Petroleum hydrocarbon storage tanks develop leaks and spill contaminants into the vadose zone, through which it migrates downwards into the aquifer and disperses and dilutes for miles

human-made, in use since 1940s, voluntarily phased out in 2000s

persistent in environment--found in animals around the world and long half life

stain, water, and grease resistant coatings in clothing, carpeting, and furniture

most of the urgent and obvious pollution removed in the US and Europe

The first environmental cleanup strategy was elimination of discharges and development of wastewater treatment

later cleaned up soil and groundwater, often using bioremediation

developing countries and emerging contaminants are currently main focus of issue

Ecosystem: community of living organisms in conjunction with the nonliving components of their environment, interacting as a system, with biotic and abiotic components linked together through nutrient cycles and energy flows

products such as food, fodder, freshwater, wood, fiber, biochemicals, genetic resources

regulating services such as climate regulation, disease regulation, water regulation, water purification, pollination, carbon sequestration

Cultural services such as spiritual and religious, recreational and tourism, aesthetic, inspirational, educational, sense of place, cultural heritage

supporting services necessary for production of all other ecosystem services such as soil formation, nutrient cycling, primary production, oxygen, and nitrogen

Chemical and Physical Remediation common for heavily contaminated soil

biodegradation: mineralization, use as growth substance-selective advantage

Biotransformation/Cometabolism: incomplete metabolism, no growth

Bioremediation: engineered cleanup of contaminants by microorganisms

Purpose: Discover bacteria that carry out aerobic biodegradation of DCNB isomers

General Methodology: Biological processing of DCNB-contaminated samples

Findings: A mixture of DCNB isomers was fully biodegraded even with high flow rate and the responsible bacteria could be isolated

Conclusions: DCNB isomers are biodegradable under aerobic conditions and thus are candidates for bioremediation

Purpose: Test if a certain bacteria can biodegrade cis-DCE and to understand distribution of cis-DCE and VC degradation

Conclusions: Given the presence of cis-DCE and VC degrading bacteria, natural attenuation can eliminate these chemicals at the capillary fringe.

Purpose: Establish a baseline of microplastic presence in Lakes Superior and Huron and to show the value of more sensitive sampling methods

General Methodology: Samples taken of surface water using Niskin bottles and immediately filtered.

Findings: Total microplastic concentration of 0.119 microplastics/mL, with 99% being microfibers

Conclusions: This study had a higher microplastic count most likely because it used more sensitive sampling methods, which could likely create more accurate results on a large scale

Purpose: quantify, characterize, and compare microplastic contamination in two predatory marine snails in FL

General Methodology: Randomized collection of wild snails from each species, collection of water samples, tissue digestion, filtration, and anaylsis of microplastic content

Findings: Significant difference of microplastics between snail species but not location

Conclusions: Differences in contamination may arise from differences in prey items and subsequent contamination of prey items of each snail

Purpose: to determine exposure of important Mexican Loggerhead nesting sites to microplastics

General Methodology: Sand samples were obtained from Loggerhead turtle nesting sites and analyzed for microplastics

Findings: Microplastics found at all sites, mostly in dunes, and decreasing from west to east.

Conclusions: Microplastic accumulation on nesting sites for the Northern Gulf of Mexico may be of great concern and could negatively affect the incubating environment