Phosphorus fractionation in lake sediments--lakes Volvi and Koronia, N. Greece

Sediments from two lakes, the meso-to-eutrophic Volvi and the hypertrophic Koronia, located in N. Greece were examined on the basis of P-fractionation. In both lakes, the rank order of P-fractions was HCl-P > NaOH-P > BD-P > NH4Cl-P. The loosely sorbed phosphorus (NH4Cl-P) represented < 1% of the sedimentary inorganic phosphorus, while the reductant phosphorus (BD-P) ranged 5-6%. The calcium bound phosphorus (HCl-P) showed considerable contribution (59-74%) to the sedimentary inorganic P-loads. The metal oxide bound phosphorus (NaOH-P) was higher in the hypertrophic (30-35%) than in the meso-to-eutrophic system (19-28%). Fine-sized sediments exhibited significantly higher concentrations of HCl-P in Volvi and NH4Cl-P in Koronia. Sampling month had significant effect in variance of most P-fractions and other sediment features in both lakes. Use was also made of multivariate statistics to identify the factors which influence the sedimentary phosphorus. NaOH-P was the most reactive fraction in Lake Volvi. Iron compounds and organic matter seem to play a significant role in regulating this labile P-budget. NH4Cl-P was the more reactive fraction in Lake Koronia which was influenced by sedimentation of P-absorbed on clay/silt fine particles.     

Carbonyl compounds and dissolved organic carbon in rainwater of an urban atmosphere

This study investigates the occurrence of carbonyl compounds in rainwater at the city of Thessaloniki, Northern Greece. The concentrations of carbonyl compounds (as sum of 14 compounds) ranged from 21.8 to 592 μg/L, mean concentration 119 μg/L. Formaldehyde, acetaldehyde, hexanal, glyoxal, and methylglyoxal were the dominant compounds. DOC concentrations in rainwater ranged from 0.46 to 21.3 mg/L. UV–Vis and fluorescence spectra characteristics showed variation among rain events. Carbonyl compounds were negatively correlated with temperature exhibited relatively higher concentrations in cold season. They also influenced by storm origin with higher concentrations under terrestrial air masses. Calm conditions enhance the concentrations of DOC. Wash out is an effective removal mechanism of DOC.     

Modelling biodegradation of hydrocarbons in aquifers: when is the use of the instantaneous reaction approximation justified?

In-situ bio-remediation is a viable cleanup alternative for aquifers contaminated by hydrocarbons such as BTEX. Transport models of varying complexity and capabilities are used to quantify their degradation. A model that has gained wide acceptance in applications is BIOPLUME II, which assumes that oxygen-limited biodegradation takes place as an instantaneous reaction. In this work we have employed theoretical analysis, using non-dimensional variables, and numerical modelling to establish a quantitative criterion demarcating the range of validity of the instantaneous reaction approximation against biodegradation kinetics. Oxygen was the limiting species and sorption was ignored. This criterion relates (o), the Dahmk?hler number at oxygen depletion, to O(o)*, the ratio of initial to input oxygen concentration, (o) > or = 0.7(O(o)*)(2) + 0.1O(o)* + 1.8. The derived (o) reflects the intrinsic characteristics of the physical transport and of the biochemical reaction, including the effect of biomass density. Relative availability of oxygen and hydrocarbons exerts a small influence on results. Theory, verified and refined via numerical simulations, showed that significant deviations of instantaneous reactions from kinetics are to be expected in the space-time region s相似文献   

Characterization of airborne particulate matter in thessaloniki,Greece

TSP samples, collected at two stations in the area of Thessaloniki during the period July 1987‐June 1988, were analysed for heavy metals (Fe, Pb, Zn, Cu, Mn, Cr, Co, Ni and V). Flame and flameless atomic absorption spectrophotometry was used for metal determinations. Metals determined were characterized with respect to their origin from natural or man‐made emission sources. Source identification was attempted by relation of metal concentrations to wind direction, and interelement correlations.

Results obtained showed that Pb, Zn and Cu are emitted from man‐made sources (traffic, domestic heating, industry), V, Ni and Co are derived partially from natural and man‐made sources, while Cr is mainly soil‐derived.     

Levels, sources and spatiotemporal variation of nutrients and micropollutants in small streams of a Mediterranean River basin

In this study, nutrients, trace metals and priority pesticide compounds were investigated for the first time in water and sediment samples in streams of the Evrotas River basin (S.E. Greece) from 2006 to 2008. The most important sources of contamination were from the entry of pesticides and nutrients into surface waters and sediments as a result of the intensive agricultural activity as well as from the uncontrolled disposal of olive mill and citrus processing wastewaters. Aquatic risk assessment revealed that all insecticides detected showed high risk, suggesting adverse effects on the stream biota. Among the metals analyzed, Cr, Ni and Ba presented the highest concentrations in sediments, however, due to natural geological processes. Multivariate statistical techniques applied for data compression, exploration and interpretation proved to be useful tools for identifying the most critical pollutants affecting the surface water quality. The findings of this study suggest that the inclusion of streams with small catchment areas into WFD monitoring and assessment programs is essential, especially those of the Mediterranean region.     

Assessment of Aquifer Vulnerability in an Agricultural Area in Spain Using the DRASTIC Model

The assessment of aquifer vulnerability is a very important task, especially in agricultural areas because the quality and availability of groundwater affects both the sustainability of agriculture and the quality of life. In this study, an integrated approach is considered, with the use of the generic and agricultural DRASTIC models as well as a geographic information system (GIS), to assess groundwater vulnerability in the agricultural area of Barrax, in the province of Albacete, in Spain. Seven parameters—depth to water, net recharge, aquifer media, soil media, topography, impact of vadose zone media, and hydraulic conductivity of the aquifer (DRASTIC)—have been considered as weighted layers to enable an accurate groundwater risk mapping. The results of the generic DRASTIC model indicated very low vulnerability to contamination for Barrax groundwater due to limited urban and industrial development in the wider area. However, agricultural activities impose pressure to groundwater resources and the results of the agricultural DRASTIC model show that 6.86% of the study area is characterized by very high, 2.29% by high, 47.28% by medium, 38.28% by low, and the remaining 5.29% by no vulnerability to groundwater contamination. The distribution of nitrate concentration in groundwater in the area under study is quite well correlated with the agricultural DRASTIC vulnerability index. Sensitivity analysis was also performed to acknowledge statistical uncertainty in the estimation of each parameter used, to assess its impact, and thus to identify the most critical parameters that require further investigation. Depth to water and impact of vadose zone are the parameters that had the most noticeable impact on the generic DRASTIC vulnerability index followed by the soil media and topography. In contrast, the agricultural DRASTIC method is more sensitive to the removal of the depth to water parameter followed by the topography and the soil media parameters.     

Size distribution of airborne particulate matter and associated heavy metals in the roadside environment

The size distributions of airborne particulate matter (PM) and associated heavy metals Pb, Cd, Ni, Cr, V, Mn, Cu and Fe in different inhalable fractions (< 0.8 microm, 0.8-1.3 microm, 1.3-2.7 microm, 2.7-6.7 microm and > 6.7 microm) were determined at a traffic-orientated urban site in the city of Thessaloniki, northern Greece. The airborne PM displayed a bimodal distribution with most of the mass (52%) contained in the submicron size range (< 0.8 microm) and an additional minor mode (20%) in the coarse size fraction (> 6.7 microm). Characteristic size distributions of heavy metals allowed identification of three main behavioral types: (a) metals whose mass was resided mainly within the accumulation mode (Pb,Cd), (b) those which were distributed between fine, intermediate and coarse modes (Ni,Cu,Mn), and (c) those which were mainly found within particles larger than 2.7 microm in diameter (Fe). The mean mass median aerodynamic diameter (MMAD) of PM was found at 0.85+/-0.71 microm, while the mean MMADs of heavy metals followed the order Pb (0.96 +/- 0.71 microm) < Cd (1.14 +/- 0.82 microm) < V (1.38 +/- 0.63 microm) < Ni (1.45 +/- 0.88 microm) < Cu (2.04 +/- 0.77 microm) < Mn (2.61 +/- 1.23 microm) < Cr (2.91 +/- 1.40 microm) < Fe (3.82 +/- 0.88 microm). The measured distributions are believed to result from a combination of processes including local anthropogenic and natural sources, such as traffic, industrial emissions and resuspension of road dust.     

Innovative aspects of environmental chemistry and technology regarding air,water, and soil pollution

Environmental Science and Pollution Research -     

Study of chlorothalonil photodegradation in natural waters and in the presence of humic substances

Photodegradation of chlorothalonil was studied in different natural waters (sea, river and lake) as well as in distilled water under natural and simulated solar irradiation. The effect of dissolved organic matter (DOM) such as humic and fulvic substances on the photodegradation rate of chlorothalonil was also studied in simulated sunlight. The presence of DOM enhanced the photodegradation of chlorothalonil with the exception of seawater. The kinetics were determined through gas chromatography electron capture detection (GC/ECD) and the photodegradation proceeds via pseudo-first-order reaction in all cases. Half-life ranged from 1 to 48 h. In natural and humic water chlorothalonil photodegradation gave rise to two different intermediates compared to distilled water demonstrating that the transformation of chlorothalonil depend on the constitution of the irradiated media and especially from DOM. The byproducts identified by GC/MS techniques were: chloro-1,3-dicyanobenzene, dichloro-1,3-dicyanobenzene, trichloro-1,3-dicyanobenzene and benzamide.