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.
A new study has, for the first time, recorded and measured just how fast microplastics move through the gut passage of a key zooplankton species in real time—and used those measurements to estimate how much plastic these ...
Environment
Jan 5, 2026
2
47
A study led by researchers at the Department of Civil Engineering at The University of Hong Kong (HKU) has uncovered alarming evidence that soil worldwide is emerging as a significant reservoir and amplifier of high-risk ...
Cell & Microbiology
Dec 22, 2025
0
19
A research team affiliated with UNIST has unveiled an integrated air pollution analysis framework that enables more precise assessment of exposure risks from carcinogenic air pollutants commonly emitted from industrial complexes. ...
Environment
Dec 18, 2025
0
11
In the wake of a wildfire, a vital micronutrient can become a toxic heavy metal—and could eventually make its way into groundwater.
Earth Sciences
Dec 12, 2025
0
73
In 2023, Canada's worst wildfire season on record produced so much smoke that it spilled across national borders into the United States. At times, a thick haze enveloped much of the U.S. East Coast and triggered "Code Purple" ...
Environment
Dec 9, 2025
2
23
Major storms are spreading industrial contaminants across entire neighborhoods, raising concerns about future well-being, especially in communities of color, according to new research from Rice University and the University ...
Earth Sciences
Dec 2, 2025
0
11
Climate change conditions turn plastics into more mobile, persistent, and hazardous pollutants. This is done by speeding up plastic breakdown into microplastics—microscopic fragments of plastic—spreading them considerable ...
Environment
Nov 27, 2025
2
34
A comprehensive study by the CritMET research group, led by Prof. Michael Bau, a geochemist at Constructor University in Bremen, provides evidence of widespread contamination of the North Sea and the Baltic Sea with MRI contrast ...
Environment
Nov 26, 2025
0
312
A comprehensive Hungarian study has revealed that the behavior of pharmaceutical residues in soil does not depend on a single factor, but is shaped by several interacting processes. The researchers emphasized that, based ...
Environment
Nov 6, 2025
0
18
Warming temperatures and increased precipitation in the Canadian High Arctic are mobilizing new pathways for subsurface contaminants to spread from more than 2,500 contaminated sites associated with industrial and military ...
Environment
Nov 6, 2025
1
24
