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Importance of a Nanoscience Approach in the Understanding of Major Aqueous Contamination Scenarios: Case Study from a Recent Coal Ash Spill
journal contribution
posted on 2015-03-17, 00:00 authored by Yi Yang, Benjamin P. Colman, Emily
S. Bernhardt, Michael F. HochellaA coal
ash spill that occurred from an ash impoundment pond into
the Dan River, North Carolina, provided a unique opportunity to study
the significance and role of naturally occurring and incidental nanomaterials
associated with contaminant distribution from a large-scale, acute
aquatic contamination event. Besides traditional measurements of bulk
watercolumn and sediment metal concentrations, the nanoparticle (NP)
analyses are based on cross-flow ultrafiltration (CFUF) and advanced
transmission electron microscopy (TEM) techniques. A drain pipe fed
by coal ash impoundment seepage showed a high level of arsenic, with
concentrations many times over the EPA limit. The majority of the
arsenic was found sorbed to large aggregates dominated by incidental
iron oxyhydroxide (ferrihydrite) NPs, while the remainder of the arsenic
was truly dissolved. These ferrihydrites were probably formed in situ
where Fe(II) was leached through subsurface flowpaths into an aerobic
environment, and further act as a significant contributor to the elevated
As concentrations in downstream sediments after the spill. In addition,
we discovered and describe a photocatalytic nano-TiO2 phase
(anatase) present in the coal ash impacted river water that was also
carrying/transporting transition metals (Cu, Fe), which may also have
environmental consequences.
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Dan RiverRecent Coal Ash SpillA coal ash spillcoal ash impoundment seepagecontaminant distributionEPA limitcoal ashsediment metal concentrationsMajor Aqueous Contamination ScenariosNorth CarolinaNanoscience ApproacharsenicTEMFeNPcontamination eventtransmission electron microscopyriver waterferrihydritebulk watercolumnCase StudyCFUFdrain pipeash impoundment pondiron oxyhydroxide
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