Food Industry Co-streams: Potential Raw Materials for Biodegradable Mulch Film Applications

Vast amounts of co-streams are generated from plant and animal-based food processing industries. Efficient utilization of these co-streams is important from an economic and environmental perspective. Non-utilization or under-utilization of co-streams results in loss of potential revenues, increased disposal cost of these products and environmental pollution. At present, extensive research is taking place around the globe towards recycling of co-streams to generate value-added products. This review evaluates various co-streams from food processing industries as raw materials in developing biodegradable agricultural mulching applications. Among the agriculture-based co-streams, potato peels, tomato peels, carrot residues, apple pomace, coffee residues and peanut residues were reviewed with respect to production amount, composition, film forming components and film forming capabilities. Similarly, selected co-streams from slaughterhouses, poultry and fish processing industries were also reviewed and evaluated for the same purpose.     

Community-level and species-specific responses of coastal phytoplankton to the presence of two mesozooplanktonic grazers

The response of phytoplankton to the presence of two mesozooplanktonic grazers was studied in a 44-h laboratory experiment from the phytoplankton perspective. The <45-μm-filtered plankton community, as well as females of the copepod Eurytemora affinis and nauplii of the barnacle Balanus improvisus originated from the northern Baltic Sea. The phytoplankton community was dominated by the dinoflagellate Heterocapsa triquetra, which was preferred as food by the mesozooplanktonic grazers, especially E. affinis. Cryptophytes were eaten by the B. improvisus nauplii, while heterotrophic nanoflagellates increased in the presence of B. improvisus nauplii, and colonial cyanobacteria increased in the presence of E. affinis. Because of the strong selective feeding on the dominant, large-sized phytoplankton species, the negative effect of the mesozooplanktonic grazers on total chlorophyll a was stronger than any cascade effect releasing phytoplankton from protozoan grazing.     

Brassica napus hairy roots and rhizobacteria for phenolic compounds removal

Phenolic compounds are contaminants frequently found in water and soils. In the last years, some technologies such as phytoremediation have emerged to remediate contaminated sites. Plants alone are unable to completely degrade some pollutants; therefore, their association with rhizospheric bacteria has been proposed to increase phytoremediation potential, an approach called rhizoremediation. In this work, the ability of two rhizobacteria, Burkholderia kururiensis KP 23 and Agrobacterium rhizogenes LBA 9402, to tolerate and degrade phenolic compounds was evaluated. Both microorganisms were capable of tolerating high concentrations of phenol, 2,4-dichlorophenol (2,4-DCP), guaiacol, or pentachlorophenol (PCP), and degrading different concentrations of phenol and 2,4-DCP. Association of these bacterial strains with B. napus hairy roots, as model plant system, showed that the presence of both rhizospheric microorganisms, along with B. napus hairy roots, enhanced phenol degradation compared to B. napus hairy roots alone. These findings are interesting for future applications of these strains in phenol rhizoremediation processes, with whole plants, providing an efficient, economic, and sustainable remediation technology.     

The effect of temperature on the development and hatching of resting eggs of non-indigenous predatory cladoceran Cercopagis pengoi in the Gulf of Finland, Baltic Sea

The effect of temperature on the development and hatching of resting eggs of the Ponto-Caspian Cercopagis pengoi was studied experimentally in the Gulf of Finland, Baltic Sea. Morphological changes were monitored as the development of the resting eggs proceeded. Sexual reproduction of the C. pengoi population in the Gulf of Finland was evaluated by combining the data from hatching experiments and resting egg abundances in the sediment. Development time of resting eggs was dependent on temperature: increase in the temperature shortened the time needed until hatching. Hatching success was also dependent on incubation temperature. Almost sixfold increase in hatching success was detected when temperature increased two degrees above the storage temperature. Average resting egg abundances varied between 0.16 and 0.49 eggs cm⁻³ in the 0–6 cm sediment layer.     

Accumulation of heavy metals from contaminated soil to plants and evaluation of soil remediation by vermiculite

We evaluated the distribution of 15 metal ions, namely Al, Cd, Cu, Cr, Fe, La, Mn, Ni, Pb, Sc, Ti, V, Y, Zn and Zr, in the soil of a contaminated site in Piedmont (Italy). This area was found to be heavily contaminated with Cu, Cr and Ni. The availability of these metal ions was studied using Tessier’s sequential extraction procedure: the fraction of mobile species, which potentially is the most harmful for the environment, was much higher than that normally present in unpolluted soils. This soil was hence used to evaluate the effectiveness of treatment with vermiculite to reduce the availability of the pollutants to two plants, Lactuca sativa and Spinacia oleracea, by pot experiments. The results indicated that the addition of vermiculite significantly reduces the uptake of metal pollutants by plants, confirming the possibility of using this clay in amendment treatments of metal-contaminated soils. The effect of plant growth on metal fractionation in soils was investigated. Finally, the sum of the metal percentages extracted into the first two fractions of Tessier’s protocol was found to be suitable in predicting the phytoavailability of most of the pollutants present in the investigated soil.     

The use of mosses as environmental metal pollution indicators

The possibility of using mosses as environmental indicators of metal pollution has been investigated. Mosses of the species Bryum argenteum were collected from different parts of Piedmont (Italy), ranging from highly polluted areas to nearly uncontaminated mountain areas. Periodical samplings were planned in every site on a monthly base, in order to check variations of metal uptake throughout one year; correlations with pluviometric and thermal patterns were investigated for all sampling stations. On every moss sample 20 elements, ranging from major (K, P, Al, Ca, Fe and Mg) to minor (Mn, Na, Ti and Zn) and trace (As, Ba, Cd, Co, Cr, Cu, Li, Ni, Pb and Sr), were quantitatively determined by inductively coupled plasma-atomic emission spectrometry or graphite furnace-atomic absorption spectrometry, depending on the needed sensitivity. Statistical analyses, carried out with principal component analysis and cluster analysis methods, revealed that a good correlation exists between metal content in mosses and pollution degree in the areas sampled.     

Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in Mullus surmuletus from the Catania Gulf (Sicily,Italy): distribution and potential health risks

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - Different specimens of Mullus surmuletus from the Catania Gulf (Sicily) were sampled and analysed for the quantification of 16 priority polycyclic...     

Long-range transport episodes of fine particles in southern Finland during 1999–2007

The frequency, strength and sources of long-range transport (LRT) episodes of fine particles (PM_2.5) were studied in southern Finland using air quality monitoring results, backward air mass trajectories, remote sensing of fire hot spots, transport and dispersion modelling of smoke and chemical analysis of particle samples (black carbon, monosaccharide anhydrides, oxalate, succinate, malonate, SO₄^2?, NO₃^?, K⁺ and NH₄⁺). At an urban background site in Helsinki, the daily WHO guideline value (24-h PM_2.5 mean 25 μg m^?3) was exceeded during 1–7 LRT episodes per year in 1999–2007. The 24-h mean maximum concentrations varied between 25 and 49 μg m^?3 during the episodes, which was 3–6 times higher than the local mean concentration (8.7 μg m^?3) in 1999–2007. The highest particle concentrations (max. 1-h mean 163 μg m^?3) and the longest episodes (max. 9 days) were mainly caused by the emissions from open biomass burning, especially during springs and late-summers in 2002 and 2006. During the period 2001–2007, the satellite remote sensing of active fire hot spots and transport and dispersion modelling of smoke indicated that approximately half of the episodes were caused partly by the emissions from wildfires and/or agricultural waste burning in fields in Eastern Europe, especially in Russia, Belarus and Ukraine. Other episodes were mainly caused by the LRT of ordinary anthropogenic pollutants, e.g. from energy production, traffic, industry and wood combustion. During those ‘other episodes’, air masses also arrived from Eastern Europe, including Poland. The highest concentrations of biomass-burning tracers, such as monosaccharide anhydrides (levoglucosan + mannosan + galactosan) and K⁺, were observed during open biomass-burning episodes, but quite high values were also measured during some winter episodes due to wood combustion emissions. Our results indicate that open biomass burning in Eastern Europe causes high fine particle concentration peaks in large areas of Europe almost every year.     

Global energy and emissions scenarios for effective climate change mitigation—Deterministic and stochastic scenarios with the TIAM model

The achievement possibilities of the EU 2 °C climate target have been assessed with the ETSAP TIAM global energy systems model. Cost-effective global and regional mitigation scenarios of carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide and F-gases were calculated with alternative assumptions on emissions trading. In the mitigation scenarios, an 85% reduction in CO₂ emissions is needed from the baseline, and very significant changes in the energy system towards emission-free sources take place during this century. The largest new technology groups are carbon-capture and storage (CCS), nuclear power, wind power, advanced bioenergy technologies and energy efficiency measures. CCS technologies contributed a 5.5-Pg CO₂ annual emission reduction by 2050 and 12 Pg CO₂ reduction by 2100. Also large-scale forestation measures were found cost-efficient. Forestation measures reached their maximum impact of 7.7 Pg CO₂ annual emission reduction in 2080. The effects of uncertainties in the climate sensitivity have been analysed with stochastic scenarios.