Prioritisation of abstraction boreholes at risk from chlorinated solvent contamination on the UK Permo-Triassic Sandstone aquifer using a GIS.

A 250 km2 area of the Permo-Triassic Sandstone aquifer in the West Midlands of England, UK, was selected as a test region for the development of a geographic information system (GIS)-based risk assessment methodology that incorporates contaminant source, groundwater vulnerability and groundwater abstraction catchment elements in order to prioritise areas and boreholes potentially at risk from chlorinated solvent pollution on a regional scale. Factors incorporated in the vulnerability assessment include the nature of soils, presence or absence of superficial or glacial deposits, fault density and depth to water table. ARCVIEW GIS was employed with a simple ranking system from which the derived vulnerability assessment index was combined with current chlorinated solvent user industry data and source protection zone components. Results indicate the presence of high-risk areas in urban locations where locally dense distributions of chlorinated solvent user industries combine with high vulnerability aquifers within the catchment of supply boreholes. Ranking of catchment-specific risk reveals the abstraction points under greatest stress. The proposed methodology has applications as a regional-scale initial screening tool to guide site selection for regulatory inspections and assist in prioritising monitoring strategies for existing boreholes. Future developments will provide guidance for locating new urban boreholes in areas of lowest risk.

The effect of pH and concentration upon aggregation transitions in aqueous solutions of poloxamine T701.

Thermally induced aggregation transitions have been investigated for aqueous solutions of the poloxamine block copolymer T701-(OE(4)OP(13))(2)NCH(2)CH(2)N(OP(13)OE(4))(2)-using differential scanning calorimetry. The calorimetric signals obtained were fitted to a mass action model description of aggregation using a previously reported analytical procedure (Patterson et al., Langmuir 13 (1997) 2219). The presence of a central ethylene diamine moiety in the molecular structure renders the T701 molecule basic; this was confirmed and measured by acid/base titration. Basicity is shown to have an important impact upon aggregation. At low pH (2.5), the poloxamine exists in its protonated form and the bulk solution proton concentration is sufficient to suppress de-protonation, aggregation-as a consequence-is shifted to a higher temperature range. Any increase in pH reduces the temperature range over which aggregation occurs. The derived experimental calorimetric parameters, obtained from model fitting procedures, can be used to compute the fraction of poloxamine existing in an aggregated form, at any particular temperature. The data sets obtained were interpolated to show that at human body temperature (310.6 K) the fraction of poloxamine found in its aggregated form is zero at a pH of 2.5. However at a pH of 6.8, the percentage aggregation increases to about 85%. These aggregation characteristics of T701 have important implications for the design of drug delivery systems, which incorporate poloxamines.

Wettability changes in trichloroethylene-contaminated sandstone.

It is usually assumed that chlorinated solvent nonaqueous-phase liquids (NAPLs) are nonwetting with respect to water-saturated porous media. The focus of this work was to examine whether this supposition is appropriate for used trichloroethylene (TCE) samples. In this work, the term "used" indicates that the sample has been employed industrially and therefore contains solutes and breakdown products related to its previous use. The data obtained in this study indicate that exposure of initially water wet quartz slides to industrially used solvents can cause a contact angle change, measured through the aqueous phase, of 100 degrees with a maximum stable contact angle of 170 degrees (indicative of strong NAPL wetting characteristics) being recorded. The work on quartz slides was complemented by the use of sandstone cores. Wettability was measured using the Amott test. Used TCE again proved able to alter the wetting properties of sandstone to neutral wetting. The complexity of the industrially used samples precluded any realistic attempt to examine the agents causing these wetting changes. The data captured in these experiments were compared with laboratory grade TCE, and some attempts were made to synthesize known mixtures in order to replicate wetting changes. These experiments resulted in contact angle changes but did not alter the overall wettability of the quartz slides or sandstone cores. Finally the work reported here also demonstrates that increasing the duration of exposure to solvent has an important impact upon measured contact angle.

An investigation of adsorption at the air-water and soil-water interfaces for non-micellizing ethylene oxide-propylene oxide surfactants.

Adsorption at the air-water interface and soil sorption from aqueous solution have been investigated for a group of ethylene oxide (EO)-propylene oxide (PO) block copolymeric surfactants. The group which have a common structural formula of EOm POn EOm is distinguished by the fact that they have large critical micelle concentration (CMC) values and therefore do not readily form micelles at common environmental concentrations and temperatures. Adsorption at the air-water interface is readily shown to be driven by the size of the hydrophobic PO block. The size of the reduction in surface tension produced by a common concentration of 10(-5) mol dm(-3) linearly increases with the size of the PO block as does the efficiency of adsorption at the air-water interface as measured by pC20--the negative logarithm of the surfactant concentration that produces a reduction in surface tension of 20 mN m(-1). Soil sorption data have also been captured for these compounds and the data are readily fitted to the Freundlich adsorption isotherm. However soil sorption is shown to be inversely related to the molecular mass of the molecules and appears to be related to the size of the hydrophilic EO blocks in the molecule.

The pattern of metal deposition to a woodland ecosystem as revealed by bryophyte analysis.

The concentrations and enrichment factor data for 7 metals has been investigated in samples of Hypnum cupressiforme obtained from various parts of a woodland located to the south east of London and immediately adjacent to the M 25 motorway. Despite the rural location of the woodland, metal level and enrichment factor data suggest a moderate degree of contamination. Application of analysis of variance to the data indicates individual metal levels at woodland edges are significantly different from adjacent internal sites, suggesting enhanced deposition at these edges. The fact that this significance pattern is not repeated at all edges indicates a directional influence on levels. Correlation coefficient data indicates metal/metal associations and allows some speculation about the major pathways by which metals are atmospherically transported to and deposited in the woodland.