Baseline of the spatial and temporal metal contamination in Dilek National Park, Turkey

Dilek National Park in Western Turkey is a protected habitat for several endangered and threatened species. In an attempt to protect the endangered species, the park was classified as a World Heritage Preserve. Even with this change, the animal and flora variety are still at risk from previous metal contamination. Water samples were collected 10 cm below the water surface and sediment from 0-30 and 30-60 cm depth. Inorganic elements were found in all sediment samples. Sodium had the highest aqueous concentration (10,312 mg/L), while Cu, Fe, Mn, and Zn were present at levels significantly lower than the chronic exposure criteria. Zn was the least prevalent (0.4 mg/kg) compound found in the sediment. The highest toxic contaminant concentration was Mg at an average of 1,100 mg/kg. The main contamination source of that seems to be Great Meandrous River. More studies are needed to develop a protection and remediation strategy for Dilek National Park.     

Immediate one-step lime precipitation process for the valorization of winery wastewater to agricultural purposes

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - The winery wastewater (WW) of the Village of Vidigueira, in south of Portugal, presented an acid pH (4.26 ± 0.029), a high content of chemical...     

Photocatalytic degradation of acetaminophen and caffeine using magnetite–hematite combined nanoparticles: kinetics and mechanisms

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - The increased use of pharmaceutical and personal care products (PPCPs) has contributed to the contamination of water systems and put pressure on the...     

Modeling population effects of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill on a long-lived species

The 2010 Deepwater Horizon (DWH) oil spill exposed common bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus) in Barataria Bay, Louisiana to heavy oiling that caused increased mortality and chronic disease and impaired reproduction in surviving dolphins. We conducted photographic surveys and veterinary assessments in the decade following the spill. We assigned a prognostic score (good, fair, guarded, poor, or grave) for each dolphin to provide a single integrated indicator of overall health, and we examined temporal trends in prognostic scores. We used expert elicitation to quantify the implications of trends for the proportion of the dolphins that would recover within their lifetime. We integrated expert elicitation, along with other new information, in a population dynamics model to predict the effects of observed health trends on demography. We compared the resulting population trajectory with that predicted under baseline (no spill) conditions. Disease conditions persisted and have recently worsened in dolphins that were presumably exposed to DWH oil: 78% of those assessed in 2018 had a guarded, poor, or grave prognosis. Dolphins born after the spill were in better health. We estimated that the population declined by 45% (95% CI 14–74) relative to baseline and will take 35 years (95% CI 18–67) to recover to 95% of baseline numbers. The sum of annual differences between baseline and injured population sizes (i.e., the lost cetacean years) was 30,993 (95% CI 6607–94,148). The population is currently at a minimum point in its recovery trajectory and is vulnerable to emerging threats, including planned ecosystem restoration efforts that are likely to be detrimental to the dolphins’ survival. Our modeling framework demonstrates an approach for integrating different sources and types of data, highlights the utility of expert elicitation for indeterminable input parameters, and emphasizes the importance of considering and monitoring long-term health of long-lived species subject to environmental disasters. Article impact statement: Oil spills can have long-term consequences for the health of long-lived species; thus, effective restoration and monitoring are needed.     

Investigation of biomass waste biochar production to act as matrix for urea

Journal of Material Cycles and Waste Management - In this work, the synthesis of biochar from several biomass wastes to act as matrix for urea was investigated. The objective was to select the most...     

Chemical,Morphological, Thermal and Technological Properties of Acetylated White Inhambu Starch

Journal of Polymers and the Environment - Starch is the main predominant food reserve in plants. Its characteristics stand out from other carbohydrates providing it with several industrial...     

Behavior of pesticides in sediment/water systems in outdoor mesocosms

The distribution of eight pesticides between sediment and water held in 1-m square outdoor stainless-steel mesocosms was studied, simulating both spring and autumn applications. Pesticide behavior was largely independent of rate of application, chosen in the first three experiments to be 4% or 40% of the normal field rate so as to simulate spray drift or partial overspray. Following application by spray to the water surface, all compounds were uniformly distributed in the 30 cm of overlying water within 24 h. The lipophilic pesticides (chlorpyrifos, pendimethalin, and permethrin) moved into the sediment within 30 d but with little penetration below 2.5 cm depth, and only chlorpyrifos persisted beyond 30 d. The mass balance of these lipophilic pesticides at 1 d was only 26.3% to 61%, with these initial losses attributed to processes such as volatilization. Isoproturon and chlorotoluron persisted for around 120 d, remaining largely in the overlying water with a maximum of 15% in the sediment. Permethrin and difenoconazole were much less persistent in these mesocosms, with very little ever found in the sediment in contrast to previous findings in laboratory-scale stirred systems as used in registration tests. The polar mecoprop remained almost entirely in the water phase and was rapidly degraded. Two further experiments examined also the influence of the submerged plant Lagarosiphon major in the mesocosms, the first experiment simulating a full-rate overspray with chlorpyrifos and linuron and the second a repeat in spring of the earlier main autumn experiment. Both chlorpyrifos and linuron applied in the autumn were quite persistent over the winter period, with about 20% still remaining after 152 d. Uptake into L. major was correlated with pesticide lipophilicity, but was only a small factor compared to uptake by sediment and degradation in these lightly vegetated systems.     

Sorption of As, Cd and Tl as influenced by industrial by-products applied to an acidic soil: equilibrium and kinetic experiments

In situ stabilization of toxic elements in contaminated soils by the addition of amendments is being considered as an effective technique for remediation. In this paper, we performed both kinetics and equilibrium-based sorption experiments of three toxic elements (As, Cd and Tl) in soils amended with two by-products (phosphogypsum and sugar foam, rich in gypsum and calcium carbonate, respectively) to ascertain the feasibility of their application for improving the sorption capacity of As, Cd and Tl from the soil at 25, 35 and 50 °C. Kinetic studies indicated that the sorption follows a pseudo-second-order (PSO) kinetics and the sorption is a two-step diffusion process where both film and intraparticle diffusion played important roles in the sorption mechanisms of the elements. The Langmuir isotherms applied for sorption studies showed that the estimated maximum sorption capacity of the elements in control and amended soils decreased in the order of Cd > As > Tl. Using the thermodynamic equilibrium parameters obtained at different temperatures, the thermodynamic constants of sorption (ΔG, ΔH and ΔS) were also evaluated, indicating spontaneous and endothermic nature of the process, except Tl which was exothermic. An optimal scaling procedure was undertaken to determine the relationships between the kinetic and equilibrium sorption parameters. By means of statistical analysis it was seen that these inter-parametric relationships are dependent on the element nature.     

Enhancing Diatom Growth by Using Zeolites to Change Seawater Composition (4 pp)

- Aims and Scope. The purpose of this study was to test whether two zeolites produced synthetically (products of zeolitic nature, PZN) could influence either the yield of a diatom culture or the chemical changes in the cultures. For this purpose, Phaeodactylum tricornutum was used as test organism in a culture medium of natural seawater enriched with N and P having negligible amounts of ammonia. Methods The PZN ZEBEN-06 and ZESTEC-56 were used in parallel experiments. The composition of trace metals and organic compounds with chelate activity in the culture media, were determined by anodic or cathodic stripping voltammetry. The impact of leaching silicon on the algal yield was evaluated by comparing the growth in the presence or absence of PZN, in seawater enriched or not-enriched with silicon. Results and Conclusions Both PZN significantly promoted the algal yield even in the absence of added silicon, a limiting nutrient for diatom growth. The PZN acted as a silicon buffer while providing a source of silicon required for growth. In addition, PZN released into the seawater small but significant amounts of the limiting micro-nutrient manganese (its concentration doubled during the experiments), while simultaneously removing relatively high quantities of zinc from the seawater. The presence of PZN inhibited the releasing of chelated compounds. These changes (sorption/desorption) caused by the PZN in the concentrations in the solutions used as culture media of P. tricornutum were probably responsible for the differences in both the diatom and exudation observed in the tested cultures.