Professor Masten's research involves the use of chemical oxidants for the remediation of soils, water, and leachates contaminated with hazardous organic chemicals. She has conducted research on the in-situ use of gaseous ozone to oxidize residual contaminant in saturated soils using ozone sparging and in unsaturated soils using soil venting. Dr. Masten has evaluated the toxicity of the by-products of chemical oxidation processes as measured by gap junction intercellular communication. Work focused on the ozonation and chlorination of several pesticides, including atrazine, alachlor, and lindane and on the PAHs, especially pyrene. Dr. Masten has also conducted research on the use of ozone-ceramic membrane filtration for the treatment of drinking waters containing organic matter and emerging contaminants Dr. Masten, along with several other faculty members, holds a patent on a hybrid ceramic membrane filtration system. She has conducted extensive research on the use of this technology for the control of disinfection by-products, nanoparticles, bromate, and pharmaceuticals in drinking water. This process uses the nanoassembly of metal oxides on membrane surfaces.
Dr. Masten is well-known for her research on the in-situ use of gaseous ozone to oxidize residual contaminants in saturated soils using ozone sparging and in unsaturated soils using soil venting. She has studied the toxicity of the by-products of chemical oxidation processes as measured by gap junction intercellular communication (GJIC). Advanced oxidation processes involving ozonation for the oxidation of the polychlorinated benzenes have been investigated by students in her research group. Work has focused on optimizing these systems for the generation of OH radicals and the development of predictive models.
Her current work is focused on the development of treatment technologies to mitigate lead and arsenic in drinking water. She has published over 100 publications and graduated over 50 MS students and 14 Ph.D students.
