Insights into mixed contaminants interactions and its implication for heavy metals and metalloids mobility, bioavailability and risk assessment

Mobility of heavy metals at contaminated sites is mainly influenced by the soil physicochemical properties and environmental conditions, therefore assessing heavy metals (HMs) and metalloids fractionation can provide insights into their potential risk and the mechanisms that regulate bioavailability. A 12-months mesocosms experiment was setup to investigate the effect of physicochemical factors (pH, moisture, and temperature) and weathering (time) on HMs and metalloids fractionation in three different multi-contaminated soil matrices (low, medium, and high contamination) collected from a soil treatment facility located in the United Kingdom, and two rural contaminated soil samples. The study demonstrates that even though Pb and Zn were found associated with the exchangeable fraction in the soil with the highest contamination (total average Pb 3400 mg/kg, and total average Zn 2100 mg/kg in Soil C), neither the condition applied nor the weathering caused an increase in their mobility. Although it was expected that lower pH (4.5) would favours the dissociation of HMs and metalloids, no significant differences were observed, potentially due to the initial alkaline pH of the genuine-contaminated soil samples. The results show that even though total concentration of Pb, Cu, and Zn exceed the soil standards and guideline values, HMs were predominantly associated with the non-exchangeable fraction, while only 5% were dissolved in the pore water fraction (potentially bioavailable). In addition, the mobility and bioavailability of HMs remained constant over the 12 months monitoring, suggesting that these soils pose negligible risk to the environment

Design of experiments to study the impact of process parameters on droplet size and development of non-invasive imaging techniques in tablet coating

Atomisation of an aqueous solution for tablet film coating is a complex process with multiple factors determining droplet formation and properties. The importance of droplet size for an efficient process and a high quality final product has been noted in the literature, with smaller droplets reported to produce smoother, more homogenous coatings whilst simultaneously avoiding the risk of damage through over-wetting of the tablet core. In this work the effect of droplet size on tablet film coat characteristics was investigated using X-ray microcomputed tomography (XμCT) and confocal laser scanning microscopy (CLSM). A quality by design approach utilising design of experiments (DOE) was used to optimise the conditions necessary for production of droplets at a small (20 μm) and large (70 μm) droplet size. Droplet size distribution was measured using real-time laser diffraction and the volume median diameter taken as a response. DOE yielded information on the relationship three critical process parameters: pump rate, atomisation pressure and coating-polymer concentration, had upon droplet size. The model generated was robust, scoring highly for model fit (R2 = 0.977), predictability (Q2 = 0.837), validity and reproducibility. Modelling confirmed that all parameters had either a linear or quadratic effect on droplet size and revealed an interaction between pump rate and atomisation pressure. Fluidised bed coating of tablet cores was performed with either small or large droplets followed by CLSM and XμCT imaging. Addition of commonly used contrast materials to the coating solution improved visualisation of the coating by XμCT, showing the coat as a discrete section of the overall tablet. Imaging provided qualitative and quantitative evidence revealing that smaller droplets formed thinner, more uniform and less porous film coats

Two-phase reactors applied to the removal of substituted phenols: comparison between liquid-liquid and liquid-solid systems

In this paper, a comparison is provided between liquid-liquid and liquid-solid partitioning systems applied to the removal of high concentrations of 4-nitrophenol The target compound is a typical representative of substituted phenols found in many industrial effluents while the biomass was a mixed culture operating as a conventional Sequencing Batch Reactor and acclimatized to 4-nitrophenol as the sole carbon source Both two-phase systems showed enhanced performance relative to the conventional single phase bioreactor and may be suitable for industrial application The best results were obtained with the polymer Hytrel (TM) which is characterized by higher partition capability in comparison to the immiscible liquid solvent (2-undecanone) and to the polymer Tone (TM) A model of the two systems was formulated and applied to evaluate the relative magnitudes of the reaction, mass transfer and diffusion characteristic times Kinetic parameters for the Haldane equation, diffusivity and mass transfer coefficients have been evaluated by data fitting of batch tests for liquid-liquid and liquid-solid two phase systems Finally, preliminary results showed the feasibility of polymer regeneration to facilitate polymer reuse by an extended contact time with the biomas

Two phase reactors applied to the removal of substituted phenols: comparison between liquid-liquid and liquid-solid systems

In this paper, a comparison is provided between liquid-liquid and liquid-solid partitioning systems applied to the removal of high concentrations of 4-nitrophenol The target compound is a typical representative of substituted phenols found in many industrial effluents while the biomass was a mixed culture operating as a conventional Sequencing Batch Reactor and acclimatized to 4-nitrophenol as the sole carbon source Both two-phase systems showed enhanced performance relative to the conventional single phase bioreactor and may be suitable for industrial application The best results were obtained with the polymer Hytrel (TM) which is characterized by higher partition capability in comparison to the immiscible liquid solvent (2-undecanone) and to the polymer Tone (TM) A model of the two systems was formulated and applied to evaluate the relative magnitudes of the reaction, mass transfer and diffusion characteristic times Kinetic parameters for the Haldane equation, diffusivity and mass transfer coefficients have been evaluated by data fitting of batch tests for liquid-liquid and liquid-solid two phase systems Finally, preliminary results showed the feasibility of polymer regeneration to facilitate polymer reuse by an extended contact time with the biomas