Cleanup of biological extracts by a Pasteur pipette column and a comparison of in vivo-accumulated chlorinated pesticide residues with other clean up systems

Biological samples are extracted with n-hexane/acetone (60:40) and 1 mL of the concentrated extract is eluted through a pasteur pipette column prepacked with alumina (0.3 g) and silicic acid (0.25 g) with 10 mL n-hexane (containing 4% acetone). The fat and other co-extractives are retained by the column and clear eluate is directly injected on a GLC column for determination on electron capture detector. A comparison of the Pasteur pipette cleanup with the modified method of Cole et al. (1967) on 41 samples of fish, One Step Method, (Ahmad and Marolt (1986] on 86 samples of fish and Maunder et al. (1964) on 10 type of wildlife (100 samples) was made. The Pasteur pipette method gives results which are significantly higher (p greater than 0.5) than the other methods except the One step method. The Pasteur pipette method has a detection limit of 0.01 microgram/g for DDT and its metabolites.     

Phytoremediation of aquaculture wastewater for water recycling and production of fish feed

Five plants were examined for their ability to remove nutrients from aquaculture wastewater and suitability as fish feed: alfalfa, white clover, oat, fall rye, barley. The seeds were first germinated in water in a hydroponic system, and the plants were fed wastewater from Tilapia production facility. Clover and alfalfa seeds were infected with fungus shortly after germination, and their roots were completely destroyed by day 14. Oat, rye and barley had the fastest growth and showed greater tolerance to fungal disease compared with alfalfa and clover. Although substantial amounts of soluble and insoluble substances were released by the seeds during the germination period, the plants were able to remove all the pollutants in wastewater and significant portions of those released substances. The total reductions in total solids, COD, NO3-N, NO2-N, phosphate and potassium ranged from 54.7% to 91.0%, 56.0% to 91.5%, 82.9% to 98.1%, 95.9% to 99.5%, 54.5% to 93.6% and 99.6% to 99.8%, respectively. Oat, barley and rye grow well in this type of hydroponic system and can be used as a fish feed after being supplemented with fat, Ca, Na, Mn and Fe. Oil seeds and the chlorides of these elements could be added to these plants when formulating the fish feed. For a continuous operation, a two-unit system could be configured to allow for one week germination and one week cleaning and startup in one unit while the other unit is in operation.     

Used lubricating oil recycling using hydrocarbon solvents

A solvent extraction process using new hydrocarbon solvents was employed to treat used lubricant oil. The solvents used were liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) condensate and stabilized condensate. A demulsifier was used to enhance the treatment process. The extraction process using stabilized condensate demonstrated characteristics that make it competitive with existing used oil treatment technologies. The process is able to reduce the asphaltene content of the treated lubricating oil to 0.106% (w/w), the ash content to 0.108%, and the carbon residue to 0.315% with very low levels of contaminant metals. The overall yield of oil is 79%. The treated used oil can be recycled as base lubricating oil. The major disadvantage of this work is the high temperature of solvent recovery. Experimental work and results are presented in detail.     

Analyzing temporal–spatial characteristics of drought events in the northern part of Cyprus

Drought in the northern part of Cyprus has become a recurrent phenomenon. In the last few decades, Cyprus has experienced significantly severe drought events occurring periodically, and this trend is now continuing. With rainfall distribution varying considerably across the region and frequent drought conditions, the water resources, agriculture, economy and the environment have been adversely affected. This study aims to investigate spatial–temporal characteristic of drought using Standardized Precipitation Index (SPI) at multiple timescales (3, 6 and 12 months). Monthly time series of 36 years (1977–2013) rainfall data from nine weather stations are used to derive SPI values. Based on different drought categories, this study focuses on propagation of drought from one timescale to another and estimating critical rainfall values during moderate, severe and extreme drought conditions. The analysis revealed that there is a strong correlation among different timescales in detecting drought events. On average, 79 and 78% of 3-month timescale drought propagated into 6- and 12-month drought events, respectively, while 90% of 6-month timescale drought events propagated into 12-month drought events. The derived critical rainfall value for extreme droughts over a 12-month timescale was less than 255 mm/year in the town of Alsancak, while for Guzelyurt, a major citrus growing city, this figure was less than 135 mm/year. The results are validated through drought events detected at various regions of the Mediterranean basin and local flood occurrences during the wet periods and decline in water tables at drought seasons.     

Mercury contamination in the estuaries and coastal sediments of the Strait of Malacca

Fishers’ local ecological knowledge (LEK) is an additional tool to obtain information about cetaceans, regarding their local particularities, fishing interactions, and behavior. However, this knowledge could vary in depth of detail according to the level of interaction that fishers have with a specific species. This study investigated differences in small-scale fishers’ LEK regarding the estuarine dolphin (Sotalia guianensis) in three Brazilian northeast coastal communities where fishing is practiced in estuarine lagoons and/or coastal waters and where dolphin-watching tourism varies from incipient to important. The fishers (N?=?116) were asked about general characteristics of S. guianensis and their interactions with this dolphin during fishing activities. Compared to lagoon fishers, coastal fishers showed greater knowledge about the species but had more negative interactions with the dolphin during fishing activities. Coastal fishing not only offered the opportunity for fishers to observe a wider variety of the dolphin’s behavior, but also implied direct contact with the dolphins, as they are bycaught in coastal gillnets. Besides complementing information that could be used for the management of cetaceans, this study shows that the type of environment most used by fishers also affects the accuracy of the information they provide. When designing studies to gather information on species and/or populations with the support of fishers, special consideration should be given to local particularities such as gear and habitats used within the fishing community.     

Improving the feasibility of aquaculture feed by using microalgae

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - The aquaculture industry is an efficient edible protein producer and grows faster than any other food sector. Therefore, it requires enormous amounts...     

Bioremediation of tannery effluent by Cr- and salt-tolerant bacterial strains

Microorganisms have great potential to control environmental pollution, particularly industrial sources of water pollution. Currently, leather industry is regarded as the most polluting and suffering from negative impacts due to the pollution it adds to the environment. Chromium, one of the hazardous pollutants discharged from tanneries, is highly toxic and carcinogenic in nature. Effective treatment of tannery effluent is a dire need of the era as a part of environmental management. Among all the wastewater treatment technologies, bioremediation is the most effective and environment-friendly tool to manage the water pollution. The present study evaluated the potential of 11 previously isolated bacterial strains, tolerant to high concentrations of salts and Cr for the bioremediation of tannery effluent. Among all the tested strains, Enterobacter sp. HU38, Microbacterium arborescens HU33, and Pantoea stewartii ASI11 were found most effective in reducing biological oxygen demand (BOD), chemical oxygen demand (COD), total dissolved solids (TDS), total suspended solids (TSS), and chromium (Cr) 70, 63, 57, 87, and 54%, respectively, of tannery effluent and proliferated well under highly toxic conditions, at 9 days of incubation. The pollutant removal efficacy of these bacterial strains can be improved by extending the incubation period or by increasing the amount of inoculum.