Some organic compounds in potable water: the PFASs, EDCs and PPCPs issue

The issue of pollution is one of the focal points for industrial and social development because it is, perhaps, the most severe problem that man will have to face in the coming decades. A 2016 estimate predicts that in the year 2050 we will count one premature death every 5 s if air pollution is not controlled. This is a particularly serious threat in underdeveloped countries, but, as indicated by the World Health Organization, it remains the greatest risk factor for health in Europe as well. This also means that the treatment of different environmental matrices must become one of the turning points of present and future research and technological development. In this context, we suggest paying great attention, among others, to membrane technology because it covers all the possible engineering approaches for the transport of fluids (liquid, gas, vapors) between two faces (or fractions, named retentate and permeate, respectively) with the help of semipermeable materials known as membranes. Moreover, it is also important to underline that some membrane separation processes operate without heating, and therefore the systems use less energy than conventional thermal separation processes, such as distillation, sublimation, or crystallization. In some cases, the separation process in membranes is purely physical and both fractions can be used. For example, cold separation using membrane technology is widely used in the food technology, biotechnology, and pharmaceutical industries. So, it is the right time to examine the challenges and the future of the membrane technology when applied to reduce the pollution. The challenges are both technical and sociopolitical and provide the drivers for new developments of membrane systems. In this book, the performance of membrane technology in helping to reduce the pollution is deeply and critically discussed in various but specific chapters. In particular, the book provides thorough coverage of all the aspects of pollution, the state-of-the-art of the application of membrane technology in both urban and industrial environments. In other words, the book aims to shed light, giving a broad and very detailed view, on the aforementioned issues through a point of view typical of an industrial engineer. Some chapters were written by the editors, whereas others are by well-known expert scientists. Going a bit into the details of the book’s content, Chapter 1 (Allegrini, Ianniello, and Valentini) deals with the nature and emissions, transformations and transport of atmospheric pollutants at the global level. Emissions are anthropogenic or natural emitting species that are then mixing in the far field contributing to local and to background pollution. The estimation of emissions is reported, as well as the evolution of pollutants in terms of formation by the secondary reaction and deposition (wet or dry). Emphasis is given to particulate matter with regard to its size distribution and chemical content. Ozone pollution is an additional issue which is also considered with other pollutants generated by photochemical pollution due to its effects on human health and vegetation. Finally, atmospheric pollution in deposition in remote sites in the Arctic and Antarctica, with chemical reactions occurring in snow or icefields, are also taken in account. This discussion is continued in Chapter 2 by the same authors (Allegrini, Ianniello, and Valentini) by focusing on atmospheric pollution near to the sources, thus emphasizing pollution near the source (local and regional). The process is now described by general equations that can be easily adapted to any location. They contain terms related to emissions, chemical transformations, and deposition. Dilution and removal of pollution are strongly affected by atmospheric turbulence, which are simply described by qualitative aspects. The use of radon data for the interpretation of primary air pollution processes is also described. The approach followed in this chapter results in a simple and immediate understanding of pollution data. Also, the same approach can be effectively used for secondary pollutants such as ozone and nitrogen dioxide. This work also illustrates how to combine the Internet of Things with small low-cost sensors to gain detailed information on the space and time distribution of pollutants. Chapter 3 (Di Gennaro, Papadopoli, Licata, and Nobile) underlines that quantifying the effects of pollution on human health is difficult due to the multitude of confounders. Furthermore, the cause-effect links between pollutants and pathologies are often not clear, since the different forms of pollution are interdependent. In this context, the chapter summarizes the mechanisms through which different forms of pollution impact human health, with a particular emphasis on air, water, soil, and noise pollution. Estimates present in the literature that can give an idea of the health impact are also indicated. Finally, famous case studies to show how the problem of pollution is widespread all over the world, from Delhi to Italy, to Hong Kong, are also reported. Chapter 4 (Li, Zhou, Wang, Xing, and Zhang) starts with an interesting question: “Environmental monitoring and membrane technologies: a possible marriage?” Over decades the incorporation of membrane technologies into modern environmental monitoring technologies has significantly promoted the progress of research and the development of remote sensing, data sciences, artificial intelligence, environmental digitization, and health, offering in situ and high-resolution data support for environmental quality control in water, soil, and the atmosphere. In short, this chapter systematically reviews and discusses two mainstream membrane-based monitoring technologies, that is, direct and indirect methods, and their applications in environmental monitoring, and puts forward the future development trends of these technologies. Chapter 5 (Cairns, Apollaro, Fuoco, Vespasiano, Procopio, Cavoura, and Vardè) illustrates the natural occurrence of potentially toxic elements (As, Cd, Cr, Hg, and Pb) in the environment, particularly geological sources, and their impact on groundwater quality. The toxicity of the main elements, as well as guides to their toxicity and the control limits in drinking water are covered. Finally, the chapter discusses the main methods for the removal of toxic elements from groundwater, drinking water, and wastewater, considering that the overarching goal of each is the protection and health of the hydrosphere. Anthropogenic organic pollutants are continuously entering aquatic ecosystems, principally through urban and industrial discharges, and there is ever more research worldwide about their environmental and ecotoxicological impact. Nevertheless, the release of most of them into water ecosystems is not yet regulated. They are commonly found in surface and groundwaters, threatening the quality and availability of the major renewable resources for the production of drinking water. Starting from the current international directives on the surface and drinking water protection, Chapter 6 (Patrolecco, Rauseo, Ademollo, Polesello, Vardè, Pizzini, and Spataro) focuses on the sources, environmental dynamics, and effects of selected classes of conventional and emerging organic micropollutants, with particular attention to drinking water and the effectiveness of water treatments in their removal. Environmental and toxicological risk implications are also considered. The main conclusion of the authors is that further research efforts are needed for the correct and sustainable management of drinking resources, constituting an important challenge for the protection of water supplies and human health. Another important aspect concerning membrane technology regards the incorporation and coating of nanofillers in polymer phases that result in the manufacture of nanocomposite-based membranes. One of the relevant applications of nanocomposite membranes deals with the removal of different organic compounds from potable waters. At this point, nanocomposite membranes are mainly implemented in membrane technologies driven by a pressure gradient, such as microfiltration, ultrafiltration, nanofiltration, and reverse osmosis, which have largely proved their ability in separating various types of organic molecules in water treatment applications. Therefore the aim of Chapter 7 (Castro-Muñoz and Buenavista) is devoted to compiling the most recent concepts of nanocomposite membranes for the remediation of potable waters. The emphasis has been mainly paid to the key developments and meaningful outcomes in separating such organics components from water. As it is well known, air pollution causes several problems for both human health and the environment. Moreover, membrane air cleaning is a recent technology, still under development, that is able to improve air filtration efficiency through higher performing devices, compared to the traditional ones. In this regard, Chapter 8 (Russo, Manisco, Iulianelli, Castro-Muñoz, Galiano, and Figoli) deals with the most useful membrane separation techniques for air cleaning. Furthermore, the growing importance in air cleaning applications of polymeric, mixed matrix, and inorganics membranes, produced by different techniques (e.g., phase inversion, electrospinning) and under different configurations (hollow fibers, flat sheet, and nanofibers), is also deeply discussed. Meanwhile, the materials used for their preparation and related properties have been well identified and illustrated, paying particular attention to the main areas of application, such as protection devices, air conditioners, and vapors of organic substances recovery (from air) units. Considering again membrane technology, fouling is one of the most limiting aspects, being the main obstacle to the widespread use of several membrane-based technologies, because fouling leads to loss of productivity and reduced permeate quality. Therefore the future success of the membrane technology strongly depends to a large extent on how the problem of fouling is solved. In this context, Chapter 9 (Soria and Luis) presents the types of contaminants, fouling mechanisms, cleaning and control processes of membrane fouling. In addition, membrane surface modification, both active and passive, and its influence on membrane fouling is also discussed. Furthermore, the latest advances on membrane modification for organic solvents are shown. Finally, a brief description of the techniques used to understand and characterize membrane fouling is also presented. The in-field detection of pollutants and the assessment of the quality of industrial exhausts and wastewaters are essential activities in environmental management. Thus the modern society continuously demands the development of cost-effective, quick, real-time, and reliable sensors. Membrane technology consists of a solid background also for the development of advanced sensors to detect pollutants. In fact, highly selective membranes responsible for the molecular recognition and/or selective capture of target analyte(s) are the core of highly sensitive sensors. In this context, Chapter 10 (Mondal, Malankowska, Avci, Syed, Upadhyaya, and Santoro) presents a dissertation about the implementation of membranes in sensors aimed at detecting gaseous pollutants, and elucidates the mechanism of detection. The key features of membranes for the detection of nano/microplastics and pathogens, two of the trending emerging questions, is highlighted too. The editors take this opportunity to thank all the authors for their excellent work and also for their continued patience in reviewing, sometimes various times, their chapters following the comments and suggestions of the editors. Special thanks are also dedicated to the great professionalism of the staff of Elsevier, able to help us at each step. Angelo Basile; Mario Gensini; Alberto Figoli; Ivo Allegrini