Identification of Quarries Rehabilitation Scenarios: A Case Study Within the Metropolitan Area of Bari (Italy)

This paper addresses quarries rehabilitation issue within a Metropolitan Area. Areas where mining activity is carried out have been subjected to physical and environmental degradation linked both to pursue the building materials extraction and to the city expansion continuously asking for new areas to be developed with residential and service functions. These changes also occurred where environmental and landscape values are present. It has been therefore pointed out the issue of such areas redevelopment that, to be functionally reintegrated, must be consistently linked to the activities and the territorial local contexts characteristics. In this paper the quarries reuse issue is carried out through parameters identification able to define the quarries relationship with the neighboring towns and with their surroundings besides to identify their physical, environmental and landscaping characteristics. Quarry reuse alternatives have been identified among those consistent with the rehabilitation goals, as defined by the planning sector and internationally approved, while their selection is derived from the application of a two-step methodology: a multi-criteria analysis related to punctual parameters at a "site-specific" level, followed by a further territorial indicators checking over the wide area. This application has led to socially accepted results identifying the examined quarries for reuses ranging from agricultural-forestry and urban to functional or naturalistic. The proposed method has also proved to be suitable to address the abandoned quarries reuse problem with a systemic and consultative approach, as it is able to correlate the many variables present in the social and spatial complexity of the Metropolitan Areas.     

Assessment of exposure to DDT and metabolites after indoor residual spraying through the analysis of thatch material from rural African dwellings

Introduction  

We report on the analysis of 4,4′-dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane (4,4′-DDT) and its metabolites in thatch and branch samples constituting the wall materials of dwellings from South African subtropical areas. This approach was used to assess the exposure to DDT in the residents of the dwellings after indoor residual spraying (IRS) following recommended sanitation practices against malaria vectors.     

Chemical and spectroscopic characterization of organic matter during the anaerobic digestion and successive composting of pig slurry

In this work, anaerobic digestion of pig slurry and successive composting of the digestate after centrifugation were studied by means of chemical analysis, FTIR and fluorescence spectroscopy as excitation–emission matrix (EEM). Chemical analysis highlighted the organic matter transformation occurring during the processes. A decrease of volatile solids and total organic carbon were observed in the digestate with respect to the fresh pig slurry as a consequence of the consumption of sugars, proteins, amino acids and fatty acids used by microorganisms as a C source. Water Extractable Organic Matter (WEOM) was obtained for all samples and fractionated into a hydrophilic and a hydrophobic fraction. The highest WEOM value was found in the pig slurry indicating a high content of labile organic C. The digestate centrifuged and the digestate composted showed lower hydrophilic and higher hydrophobic contents because of the decrease of labile C. Total phenolic content was lower in the digestate with respect to fresh pig slurry sample (36.7%) as a consequence of phenolic compounds degradation. The strong decrease of total reducing sugars in the digestate (76.6%) as compared to pig slurry confirmed that anaerobic process proceed mainly through consumption of sugars which represent a readily available energy source for microbial activity. FTIR spectra of pig slurry showed bands indicative of proteins and carbohydrates. A drop of aliphatic structures and a decrease of polysaccharides was observed after the anaerobic process along with the increase of the peak in the aromatic region. The composted substrate showed an increase of aromatic and a relative decrease of polysaccharides. EEM spectra provided tryptophan:fulvic-like fluorescence ratios which increased from fresh substrate to digestate because of the OM decompostion. Composted substrate presented the lowest ratio due to the humification process.     

Photocatalytic degradation of acetaminophen in modified TiO2 under visible irradiation

This study investigated the photocatalytic degradation of acetaminophen (ACT) in synthetic titanium dioxide (TiO₂) solution under a visible light (λ >440 nm). The TiO₂ photocatalyst used in this study was synthesized via sol–gel method and doped with potassium aluminum sulfate (KAl(SO₄)₂) and sodium aluminate (NaAlO₂). The influence of some parameters on the degradation of acetaminophen was examined, such as initial pH, photocatalyst dosage, and initial ACT concentration. The optimal operational conditions were also determined. Results showed that synthetic TiO₂ catalysts presented mainly as anatase phase and no rutile phase was observed. The results of photocatalytic degradation showed that LED alone degraded negligible amount of ACT but with the presence of TiO₂/KAl(SO₄)₂, 95 % removal of 0.10-mM acetaminophen in 540-min irradiation time was achieved. The synthetic TiO₂/KAl(SO₄)₂ presented better photocatalytic degradation of acetaminophen than commercially available Degussa P-25. The weak crystallinity of synthesized TiO₂/NaAlO₂ photocatalyst showed low photocatalytic degradation than TiO₂/KAl(SO₄)₂. The optimal operational conditions were obtained in pH 6.9 with a dose of 1.0 g/L TiO₂/KAl(SO₄)₂ at 30 °C. Kinetic study illustrated that photocatalytic degradation of acetaminophen fits well in the pseudo-first order model. Competitive reactions from intermediates affected the degradation rate of ACT, and were more obvious as the initial ACT concentration increased.     

Ultrasound effects on the activity of Aspergillus niger lipases in their application in dairy wastewater treatment

We evaluated the effect of ultrasound radiation on lipase activity. The experiments were conducted using a low‐cost crude enzyme extract. We then used this lipase to treat dairy effluent. The results of our study presented an increase of approximately 430% in the concentration of free fatty acids.     

Evaluation of toxic metal (Hg, Cd, Pb), polychlorinated biphenyl (PCBs), and pesticide (DDTs) levels in aromatic herbs collected in selected areas of Southern Italy

This study provides, for the first time, data regarding levels of toxic metals (Hg, Cd, and Pb) and organochlorine compounds (PCBs and DDTs) in various aromatic herbs as rosemary (Rosmarinus officinalis), sage (Salvia officinalis), laurel (Laurus nobilis), oregano (Origanum vulgare), and spearmint (Mentha viridis) collected in some towns of the Southern Italy with different anthropogenic and population pressure. Metal and organochlorine compound concentrations were determined using atomic absorption spectrophotometer and gas-chromatography mass spectrometer (GC/MS), respectively. Pb emerged as the most abundant element, followed by Cd and Hg, while between organochlorine compounds, PCB concentrations were higher than those of DDTs. The pollutant concentrations were found to vary depending on the different herbs. The highest Pb levels were observed in rosemary (1.66 μg g^?1 dry weight) and sage (1.41 μg g^?1 dry weight), this latter showing also the highest Cd concentrations (0.75 μg g^?1 dry weight). For PCBs, the major concentrations were found in rosemary (2.75 ng g^?1 dry weight) and oregano (2.39 ng g^?1 dry weight). The principal component analysis applied in order to evaluate possible similarities and/or differences in the contamination levels among sampling sites indicated differences area-specific contamination.     

Removal of heavy metal ions from wastewaters using dendrimer-functionalized multi-walled carbon nanotubes

Dendrimer-functionalized multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNT) for heavy metal ion removal from wastewaters were developed. Triazole dendrimers (TD) were built directly onto the carbon nanotube surface by successive click chemistry reactions affording the zero- and first-generation dendrimer-functionalized MWCNT (MWCNT-TD1 and MWCNT-TD2). The Moedritzer-Irani reaction carried out on the amino groups present on the MWCNT-TD2 sample gave the corresponding α-aminophosphonate nanosystem MWCNT-TD2P. Both MWCNT-TD2 and MWCNT-TD2P nanosystems have been characterized by physical, chemical, and morphological analyses. Their chelating abilities towards the toxic metal ions Pb²⁺, Hg²⁺, and Ni²⁺ and the harmless Ca²⁺ ion have been experimentally evaluated in the two different sets of experiments and at the salt concentrations of 1 mg/mL or 1 μg/mL by inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS). The results of these studies pointed out the interesting chelating behavior for the phosphonated nanosystem towards the Hg²⁺ ion. The complexation mode of the best chelating system MWCNT-TD2P with mercury was investigated through density functional theory (DFT) calculations, suggesting a chelation mechanism involving the two oxygen atoms of the phosphate group. The synthesized dendrimers, supported on the multi-walled carbon nanotubes, have shown the potential to be used for the selective toxic metal ion removal and recovery.     

Biomagnification of anthropogenic and naturally-produced organobrominated compounds in a marine food web from Sydney Harbour, Australia

Polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) and naturally-produced organobrominated compounds, such as methoxylated PBDEs (MeO-PBDEs), have been scarcely studied in the Southern Hemisphere. Yet, sources of the latter group of compounds were found in Southern regions, specifically in Australia. The environmental distribution and biomagnification potential of organobrominated compounds were therefore investigated in a representative aquatic food chain (invertebrates and fish) from the Sydney Harbour, Australia. Mean PBDE concentrations ranged from 6.4 ng/g lipid weight (lw) in squid to 115 ng/g lw in flounder. BDE 47 was the dominant congener, followed by BDE 100. Mean levels of MeO-PBDEs (sum of congeners 2’-MeO-BDE 68 and 6-MeO-BDE 47) were as high as 110 ng/g lw in tailor, with a slight dominance of 2’-MeO-BDE 68. Polybrominated hexahydroxanthene derivates (PBHDs), another class of naturally-produced compounds, were found at variable concentrations and ranged from 4.7 ng/g lw in fanbelly and 146 ng/g lw in tailor. The tribrominated PBHD isomer dominated in the samples, except for luderick and squid. The lower levels of PBDEs found in luderick from the harbour compared to those obtained from the upper Parramatta River indicated a terrestrial (anthropogenic) origin of PBDEs, while the higher levels of MeO-PBDEs and PBHDs in the samples from the harbour confirmed the marine (natural) origin of these compounds. The highest trophic magnification factor (TMF) was found for sum PBDEs (3.9), while TMFs for sum MeO-PBDEs and sum PBHDs were 2.9 and 3.4, respectively. This suggests that biomagnification occurs in the studied aquatic food chain for anthropogenic brominated compounds, but also for the naturally-produced organobromines.     

A soil sampling intercomparison exercise for the ALMERA network

Soil sampling and analysis for radionuclides after an accidental or routine release is a key factor for the dose calculation to members of the public, and for the establishment of possible countermeasures. The IAEA organized for selected laboratories of the ALMERA (Analytical Laboratories for the Measurement of Environmental Radioactivity) network a Soil Sampling Intercomparison Exercise (IAEA/SIE/01) with the objective of comparing soil sampling procedures used by different laboratories. The ALMERA network is a world-wide network of analytical laboratories located in IAEA member states capable of providing reliable and timely analysis of environmental samples in the event of an accidental or intentional release of radioactivity. Ten ALMERA laboratories were selected to participate in the sampling exercise. The soil sampling intercomparison exercise took place in November 2005 in an agricultural area qualified as a “reference site”, aimed at assessing the uncertainties associated with soil sampling in agricultural, semi-natural, urban and contaminated environments and suitable for performing sampling intercomparison. In this paper, the laboratories sampling performance were evaluated.