Raw and fungal-treated olive-mill wastewater effects on selected parameters of lettuce (Lactuca sativa L.) growth--the role of proline

Olive-mill wastewater (OMW) constitutes a major agricultural waste stream for which disposal is associated with significant environmental repercussions. No data are available on the effects of biotreated OMW and of the protective role of exogenously provided proline on plant physiology. In the present study, OMW was administered, either raw or previously treated by the white-rot fungus Pleurotus ostreatus, with or without proline amendment, to lettuce plants growing in sterilized sand. Biotreated OMW and proline addition resulted in significant moderation of OMW adverse effects on plant biomass production and ascorbic acid content, while their synergistic action alleviated the severe negative impact on net photosynthetic rate, water use efficiency and photosynthetic activity (Fv/Fo) invoked by the effluent. Moreover, biotreated OMW supplemented with proline, moderated the decrease in chlorophylls exerted by raw OMW, but it did not contribute at restoring carotenoids content. Restoration of plant transpiration was complete when biotreated OMW was used (with or without proline); proline alone mitigated the negative impact of OMW on photosynthetic efficiency (Fv/Fm and Fv'/Fm'). It seems that key photosynthetic parameters could be exploited as suitable evaluators of wastewater-induced plant toxicity, while plant fertigation with biotreated and/or supplemented OMW could be an interesting prospect in valorizing this effluent.     

Exposure Modeling of Benzene Exploiting Passive–Active Sampling Data

The objective of the present study is the exploitation of active sampling personal exposure data in assessing the factors that affect exposure to benzene in combination with the widely accepted scheme of passive sampling—time microenvironment–activity diaries (TMAD). The campaign included personal exposure measurements with both passive and active sampling in several microenvironments, evaluation of TMAD kept by the volunteers, and a variety of environmental data (ambient air benzene determination, traffic and meteorological observations). Due to the relatively elevated benzene traffic emissions, average personal exposure was determined to be equal to 8.9 μg/m³, ranging between 5 and 20 μg/m³, which is a value highly related to the average urban concentration (9.2 μg/m³). The information gained from TMAD was embedded (in terms of spatial and temporal distribution) into three zones respectively, in order to draw statistically significant conclusions about the exposure levels and the activity patterns. The contribution of the activities to the overall amount of exposure was further quantified and refined by active sampling measurements. These data revealed that driving in a traffic-congested road was the main activity leading to elevated exposure levels (up to 70 μg/m³), followed by walking on the roadside of a congested road (up to 35 μg/m³). Indoor exposure to benzene was in general lower than outdoor (indicating that traffic is the dominant source of benzene emissions in the wider area), and it was significantly affected by the presence of environmental tobacco smoke. The higher significance of the regression coefficients obtained by statistical analysis of the active sampling data was fundamental for the development of a regression-based prediction exposure model. The model was evaluated through comparison with the passive sampling data, which were considered as an unknown but realistic data exposure pattern. The model performed very well in terms of expressing the variance of the exposure data with an average score of R ² equal to 0.935. All of the above indicate that active sampling is a necessary albeit more laborious tool that needs to be used as a complement to passive sampling for precise quantification of the factors determining personal exposure patterns.     

CO2 capture for refineries,a practical approach

This paper evaluates the opportunities and associated costs for post-combustion capture at a world-scale complex refinery. It is concluded that it is technically feasible to apply post-combustion capture at such a refinery. The costs for capture and sequestration from a gasifier are calculated to be lowest at about 30 Euro per ton; this process currently already produces a concentrated CO₂ stream. Next, the CO₂ source most suited for capture appears to be a combined stack, but there are a number of other sources that may be targeted at comparable costs. In total these sources may form about 40% of the overall refinery emissions. Our evaluations show the costs of capture from such sources based on available amine technology will be in the range of 90–120 Euro per ton, which is about 3–4 times higher than the current carbon trading values. The capture of CO₂ from a large amount of smaller CO₂ sources will bring along even much higher costs. A high-level study of the CO₂ emissions profile of a number of Shell refineries shows that, typically, up to 50% of the emitted CO₂ may be captured at similar costs. About 10–20% of concentrated CO₂ associated with hydrogen manufacturing may be captured at lower costs. The remainder of emitted dilute CO₂ will bring along significantly higher costs. Based on this study, it is concluded for the justification of the implementation of post-combustion capture at refineries, either a significant increase in carbon trading values, mandatory regulations, or a major technological break-through is required.     

Screening life cycle assessment of an office used for academic purposes

The aim of this study is to contribute to the analysis of the environmental impacts deriving from common aspects of the service sector activity and to identify auxiliary actions and hot spots in order to improve the environmental performance of offices used for educational purposes. In that aspect, a screening life cycle assessment (LCA) for a university office-workstation of Democritus University of Thrace, Greece, was performed with the application of the SimaPro LCA software, and the Impact 2002+ method with fifteen impact categories for the interpretation of results. Findings from this research indicated that energy consumption for the powering electronic appliances was the key factor affecting most of the environmental impact categories examined. The impact categories most seriously affected by the office life cycle were the emissions of respiratory inorganics (39%), global warming (31%) and non-renewable energy use (27%). The saving of the energy consumed due to standby mode could lead to a reduction of 2.4% of the total energy consumption in the office in a yearly basis with proportional positive influence in all the respective impact categories. Additionally, utilization of solar energy through photovoltaic panels could lead to a reduction close to 90% for a number of impact categories. Therefore, actions and strategies for improving the environmental performance of academic offices should focus on the reduction of energy consumption.     

Major and trace element contents in apples from a cultivated area of central Greece

Forty-two soil and apple samples from central Greece were collected and analyzed with regards to the content in major (Ca, Fe, K, Mg, Na, P, and S) and trace elements (As, B, Ba, Cd, Co, Cr, Cu, Hg, Mn, Mo, Ni, Pb, Sb, Sc, Se, Sr, Ti, and Zn). Soil samples were analyzed by inductively coupled plasma atomic emission spectrometry, while for the apples inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry was implemented. Several elements such as As, B, Cd, Cr, Cu, Fe, Mn, Ni, Pb, Se, Ti, and Zn, represent high concentrations in apples from the study area. These relatively high concentrations may be a consequence of the local geology, along with the excessive application of agricultural products such as fertilizers and agrochemicals.     

Particulate matter emissions and gaseous air toxic pollutants from commercial meat cooking operations

This study assessed the effectiveness of three novel control technologies for particulate matter (PM) and volatile organic compound (VOC) removal from commercial meat cooking operations. All experiments were conducted using standardized procedures at University of California, Riverside''s commercial test cooking facility. PM mass emissions collected using South Coast Air Quality Management District (SCAQMD) Method 5.1, as well as a dilution tunnel-based PM method showed statistically significantly reductions for each control technology when compared to baseline testing (i.e., without a catalyst). Overall, particle number emissions decreased with the use of control technologies, with the exception of control technology 2 (CT2), which is a grease removal technology based on boundary layer momentum transfer (BLMT) theory. Particle size distributions were unimodal with CT2 resulting in higher particle number populations at lower particle diameters. Organic carbon was the dominant PM component (> 99%) for all experiments. Formaldehyde and acetaldehyde were the most abundant carbonyl compounds and showed reductions with the application of the control technologies. Some reductions in mono-aromatic VOCs were also observed with CT2 and the electrostatic precipitator (ESP) CT3 compared to the baseline testing.     

Magnetic field of the earth as additional zeitgeber for endogenous rhythms?

The influence of 50% decrease and increase of the earth magnetic field on the activity of the enzymes hydroxyindole-O-methyltransferase (HIOMT) and N-acetyl-serotonintransferase (NAT) is proved in vivo and in vitro. NAT and HIOMT catalyse the melatonin biosynthesis in the pineal gland and in the retina. Our results support the hypothesis of Leask and Schulten, that molecular magnetic field sensitivity is the basis of animals' magnetic field detection.