The status of pesticide pollution in surface waters (rivers and lakes) of Greece. Part I. Review on occurrence and levels

This review evaluates and summarizes the results of long-term research projects, monitoring programs and published papers concerning the pollution of surface waters (rivers and lakes) of Greece by pesticides. Pesticide classes mostly detected involve herbicides used extensively in corn, cotton and rice production, organophosphorus insecticides as well as the banned organochlorines insecticides due to their persistence in the aquatic environment. The compounds most frequently detected were atrazine, simazine, alachlor, metolachlor and trifluralin of the herbicides, diazinon, parathion methyl of the insecticides and lindane, endosulfan and aldrin of the organochlorine pesticides. Rivers were found to be more polluted than lakes. The detected concentrations of most pesticides follow a seasonal variation, with maximum values occurring during the late spring and summer period followed by a decrease during winter. Nationwide, in many cases the reported concentrations ranged in low ppb levels. However, elevated concentrations were recorded in areas of high pesticide use and intense agricultural practices. Generally, similar trends and levels of pesticides were found in Greek rivers compared to pesticide contamination in other European rivers. Monitoring of the Greek water resources for pesticide residues must continue, especially in agricultural regions, because the nationwide patterns of pesticide use are constantly changing. Moreover, emphasis should be placed on degradation products not sufficiently studied so far.     

Recent advances in the bioremediation of arsenic-contaminated groundwater

The biological treatment of groundwater is used primarily to remove electron donors from water sources, providing (biologically) stable drinking water, which preclude bacterial regrowth during subsequent water distribution. To the electron donors belong also the dissolved metal cations of ferrous iron and manganese, which are common contaminants found in most (anaerobic) groundwater. The removal of iron and manganese is usually accomplished by the application of chemical oxidation and filtration. However, biological oxidation has recently gained increased importance and application due to the existence of certain advantages, over the conventional physicochemical treatment. The oxidation of iron and manganese is accelerated by the presence of certain indigenous bacteria, the so-called "iron and manganese oxidizing bacteria." In the present paper, selected long-term experimental results will be presented, regarding the bioremediation of natural groundwater, containing elevated concentrations of iron and arsenic. Arsenic is considered as a primary pollutant in drinking water due to its high toxicity. Therefore, its efficient removal from natural waters intended for drinking water is considered of great importance. The application of biological processes for the oxidation and removal of dissolved iron was found to be an efficient treatment technique for the simultaneous removal of arsenic, from initial concentrations between 60 and 80 microg/l to residual (effluent) arsenic concentrations lower than the limit of 10 microg/l. The paper was focused on the removal of As(III) as the most common species in anaerobic groundwater and generally is removed less efficiently than the oxidized form of As(V). To obtain information for the mechanism of As(III) removal, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) analyses were applied and it was found that As(III) was partially oxidized to As(V), which enabled the high arsenic removal efficiency over a treatment period of 10 months.     

Survey for the occurrence of antifouling paint booster biocides in the aquatic environment of Greece

Since the restriction imposed by European Union regulations on the use of TBT-based antifouling paints on boats below 25 m in length, new terms have been introduced in the 'small boat' market. Replacement products are generally based on copper metal oxides and organic biocides. Several studies have demonstrated the presence of these biocides in European ports and marinas of Spain, France, Germany and the United Kingdom. An extended survey of the antifouling biocides chlorothalonil, dichlofluanid, irgarol 1051 and sea-nine 211 was carried out in Greek ports and marinas of high boating activities from October 1999 to September 2000. The sampling sites were: Piraeus, Elefsina, Thessaloniki, Patras, Chalkida, Igoumenitsa, and Preveza (Aktio). The extraction of these compounds from the seawater samples was performed off-line with C18 solid phase extraction (SPE) disks while the determination was carried out with gas chromatography coupled to electron capture (ECD), thermionic (FTD) and mass spectroscopy (MS) detectors. The concentration levels of biocides were higher during the period from April to October. This seasonal impact depends on the application time of antifouling paints and mimic trends in the seasonal distribution of biocides in other European sites.     

Prospects of utilization of sugar beet carbohydrates for biological hydrogen production in the EU

Hydrogen can be produced through dark anaerobic fermentation using carbohydrate-rich biomass, and through photofermentation using the organic acids produced from dark fermentation. Sugar beet is an ideal energy crop for fermentative production of hydrogen in the EU due to its environmental profile and its potential availability in the area. In this work, various aspects of cultivating sugar beet in the EU for biohydrogen were highlighted, with special focus on The Netherlands and Greece. Moreover, fermentation of sugar beet juice with Caldicellulosiruptor saccharolyticus at sucrose concentration 10 g/l was performed, and was found comparable to the fermentation on pure sucrose except that the hydrogen production was 10% higher on sugar beet juice. A conservative estimate of the annual hydrogen potential in the EU was made (300 × 10⁶ kg hydrogen), considering the utilization of sugar beet pulp in hydrogen production.     

Cosmetic wastewater treatment technologies: a review

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - Over the past three decades, environmental concerns about the water pollution have been raised on societal and industrial levels. The presence of...     

Soil Erosion Potential after Fire and Rehabilitation Treatments in Greece

Wildland fires are one of the more severe disturbances for natural ecosystems in the Mediterranean basin and can become a critical factor in the process of soil erosion. A quantitative assessment of soil erosion is needed in order to form an assessment on the extent and magnitude of post-fire soil erosion potential and to assess the effectiveness of the rehabilitation treatment. On 21 August 2006, a large wildland fire occurred in the Kassandra Peninsula in northern Greece, which burned one fifth of the Peninsula. After the fire, in order to protect the soil against erosion, the Forest Services applied a hillslope rehabilitation treatment of contour-felled logs and branch piles. In this paper, we report quantitative estimation of the wildland fire and erosion control treatment on soil erosion potential. The coupling of the Universal Soil Loss Equation and the Geographical Information Systems was implemented and the erosion potential was found to be 2.8 t/ha/year pre-fire, 29.5 t/ha/year post-fire, and 21.3 t/ha/year after rehabilitation treatment. The model can successfully contribute in the planning of the rehabilitation treatment but it cannot be used in the quantification of the soil loss after the application of the erosion control measures. The comparisons between the results of the three cases indicate the importance of the immediate erosion control measures in order to mitigate soil loss and restore the natural environment.     

Heat wave hazard classification and risk assessment using artificial intelligence fuzzy logic

The average summer temperatures as well as the frequency and intensity of hot days and heat waves are expected to increase due to climate change. Motivated by this consequence, we propose a methodology to evaluate the monthly heat wave hazard and risk and its spatial distribution within large cities. A simple urban climate model with assimilated satellite-derived land surface temperature images was used to generate a historic database of urban air temperature fields. Heat wave hazard was then estimated from the analysis of these hourly air temperatures distributed at a 1-km grid over Athens, Greece, by identifying the areas that are more likely to suffer higher temperatures in the case of a heat wave event. Innovation lies in the artificial intelligence fuzzy logic model that was used to classify the heat waves from mild to extreme by taking into consideration their duration, intensity and time of occurrence. The monthly hazard was subsequently estimated as the cumulative effect from the individual heat waves that occurred at each grid cell during a month. Finally, monthly heat wave risk maps were produced integrating geospatial information on the population vulnerability to heat waves calculated from socio-economic variables.     

Quality of tube well water intended for irrigation and human consumption with special emphasis on arsenic contamination at the area of Punjab,Pakistan

In the present study, the tube well water quality and the associated health risks, emphasizing on arsenic contamination, were investigated in rural and urban samples from Tehsil Mailsi located in Punjab, Pakistan. Arsenic concentrations (μg/L) were ranged from 12 to 448.5 and which exceeded the WHO recommended limit (10 μg/L) in all cases. The calculated average daily dose (3.3 × 10^?0.4 to 1.2 × 10^?0.2 mg/kg day) and hazard quotient (1.1–40) reflected the potential health risk to local population due to tube well water consumption as drinking purpose. Sodium percent (Na%), sodium absorption ratio, residual sodium carbonate, Kelly’s index and magnesium absorption ratio were also determined to assess the suitability of tube well water for irrigation purpose. The resulting piper plot revealed the Na–Ca–HCO₃ type water chemistry of the area and generally alkaline environment. The spatial distribution of arsenic in the tube well waters pinpoints the significant contribution of anthropogenic activities to arsenic pollution. Nevertheless, different statistical tools, including principal component analysis, hierarchical cluster analysis and correlation matrices, revealed the contribution of both natural and anthropogenic activities and alkaline type of aquifers toward the high level of arsenic contamination.     

Annoyance due to aircraft noise has increased over the years—Results of the HYENA study

In the HYENA study (HYpertension and Exposure to Noise near Airports) noise annoyances due to aircraft and road traffic noise were assessed in subjects that lived in the vicinity of 6 major European airports using the 11-point ICBEN scale (International Commission on Biological Effects of Noise). A distinction was made between the annoyance during the day and during the night. L_den and L_night were considered as indicators of noise exposure. Pooled data analyses showed clear exposure–response relationships between the noise level and the noise annoyance for both exposures. The exposure–response curves for road noise were congruent with the EU standard curves used for predicting the number of highly noise annoyed subjects in European communities. Annoyance ratings due to aircraft noise, however, were higher than predicted by the EU standard curves. The data supports other findings suggesting that the people's attitude towards aircraft noise has changed over the years, and that the EU standard curve for aircraft noise should be modified.