Obtaining appropriate and representative samples that reflect the real environment is a critical step for environmental research and monitoring. Many different sampling techniques have been developed to provide more accurate measurements of contaminants and essential elements in the environment, including metals, nutrients and a large array of organic compounds. This presentation examines the characteristics, strengths and weaknesses of several of the most commonly used approaches and techniques, including discrete, continuous and a variety of passive sampling techniques. It then selects one, namely DGT (diffusive gradients in thin films), to explore in more detail how it can be used in environmental monitoring and advanced research. Although DGT has been considered as a passive sampling technique for monitoring, it directly measures fluxes resulting from DGT’s perturbation of chemical equilibrium and has been classified by physical chemists as a dynamic technique. DGT can be used simply to measure chemical concentrations from <i>in situ</i> deployments, without the need to calibrate on site or to include internal reference compounds. Moreover, it can be used to measure a much wider range of analytes than other techniques because its construction allows for easy fabrication of many different binding agents. DGT measures labile forms of compounds and it can provide information on chemical speciation and bioavailability. One example is that the in situ DGT deployments in lakes and rivers have advanced our understanding of the interaction, the dynamic processes and the kinetic signature of metals and organics, including dissolved organic carbon and biotic ligands. As well as being easy to deploy in natural waters, it can be deployed directly in soils and sediments. In soils it is possible to obtain kinetic information of soil solution and solid phase interactions, but most importantly DGT measurements of an analyte are often a good predictor of its bioavailability. Multiple, spatially separated high resolution measurements, can be obtained from a single sediment DGT probe. Undoubtedly, novel and useful information will be obtained. The challenge is to use a technique like DGT intelligently so that we can fully harness the new information and new knowledge to advance our holistic understanding of biogeochemical processes.

Towards integrated monitoring and holistic process understanding of pollutants

Macromolecular Chemistry: The Second Century

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ACS Spring 2020 National Meeting & Expo

The official archive and repository for all ACS Meetings & Expositions abstracts and select posters or presentations.