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Publications

Dive into our publications and explore the science from the Environmental Health Program (Toxic Substances Hydrology and Contaminant Biology).

Filter Total Items: 4093

Sorption characteristics of organic compounds on hexadecyltrimethylammonium-smectite

When hexadedyltrimethylammonium (HDTMA) ion is exchanged for metal cations like calcium in smectite, the sorptive properties of the clay are greatly modified. The resultant HDTMA-smectite complex behaves as a dual sorbent, in the sorption of organic compounds, in which the mineral fraction functions as a solid adsorbent and the organic (HDTMA) phase as a partition medium. Capacities of...
Authors
Stephen A. Boyd, Max M. Mortland, Cary T. Chiou

Determining the distribution of hydraulic conductivity in a fractured limestone aquifer by simultaneous injection and geophysical logging

A field technique for assessing the vertical distribution of hydraulic conductivity in an aquifer was applied to a fractured carbonate formation in southeastern Nevada. The technique combines the simultaneous use of fluid injection and geophysical logging to measure in situ vertical distributions of fluid velocity and hydraulic head down the borehole; these data subsequently are analyzed...
Authors
Roger H. Morin, A.E. Hess, Frederick L. Paillet

Hausmannite (Mn3O4) conversion to manganite (γ-MnOOH) in dilute oxalate solution

Oxalic acid retards the alteration of Mn3O4 to γ-MnOOH during aging at pH 7.4 ?? 0.2 in well-aerated, abiotic suspensions that contain 4.4 ?? 10-3 M total Mn. In solutions of 1.25 ?? 10-3 M oxalate and greater, about 15% of the initial Mn3O4 altered to ??-MnOOH by day 10, and in solutions of 6.7 ?? 10-4 M oxalate, about 45% altered to ??-MnOOH by day 67. Although precipitation continued...
Authors
Carol J. Lind

Long-term fate of organic micropollutants in sewage-contaminated groundwater

No abstract available.
Authors
Larry B. Barber, M.P. Schroeder, E. Michael Thurman, Denis R. LeBlanc

Hydrogen concentrations as an indicator of the predominant terminal electron-accepting reactions in aquatic sediments

Factors controlling the concentration of dissolved hydrogen gas in anaerobic sedimentary environments were investigated. Results, presented here or previously, demonstrated that, in sediments, only microorganisms catalyze the oxidation of H2 coupled to the reduction of nitrate, Mn(IV), Fe(III), sulfate, or carbon dioxide. Theoretical considerations suggested that, at steady-state...
Authors
D. R. Lovley, S. Goodwin

Fate of acetone in an outdoor model stream in southern Mississippi, U.S.A.

The fate of acetone in water was investigated in an outdoor model stream located in southern Mississippi, U.S.A. Acetone was injected continuously for 32 days resulting in small milligram-perliter concentrations in the stream. Rhodamine-WT dye was injected at the beginning and at the end of the study to determine the time-of-travel and dispersion characteristics of the stream. A 12-h...
Authors
R. E. Rathbun, D. W. Stephens, D.J. Shultz, D. Y. Tai

Groundwater flow and transport modeling

Deterministic, distributed-parameter, numerical simulation models for analyzing groundwater flow and transport problems have come to be used almost routinely during the past decade. A review of the theoretical basis and practical use of groundwater flow and solute transport models is used to illustrate the state-of-the-art. Because of errors and uncertainty in defining model parameters...
Authors
Leonard F. Konikow, J.W. Mercer

Dichlorobenzene in ground water: Evidence for long-term persistence

Hydrologic and geochemical evidence were used to establish the long-term persistence of dichlorobenzene in ground water that has been contaminated from 50 years of rapid-infiltration sewage disposal. An extensive plume of dichlorobenzene extends more than 3,500 meters downgradient from the disposal beds, with concentrations of the combined isomers ranging from less than 0.01 to over 1.0...
Authors
Larry B. Barber

Photolysis of rhodamine-WT dye

Photolysis of rhodamine-WT dye under natural sunlight conditions was determined by measuring the loss of fluorescence as a function of time. Rate coefficients at 30° north latitude ranged from 4.77 × 10−2 day−1 for summer to 3.16 × 10−2 day−2 for winter. Experimental coefficients were in good agreement with values calculated using a laboratory-determined value of the quantum yield.
Authors
D. Y. Tai, R. E. Rathbun

Sorption of vapors of some organic liquids on soil humic acid and its relation to partitioning of organic compounds in soil organic matter

Vapor sorption of water, ethanol, benzene, hexane, carbon tetrachloride, 1,1,1-trichloroethane, trichloroethylene, tetrachloroethylene, and 1,2-dibromoethane on (Sanhedron) soil humic acid has been determined at room temperature. Isotherms for all organic liquids are highly linear over a wide range of relative pressure, characteristic of the partitioning (dissolution) of the organic...
Authors
G.T. Chlou, D. E. Kile, Ronald L. Malcolm

Partition of nonionic organic compounds in aquatic systems

In aqueous systems, the distribution of many nonionic organic solutes in soil-sediment, aquatic organisms, and dissolved organic matter can be explained in terms of a partition model. The nonionic organic solute is distributed between water and different organic phases that behave as bulk solvents. Factors such as polarity, composition, and molecular size of the solute and organic phase...
Authors
James Andrew Smith, Patrick J. Witkowski, Cary T. Chiou
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