Remedial dredging of contaminated bed sediments in rivers and lakes results in the suspension of sediment solids in the water column, which can potentially be a source for evaporation of hydrophobic organic compounds (HOCs) associated with the sediment solids. Laboratory experiments were conducted in an oscillating grid chamber to simulate the suspension of contaminated sediments and flux to ai...

The microbial contamination of air filters and possible links to contaminated product in a powdered milk protein-processing facility were investigated. Over a 10-month period, seven air filters, the environment, and powdered product were analyzed for the presence of Cronobacter spp. The effects of air filter installation, maintenance, and subsequent dissemination of Cronobacter were investigate...

In recent years, air pollution has become a major worldwide concern. Air pollutants can affect metabolic activity, impede healthy development, and exhibit carcinogenic and toxic properties in humans. Over the past two decades, the use of microbes to remove pollutants from contaminated air streams has become a widely accepted and efficient alternative to the classical physical and chemical treat...

In the United States, petroleum extraction, refinement, and transportation present countless opportunities for spillage mishaps. A method for rapid field appraisal and mapping of petroleum hydrocarbon-contaminated soils for environmental cleanup purposes would be useful. Visible near-infrared (VisNIR, 350-2500 nm) diffuse reflectance spectroscopy (DRS) is a rapid, nondestructive, proximal-sensi...

Approximately 5.5 x 109 g (4.0 x 105) of mercury was discharged into the Carson River Drainage Basin of west-central Nevada during processing of the gold- and silver-rich Comstock ore in the late 1800s. For the past 13 decades, mercury has been redistributed throughout 500 km2 of the basin, and concentrations are some of the highest reported values in North America. This article documents the c...

The role of contaminated clothing in the transmission of influenza A virus during an epidemic period was investigated by examining the recovery of infectious influenza virus from experimentally virus-contaminated clothing, which had been subejected to routine wearing and washing for several months or years. The amount of infectious virus recovered from the nine types of clothing decreased with ...

In pistachio nuts, aflatoxin is mainly concentrated in the green hull-cracked nuts in the orchard even prior to harvest. However, during the hull-removal process, the hulls of all nuts including the cracked, identifiable nuts are removed causing an important characterization criterion of the contaminated nuts, to be lost. This, in turn, makes it harder to detect the contaminated nuts. However, ...

A soil core, obtained from a contaminated field site, contaminated with a mixture of volatile and semivolatile organic compounds (VOC and SVOC) was subjected to air and steam flushing. Removal rates of volatile and semivolatile organic compounds were monitored during flushing. Air flushing removed a significant portion of the VOC present in the soil, but a significant decline in removal rate oc...

In both developed and developing countries around the world, the health of significant numbers of people is adversely affected by a lack of adequate housing. Large-scale migrations into already crowded developing nation cities compound existing health problems associated with poor indoor air quality, contaminated drinking water, and limited sanitation infrastructure. In the developed world, lea...

Salmonella enterica subspecies enterica serotype Enteritidis (SE) has caused foodborne infections over decades. It is transmitted mainly from contaminated eggs to humans. SE is commonly present in layer houses, and closely interacts with environmental factors. The objective of the present study was to develop a viable PCR method to identify SE in environmental samples collected in layer farms o...