (ca. 45 years) has been successfully demonstrated in a wide range of environments around the world. The similar behaviour of fallout ²¹⁰Pb in soils offers potential for its use as an alternative to ¹³⁷Cs, in areas where ¹³⁷Cs inventories are low or are complicated by additional fallout from the Chernobyl accident. There have, however, to date been few attempts to validate the use of fallout ²¹⁰Pb measurements for assessing erosion rates. This paper reports an attempt to explore the use of fallout ²¹⁰Pb to estimate rates of water-induced soil erosion on uncultivated land. It focuses on three small forest/rangeland catchments located in Calabria, southern Italy, for which measurements of sediment output are available. Comparison of the estimates of net soil loss from the catchments derived from ²¹⁰Pb measurements with the measured sediment output, confirmed the validity of the ²¹⁰Pb approach. The soil redistribution rates estimated using ²¹⁰Pb measurements were also consistent with equivalent estimates obtained for the same study catchments using ¹³⁷Cs measurements.

While a presumed equality between uncertainty and probability is dominant in subsurface hydrology, in other areas of science and engineering progress in the mathematics of uncertainty is leading the way in providing new types of uncertainty, distinct from probability. In this paper our focus is on one of these, namely fuzzy set theory and fuzzy logic. We start with an overview of fuzzy theory introducing terminology, notation, and concepts relevant to our paper. We continue our discussion with an overview of currently known applications in several areas that include subsurface characterization, groundwater flow and transport modeling, water resources management and optimization, and groundwater health risk assessment and management.

As part of the NJ Toxics Reduction Workplan for NY-NJ Harbor, ambient water samples were collected at fifteen locations along the tidal portions of the Hackensack, Passaic, Raritan, Rahway and Elizabeth Rivers, and in Newark Bay, the Arthur Kill, and Kill van Kull. A Trace Organics Platform Sampler was used to collect a total of 75 suspended sediment phase samples between June 2000 and May 2002. These samples were analyzed for spatial and wet vs. dry weather trends in the 17 polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins and dibenzofurans (PCDD/Fs; modified USEPA Method 1613b). Mean total PCDD/F (tPCDD/F) concentrations at the sampling locations ranged between 3.8 and 41.5 ng/g. On average, OCDD accounted for almost 80% of the tPCDD/F concentrations; mean total [PCDD/F - OCDD] concentrations ranged between 0.84 and 5.20 ng/g at the sampling locations. Mean 2,3,7,8-TCDD concentrations ranged between 0.003 and 0.28 ng/g, with the highest concentrations (> 0.10 ng/g) along the tidal Passaic and lower Hackensack Rivers, and in upper Newark Bay. Mean tPCDD/F Toxic Equivalency Quotients (TEQ) ranged between 45 and 344 TEQ pg/g, with the highest levels found in the lower Passaic River. Toxicity was primarily driven by 2,3,7,8-TCDD concentrations in the Passaic and Hackensack Rivers, and in Newark Bay. Examples of congener distribution patterns at some of the sampling locations are also presented.

Pedotransfer functions based on general purpose Freundlich isotherms (GPF) were derived for Cd using different combinations of input variables or development conditions. The models match the criterion of flexibility as they were derived from data of 497 soil samples, which had strongly varying soil characteristics. The prediction efficiency of the approaches was investigated by comparison of measured and simulated sorption data for 124 independent soil samples. The parameterisation of the GPF shows that models derived from data of batch sorption experiments by multiple linear regression achieve best goodness-of-fit and statistical consistency. The use of extraction data or nonlinear regression analysis results in greater deviations from the statistical optima. The best overall performance considering parameterisation and validation was observed for the models including (a) the variables 'proton activity', 'clay content', 'soil organic carbon', 'sum of dithionite-extractable Fe- and Mn-oxides' or (b) the variables 'proton activity', 'potential cation exchange capacity', 'sum of dithionite-extractable Fe- and Mn-oxides'.

Waste site cover systems used to prevent rainfall from reaching the waste need to remain intact throughout the lifetime of the waste site. Monitoring of these covers is needed to ascertain the performance and to determine if any degradation has occurred. Researchers at Brookhaven National Laboratory have used gaseous perfluorocarbon tracers (PFTs) to monitor the integrity of caps and covers for waste disposal sites. Detection of the PFTs currently uses gas chromatography techniques developed at BNL. This paper presents a potential approach to this wide-area screening problem by replacing conventional gas chromatography analysis with laser-based, lidar (Light Detection and Ranging) detection of the PFTs. Lidar can be used to scan the surface of the cover system, looking for fugitive PFTs. If successful this would enable the departure from soil gas analysis and instead look for PFTs in the air just above the soil surface. The advantages of using a lidar platform are multi-fold and include the elimination of soil monitoring ports. Benchtop and pilot-scale indoor experiments using an a continuous wave, line-tunable infrared CO₂ laser were used to detect PMCH (perfluoromethylcyclohexane, one of a group of PFTs used at BNL). Laboratory measurements of the absorption cross-section were the same order of magnitude compared to literature values for similar perfluorocarbon compounds. Initial benchtop, fixed cell length experiments were successful in detecting PMCH to levels of 10 ppb-m. To improve the lower limit of detection, a HgCdTe detector was purchased that was more specific to the lasing region of interest and hence had a higher sensitivity at this spectral region Using a pilot-scale lidar system in a 40m indoor hallway air concentrations of PMCH were then measured down to 1 ppb-m. These results are very promising and show great potential for monitoring the integrity of cover systems using lidar and PFTs.

Although lead (Pb) emissions have dropped drastically with the phase-out of tetra-ethyl lead (TEL) as a fuel additive, Pb deposited along highway corridors continues to be of concern because of its toxicity. This paper provides comprehensive data on the extent and distribution of Pb in roadside soils, Pb interaction with soils as a function of soil composition, the retention capacity of soil based on batch adsorption tests, the retention mechanism of Pb using selective sequential extraction, the potential for mobility using batch desorption tests with simulated rain and winter road salt, and column leach tests. Highway soils on high-traffic sections near Burnaby, Canada were found to have Pb accumulations up to 1628mg/kg soil. Contamination was mainly in the top 0.3m, with concentrations rapidly decreasing to the background level at a depth of 0.6m. The top layer contained more organic material and had a high adsorption capacity. Highway soils were found to have 3-10 times higher Pb adsorption capacities than the amount currently deposited. Selective sequential extraction indicated low exchangeable Pb in highway soils. Batch desorption tests with leaching solutions of H₂O (pH 5.5), HNO₃ solution (pH 4.0) and aqueous NaCl solution (0.17M) indicate low likelihood of significant leaching. Selective sequential extraction, leachate extraction and desorption tests show that Pb has limited mobility in highway soil.

Partly because of the low bioavailability of metals, the soil cleaning-up using phytoremediation is usually time-consuming. In order to enhance the amount of metals at the plant's disposal, the soil bioaugmentation coupled together with phytoextraction is an emerging technology. In this preliminary work, two agricultural soils which mainly differed in their Cr, Hg and Pb contents (LC, low-contaminated soil; HC, high-contaminated soil) were bioaugmented in laboratory conditions by either bacterial (Bacillus subtilis, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Pseudomonas fluorescens or Ralstonia metallidurans) or fungal inocula (Aspergillus niger or Penicillium simplicissimum) and incubated during three weeks. The LC soil pots bioaugmented with A. niger and P. aeruginosa contained higher concentrations of Cr (0.08 and 0.25 mg.kg-¹ dw soil) and Pb (0.25 and 0.3 mg.kg-¹ dw soil) in the exchangeable fraction F1 (extraction with MgCl₂) by comparison with the non-bioaugmented soil where neither Cr nor Pb was detected. Conversely, immobilization of Cr and Pb in the soil were observed with the other microorganisms. The soil bioaugmentation not only modified the metal speciation for the most easily extractable fractions but also modified the distribution of metals in the other fractions, to a lesser extent nevertheless. The difference in microbial concentrations between the bioaugmented or not HC soils reached up to 1.8 log units. Thus the microorganisms that we chose for the soil bioaugmentation were competitive towards the indigenous microflora. The PCA analysis showed close positive relationships between the microorganisms which potentially produced siderophores in the soil and the amount of Cr and Pb in the fraction F1.

Sedimentation basins and sediment traps are established methodologies for reducing sediment and other pollutants exiting small watersheds such as urban areas and construction sites. However, estimating the trap efficiency or designing a basin or trap to provide a pre-determined trap efficiency, is difficult, especially for dynamic conditions of water and sediment inflow. A conceptual dynamic model, called SedTrap, was developed that can be used to assess the varying removal efficiencies as a storm is routed through different sized basins or traps. The model uses the STELLA® modeling software from Iseesystems, Inc. to build a dynamic model to route both water and sediment through the system. Settling velocities are determined for a range of sediment sizes and temperatures using the Rubey-Watson law and compared to the more traditional Stokes' law. The variation of efficiencies with time and by sediment size as the basin fills with sediment is also addressed. The results for the example used show a decrease in trap efficiencies with decreasing particle size, which leads to an increase in percent fine material of total sediment load at the outlet of the basin. This “fining” of the material coupled with the higher surface area per mass of the fine particles has implications for changes in the upstream-downstream concentrations of adsorbed contaminants.

A spatially extensive geochemical data set of stream water and bed sediment composition across the Tamar catchment in south-west England was analysed to identify the key bed sediment properties that control the in-stream dissolved reactive phosphorus (DRP) concentrations during baseflow conditions. Linear regression analysis of the streamwater DRP concentrations and the distribution coefficient K d for DRP revealed that the former is positively correlated with total SiO₂ and Al₂O₃, and negatively correlated with K₂O. The primary control on these major element distributions is the dominant bedrock geology. The data suggest that streamwater DRP concentrations are mainly controlled by adsorption to clay minerals. Where P concentrations in streamwater were considerably elevated by inputs from point sources, DRP concentrations are also controlled by precipitation of hydroxyapatite.