Single Contaminant Source Research Articles

Backward Probability Model for Identifying Multiple Contaminant Source Zones Under Transient Variably Saturated Flow Conditions

AbstractGroundwater contamination is one of the major concerns to public health and water resource management. Identification of contamination sources is essential for designing cost‐effective groundwater remediation systems and minimizing risks of further contamination. Various numerical approaches have been applied to reconstruct spatiotemporal distributions of contaminant sources. Due to difficulties in obtaining source information, the backward probability model is computationally efficient; however, its applications have largely been limited to relatively simple problems such as two‐dimensional or simplified three‐dimensional steady‐state saturated flow conditions with a single contaminant source. More importantly, the traditional backward probability model requires some a priori knowledge on the suspected source locations or source release times to quantify source area location probabilities. Here we improve the capability of the backward probability model for solving real‐world problems by implementing it into a three‐dimensional transient variably saturated flow model. To evaluate the applicability of the model, we apply it combined with the shift‐average method to a field‐scale problem for identifying multiple contaminant sources occurring in the vadose zone that release contaminants to the saturated zone through infiltration. Compared with the suspected potential sources reported through a site characterization study, the enhanced backward probability model reasonably captures most of the reported potential sources under various hydrologic/hydrogeological/dispersion conditions, which demonstrates that the approach developed here can overcome limitations of the backward probability theory previously reported in the literature.

A Parametric Study of Automotive Rear End Geometries on Rear Soiling

The motivation for this paper is to consider the effect of rear end geometry on rear soiling using a representative generic SUV body. In particular the effect of varying the top slant angle is considered using both experiment and Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD). Previous work has shown that slant angle has a significant effect on wake shape and drag and the work here extends this to investigate the effect on rear soiling. It is hoped that this work can provide an insight into the likely effect of such geometry changes on the soiling of similarly shaped road vehicles. To increase the generality of results, and to allow comparison with previously obtained aerodynamic data, a 25% scale generic SUV model is used in the Loughborough University Large Wind Tunnel. UV doped water is sprayed from a position located at the bottom of the left rear tyre to simulate the creation of spray from this tyre. Having a single source of contamination simplifies the configuration of both experimental tests and simulations. It also improves analysis by allowing the soiling pattern from only one wheel to be seen in isolation. In order to provide further insight into the flowfield and its interaction with the spray CFD simulations are also performed at the same scale. A Detached Eddy Simulation approach is used, specifically the Spalart Allmaras formulation of the IDDES CFD model. Lagrangian particle tracking is used to model the dispersed phase. This CFD methodology has been found to give good agreement for soiling pattern with experiment for baseline cases.

An outbreak of norovirus GI-6 infection following a wedding in North West England.

In August 2015 a gastroenteritis outbreak occurred following a wedding. An outbreak investigation was undertaken and a cohort study was conducted using an online survey. Of 140 guests, 134 received the survey and 113 responded (84·3% response rate). Seventy respondents met the case definition of vomiting and/or diarrhoea within 72 h of the wedding (61·9% attack rate). Fifteen exposures were associated with illness; on stratification, all were confounded by the ham hock starter. Multivariable analysis showed a significant association with exposure to ham hock (risk ratio 6·62, 95% confidence interval 2·19-20·03). Eight guests and two catering staff submitted stool samples. All tested positive for norovirus GI-6 infection, including a food handler who had vomiting less than 48 h before the wedding. A single genotype was detected among all samples, suggesting a single source of contamination. The transmission pattern suggested point-source exposure. The most plausible cause of the outbreak was transmission from an infected food handler via contaminated food. This highlights the importance of appropriate exclusions for symptomatic food handlers. Additionally, the food handler's stool sample was submitted 7 days after symptom resolution. The potential for extended viral excretion, and the extremely low infective dose of norovirus, may mean that current exclusion guidelines are not of sufficient duration.

Contaminant event monitoring in multi-zone buildings using the state-space method

The dispersion of contaminants from sources (events) inside a building can compromise the indoor air quality and influence the occupants' comfort, health, productivity and safety. Such events could be the result of an accident, faulty equipment or a planned attack. Under these safety-critical conditions, immediate event detection should be guaranteed and the proper actions should be taken to ensure the safety of the people. In this paper, we consider an event as a fault in the process that disturbs the normal system operation. This places the problem of contaminant event monitoring in the fault diagnosis framework of detection and isolation. A main contribution of this work is the development of the state-space method, based on multi-zone building models, that enables the use of advanced fault diagnosis tools for contaminant event monitoring. Specifically, in this paper, we develop estimator schemes with adaptive thresholds for the detection and isolation of a single contaminant source under conditions of noise and modeling uncertainty. We demonstrate our proposed formulation using a 2-zone illustration example and a more realistic 14-zone building setting.

Experimental verification of tracking algorithm for dynamically-releasing single indoor contaminant.

Identifying contaminant sources in a precise and rapid manner is critical to indoor air quality (IAQ) management as disclosed source information can facilitate proper and effective IAQ controls in environments with airborne infection, fire smoke and chemical pollutant release etc. Probability-based inverse modeling method was shown feasible for locating single instantaneous source in IAQ events. To tackle more realistic sources of continuous release, this paper advances the method to identify continuously releasing single contaminant source. The study formulates a suite of inverse modeling algorithms that can promptly locate dynamic source with known release time for IAQ events. Two field experiments are employed to verify the prediction: one in a multi-room apartment and the other in a hospital ward which was involved in a SARS outbreak in Hong Kong in 2003. The developed algorithms promptly and accurately identify the source locations in both cases.

Performance of deterministic workplace exposure assessment models for various contaminant source, air inlet, and exhaust locations.

Contaminant concentration estimates from simple models were compared with concentration fields obtained by computational fluid dynamic (CFD) simulations for various room and source configurations under steady-state conditions. Airflow and contaminant distributions in a 10 x 3 x 7-m room with a single contaminant source on a 1-m high table were simulated using CFD for steady, isothermal conditions. For a high wall jet inlet, simulations were performed for nine room air exhaust locations and eight source locations. For a ceiling diffuser inlet the impact of two exhaust locations and eight source locations were investigated. Because CFD treats determinants of contaminant transport explicitly and agreed well with experimental results, it was used as the standard for comparison. Parameters of the one- and two-zone completely mixed models (CM-1 and CM-2) and the uniform turbulent diffusivity model (UD) were determined from CFD simulation results. Concentration estimates from these were compared with CFD results in the breathing zone (BZ) plane (1.5 m above the floor) for the entire BZ, the source "near field," and the source "far field." In the near field the mean percentage difference between the model concentration estimates and the CFD results for all room configurations were -21.9, 32.3, and 126% for the CM-1, CM-2, and UD models, respectively, with standard deviations of 26.8, 111, and 103%. In the far field the mean percentage difference between the model estimates and CFD results were -4.8, -2.3, and -36.3%. The CM-1 model had generally the best performance for applications such as occupational epidemiology for the conditions and configurations studied. However, CM-1 tended to underestimate the near field concentration; thus, CM-2 was judged to be better in the near field when underestimation is undesirable, such as when determining compliance with occupational exposure limits. The agreement of CM-2 estimates with CFD results in the near field was more variable than that of the CM-1. The UD model performed poorly on average in both near and far fields, and the difficulty in accurately estimating the turbulent diffusivity presents a significant impediment to UD model use for exposure estimation.

Improving the use of mixing factors for dilution ventilation design.

In specifying dilution ventilation flow rate, a safety factor, K, is often used to provide a margin of safety and to compensate for uncertainties and health impact severity. In current practice, the selection of K is very subjective. Here the component of K accounting for imperfect mixing, Km, was studied to develop more effective and efficient design procedures. Air flow and contaminant distribution in a 10 m x 3 m x 7 m room with a single contaminant source on a 1-m high table were simulated for steady, isothermal conditions using computational fluid dynamics. A series of 10 simulations explored factorial combinations of air exchange rates (1, 2,4, 8, 16 ACH) and inlet types (a high wall jet and a ceiling diffuser). Nine additional simulations explored exhaust opening location effects and 13 other simulations investigated source location effects. Km was calculated at each of 25,600 grid locations within the room by linear regression of emission rate/flow rate (G/Q) on concentration (C). The linear relationship between C and G/Q at each of the points was nearly perfect (R2 > 0.97). For the simulations with varying dilution flow rate, Km ranged from 0.19 to 2.86 for the wall jet and from 0.94 to 4.34 for the ceiling diffuser. Holding G/Q at 100 ppm and varying source and exhaust location produced room average concentrations from 55.7 to 173 ppm. Unlike orthodox design approaches, this work suggests that air monitoring data often can be used to calculate dilution flow rate requirements. Also, dilution flow rate requirements may be reduced by enhancing room mixing with fans or altering air inlet configuration. However, mixing should not be increased if the altered room air currents could transport contaminant to an occupant's breathing zone or interfere with other control methods that depend on segregation of incoming air and contaminant.

Direct and Indirect Exposure to Air Pollution

Hazardous substances that originally are discharged as air pollutants may find their pathway to human exposure through multiple routes, including ingestion and dermal contact, as well as direct inhalation. The mechanisms for modeling and understanding the fate of air pollutants through atmospheric transport, deposition into water and soil, bioaccumulation, and ultimate uptake to receptor organs and systems in the human body are complex. Pollution prevention programs can be better engineered, pollution priorities can be identified, and greater environmental public health gains (attributable to pollution prevention) can be achieved by evaluating the multiple pathways to human exposure and through improved dosage calculations. A single contaminant source often may represent only a fraction of a total body pollutant burden. Further research is needed on source culpability and attributable risk, long-range transport of air pollutants, human dose contributions by various pathways, better techniques for health risk assessment, and an identification of human behavior patterns that affect exposure and dose.

Direct and indirect exposure to air pollution

Hazardous substances that originally are discharged as air pollutants may find their pathway to human exposure through multiple routes, including ingestion and dermal contact, as well as direct inhalation. The mechanisms for modeling and understanding the fate of air pollutants through atmospheric transport, deposition into water and soil, bioaccumulation, and ultimate uptake to receptor organs and systems in the human body are complex. Pollution prevention programs can be better engineered, pollution priorities can be identified, and greater environmental public health gains (attributable to pollution prevention) can be achieved by evaluating the multiple pathways to human exposure and through improved dosage calculations. A single contaminant source often may represent only a fraction of a total body pollutant burden. Further research is needed on source culpability and attributable risk, long-range transport of air pollutants, human dose contributions by various pathways, better techniques for health risk assessment, and an identification of human behavior patterns that affect exposure and dose. (Otolaryngol Head Neck Surg 1996;114:281-5.)

A multi-route exposure assessment of chemically contaminated drinking water.

This report provides an example of how a single source of contamination could potentially contribute to all routes of exposure. A modeling approach was used to estimate multiple exposure routes in an attempt to assess the health significance of gasoline-contaminated drinking water supplies. This model consisted of a two-compartment, indoor air quality equation that calculates the contribution made by ambient and indoor air contaminated by a pollutant volatilized from drinking water to that pollutant's inhalation burden. In addition, the model uses the traditional equations for assessing a pollutant's oral and dermal burdens. Benzene, toluene and xylene were used as surrogates for gasoline contamination to determine the contribution of contaminated water to adult and child body burdens from indoor air, oral (drinking water and food) and dermal exposure routes. The contribution thus calculated for each chemical was compared to the EPA's Office of Drinking Water Health Advisories. In terms of acute exposure, the use of chemically contaminated water for showering purposes may generate vapor in the confined area of the bathroom at levels sufficient to cause or contribute to mucous tissue irritation, as commonly reported in affected homes. High temperatures and humidity may also contribute to these effects, especially in the bathroom. In terms of chronic exposure, the use of chemically contaminated water at EPA-recommended guideline amounts in an affected home may result in inhalation, oral and dermal exposures leading to cumulative doses exceeding adult and child total daily body burdens based on EPA's Health Advisories. Thus, this model indicates that the traditional standard/guidelines derivation processes should be reevaluated to consider the pollutant contribution from multiple routes of exposure. The New Jersey Departments of Health and Environmental Protection conducted a study in which concentrations of several pollutants including benzene in the breathing zone were measured during a 15-minute shower in homes with contaminated water. The findings suggest that the air quality model used in the present study may satisfactorily predict the airborne concentrations of pollutants in, at least, the bathroom after showering with contaminated water (Pearson rank correlation coefficient of 0.773 with p = 0.0012 for n = 14). The findings of the present study support the use of an adjustment factor for all exposure durations to account for exposures to other sources of the contaminant, i.e., urban, occupational, and food. A value of 20% seems appropriate based on the study's findings.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)