[1] This study investigated long-term chemical aging of model biogenic secondary organic aerosol (SOA) prepared from the ozonolysis of terpenes. Techniques including electrospray ionization mass spectrometry (ESI-MS), UV-visible spectroscopy, Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy, NMR, and three-dimensional fluorescence were used to probe the changes in chemical composition of SOA collected by impaction on substrates and also of aqueous extracts of SOA. The addition of ammonium ions or amino acids to limonene SOA reproducibly produced orange-colored species that strongly absorbed visible radiation and fluoresced at UV and visible wavelengths. Simultaneous addition of H 2 SO 4 to the SOA aqueous extracts inhibited this color transformation. These observations suggest the existence of aging processes leading to heavily conjugated molecules containing organic nitrogen. The presence of nitrogen in the chromophores was confirmed by the dependence of the absorption and fluorescence spectra on the amino acids added. In contrast to the strong change in the absorption and fluorescence spectra, there was no significant change in the ESI-MS, FTIR, and NMR spectra, suggesting that the chromophores were minor species in the aged SOA. Aqueous extracts of aged limonene + NH 4 + SOA were characterized by an effective base-e absorption coefficient of $3 L g À1 cm À1 at 500 nm. Assuming particulate matter concentrations typical of polluted rural air gives an upper limit of 0.2 M m À1 for the aerosol absorption coefficient due to the aged limonene oxidation products. Biogenic SOA can therefore become weakly absorbing if they undergo aging in the presence of NH 4 + -containing aerosol.
Humans create vast quantities of wastewater through inefficiencies and poor management of water systems. The wasting of water poses sustainability challenges, depletes energy reserves, and undermines human water security and ecosystem health. Here we review emerging approaches for reusing wastewater and minimizing its generation. These complementary options make the most of scarce freshwater resources, serve the varying water needs of both developed and developing countries, and confer a variety of environmental benefits. Their widespread adoption will require changing how freshwater is sourced, used, managed, and priced.
A rapid increase in the concentration of hydrogen peroxide was observed when samples of natural surface and ground water from various locations in the United States were exposed to sunlight. The hydrogen peroxide is photochemically generated from organic constituents present in the water; humic materials are believed to be the primary agent producing the peroxide. Studies with superoxide dismutase suggest that the superoxide anion is the precursor of the peroxide.
Pulse radiolysis experiments were conducted on dissolved organic matter (DOM) samples isolated as hydrophobic and hydrophilic acids and neutrals from different sources (i.e., stream, lake, wastewater treatment plant). Absolute bimolecular reaction rate constants for the reaction of hydroxyl radicals (*OH) with DOM (k*(OH), DOM) were determined. k*(OH, DOM) values are expressed as moles of carbon. Based on direct measurement of transient DOM radicals (DOM*) and competition kinetic techniques, both using pulse radiolysis, the k*(OH, DOM) value for a standard fulvic acid from the Suwannee River purchased from the International Humic Substances Society was (1.60 +/- 0.24) x 10(8) M(-1) s(-1). Both pulse radiolysis methods yielded comparable k*(OH, DOM) values. The k*(OH, DOM) values for the seven DOM isolates from different sources ranged from 1.39 x 10(8) M(-1) s(-1) to 4.53 x 10(8) M(-1) s(-1), and averaged 2.23 x 108 M(-1) s(-1) (equivalent to 1.9 x 10(4) (mgC/L)(-1) s(-1)). These values represent the first direct measurements of k*(OH, DOM,) and they compare well with literature values obtained via competition kinetic techniques during ozone or ultraviolet irradiation experiments. More polar, lower-molecular-weight DOM isolates from wastewater have higher k*(OH, DOM) values. In addition, the formation (microsecond time scale) and decay (millisecond time scale) of DOM* transients were observed for the first time. DOM* from hydrophobic acids exhibited broader absorbance spectra than transphilic acids, while wastewater DOM isolates had narrower DOM* spectra more skewed toward shorter wavelengths than did DOM* spectra for hydrophobic acids.
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