How can STS researchers collaborate with communities to design environmental monitoring devices that more effectively express their experiences and address gaps in regulation? This paper describes and shows the results of a novel method of visualizing environmental emissions of corrosive gases such as hydrogen sulfide (HS) exposure using photographic paper. HS is a neurotoxic and flammable gas that smells like rotten eggs and is frequently associated with oil and natural gas extraction. Communities living with oil and gas development in Wyoming report odors of rotten eggs and describe symptoms of HS exposure. HS is recognized as an acute and chronic threat to human and environmental health and oil and gas companies are required to have plans in place to prevent and respond to accidental, high concentration releases of HS. They are not, however, required to monitor, report or prevent routine daily emissions. Yet 15-25% of the oil and gas wells in the US are predicted to contain HS, and some communities surrounded by multiple wells report chronic, routine exposure. Chronic exposure is difficult to represent with current tools for monitoring HS because they are designed to measure acute workplace exposure. Informed by STS theories of black boxes and regimes of imperceptibility that focus on the need to revise not only regulations but also material tools of science, this paper describes the development of an indexical approach to visualizing this hazard. In indexical design, the reactive sensing element of a scientific instrument is brought to the foreground. The silver in the photopaper is an index as it tarnishes with HS exposure. Discolored tests strips can be arranged together to form data-rich maps of the exposure landscape where this discoloration both represents how the gas spreads through a space and is a physical trace of the gas. Preliminary results in the form of data-rich maps show that regulating HS emissions as primarily accidental is inappropriate and fails to adequately protect human health.
Download full-text PDF |
Source |
---|---|
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7324043 | PMC |
http://dx.doi.org/10.17351/ests2017.123 | DOI Listing |
Environ Sci Pollut Res Int
January 2025
Department Chemical and Food Engineering, UFSC, Florianópolis, 88040-900, SC, Brazil.
Produced water management is a significant challenge for the oil and gas industry. Due to the large volumes and complex composition of this water, treatment requires special attention, resulting in high costs for companies in the sector. Naphthenic acids, known for their recalcitrance, add a layer of complexity to the treatment process.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAnal Methods
January 2025
Key Laboratory of Oil and Gas Fine Chemicals Ministry of Education, Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, School of Chemical Engineering and Technology, Xinjiang University, Urumqi 830017, Xinjiang, China.
The unreasonable use of organic dye leads to excessive residues in environmental water, which seriously threatens human health and the natural environment. In this paper, a spherical flower-like magnetic FeO@CoNi layered double hydroxide@silver nanoparticle (FeO@CoNi LDH@Ag NPs) SERS substrate was successfully fabricated electrostatic self-assembly and applied for the sensitive detection of methylene blue (MB) in environmental water. The rapid concentration and separation of the SERS substrate from the water sample could be achieved using an external magnet.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFEnviron Sci Process Impacts
January 2025
Wolfson Atmospheric Chemistry Laboratories, Department of Chemistry, University of York, UK.
Emission rates for volatile organic compounds (VOCs) have been quantified from frying, spice and herb cooking, and cooking a chicken curry, using real-time selected-ion flow-tube mass spectrometry (SIFT-MS) for controlled, laboratory-based experiments in a semi-realistic kitchen. Emissions from 7 different cooking oils were investigated during the frying of wheat flatbread (puri). These emissions were dominated by ethanol, octane, nonane and a variety of aldehydes, including acetaldehyde, heptenal and hexanal, and the average concentration of acetaldehyde (0.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPhys Chem Chem Phys
January 2025
Laboratorio de Espectroscopía Atómica y Molecular (LEAM), Universidad Industrial de Santander, Colombia.
Illite mineral is present in shale rocks, and its wettability behavior is significant for the oil and gas industry. In this work, the pH effects on the affinity between the (001) and (010) crystallographic planes of illite K(SiAl)(AlMg)O(OH) and direct and inverse emulsions were studied using molecular dynamics simulations. To develop the simulations, an atomistic model of illite was constructed following Löwenstein's rule.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFACS Sens
January 2025
State Key Laboratory of Heavy Oil Processing, College of New Energy and Materials, China University of Petroleum (Beijing), Beijing 102249, China.
electrochemical sensing of neurotransmitters, neuromodulators, and metabolites plays a critical role in real-time monitoring of various physiological or psychological processes in the central nervous system. Currently, advanced electrochemical biosensors and technologies have been emerging as prominent ways to meet the surging requirements of monitoring of neurotransmitters and neuromodulators ranging from single cells to brain slices, even the entire brain. This review introduces the fundamental working principles and summarizes the achievements of electrochemical biosensing technologies including voltammetry, amperometry, potentiometry, field-effect transistor (FET), and organic electrochemical transistor (OECT).
View Article and Find Full Text PDFEnter search terms and have AI summaries delivered each week - change queries or unsubscribe any time!