Ex situ bioremediation of a soil contaminated by mazut (heavy residual fuel oil)--a field experiment

Mazut (heavy residual fuel oil)-polluted soil was exposed to bioremediation in an ex situ field-scale (600 m(3)) study. Re-inoculation was performed periodically with biomasses of microbial consortia isolated from the mazut-contaminated soil. Biostimulation was conducted by adding nutritional elements (N, P and K). The biopile (depth 0.4m) was comprised of mechanically mixed polluted soil with softwood sawdust and crude river sand. Aeration was improved by systematic mixing. The biopile was protected from direct external influences by a polyethylene cover. Part (10 m(3)) of the material prepared for bioremediation was set aside uninoculated, and maintained as an untreated control pile (CP). Biostimulation and re-inoculation with zymogenous microorganisms increased the number of hydrocarbon degraders after 50 d by more than 20 times in the treated soil. During the 5 months, the total petroleum hydrocarbon (TPH) content of the contaminated soil was reduced to 6% of the initial value, from 5.2 to 0.3 g kg(-1) dry matter, while TPH reduced to only 90% of the initial value in the CP. After 150 d there were 96%, 97% and 83% reductions for the aliphatic, aromatic, and nitrogen-sulphur-oxygen and asphaltene fractions, respectively. The isoprenoids, pristane and phytane, were more than 55% biodegraded, which indicated that they are not suitable biomarkers for following bioremediation. According to the available data, this is the first field-scale study of the bioremediation of mazut and mazut sediment-polluted soil, and the efficiency achieved was far above that described in the literature to date for heavy fuel oil.     

Accumulation of organochlorine contaminants in loggerhead sea turtles, Caretta caretta, from the eastern Adriatic Sea

We analyzed 15 polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and five organochlorine pesticides (OCPs) in fat tissue of 27 loggerhead sea turtles (Caretta caretta) from eastern Adriatic Sea with the curved carapace length ranging from 25.0 to 84.5 cm. The PCB profile was dominated by hexa- and hepta-chlorinated congeners, with PCB-153 (median: 114.9 ng g⁻¹ wet mass), PCB-138 (80.0 ng g⁻¹ w.m.), and PCB-180 (26.7 ng g⁻¹ w.m.) detected with the highest levels. Toxic mono-ortho congeners PCB-118, PCB-105 and PCB-180 with dioxin-like toxicity were found in >70% samples. 4,4′-DDE (81.0 ng g⁻¹ w.m.) prevailed the OCP signature, accounting for 80% of the total DDTs. A significant increasing trend in accumulation with size was found for PCB-52 (r_s = 0.512, p < 0.01) and PCB-114 (r_s = 0.421, p < 0.05). Comparison of our results with organochlorine contaminant (OC) pattern in some prey taxa suggest that contamination occurs primarily through the food web, with biomagnification factors of 0.14-6.99 which were positively correlated with the octanol-water partition coefficient (log K_ow; p < 0.05). This study, based upon a fairly large sample size collected mostly from incidentally captured animals over a short time period (June 2001-November 2002), present a temporal snapshot of OC contamination in wild, free-ranging loggerheads from Adriatic feeding grounds and provide a baseline for monitoring the regional OC trends in this endangered species.     

Development of a fast instrumental method for the analysis of pharmaceuticals in environmental and wastewaters based on ultra high performance liquid chromatography (UHPLC)-tandem mass spectrometry (MS/MS)

This work describes the development, optimization and validation of an analytical method for the simultaneous detection and identification of 74 pharmaceutically active compounds (PhACs), from various therapeutic groups, in both environmental (ground and surface water) and wastewaters (WW). The method is based on the simultaneous extraction of all target compounds by solid phase extraction (SPE), using a hydrophilic-lipophilic balanced polymer followed by ultra high performance liquid chromatography (UHPLC) tandem mass spectrometry (MS/MS). Two selected reaction monitoring (SRM) transitions have been monitored per compound in order to fulfil the EC guidelines, as well as to ensure an accurate identification of target compounds in the samples. Quantification is performed by internal standard approach, applying 24 specific isotopically labeled compounds. The main advantages of the developed method, besides the selectivity and reliability of the results, is its high throughput. All compounds are extracted in a single step and the instrumental analysis lasts 5 min (NI mode) + 8 min (PI mode), allowing fast throughput of samples. The limits of detection range from 0.01 to 50 ng L⁻¹, depending on the matrix, for most of the compounds. Finally, the method developed has been applied to the analysis of pharmaceuticals in the Ebro river basin (NE Spain).     

Terrestrial Biodiversity Analyses in Dalmatia (Croatia): A Complementary Approach Using Diversity and Rarity

Here we present the methodology used for terrestrial biodiversity analysis and site selection in Phase B of the UNDP/GEF COAST project. The analysis was focused on the problem of biodiversity evaluation in four Croatian counties stretching from sea level to the highest mountain in Croatia. Data on habitats, vascular flora, and fauna (mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians, butterflies, ground beetles, and underground invertebrates) were collected and analyzed for each of the four counties. Emphasis was given to the richness of endangered species and the rarity of endemic species. Based on the spatial analyses of habitat, fauna, and flora data, four to six areas were selected from each county and ranked according to their biodiversity importance. Overlap between areas important for richness and those important for rarity was highest for data on flora (65.5%) and lowest for data on fauna (16.7%). When different data sets were compared, the lowest overlap was between flora and fauna (17.1%) and largest between fauna and habitats (23.9%). Simultaneous overlap among all three data sets was found in just 6.5% of the overall selected areas. These results suggest that less specific data, with respect to taxa threat status, could better serve as surrogate data in estimating overall biodiversity. In summary, this analysis has demonstrated that Dalmatia is a region with a high overall biodiversity that is important in a broader European context.     

Consequence analysis by means of characteristic curves to determine the damage to buildings from bursting spherical vessels

Since the damage suffered by buildings as a consequence of explosions usually affect the people inside them, it is important to take it into account when performing consequence analysis. The aim of this paper is to provide a methodology to estimate consequences to buildings from pressure waves produced by spherical vessel burst. This is done by combining characteristic overpressure–impulse–distance curves [González Ferradás, E., Diaz Alonso, F., Sanchez Perez, J.F., Miñana Aznar, A., Ruiz Gimeno, J. and Martinez Alonso, J., 2006, Characteristic overpressure–impulse–distance curves for vessel burst, Process Safety Progress, 25(3): 250–254] with PROBIT equations. The main advantage of this methodology is that it allows an overview of all the magnitudes involved, as damage is shown in the same graph as the overpressure, impulse and distance. In this paper diagrams and equations are presented to determine minor damage to buildings (broken windows, displacement of doors and window frames, tile displacement, etc.), major structural damage (cracks in walls, collapse of some walls) and collapse (the damage is so extensive that the building is partially or totally demolished).     

Spatial distribution of trace metals in the Krka River, Croatia: an example of the self-purification

The spatial distribution of dissolved and total trace metals (Zn, Cd, Pb and Cu) in the Krka River (partly located in the Krka National Park) has been studied using a "clean" sampling, handling and analysis technique. Differential pulse anodic stripping voltammetry (DPASV) with a hanging mercury drop electrode (HMDE) has been used for trace metal analysis. The Krka River has been divided into the upper and lower flow region with respect to the metals concentration and main physico-chemical parameters. A significant increase in trace metal concentration as the result of the untreated waste water discharge downstream of Knin Town has been registered in the upper flow region. Due to a specific characteristic of the Krka, the so-called self-purification process, a decrease in the elevated trace metals concentration from the water column takes place at numerous small lakes formed by tufa barriers (at the end of the upper flow region). The clean groundwater input at the beginning of the lower flow region additionally contributes to the observed decrease in trace metals concentration in the Krka, maintaining them at a very low level in the remaining region of fresh-water flow. The determined median total concentrations were zinc 120-7400 ng l(-1), cadmium 3-8 ng l(-1), lead 11-250 ng l(-1) and copper 110-440 ng l(-1). Karst rivers, such as the Krka River, with extremely low natural concentrations of trace metals are highly sensitive to the anthropogenic influence. Therefore, such aquatic systems require implementation of strict protection regimes in the entire catchments area.     

Development of a nonlocal convective mixing scheme with varying upward mixing rates for use in air quality and chemical transport models

BACKGROUND, AIM, AND SCOPE: Asymmetrical convective non-local scheme (CON) with varying upward mixing rates is developed for simulation of vertical turbulent mixing in the convective boundary layer in air quality and chemical transport models. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The upward mixing rate form the surface layer is parameterized using the sensible heat flux and the friction and convective velocities. Upward mixing rates varying with height are scaled with an amount of turbulent kinetic energy in layer, while the downward mixing rates are derived from mass conservation. RESULTS: This scheme provides a less rapid mass transport out of surface layer into other layers than other asymmetrical convective mixing schemes. DISCUSSION: In this paper, we studied the performance of a nonlocal convective mixing scheme with varying upward mixing in the atmospheric boundary layer and its impact on the concentration of pollutants calculated with chemical and air-quality models. This scheme was additionally compared versus a local eddy-diffusivity scheme (KSC). Simulated concentrations of NO(2) and the nitrate wet deposition by the CON scheme are closer to the observations when compared to those obtained from using the KSC scheme. CONCLUSIONS: Concentrations calculated with the CON scheme are in general higher and closer to the observations than those obtained by the KSC scheme (of the order of 15-20%). Nitrate wet deposition calculated with the CON scheme are in general higher and closer to the observations than those obtained by the KSC scheme. RECOMMENDATIONS AND PERSPECTIVES: To examine the performance of the scheme, simulated and measured concentrations of a pollutant (NO(2)) and nitrate wet deposition was compared for the year 2002. The comparison was made for the whole domain used in simulations performed by the chemical European Monitoring and Evaluation Programme Unified model (version UNI-ACID, rv2.0) where schemes were incorporated.     

Epiphytic lichens as biomonitors of atmospheric pollution in Slovenian forests

Two country-wide surveys using epiphytic lichens as biomonitors of atmospheric pollution carried out during 2000 and 2001 in Slovenia were compared with surveys in 1991 and 1992. In the first survey, epiphytic lichen cover was studied in more than 500 plots of the 4 x 4 km national grid carried out within the framework of forest decline inventories. In the second survey, the epiphytic lichen Hypogymnia physodes (L.) Nyl., was collected on a 16 x 16 km bioindication grid and analysed for S, N, As, Br, Ce, Cd, Cr, K, La, Mo, Rb, Sb, Th, U and Zn contents. Only 'forested area' sampling points were included in the present study. Lichen cover was low, with about 70% of plots with less than 10% foliose lichen cover. No relationship was found between Hypogymnia trace element, N and S concentrations and foliose epiphytic lichen cover.     

Study of high-frequency electromagnetic field effect on some somatic and neuro-behavioral characteristics in healthy and neurodefective mice

The effect of long-term exposure to high frequency electromagnetic field (HF EMF) on some somatic and neural characteristics was studied in neurodefective Lurcher mutant (+/Lc) and normal wild type mice (+/+). Both newborn and young adult (3 months) animals derived from two strains (C3H, B6CBA) were exposed to HF EMF (870 MHz) from 1st to 21st day or from 91st to 120th day respectively. In animals of both groups and controls we observed the development of body weight. Moreover, in the HF EMF exposed adult B6CBA animals we studied spatial learning ability, motor functions and the CNS excitability. To investigate specific energy absorption rate (SAR) in experimental animals we have done the basic 3D calculations of the electromagnetic energy distribution in the simplified model of the mouse. The HF EMF exposed animals exhibited mild differences of body weight between them and unexposed controls. The long-term exposure to HF EMF did not significantly influence the ability to learn in the Morris water maze. However, significant lower swimming speed was found in the irradiated +/Lc as well as lower motor activity of +/+ in the open field when compared to controls. No significant differences were found between HF EMF irradiated animals and controls in examination of the CNS excitability and motor functions.