Contaminant transport refers to the physical and chemical processes governing the movement and fate of pollutants within environmental media such as groundwater, surface water, soil, and the atmosphere. It encompasses advection, dispersion, diffusion, sorption, volatilization, degradation, and transformation reactions that control contaminant distributions and concentrations over space and time. In research, contaminant transport is described by coupled partial differential equations derived from mass conservation, often incorporating multiphase flow, reactive transport, heterogeneity, and scale-dependent parameters. Accurate characterization and modeling of contaminant transport are critical for risk assessment, remediation design, and prediction of long-term contaminant plume evolution in engineered and natural systems.
As much as 40 million metric tons of microplastics are released into the environment globally every year. These tiny pieces of plastic come from larger plastic items that break down or are shed by products such as clothing, ...
Environment
3 hours ago
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As rain falls, lurking within stormwater runoff are hidden microplastics, polluting the water sources they drain into. Even though microplastics originate in urban environments such as cities, existing data sets focus on ...
Environment
Apr 30, 2026
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Perched on the bow of his long-tail fishing boat, 75-year-old Sukjai Yana untangled a handful of small fish from his net, disappointed by his catch and fretting over whether he can sell them.
Environment
Apr 29, 2026
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Microplastics can be found everywhere in nature—from drinking water to clouds in the atmosphere—but scientists have yet to fully uncover how severely they impact the environment or the precise factors driving their buildup. ...
Environment
Apr 22, 2026
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When nuclear accidents happen, many people imagine radiation spreading everywhere and lasting forever. The reality is more complex. Radioactive materials move, change and sometimes disappear faster than people expect.
Environment
Apr 21, 2026
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Shrinking water levels at the Great Salt Lake are not just about Utah's water supply—they may pose a serious risk to public health. New research from a team at Utah State University and the University of Utah documents the ...
Environment
Apr 21, 2026
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A study investigating microplastics (MPs) and nanoplastics (NPs) in agricultural settings has found they reduced plant growth and entered plant tissues through the soil, raising new concerns about food safety and human exposure. ...
Plants & Animals
Apr 21, 2026
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Researchers have found that a group of chemicals known as PFAS can be transferred from mother dolphins to their nursing calves, adding to the evidence that these persistent contaminants can be transferred from mothers to ...
Ecology
Apr 18, 2026
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The latest official stocktake of the state of New Zealand's freshwater carries many of the headline messages we have come to expect.
Environment
Apr 17, 2026
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A new study shows that a specific type of silicone, the so-called methylsiloxanes, is widely present in the atmosphere across diverse environments. Also, concentrations appear to be much higher than expected. According to ...
Environment
Apr 16, 2026
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