1. Nitrate contamination in a coastal soil and water system: A case study after the Tianjin Port 8·12 explosion, China.
- Author
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Liu, Liyan, Liang, Shaopan, Liu, Hongchen, Zhu, Guorui, and Tan, Wei
- Subjects
SOIL pollution ,TERRITORIAL waters ,SOIL moisture ,ENVIRONMENTAL risk assessment ,NITRATES ,AQUIFERS ,VOLCANOLOGY ,AQUIFER pollution - Abstract
In the Tianjin Port 8·12 explosion, the leakage of enormous amounts of nitrate into the coastal soil-water system threatened the environment and human health. This work aimed to assess the nitrate transport process in unsaturated dredger fills and to conduct an environmental risk assessment to establish guidelines that safeguard groundwater against contamination. The impacts of the bulk density, initial water content, recharge rate, and initial concentration of the nitrate transport process were investigated through an L
9 (34 ) matrix. A field simulation was conducted with Hydrus-1D to explore nitrate transport at the accident site. The results showed the recharge rate and initial water content were the dominant factors affecting the nitrate transport rate and concentration distribution, followed by the initial concentration and bulk density. The contaminant reached the water table in approximately 1.2 years and that approximately 9% of the leaked nitrate entered the aquifer after two years, while the rest of the nitrate remained in the unsaturated zone. The nitrate concentration at a depth of 5.0 m was nearly 1000 mg L–1 , which was much higher than the groundwater concentration standard of 30 mg L–1 . The soil and groundwater quality warrant special attention due to the excessive nitrate contaminants. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]- Published
- 2019
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