Fate and Transport of Emerging Contaminants in Natural Porous Media

Good quality water, essential to sustain human well-being, livelihoods and a healthy environment, is increasingly threatened by a variety of chemicals, called emerging contaminants. Made to aid mankind, but now polluting, emerging contaminants arise from daily anthropogenic practices via domestic, healthcare, agricultural and industrial processes. These pollutants can be pharmaceuticals, hormones and steroids, disinfection by-products, personal care products, flame retardants, agrochemicals (pesticides, fertilizers and growth agents), etc. Because of their rapidly increasing use and incomplete removal in wastewater treatment, these chemicals enter the environment at increasing levels. Understanding how emerging contaminants interact with mineral surfaces will help to assess the fate, mobility and ecological impacts in environmental systems.

Fe- or Mn-oxyhydroxides are generally the dominant redox-active minerals in soils, sediments, and other oxide-rich environments. From an engineering point of view, metal-mediated redox reactions can be potentially applicable for environmental remediation and protection. From an environmental point of view, they can affect a wide range of processes, including biogeochemical cycling and availability of trace elements, degradation of organic matter and transport and mobility of emerging contaminants.

Our research interests focus on combining experimental investigations and modeling in order to improve understanding of surface reactions taking place at mineral/water interfaces. This speech will give some examples of our recent works on the implications of reactive minerals in controlling the fate and transport of emerging compounds in environmental systems.  

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