Transport and fate of emerging contaminants in subsurface soils

在急于推出有利可图的新消费品的过程中，我们的世界已经被可能传播和污染我们环境的化学物质所淹没。该提案涉及研究全氟化合物-一类“新出现的关切”污染物-在土壤中迁移的迫切需要。目前对这些污染物的认识存在重大差距，包括它们的发生、运输和转化机制。由于全氟化学品的持久性、有害健康影响和生态风险，这种缺乏了解的情况令人担忧。全氟化碳被用作防污剂，并被用于多种消费品和工业产品中，其中大多数最终被填埋。废水处理厂的生物固体也含有PFC。我提议的对这些污染物的工程方面的研究将是加拿大第一次。我的团队将调查（i）全氟化学品如何进入环境并在环境中传播，以及（ii）全氟化学品如何在溶质及其相关气相中在地下土壤中运输。我们将利用一个独特的和新颖的仪器来确定气体在土壤中的迁移，克服以前的测量技术的缺点。这项工作将包括培训三名博士、一名硕士和一些工程硕士和本科生，为处理未来的污染物问题提供新的加拿大专门知识。填补目前的知识空白可能会导致发展和改进的基本预防，补救和治疗的方法，这项研究形成了我的整体研究计划的一个组成部分，重点是了解污染的机制;他们的来源，释放和传播的环境;的命运和运输的污染物在地下土壤;环境风险;和保护人类健康和环境。

In the rush to introduce profitable new consumer products, our world has been inundated with chemical species that can spread and contaminate our environment. This proposal addresses the urgent need to study the migration of perfluorinated compounds (PFCs) -- a class of contaminants of "emerging concern" -- in soil. Significant gaps in current knowledge of these contaminants include their occurrence, transport, and transformation mechanisms. This lack of understanding is worrying due to the persistence, adverse health effects and ecological risks of PFCs. PFCs are used as stain repellents and incorporated in a multitude of consumer and industrial products, the majority of which ultimately end up in landfills. Biosolids from wastewater treatment plants also contain PFCs. My proposed study of the engineering aspects of these contaminants will be the first of its kind in Canada. My team would investigate (i) how PFCs are entering and spreading in the environment, and (ii) how PFCs are transported in subsurface soils in both solutes and their associated gas phases. We will utilize a unique and novel apparatus to determine the migration of gases in soil, overcoming shortcomings of previous measurement techniques. This work will involve the training of three PhD, one MASc and a number of MEng and undergraduate students, providing new Canadian expertise to deal with future contaminant issues. Filling the current knowledge gaps could lead to the development and improvement of essential prevention, remediation and treatment methods.This study forms an integral part of my overall research program, which focuses on understanding the mechanisms of contamination; their sources, release and spread in the environment; the fate and transport of contaminants in subsurface soils; environmental risk; and the protection of human health and the environment.