Ecotoxicity assessment of lipid regulators in water and biologically treated wastewater using three aquatic organisms

Background, aim, and scope  

The high consumption of blood lipid regulators is leading to frequent reports of the occurrence of fibrates in natural streams and wastewater effluents. This paper describes a study undertaken to evaluate the acute toxicity of bezafibrate, clofibric acid, gemfibrozil, and fenofibric acid, a metabolite of fenofibrate whose ecotoxicity has not been previously reported.     

Zinc tolerance and uptake by <Emphasis Type="Italic">Arabidopsis halleri ssp. gemmifera</Emphasis> grown in nutrient solution

Background, aim, and scope  

Zinc is an essential micronutrient element but its concentrations found in contaminated soils frequently exceed those required by the plant and soil organisms, and thus create danger to animal and human health. Phytoremediation is a technique, often employed in remediation of contaminated soils, which aims to remove heavy metals or other contaminants from soils or waters using plants. Arabidopsis (A.) halleri ssp. gemmifera is a plant recently found to be grown vigorously in heavy metal contaminated areas of Japan and it contained remarkably high amount of heavy metals in its shoots. However, the magnitude of Zn accumulation and tolerance in A. halleri ssp. gemmifera need to be investigated for its use as a phytoremediation plant.     

Formation of shaped barium sulfate-dye hybrids: waste dye utilization for eco-friendly treatment of wastewater

Purpose

Owing to the present complexity and difficulty of concentrated dye wastewater treatment, this work aimed to synthesize a reproducible waste-sorbing material for the treatment of wastewater by forming the dye-conjugating complex hybrid.

Methods

The inorganic/organic hybridization was applied to prepare the objective material by immobilizing waster dye-Mordant blue 9 (MB) with barium sulfate (BaSO₄). The composition and pattern of the formed material were determined by spectrometry and characterized by SEM and XRD, and their formation process was clarified. The adsorption of cationic dye-basic blue BO (BB) and copper ion was investigated..

Results

The hybrid of MB alone into growing BaSO₄ formed the pineapple-like particles while that of the MB/BB-conjugating complex was the rhombus material. The adsorption of BB on the MB–BaSO₄ hybrid was probably attributed to ion-pair equilibrium and that of Cu²⁺ may result from the complexation. The treatment of dye and heavy metal wastewaters indicated that the MB hybrid material removed 99.8% BB and 97% Cu²⁺ and the dye-conjugating hybrid with growing BaSO₄ 100% MB, 99.5% BB, and 44% Cu²⁺.

Conclusion

The waste MB–BaSO₄ hybrid material is efficient to treat cationic dye and Cu²⁺ wastewater. The dye-conjugating hybridization method is the first to be advanced for in situ wastewater treatment, and it showed a combined effect for the removal of both organic dyes and heavy metals.     

Patinas developed in environmental burial conditions: the Neolithic steles of Reguers de Seró (Lleida,Spain)

Background, aim and scope  

Weathering patinas in rocks are the result of interaction processes between rock surfaces and atmosphere, biosphere and soil. Therefore, their textural and mineral composition is strongly related to environmental and bioactivity conditions. Whereas the development of weathering patinas in atmospheric conditions is well documented (e.g. typical Mediterranean patina), only very few studies focus on their formation in a burial environment. Our study of patinas developed on the tumular structure of Reguers de Seró deals with the knowledge of burial patinas from a textural and mineralogical point of view. The aims of this study include: (1) the characterisation of the rock used in this megalithic monument as well as inferences regarding the origin of the raw material; (2) the evaluation of the patinas developed on the surface of the carved steles; and (3) the discussion of the environmental conditions (atmospheric or burial) that favoured the development of the patinas.     

Turning calcium carbonate into a cost-effective wastewater-sorbing material by occluding waste dye

Background, aim, and scope  

Over the years, organic pollution in the environment has aroused people’s concern worldwide, especially persistent organic pollutants (POPs). Particularly in developing countries, plenty of concentrated organic wastewaters treated noneffectively are discharged into aquatic environments from chemical, textile, paper-making, and other industries to seriously threaten the surface and drinking water. The conventional wastewater treatment techniques are often helpless due to high cost with multilevel processing. Adsorption as an efficient method is often applied to the treatment of wastewater. The aim of this work is to develop an eco-friendly and cost-effective wastewater-sorbing material with weak acidic pink red B (APRB) and calcium carbonate (CaCO₃) by reusing highly concentrated dye wastewater.     

Pollution in coastal fog at Alto Patache,Northern Chile

Background  

The Atacama Desert in Northern Chile is one of the most arid places on earth. However, fog occurs regularly at the coastal mountain range and can be collected at different sites in Chile to supply settlements at the coast with freshwater. This is also planned in the fog oasis Alto Patache (20°49′S, 70°09′W). For this pilot study, we collected fog water samples in July and August 2008 for chemical analysis to find indications for its suitability for domestic use.     

A method of detecting carbonyl compounds in tree leaves in China

Background, aim, and scope  

Carbonyl compounds have been paid more and more attention because some carbonyl species have been proven to be carcinogenic or a risk for human health. Plant leaves are both an important emission source and an important sink of carbonyl compounds. But the research on carbonyl compounds from plant leaves is very scarce. In order to make an approach to the emission mechanism of plant leaves, a new method was established to extract carbonyl compounds from fresh plant leaves.     

Information system for monitoring environmental impacts of genetically modified organisms

Background, aim and scope  

European legislation stipulates that genetically modified organisms (GMO) have to be monitored to identify potential adverse environmental effects. A wealth of different types of monitoring data from various sources including existing environmental monitoring programmes is expected to accumulate. This requires an information system to efficiently structure, process and evaluate the monitoring data.     

衡水市医疗废物处理现状调查及对策

医疗废物是一类成分复杂并有特殊危害的危险废弃物。通过分析衡水市医疗废物处理过程中存在的分散处置、处理率低等问题,提出了加强管理监督机制、提高医疗废物收集处理率的应对策略。通过综合比较分析几种医疗废物处理方法的优缺点,指出高温焚烧法集中处置是衡水市医疗废物的最佳处理方法。