recent advances in environmental...

Recent Advances in Environmental

Analysis

Chemists have all the Fun !

Cool chemists….

1Malaysia…Equally Cool

Organics Lab

ALS Malaysia

7

Recent Advances

• Environmental Forensics

• Rapid Water Toxicity Test

• Microbial Source Tracking

• Oil Spill Analysis

• Metal Speciation

Environmental Forensics

• The application of scientific methods

used to identify the origin and timing

of a contaminant release

• Who, What, When ?

Environmental Forensics

Physical, Chemical, Biological Measurements /

Interpretation

Historical

Info

Fact

witnesses

Tools

• Aerial photography

- Identification of sources and pathways

• Contaminant identification

• Identify ecological stresses and stressors

• Lab Tools and Lab Analysis

- source identification

Environmental Forensics

• Chemistry

• Statistics

• Microbiology

• Hydrogeology

• Toxicology

• Biology

• Environmental Engineering

• Litigation Experience

Lab Tools – Types

• GCs

• ICPs

• Toxicological

• PCR

• Spectrophotometry

Water Toxicity Test

• Rapid Water Toxicity Test - Microtox

• Results within 3 hours

• Widely used in many countries for water

quality assessments

Fish Bioassay

• Traditional method - Acute

Toxicity Test

• Principle:

• The fish are exposed to the

test substance ~ 96 hours.

• Mortalities - recorded 24, 48,

72 & 96 hours – determined

LC50 value

Principle of Operation Patented Bacterial strain

Vibrio fischeri - sensitive

to organic and inorganic

substances.

Respiration includes the

emission of luminescence

from the Lux Gene.

When respiration is inhibited,

the luminescence will

diminish.

Microtox® Toxicity Testing

Non -toxic

sample Toxic sample

Sick or dead bacteria with little or no light

Healthy, bright, luminescent bacteria

Principle of Operation

Measure light intensity

at different

concentrations of

samples

*Result Interpretation

Microtox EC50 Apparent Toxicity Level

0-19 Extremely Toxic

20-39 Very Toxic

40-59 Toxic

60-79 Moderately Toxic

80-99 Slightly Toxic

>100 Nontoxic

*vary from case to case and sample to sample.

Global Acceptance

• United States - U.S. EPA, has adopted Microtox

as a standard test in an ongoing program of

Assessment and Remediation of Contaminated

Sediments.

• Australia - discharge, trade waste and effluent

regulations

• Similarly recognised in Canada, the United

Kingdom, Germany, Sweden and the

Netherlands

Market Segments & Applications

Effluents and Discharges

• Discharge waters

• Industrial Tradewastes

• Mining activities

• Cooling Towers

Leachates

•TCLP prior to disposal

• Landfill leachates

• Slags and Waste for reuse

Waters

•Oil & Gas Exploration

•Oil & Gas Production

•Groundwater monitoring

Soils & Sediments

•Sediments before dredging

•Soils at remediation sites

• Fecal contamination

• Coliform / E. coli

• Countable, not just presence/absence.

Importance of Bacteria as Water Quality Indicators

Sources of Bacterial Pollution • Unmanaged livestock/pet waste • Leaking sewer pipes/storm overflows • Wildlife (mammals and birds) • Malfunctioning septic systems

Microbial Source Tracking

• Traditional methods to monitor fecal

contamination

• Does not identify the Source

• Molecular Biology (PCR) to identify the

Source

• Genus Bacteroides

Microbial Source Tracking

Oil Spill Analysis

• Fingerprinting – GCFID and GCMS

• Biomarkers – GCMS

• Fuel Additives

Figure 2 : Gasoline, Diesel and Motor Oil

GC Chromatograms

GC-Mass Spec

Reliable & Defensible Data

Planning

Sampling

Analysis

Reporting

Sample Preservation

Holding Times

Handling & Transport

QA/QC Systems

Oil Spill Analysis

1) Sampling - at least 1L of water

2) Sample Preparation / Extraction

3) Sample Analysis

4) Quality Control Checks

5) Data Interpretation

6) Conclusion

Arsenic Contamination

• Arsenic – naturally occurring in soil, water and air

• 2 forms of Arsenic – Organic and Inorganic

• Toxic – Inorganic As

• As (III) and As (V) – health hazards

• Arsenic contamination in groundwater is an International Problem.

Major Arsenic Species Measured

arsenite, As(III) arsenate, As(V) arsenobetaine, AsB monomethylarsonic acid, MMA

dimethylarsinic acid, DMA

trimethylarsine oxide, TMAO

Tetramethylarsonium ion, TMAs

arsenocholine, AsCho

arsenosugars: sugar a R = OPO3HCH2CH(OH)CH2OH sugar b R = SO3H sugar c R = OSO3H sugar d R = OH

In blue Species analyze in this work

LC-ICPMS setup (As Speciation)

LC 1260 ICPMS 7700x

Process Flow

ALS - Divisions

Thank You

tchin@alsglobal.com.my