Lee Blaney

Professor
Associate Director of Sustainability Engineering
Liaison to the University System of Maryland Vice Chancellor for Environmental Sustainability

Contact Information

Engineering, Room 318
blaney@umbc.edu
410-455-8608

Blaney Lab website

       

Education

B.S. Environmental Engineering – Lehigh University, 2005
M.S. Environmental Engineering – Lehigh University, 2007
Ph.D. Civil Engineering – The University of Texas at Austin, 2011

Research Interests

1. The occurrence, fate, transport, and toxicity of contaminants of emerging concern (CECs), such as pharmaceuticals, personal care products, and hormones, in natural and engineered systems; and,
2. The recovery of vital resources, such as nitrogen and phosphorus, from municipal and agricultural waste streams to improve water quality and ensure sustainable development.

Our research projects on contaminants of emerging concern relate to the following topics:

• Investigation of pharmaceuticals, personal care products, per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, hormones, organometallic chemicals, and other CECs in the aquatic environment;
• Development of advanced analytical methods (e.g., liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS), high performance liquid chromatography with fluorescence detection (HPLC-FLD), fluorescence excitation-emission matrices (EEMs)) to measure CECs and characterize DOM in environmental samples;
• Pretreatment of environmental samples by solid-phase extraction (SPE) and quick, easy, cheap, effective, rugged, and safe (QuEChERS) protocols;
• Environmental occurrence of CECs in water, soil, sediment, and tissue;
• Transformation of CECs in drinking water treatment, wastewater treatment, and water reuse;
• Degradation of CECs in photochemical, photocatalytic, and oxidation systems; and,
• Application of cell-based assays to measure antimicrobial, estrogenic, and other pharmacological activity of water samples containing CECs.

Our research projects on resource recovery relate to the following topics:

• Development of innovative technologies to recover nutrients (e.g., phosphorus, nitrogen, and potassium) from animal manure, urine, and municipal wastewater;
  • The Phosphorus Extraction and Recovery System (PEARS)
  • Nutrient Extraction and Recovery Devices (NERDs)
• Application of Donnan dialysis for selective uptake, recovery, and treatment of inorganic chemicals;
• Investigation of natural coagulants for improved recovery of struvite-based fertilizers from waste streams; and,
• Construction of pilot-scale reactors to evaluate mass balance and economic viability of novel resource recovery technologies.

Select Publications – Google Scholar

• Shashvatt, U.; Amurrio, F.; Portner, C.; Blaney, L. (2021). Phosphorus recovery by Donnan dialysis: Membrane selectivity, diffusion coefficients, and speciation effects. Chemical Engineering Journal 419, 129626.
• Shashvatt, U.; Blaney, L. Phosphorus extraction and recovery system (PEARS).(US Patent 11,104,617), August 31, 2021.
• Wang, T.; Zhong, M.; Lu, M.; Xu, D.; Xue, Y.; Huang, J.; Blaney, L.; Yu, G. (2021). Occurrence, spatiotemporal distribution, and risk assessment of current-use pesticides in surface water: A case study near Taihu Lake, China. Science of The Total Environment 782, 146826.
• Hain, E.; Adejumo, H.; Anger, B.; Orenstein, J.; Blaney, L. (2021). Advances in antimicrobial activity analysis of fluoroquinolone, macrolide, sulfonamide, and tetracycline antibiotics for environmental applications through improved bacteria selection. Journal of Hazardous Materials 415, 125686.
• Zhao, W.; Yu, G.; Blaney, L.; Wang, B. (2021). Development of emission factors to estimate discharge of typical pharmaceuticals and personal care products from wastewater treatment plants. Science of the Total Environment 769, 144556.
• He, K.; Hain, E.; Timm, A.; Blaney, L. (2021). Bioaccumulation of estrogenic hormones and UV-filters in red swamp crayfish (Procambarus clarkii). Science of the Total Environment 764, 142871.
• Zhong, M.; Wang, T.; Zhao, W.; Huang, J.; Wang, B.; Blaney, L.; Bu, Q.; Yu, G. Emerging Organic Contaminants in Chinese Surface Water: Identification of Priority Pollutants. Engineering, April 2, 2021.
• Wang, T.; Zhong, M.; Lu, M.; Huang, J.; Blaney, L.; Yu, G. (2021). Development of a high-throughput multi-residue method for analysis of common pesticides in aquatic environments by automated online solid phase extraction coupled with LC-MS/MS. Analytical Methods 13(28), 3160-3171.
• Li, F.; Wei, Z.; He, K.; Blaney, L.; Cheng, X.; Xu, T.; Liu, W.; Zhao, D. (2020). A concentrate-and-destroy technique for degradation of perfluorooctanoic acid in water using a new adsorptive photocatalyst. Water Research 185, 116219.
• Hopanna, M.; Kelly, L.; Blaney, L. (2020). Photochemistry of the Organoselenium Compound Ebselen: Direct Photolysis and Reaction with Active Intermediates of Conventional Reactive Species Sensitizers and Quenchers. Environmental Science & Technology 54(18), 11271-11281.
• Zhang, Y.; Duan, L.; Wang, B.; Liu, C.S.; Jia, Y.; Zhai, N.; Blaney, L.; Yu, G. (2020). Efficient multiresidue determination method for 168 pharmaceuticals and metabolites: Optimization and application to raw wastewater, wastewater effluent, and surface water in Beijing, China. Environmental Pollution 261, 114113.
• Gharehveran, M.M.; Hain, E.; Blaney, L.; Shah, A.D. (2020). Influence of dissolved organic matter on carbonyl sulfide and carbon disulfide formation from cysteine during sunlight photolysis. Environmental Science: Processes & Impacts 22(9), 1852-1864.
• Hopanna, M.; Mangalgiri, K.; Ibitoye, T.; Ocasio, D.; Snowberger, S.; Blaney, L. UV-254 transformation of antibiotics in water and wastewater treatment processes. Contaminants of Emerging Concern in Water and Wastewater, 239-297, January 1, 2020.
• Shashvatt, U.; Blaney, L. Phosphorus extraction and recovery system (PEARS). (US Patent 10,464,852), November 5, 2019.
• Hernandez-Maldonado, A.J.; Blaney, L. Contaminants of Emerging Concern (CECs) in Water and Wastewater: Advanced Treatment Processes. Butterworth-Heinemann (Oxford, UK), October 18, 2019.
• He, K.; Hain, E.; Timm, A.; Tarnowski, M.; Blaney, L. (2019). Antibiotics, estrogenic hormones, and UV-filters in water, sediment, and shellfish tissue along the Eastern Shore of the Chesapeake Bay. Science of the Total Environment 650(2), 3101-3109.
• Mitchelmore, C.*; He, K.*; Gonsior, M.; Hain, E.; Heyes, A.; Clark, C.; Younger, R.; Schmitt-Kopplin, P.; Feerick, A.; Blaney, L. (2019). Occurrence and distribution of organic UV-filters in coastal surface waters, sediments, and coral tissue in Hawaii. Science of the Total Environment 670, 398-410 (* co-first authors).
• Chen, P.*; Blaney, L.*; Cagnetta, G.; Huang, J.; Wang, B.; Wang, Y.; Deng, S.; Yu, G. (2019). Degradation of ofloxacin by perylene diimide supramolecular nanofiber sunlight-driven photocatalysis. Environmental Science & Technology 53(3), 1564-1575 (* co-first authors).
• Blaney, L.; Katz, L.E.; Lawler, D.F. (2019). Transformation kinetics of cyclophosphamide and ifosfamide by ozone and hydroxyl radicals using continuous oxidant addition reactors. Journal of Hazardous Materials 364, 752-761.
• Chen, S.; Blaney, L.; Chen, P.; Deng, S.; Hopanna, M.; Bao, Y.; Yu, G. (2019). Ozonation of the 5-fluorouracil anticancer drug and its prodrug capecitabine: Reaction kinetics, oxidation mechanisms, and residual toxicity. Frontiers of Environmental Science and Engineering 13(4), 59-.
• Zhang, Y.; Duan, L.; Wang, B.; Du, Y.; Cagnetta, G.; Huang, J.; Blaney, L.; Yu, G. (2019). Wastewater-based epidemiology in Beijing, China: Prevalence of antibiotic use in flu season and association of pharmaceuticals and personal care products with socioeconomic characteristics. Environment International 125, 152-160.
• Zhong, M.; Wang, T.; Qi, C.; Peng, G.; Lu, M.; Huang, J.; Blaney, L.; Yu, G. (2019). Automated on-line solid- phase extraction- liquid chromatography -tandem mass spectrometry investigation for simultaneous quantification of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, pharmaceuticals and personal care products, and organophosphorus flame retardants in environmental waters. Journal of Chromatography A, 1602, 350-358.
• Jepsen, R.; He, K.; Blaney, L.; Swan, C. (2019). Effects of antimicrobial exposure on detrital biofilm metabolism in urban and rural stream environments. Science of the Total Environment 666, 1151-1160.
• Adak, A.; Das, I.; Mondal, B.; Koner, S.K.; Datta, P.; Blaney, L. (2019). Degradation of 2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid by UV 253.7 and UV-H₂O₂: Reaction kinetics and effects of interfering substances. Emerging Contaminants 5, 53-60.
• Wu, J.; Wang, B.; Blaney, L.; Peng, G.; Chen, P.; Cui, Y.; Deng, S.; Wang, Y.; Huang, J.; Yu, G. (2019). Degradation of sulfamethazine by persulfate activated with organo-montmorillonite supported nano-zero valent iron. Chemical Engineering Journal 361, 99-108.
• Barbosa, M.O.; Ribeiro, A.R.; Ratola, N.; Hain, E.; Homem, V.; Pereira, M.F.R.; Blaney, L.; Silva, A.M.T. Spatial and seasonal occurrence of micropollutants in four Portuguese rivers and a case study for fluorescence excitation-emission matrices. Science of the Total Environment 644, 1128-1140.
• Shashvatt, U.; Benoit, J.; Aris, H.; Blaney, L. CO₂-assisted phosphorus extraction from poultry litter and selective recovery of struvite and potassium struvite. Water Research 143, 19-27.
• Fu, Q.-L.; Blaney, L.; Zhou, D.-Z. (2018). Identifying plant stress responses to roxarsone in soybean root exudates: New insights from two-dimensional correlation spectroscopy. Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry 66(1), 53-62.
• Blaney, L.; Perlinger, J.A.; Bartelt-Hunt, S.L.; Kandiah, R.; Ducoste, J.J. (2018). Another Grand Challenge – Diversity in Environmental Engineering. Environmental Engineering Science 35(6), 568-572.