Application of anaerobic salt-tolerant microorganisms to treatment of saline waste streams

该项目的目标是建立能够从被污染的沃茨中去除污染物的技术，否则这些污染物可能被认为是不可处理的。 可持续发展社会的一个重要方面是供水。 处理饮用水以去除不健康的污染物是实现这一目标的关键，在将工业废水排放到环境中之前去除污染物也是如此。 拟议中的研究的一个重点是从饮用水中去除高氯酸盐和硝酸盐。 高氯酸盐是一种污染物，在整个北美和欧洲的饮用水源中越来越频繁地发现，这是由于军事和工业活动的污染，如火箭，烟花和汽车安全气囊的制造和使用。 最近的研究还表明，高氯酸盐可能是天然存在的，它已被发现在许多食物，如生菜和牛奶。 从农业水源中去除高氯酸盐可能对保护食物来源很重要。 高氯酸盐对健康的影响与甲状腺的功能有关，甲状腺控制着早期发育和终生代谢过程。 最近的研究表明，即使饮用水中的高氯酸盐含量很低，也会导致人类甲状腺功能下降。 长期以来，人们都知道硝酸盐会导致婴儿血液携氧能力的变化，从而导致“蓝婴”综合症。 硝酸盐通常是高氯酸盐的共污染物。 开发处理工艺，从受污染的水中去除高氯酸盐和硝酸盐，对保护加拿大公民的健康至关重要。 该提案的另一个重点是开发能够从石油勘探和回收作业采出水中去除石油污染物的技术。 产出水是盐水，不适合常规生物处理。 从这类废物中去除污染物的能力将大大有助于正在进行的工作，以恢复加拿大过去受到不良做法影响的自然环境，并提供一种防止进一步污染的机制。

The objectives for this project are to establish technologies that can remove contaminants from contaminated waters that might not otherwise be considered treatable.  An important aspect of a sustainable society is its water supply.  The treatment of drinking water to remove unhealthy contaminants is crucial to this goal, as is the removal of contaminants from industrial wastewaters before discharging them to the environment.  One thrust of the proposed research is the removal of perchlorate and nitrate from drinking water.  Perchlorate is a contaminant that is being found more and more frequently in drinking water sources throughout North America and Europe as a result of contamination from military and industrial activities such as the manufacture and use of rocketry, fireworks, and automobile airbags.  Recent studies also suggest that perchlorate may occur naturally and it has been found in many foods such as lettuce and milk.  Removing perchlorate from agricultural water sources may be important to protect the food sources.  The health effects of perchlorate are related to the function of the thyroid gland, which controls early development and life long metabolic processes.  Recent studies suggest that even very low levels of perchlorate in drinking water correlate with decreased thyroid function in humans.  Nitrate has long been known to cause changes in the oxygen carrying capacity of the blood of infants causing "blue baby" syndrome.  Nitrate is typically a co-contaminant with perchlorate.  The development of treatment processes to remove perchlorate and nitrate from contaminated water is imperative to protect the health of Canadian citizens.  The other thrust of the proposal is the development of technology capable of removing oil contaminants from oil exploration and recovery operations produced water.  Produced water is saline and not amenable to regular biological treatment.  The ability to remove contaminants from this type of waste will greatly aid in the work underway to restore natural environments in Canada exposed to the poor practices of the past and provide a mechanism to prevent further contamination.