A new technique of X-rays measured in milliseconds contamination in soil and water It might work as a tool for prediction of environmental problems

A group of U.S. engineers and researchers have developed a new technique based on X-ray spectroscopy, which will quantify the impact of a pollutant in contact with water or soil, virtually the same moment that occurs contact. The possibility of analyzing those first moments of the process will develop deeper and more accurate research on the impacts that occur in the environment. By Pablo Javier Piacente.


Members of the research team responsible for the new Q-XAS technique. Image: University of Delaware.
A new X-ray technique to detect pollution in soil and water was developed by engineers, chemists and researchers from the University of Delaware, USA. Thanks to this breakthrough, scientists and technicians can analyze the rate of milliseconds exactly what happens when environmentally harmful substances such as arsenic, contact with soil and water under various conditions.

The said technology will quantify the reactions in those first moments, for this way forward models and analysis on how the various pollutants behave and proliferate in the environment, besides being able to realize progress in the prediction and mitigation of environmental risks related .

Applications may be infinite in various fields such as soil chemistry, civil and environmental engineering, materials science, biochemistry and other related branches. The team is led by researcher Donald Sparks, University of Delaware.

The new analytical technique obtained in the course of this research is called Q-XAS (Quick-scanning X-ray Absorption Spectroscopy) and was initially released through a press release from the University of Delaware, but was subsequently published in the online edition of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

The breakthrough was achieved with the support of several institutions, including the National Synchrotron Light Source, Brookhaven National Laboratory or the Department of Energy of the United States. Also, the research was funded by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) and by grants from the National Science Foundation and the Delaware Experimental Program to Stimulate Competitive Research (EPSCoR).

Analyze the processes of contamination from their first moments

According to what they indicate their own specialists to research, this method is a significant advance in understanding the geochemical processes that occur when pollutants come into contact with soil or water.

Also, the first application of the new technique is able to determine in real time on a molecular scale reactions that occur in these situations, on time scales of milliseconds that provide insight into the initial instants of these phenomena to study.

Subsequently, the method could be applied in other environmental processes and in different situations. The working group responsible for research has studied the kinetics of soil and soil minerals for 30 years, leading to the development of this new technique.

The hope that moved to these researchers, from the outset was the ability to analyze the reaction processes in a way almost immediately to one, gathering information on the mechanism simultaneously. That is exactly what has been achieved with Q-XAS technique.

It is worth recalling that X-ray spectroscopy, one of the technologies that are part of this new method is applied for several years to see the structures and materials at the atomic scale. This technique has been used by physicists, chemists, materials scientists and engineers from different branches, but only from a short time now it has begun to employ in research related to the environment.

A new tool for the detection of environmental problems?

One of the goals that will meet the new technique in the study of the kinetics of the land is to determine the speed with which a pollutant begins to stick to a mineral. These reactions are very rapid, occurring in 90% during the first 10 seconds.

Thanks to Q-XAS technique, will now be possible to measure the first few seconds of these reactions, which previously could not be quantified. In this way, specialists can analyze these phenomena while they are happening, when should be frozen until the situation at a given time to evaluate once occurred.

Actually the applications of this technique can charge a very important significance in the coming years, as for example the pollution of drinking water supplies by arsenic is a serious health problem in the United States and other countries.

With the new technique developed by specialists at the University of Delaware, could analyze groundwater and implement a new tool for early detection of problems of pollution, which could then be incorporated into predictive models for environmental care.