Carbon adsorption, activated pesticide-contaminated

Suffet coedited with M. J. McGuire ADVANCES IN CHEMISTRY SERIES No. 202, Treatment of Water by Granular Activated Carbon, as well as a two-volume set, Activated Carbon Adsorption of Organics from the Aqueous Phase. He also edited a two-volume treatise, The Fate of Pollutants in the Air and Water Environments he was a journal editor for a special issue of the Journal of Environmental Science and Health, Part A—Environmental Science and Engineering and he served on the editorial board of the companion journal, Journal of Environ-mental Science and Health, Part B—Pesticides, Food Contaminants, and Agricultural Wastes. He serves on the editorial boards of the journals Chemosphere and CHEMTECH. He is now completing a 4-year term as treasurer of the ACS Division of Environmental Chemistry. 

In many biological and technological processes, adsorption from solution is of crucial importance. Most of these processes take place in aqueous media. Examples are the adsorption of toxic or other adverse components on active carbon in the production of potable water, adsorption of contaminants from the gastrointestinal tract on medical carbon, adsorption and desorption of herbicides and pesticides on plant and soil materials, and adsorption of surfactants to influence the wettability of surfaces. Applications of adsorption are given further attention in Section 14.5. 

Activated carbon filters are employed primarily as RW contaminant removal systems for chlorine (by chemisorption) and various organics such as trihalomethanes (THMs), petroleum products, and pesticides (by adsorption). In addition, they act as physical filters and therefore incorporate sufficient freeboard in their designs to permit periodic backwashing. 

---