Open AccessThe trickle-down theory of cleaner air.
Author(s) -
Lance Frazer
Publication year - 2000
Publication title -
environmental health perspectives
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.257
H-Index - 282
eISSN - 1552-9924
pISSN - 0091-6765
DOI - 10.1289/ehp.108-a178
Subject(s) - hazardous waste , hazardous air pollutants , pollutant , environmental science , waste management , environmental chemistry , hydrogen sulfide , air pollutants , ozone , biofilter , odor , benzene , air pollution , environmental engineering , chemistry , sulfur , engineering , organic chemistry
The 1990 Clean Air Act Amendments prompted an increased urgency to find new ways to treat airstreams containing volatile organic compounds, which affect the nitrogen photolytic cycle and help produce ground-level ozone, hazardous air pollutants, and odorous air emissions such as hydrogen sulfide. Scientists at the New Jersey company Envirogen have adapted traditional biofiltration technology to perform airborne waste stream cleanup. Preliminary research on pollutants such as phenol, methylene chloride, benzene, and toluene indicates that Envirogen's biotrickling filter may remove an average of about 94% of total hazardous air pollutants. Scientists are working to identify microbes that will clean up more stubborn pollutants.