Assessment of trace metal concentrations in muscle tissue of certain commercially available fish species from Kayseri,Turkey

Regular consumption of fish has been widely recommended by health authorities. However, it is known that some species accumulate high levels of contaminants including heavy metals (e.g., Hg, Cd, Pb, and As). In this study, Cu, Pb, Co, Ni, Cr, Mn, Cd, and Fe were determined in the muscle tissue of 11 commercially available fish species (Sparus auratus, Dicentrarchus labrax, Mullus barbatus, Belone belone, Psetta maxima, Epinephelus aeneus, Salmothymus, Soleidae, Pomatomus saltatrix, Engraulis encrasicolus, and Sarda sarda) supplied from retailers in Kayseri, Turkey. Determinations were carried out by flame atomic absorption spectrometry after the wet digestion method. The average metal concentrations of the 11 species were determined in the range of 0.54–1.79, 0.82–1.40, 2.38–4.54, 1.23–3.67, 5.01–5.97, 0.77–3.59, 0.48–1.06, and 5.05–122.8 μg/g wet weight for Cu, Pb, Co, Ni, Cr, Mn, Cd, and Fe, respectively. The permissible tolerable daily intake (PTDI) and calculated daily intake (CDI) values were compared, and the calculated daily intake values of the samples were found to be below the established values. Correlations between the metal contents in samples were investigated by performing correlation tests with SPSS 13.0 for windows.     

Determination of Au(III) and Pd(II) ions by flame atomic absorption spectrometry in some environmental samples after solid phase extraction

A simple and sensitive solid phase extraction method was developed for simultaneous separation and preconcentration of gold and palladium ions with N-(4-methylphenyl)-2-{[(4-phenyl-5-pyridine-4-yl-4H-1,2,4-triazol-3-yl)thio]acetyl}hydrazine carbo thioamide complex on Amberlite XAD-1180 resin before their determination by flame atomic absorption spectrometry. Some analytical parameters such as HNO₃ concentration of the sample solution, amount of complexing agent, sample volume, eluent type and volume, effects of foreign ions and adsorption capacity of the resin were investigated for quantitative recovery of gold and palladium ions. The effects of some anions and cations were also examined. Under optimum conditions, the detection limits for gold and palladium ions were found to be 0.29 and 0.19 μg L^?1, respectively. The preconcentration factor for gold and palladium was 250. After being validated by standard addition and analysis of standard reference material, the procedure was successfully applied to the analysis of sea and stream water, anodic slime, gold ore, soil and electronic waste.     

Determination of total Cr in wastewaters of Cr electroplating factories in the I.organize industry region (Kayseri, Turkey) by ICP-AES

The wastewater pollution in industrial areas is one of the most important environmental problems. Heavy metal pollution, especially chromium pollution in the wastewater sources from electroplating, dyeing, and tannery, has affected the life on earth. This pollution can affect on all ecosystems and human health directly or by food chain. Therefore, the determination of total chromium in this study is of great importance. In this study, accurate, rapid, sensitive, selective, simple, and low-cost technique for the direct determination of total Cr in wastewater samples collected from the some Cr electroplating factories in March 2008 by inductively coupled plasma-atomic emission spectrometry has been developed. The analysis of a given sample is completed in about 15 min by this technique applied. As the result of the chromium analysis, the limit of quantification for the total Cr were founded to be over the limit value (0.05 mg L^???1; WHO, EPA, TSE 266, and inland water quality classification) as 1,898.78 ± 0.34 mg/L at station 1 and 3,189.02 ± 0.56 mg/L at station 2. The found concentration of total Cr has been determined to be IV class quality water according to the inland water classification. In order to validate the applied method, recovery studies were performed.     

Bacterial community composition characterization of a lead-contaminated <Emphasis Type="Italic">Microcoleus</Emphasis> sp. consortium

Introduction  

A Microcoleus sp. consortium, obtained from the Ebro delta microbial mat, was maintained under different conditions including uncontaminated, lead-contaminated, and acidic conditions.     

Biosorption properties of Morus alba L. for Cd (II) ions removal from aqueous solutions

The abundantly available industrial waste product Morus alba L. pomace (MAP) is one of the cost-effective biosorbent for removal of metal ions from aqueous solutions. Hence, in the present study, we aimed to test the ability of MAP to remove Cd(II) ions through batch biosorption process. Firstly, MAP was characterized using several techniques, and then the influence of various experimental parameters such as initial pH of the aqueous solution, initial Cd(II) concentration, contact time, MAP concentration, and temperature were evaluated upon the biosorption process. It was found that the maximum uptake of Cd(II) ions occurred at initial pH 6.0 and optimum contact time was observed as 60 min. Cd(II) ions adsorption on MAP analyzed by the Langmuir and Freundlich isotherm models and the maximum monolayer biosorption capacity of MAP was found to be 21.69 mg?g^?1 by using the Langmuir isotherm model. The pseudo-first-order, pseudo-second-order, Elovich, and intraparticle diffusion models were employed to describe the biosorption kinetics. In order to investigate the thermodynamic properties of the biosorption process, the changes in the Gibbs free energy (?G), enthalpy (?H), and entropy (?S) were also evaluated and it has been concluded that the process was feasible, spontaneous, and endothermic in the temperature range of 5–40 °C.     

Integration of RBCA frameworks and remediation technologies

Decisions that determine the proper risk-based remediation approach are based on technical, regulatory, cost, legal, and political factors. A wide variety of options such as the ASTM RBCA tiered approach, the API Decision Support Software, and a host of agency-specific methods and commercial risk assessment software are all available. The optimization of a remediation project requires the right remediation technology coupled with the appropriate analytical framework. For groundwater remediation, the application of various “risk reduction” technologies can be classified as aggressive (pump and treat), moderate intensity (air sparging), low intensity (oxygen release compound-ORC®), and intrinsic (monitor only). The time frame of risk analysis will establish the proper risk reduction strategy. The selection process is inherently iterative, and the approach by which an optimal solution can be derived forms the basis of this article. A case study of a Texas site put these issues into context.     

Adsorptive removal of Cd(II) and Pb(II) ions from aqueous solutions by using Turkish illitic clay

The ability of Turkish illitic clay (TIC) in removal of Cd(II) and Pb(II) ions from aqueous solutions has been examined in a batch adsorption process with respect to several experimental conditions including initial solution pH, contact time, initial metal ions concentration, temperature, ionic strength, and TIC concentration, etc. The characterization of TIC was performed by using FTIR, XRD and XRF techniques. The maximum uptake of Cd(II) (11.25 mg g⁻¹) and Pb(II) (238.98 mg g⁻¹) was observed when used 1.0 g L⁻¹ of TIC suspension, 50 mg L⁻¹ of initial Cd(II) and 250 mg L⁻¹ of initial Pb(II) concentration at initial pH 4.0 and contact time of 240 min at room temperature. The experimental data were analyzed by the Langmuir, Freundlich, Temkin and Dubinin Radushkevich (D-R) isotherm models. The monolayer adsorption capacity of TIC was found to be 13.09 mg g⁻¹ and 53.76 mg g⁻¹ for Cd(II) and Pb(II) ions, respectively. The kinetics of the adsorption was tested using pseudo-first-order, pseudo-second-order, Elovich and intraparticle diffusion models. The results showed that the adsorption of Cd(II) and Pb(II) ions onto TIC proceeds according to the pseudo-second-order model. Thermodynamic parameters including the Gibbs free energy (ΔG), enthalpy (ΔH), and entropy (ΔS) changes indicated that the present adsorption process was feasible, spontaneous and endothermic in the temperature range of 5–40 °C.     

Using radiotracer techniques for coastal hydrodynamic model evaluation

A three-dimensional (3D) water circulation and contaminant transport model of Manila Bay has been developed with the aim of better understanding the formation and movement of harmful algal blooms. Radiotracer techniques were used to evaluate the model by recording the dispersion of a tracer at depths of 2 and 15 m near the injection point. The selected tracer was 99mTc eluted from a molybdenum/technetium medical generator. The rationale for the choice of the tracer and the location of the injection is discussed. At 2 m the transport was dominated by the prevailing winds, and at 15 m by tidally induced currents. The development of the hydrodynamic model and its experimental evaluation were iterative processes. The experimental study confirmed the need for full 3D modelling of Manila Bay; quantified the impact of the prevailing wind field on contaminant dispersion near the injection point; and allowed the calculation of transverse dispersivity to guide the selection of parameter values used in the overall model.     

Mercury methylation by a microbial community from sediments of the Adour Estuary (Bay of Biscay, France)

In order to study the influence of microorganisms on the mercury biogeochemistry, the metal content and the structure of microbial communities were determined in sediments from stations along the Adour Estuary. The comparison of the bacterial communities and their distribution in function of the environmental parameters by Canonical Correspondence Analysis (CCA) revealed the influence of metals on the bacterial communities structure. Sediments where the bacterial communities are mostly influenced by methylmercury were incubated in slurries with or without mercury, under oxic and anoxic conditions. Methylmercury production was detected in the anoxic biotic slurries with a net methylation yield of 0.3% after 24 h. CCA based on T-RFLP profiles revealed the impact of mercury addition on the bacterial communities structure. In addition, 17 bacterial strains, mainly sulphate-reducing bacteria involved in mercury methylation, were isolated and identified.     

The fatty acid compositions of several plant seed oils belong to Leguminosae and Umbelliferae families

In samples with 1,009, 7,723, 7,618, 7,618, 1,004 and 1,009 number, oleic acid were found as 62.0, 77.0, 74.84, 71.55, 54.52 and 62.30 %, respectively. In other samples, oleic acid content was determined between 17.43 % (1,589) and 34.86 % (1,298). Linoleic acid content of seed oils ranged from 6.52 % (7,727) to 57.29 % (1,501). In addition, linolenic acid content was found between 0.22 % (7,618) and 46.91 % (1,589). Palmitic acid content of samples changed between 2.03 % (7,727) and 19.81 % (1,298). Capric acid was found at high level in 1,009 (8.53 %), 7,727 (37.31 %) and 1,004 (8.28 %) samples. Caproic acid was found in only 7,727 (3.38 %).