ACS Award for Encouraging Disadvantage Students into Careers in the Chemical Sciences: Symposium in Honor of Shirley McBay
Cosponsored by The Camille and Henry Dreyfus Foundation, Inc, Committee on Minority Affairs, Committee on Project SEED, and Women Chemists Committee
Detection and Monitoring of Engineered Nanoparticles in Environmental and Biological Systems
Sponsored by Division of Colloid & Surface Chemistry
The emergence of engineered nanomaterials in consumer products raises concern for their potential impacts in the environment and in biological systems. Lagging behind this concern, however, is the development of robust methods to monitor nanomaterials in environmental and biological matrices, and more difficult, to distinguish natural, incidental, and engineered nanomaterials in these matrices. The challenge is made greater by the expected transformation of nanomaterials (e.g. size and elemental distributions) via adsorption, aggregation, dissolution/precipitation, and redox reactions in aquatic and biological environments. This session concerns the development and application of analytical methods to detect and monitor engineered nanomaterials in the above contexts, as well as the findings of these investigations regarding the influences of the above processes on nanoparticle impacts in environmental and biological systems.
Environmental Distribution, Degradation, and Mobility of Explosives and Propellant Compounds
For this symposium, presenters will discuss the latest information concerning the environmental fate of munition compounds in terrestrial and marine systems. Current models predicting the environmental fate are very rudimentary, lacking inclusion of chemical mechanistic information. Successful implementation of this kind of information in models should aid in predicting contaminant movement from sites impossible to remediate, such as long-term military training ranges and sea-bottom ocean dumps. Topics include representative field sampling, as well as chemical mechanisms controlling dissolution, sorption, degradation (abiotic/biotic), and mobility of explosives and propellant compounds.
Environmental Toxicology
The need to address issues surrounding environmental pollution caused the fields of toxicology and chemistry to find new common ground in the filed known as Environmental Toxicology. For the last three decades scientists and engineers from quite diverse backgrounds have collaborated to determine which stressors have adverse effects on environmental systems. Early activities sought to determine the nature of chemical toxicity in laboratory settings and the extent of pollutant distributions. With improvements in environmental chemistry and ecology techniques the filed matured to the point that toxic responses could be evaluated in the field. Current practices now employ molecular modeling, metabolomics, pharmacokinetics, environmental chemistry, ecology, transport modeling, ecological modeling, and probabilistic risk assessment. Each of these topic will be included in this session.
Evaluation of the Sustainability of Drinking Water Technologies: Application in the Developing World
Cosponsored by AEESP
Regardless of the world region, water has emerged as "the defining crisis of the 21st Century." In developing countries, a great need exists for efficient use of and continued development of technologies that effectively, safely, and inexpensively deliver safe drinking water to communities. Some of the external pressures driving this need include emerging contaminants and pathogens, climate change, watershed encroachment, aging drinking water infrastructures, and population growth.
Of the two sessions offered in this series, this session focuses on technologies targeted for developing world communities, and seek to deliver not only the most advanced technical knowledge in treatment of drinking water, but also, an assessment of the degree of sustainability of these technologies in their target communities. Appropriate topics in this session include but are not limited to the following: evaluation of the effectiveness and sustainability of drinking water technologies (e.g., membrane filtration, ultraviolet radiation, oxidation, carbon adsorption, slow and rapid sand filtration); mechanisms for removal of contaminants and pathogens and implications on public health; feasibility of application of developing world technologies in the developed world; sustainability indicators for drinking water treatment; life cycle assessment of drinking water technologies; and novel approaches to evaluation of the sustainability of drinking water technologies.
Exposure of Engineered Nanomaterials
The emergence and development of nanotechnology and the resultant use of nanoproducts will have a dramatic impact on modern society. Nanotechnology and nanoscience have the potential to substantially improve the characteristics and/or performance of many materials used in a variety of commercial product applications including, but certainly not limited to, polymer and emulsion development, microelectronic processes, energy generation, distribution and storage, food processing, and building construction. In addition, government agencies around the world are supporting the development and use of this technology to provide tools and products that are beneficial to society. Nanotechnology development is also viewed as useful for increasing economic benefits and enhancing the quality of life. These agencies recognize the technology’s potential societal benefits arising from the development of high performance protective equipment, new sensor technologies, innovative environmental remediation techniques, and novel drug delivery and medical imaging systems.
While the potential benefits of nanotechnology have been well documented, the possible human health and ecosystem implications of its widespread development and use have only just begun to be explored. Specifically, the development of models to systematically assess the exposure potential of nanomaterials is still in its infancy. The federal government, various industries, and many non-governmental organizations are aware of the need for the responsible development of the technology. Accomplishing that goal will require quality data regarding the exposure potential of organisms and the environment to nanomaterials.
This session will contain presentations on exposure assessments for various engineered nanomaterials. Questions addressed would include: Are some subpopulations more vulnerable to nanomaterial exposure? Which engineered nanoparticle present the greatest exposure potential? What are likely exposure scenarios? How can individual, group, and population exposures accurately be quantified?
The purpose of this session is to provide the current emerging scientific data from exposure studies using engineered nanomaterials. This will enhance scientific knowledge in this area, generate innovative research ideas, foster collaborative efforts and stimulate researchers to consider potential impacts of research.
Food-related Nanotechnology
Sponsored by Division of Agricultural & Food Chemistry
Frontiers in Water Reuse: Detection, Advanced Treatment and Environmental Fate of Contaminants of Emerging Concern
The dwindling supply of water suitable for human consumption is a global crisis demanding that current and future generations develop sustainable water practices. Paramount to water sustainability are water reclamation and reuse strategies, ranging from the direct application of treated wastewater effluent for agricultural or landscape irrigation to its use in recharging underground drinking water aquifers (so-called indirect potable reuse). A growing number of wastewater-derived contaminants including veterinary and human antibiotics, prescription drugs, personal care products, and natural and synthetic hormones can be detected in surface waters and groundwater. As a result of the uncertainty surrounding their environmental persistence and the risks associated with their occurrence, these emerging classes of wastewater-derived contaminants have established themselves at the forefront of the growing debate over the long-term viability of water reuse strategies, particularly the utilization of wastewater effluent for indirect potable reuse.
This session will present research concerning (i) the development and implementation of analytical methods to identify chemical contaminants of emerging concern in reclaimed water, (ii) the transformation of contaminants during traditional water treatment operations, (iii) the environmental fate and ecotoxicological risks associated with persistent contaminants or degradation products upon reintroduction into the environment after treatment, and (iv) the development of innovative and sustainable strategies that can be used as alternatives when traditional treatment approaches prove ineffective.
General Papers
Geochemical Processes, Reactivity, and Applications of Manganese Oxides
Sponsored by Division of Geochemistry
Cosponsored by Division of Inorganic Chemistry
Mn oxides are of profound importance in low-temperature geochemistry, and technological applications because of their remarkable reactivity, both redox and sorptive. This reactivity derives from their tendency to occur as fine reactive particles suspended in riverine and marine settings or as grain coatings in sediments, their continuously active formation in these environments from microbial oxidation of Mn(II), and their physical and electronic structures. Mn oxides have been proposed for use in environmental remediation technologies, and have numerous current or potential uses in energy and catalysis technologies.
Geochemistry of Engineered Nanoparticles in the Environment
Increasingly wide spread deployment of nanotechnologies, and the inclusion of nanomaterials into commercial products has raised serious questions regarding the fate of these materials in the environment. The symposium seeks to address key knowledge gaps of the geochemical behavior of engineered nanoparticles in the environment, and explore if these behaviors are distinguishable from behaviors predicted by classical colloid theory. Topics of presentations include relevant characterization of nanoparticle physico-chemical properties, natural dispersion/flocculation chemistry, sorption, degradation, and mobility in biphasic (solid-liquid) environmental matrices. Issues associated with material characterization, extraction, and in-situ detection will also be discussed. Presentations will also focus on the use of computational chemistry algorithms to predict the environmental behavior of engineered nanomaterials related to the material’s physical and chemical properties.
Metal and Metalloid Speciation and Adsorption in Honor of James O. Leckie
Sponsored by Division of Geochemistry
Aqueous speciation strongly affects the adsorption, fate, and transport of metal and metalloid ions in natural environments. This symposium will honor the research contributions of Jim Leckie throughout his distinguished career as a Professor of Environmental Engineering and Applied Earth Sciences at Stanford University. Professor Leckie was elected to the National Academy of Engineering in 2005 for “advances in our understanding of metal and oxyanion adsorption on environmental surfaces that led to novel strategies for soil and groundwater remediation”. Papers are welcomed on the application of chemical principles to the study of pollutant behavior in natural aquatic systems and in engineered processes, including surface and colloid chemistry and the low temperature, aqueous geochemistry of trace elements. In addition, papers will be welcomed on the topic of how humans are exposed to chemicals, with an emphasis on dermal exposure.
Nanotoxicology: Ecotoxicity of Manufactured Nanomaterials
Nanoscience research is currently underway by a wide variety of researchers in multiple disciplines. This research covers both applications (e.g. using nanoscience to develop technologies that are beneficial for society) and implications (e.g. using science to understand potential adverse effects) and significantly increases each year.
The federal government, various industries, and many non-governmental organizations are keenly aware of the need for the responsible development of the technology. In this era of rapidly advancing technology, ecotoxicity research on engineered nanomaterials can provide essential data for understanding impacts upon the ecosystem and assist in the development of techniques to eliminate or minimize adverse impacts.
This session will contain presentations on the toxic effects observed with various engineered nanomaterials. Questions addressed would include: Are some species more vulnerable to nanomaterial exposure? What types of ecotoxic effects have been observed? How may ecotoxicity be quantified? Are more toxic metabolites formed in biological systems? What are appropriate testing procedures, models, and biomarkers to evaluate the potential toxicological effects of nanomaterials on species in natural ecosystems? What effects may occur in exposed wildlife populations? How do nanoparticles impact ecological (animal/plant) receptors?
The purpose of this session is to provide the ecotoxicological community with current scientific data from ecotoxicity studies of engineered nanomaterials. This will enhance scientific knowledge in this area, generate innovative research ideas, foster collaborative efforts and stimulate researchers to consider potential impacts of research.
New Energy Technology
This symposium is a summary of selected experimental and theoretical research performed over the last 19 years that gives profound and unambiguous evidence for low energy nuclear reaction (LENR), historically known as cold fusion.
In 1989, the subject was announced with great fanfare, to the chagrin of many people in the science community. However, the significant claim of its discoverers, Martin Fleischmann and Stanley Pons, excess heat without harmful neutron emissions or strong gamma radiation, involving electrochemical cells using heavy water and palladium, has held strong.
In recent years, LENR, within the field of condensed matter nuclear science, has begun to attract widespread attention and is regarded as a potential alternative and renewable energy source to confront climate change and energy scarcity. The aim of the research is to collect experimental findings for LENR in order to present reasonable explanations and a conclusive theoretical and practical working model.
The goal of the field is directed toward the fabrication of LENR devices with unique commercial potential demonstrating an alternative energy source that does not produce greenhouse gases, long-lived radiation or strong prompt radiation. The idea of LENR has led to endless discussions about the kinetic impossibility of intense nuclear reactions with high coulomb barrier potential. However, recent theoretical work may soon shed light on this mystery.
Understanding this process is one of the most challenging and perhaps important issues in the scientific world. This symposium includes previously unpublished studies, new and controversial theories to approach LENR with access to new sources and experimental results. The symposium offers insight into this controversial subject and will help the audience re-evaluate their perspective on LENR for a possible alternative energy source.
Redox Biogeochemistry of Phyllosilicate Minerals
Sponsored by Division of Geochemistry
Fe(III)-bearing minerals associated with the clay size fraction of soils and sediments represent major sinks for electrons in the subsurface. Structural Fe in phyllosilicates has the potential to undergo multiple redox cycles without being mobilized (i.e. dissolved and reprecipitated), which suggests that structural Fe could serve as a renewable source of electron acceptor and donor that could support long-term growth and maintenance of microbial populations in the subsurface. We invite presentations on all aspects of the redox biogeochemistry of Fe-bearing phyllosilicate phases, including both field-scale and experimental studies.
Undergraduate Research Poster Session: Environmental Chemistry
Sponsored by Division of Chemical Education
Cosponsored by Society Committee on Education
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