Trichloroethylene (TCE) is a common industrial solvent that poses a particular pollution problem in groundwater; while TCE disappears from surface water within a few weeks, groundwater contamination can take months or years to degrade. Humans have not conclusively been shown to develop cancer in response to TCE exposure, but rats and mice exposed to TCE have an increased incidence of liver and ...

Uranium contamination of groundwater increasingly concerns rural residents depending on home wells for their drinking water in communities where uranium is a source of contamination. Established technologies to clean up contaminated aquifers are ineffective in large contaminated areas or are prohibitively expensive. Permeable reactive barriers (PRBs) are a low-cost alternative to these methods....

Groundwater quality degradation is a major threat to sustainable development in Texas. The aim of this study was to elucidate spatiotemporal patterns of groundwater fluoride (F) contamination in different water use classes in 16 groundwater management areas in Texas between 1960 and 2010. Groundwater F concentration data were obtained from the Texas Water Development Board and aggregated over a...

The exploration of unconventional shale energy reserves and the extensive use of hydraulic fracturing during well stimulation have raised concerns about the potential effects of unconventional oil and gas extraction (UOG) on the environment. Most accounts of groundwater contamination have focused primarily on the compositional analysis of dissolved gases to address whether UOG activities have h...

A range of isotopic methods (using radioactive and stable isotopes) have been used to investigate groundwater processes and to determine the sources and pathways for groundwater contamination. Methods using stable isotopes of nitrogen have been applied in a variety of Australian and international groundwater studies. Isotopic methods have involved either application of tracer isotopes or studyi...

This study aims to investigate the impact of MSW landfill on the contamination of phthalate esters (PAEs) in nearby environment. Landfill leachate, surface water, groundwater and soil profile samples were collected from a MSW landfill area in Wuhan, China. Contents of 16 PAEs were detected for each sample using gas chromatography method. Results showed that landfill had an obvious effect on the...

The contamination of groundwater by arsenic in Bangladesh is the largest poisoning of a population in history, with millions of people exposed. This paper describes the history of the discovery of arsenic in drinking-water in Bangladesh and recommends intervention strategies. Tube-wells were installed to provide "pure water" to prevent morbidity and mortality from gastrointestinal disease. The ...

The safety of groundwater resources is a serious issue, particularly when these resources are the main source of water for drinking, irrigation and industrial use in coastal areas. In Italy, 85% of the water used by the public is of underground origin. The aim of this report is to analyze the main factors that make groundwater vulnerable. Soil characteristics and filtration capacity can promote...