Dissolved and dispersed petroleum hydrocarbons in the Aegean Sea

The distribution and transportation of Dissolved and Dispersed Petroleum Hydrocarbon (DDPH) were investigated in the Aegean Sea with the hydrodynamics of the water masses of the region. It is clear that distribution of this pollutant is strongly affected by physical dynamics of environment. The data were collected during cruises in November 1994, in the framework of National Marine Measurement and Monitoring Programme in the Aegean Sea. In the present study additionally the Chlorophyll‐a was measured fluorometrically and there is good correlation between petroleum hydrocarbon and chlorophyll‐a in the Aegean Sea. DDPH data was used to search origin of hydrocarbons: biogenic or non biogenic.     

Complete desalination of seawater using a novel polyvinylidene fluoride/zeolite membrane

Water scarcity arises rapidly with increasing human population, urbanization and industrialization. Therefore, water production from natural sources using efficient and environmental friendly technologies is gaining attention. Pervaporative desalination is a promising technology based upon membrane filtration. Here, we fabricated and tested a novel hybrid-composite membrane: polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF)/polyvinyl pyrrolidone/(PVP)/3A zeolite. Desalination performance was evaluated in terms of flux, salt rejection, zeolite incorporation within the membrane and temperature. Results show that all membranes exhibited salt rejection higher than 99.5%. The highest flux of 2.5 kg m^?2 h^?1 and salt rejection of 99.9% were obtained using 10 wt% 3A incorporated PVDF/PVP membrane at 40 °C. The PVDF/PVP/3A zeolite membrane preserved its stability during 55-h desalination operating without performance decline.     

A chemical substitution study for a wet processing textile mill in Turkey

Wet processing textile industry has many different processing stages (dyeing, sizing, de-sizing, scouring, softening, etc.). Many chemicals currently used in the wet processing textile industry affect the amount and the type of waste produced and their influence on the aquatic life of the receiving stream. One of the critical steps in pollution prevention studies is auditing the use of chemicals and making the necessary chemical substitutions. This chemical substitution study was conducted on one of the major textile factories in Turkey with a capacity of 20,000 tons of denim fabric per year. During this study, chemical consumption level, receipts applied, environmentally problematic and alternative chemicals were examined. Integrated Pollution Prevention and Control (IPPC) Reference Document on Best Available Techniques (BAT) for the Textiles Industry was accepted as main reference document and also related case studies were examined. According to the study, over 70% reduction in sulphide, which is very toxic to aquatic life, was achieved by replacing sulphur dyestuff with low sulphide content. By replacing an alternative complexing agent, the mill not only prevented the 3100 kg/month COD load to the wastewater treatment plant (WWTP), but also obtained more biodegradable wastewater generated during production. On the other hand, some of the chemical substitution options were on progress or dropped.     

Morphometric and electrophoretic analysis of 13 populations of Anatolian black pine in Turkey

The genetic variation in populations of Anatolian black pine (Pinus nigra Arn. subsp. pallasiana (L.) Holmboe.), one of the species covering large areas in Turkey, was investigated. Open pollinated seeds were collected from 13 populations in a natural distribution range. Six characters of seeds (length, width, ratio of length to width, weight/1000 seeds) and seedling characters (cotyledon number and hypocotyls height) and two enzyme systems viz. leucine aminopeptidase (LAP) and glutamate oxaloacetate transaminase, (GOT) were investigated. Significant differences were detected among the populations for the morphological characters. In addition, isozyme patterns of two enzyme systems revealed that LAP has two loci (one with 2 alleles and the other with 3), while GOT has three loci (two with 3 alleles and the third one with 2 alleles). Polymorphic loci were 74% on the average. The mean number of alleles per loci was 1.94 and expected heterozygosity was 19%. The mean total genetic diversity was calculated as 0.203; the mean gene diversity within populations was determined as 0.188, and the average between subpopulations diversity was 0.016. The relative magnitude of genetic differentiation among subpopulations was measured as 0.074 indicating that only 7.4% of the total genetic diversity was there between populations. Average genetic distance was 0.093 according to Gregorius. Nei's genetic distance was 0.022.     

Assessment of marine pollution in Izmir Bay: nutrient, heavy metal and total hydrocarbon concentrations

Izmir Bay (western Turkey) is one of the great natural bays of the Mediterranean. Izmir is an important industrial and commercial centre and a cultural focal point. The main industries in the region include food processing, oil, soap and paint production, chemical industries, paper and pulp factories, textile industries and metal processing. The mean concentrations showed ranges of 0.01-0.19 and 0.01-10 microM for phosphate, 0.10-1.8 and 0.12-27 microM for nitrate+nitrite, and 0.30-5.8 and 0.43-39 microM for silicate in the outer and middle-inner bays, respectively. The TNO(x)/PO(4) ratio is significantly lower than the Redfield's ratio and nitrogen is the limiting element in the middle-inner bays. Diatoms and dinoflagellates were observed all year around in the bay and are normally nitrogen limited. Metal concentrations ranged between Hg: 0.05-1.3, Cd: 0.005-0.82, Pb: 14-113 and Cr: 29-316 microg g(-1) in the sediments. The results showed significant enrichments during sampling periods from Inner Bay. Outer and middle bays show low levels of heavy metal enrichments except estuary of Gediz River. The concentrations of Hg, Cd and Pb in the outer bay were generally similar to the background levels from the Mediterranean. The levels gradually decreased over the sampling period. Total hydrocarbons concentrations range from 427 to 7800 ng g(-1) of sediments. The highest total hydrocarbon levels were found in the inner bay due to the anthropogenic activities, mainly combustion processes of traffic and industrial activities. The concentrations of heavy metals found in fish varied for Hg: 4.5-520, Cd: 0.10-10 and Pb: 0.10-491 microg kg(-1) in Izmir Bay. There was no significant seasonal variation in metal concentrations. An increase in Hg concentration with increasing length was noted for Mullus barbatus. A person can consume more than 2, 133 and 20 meals per week of fish in human diet would represent the tolerable weekly intake of mercury, cadmium and lead, respectively, in Izmir Bay. Heavy metal levels were lower than the results in fish tissues reported from polluted areas of the Mediterranean Sea.     

Effect of feeding time on the performance of a sequencing batch reactor treating a mixture of 4-CP and 2,4-DCP

This paper investigated the biodegradation kinetics of 4-chlorophenol (4-CP) and 2,4-dichlorophenol (2,4-DCP) separately in batch reactors and mixed in sequencing batch reactors (SBRs). Batch reactor experiments showed that both 4-CP and 2,4-DCP began to inhibit their own degradation at 53 and 25 mg l(-1), respectively, and that the Haldane equation gave a good fit to the experimental data because r(2) values were higher than 0.98. The maximum specific degradation rates (q(m)) were 130.3 and 112.4 mg g(-1) h for 4-CP and 2,4-DCP, respectively. The values of the half saturation (K(s)) and self-inhibition constants (K(i)) were 34.98 and 79.74 mg l(-1) for 4-CP, and 13.77 and 44.46 mg l(-1) for 2,4-DCP, respectively. The SBR was fed with a mixture of 220 mg l(-1) of 4-CP, 110 mg l(-1) of 2,4-DCP, and 300 mg l(-1) of peptone as biogenic substrate at varying feeding periods (0-8h) to evaluate the effect of feeding time on the performance of the SBR. During SBR operation, in addition to self-inhibition, 4-CP degradation was strongly and competitively inhibited by 2,4-DCP. The inhibitory effects were particularly pronounced during short feeding periods because of higher chlorophenol peak concentrations in the reactor. The competitive inhibition constant (K(ii)) of 2,4-DCP on 4-CP degradation was 0.17 mg l(-1) when the reactor was fed instantaneously (0 h feeding). During longer feedings, increased removal/loading rates led to lower chlorophenol peak concentrations at the end of feeding. Therefore, in multi-substrate systems feeding time plus reaction time should be determined based on both degradation kinetics and substrate interaction. During degradation, the meta cleavage of 4-chlorocatechol resulted in accumulation of a yellowish color because of the formation of 5-chloro-2-hydroxymuconic semialdehyde (CHMS), which was further metabolized. Isolation and enrichment of the chlorophenols-degrading culture suggested Pseudomonas sp. and Pseudomonas stutzeri to be the dominant species.     

Genotoxic biomonitoring study of population residing in pesticide contaminated regions in Göksu Delta: micronucleus, chromosomal aberrations and sister chromatid exchanges

Pesticides are widely used throughout the world in agriculture to protect crops and in public health to control diseases. Nevertheless, exposure to pesticides represents a potential risk to humans. This paper describes a study of possible genetic damage in the people living in regions contaminated with complex mixture of pesticides in G?ksu Delta. In this study, used methods were chromosomal aberration (CA), sister chromatid exchange analysis (SCE) in the peripheral blood lymphocytes, and micronucleus (MN) assay in the buccal epithelial cells. In the present investigation, 32 affected subjects consist of 16 smoking and 16 non-smokings and an equal number of control subjects were assessed for genome damage. Micronucleus (MN), Broken egg (BE), Karyorrhexis (KR), Karyolysis (KL) and Binucleus (BN) frequencies were higher in affected subjects than in controls. Smoking had a statistically significant effect on the Micronucleus, Karyorrhexis and Binucleus frequencies for both the control and the exposed group. Also smoking and exposure affected the frequency of sister chromatid exchange and chromosomal aberrations compared with control groups.     

Determination of Cu, Pb, Zn, Ni, Co, Cd, and Mn in road dusts of Samsun City

The dust samples from 52 different locations in central roads of Samsun City were collected in a study area of 40 km long for the purpose of determining total metal concentrations of dust samples by flame atomic absorption spectrometry. The concentrations of Cu, Pb, Co, Zn, Ni, Mn, and Cd were found in the ranges of 11.92–352.43, 5.47–223.57, 4.52–41.69, 40.85–173.10, 18.71–131.29, 133.19–179.13, and 0.02–6.16 mg/kg, respectively. The results showed that metal levels were higher around the industrial area than other locations. Principal component analysis was also carried out to ascertain the possible contributing factors towards the metal concentrations. Validation of the analytical results was tested by analysis of the BCR 032 Moroccan phosphate rock certified reference material.     

Monitoring metal contamination levels and fecal pollution in clam (Tapes decussatus) collected from Izmir Bay (Turkey)

The aim of this study was to monitor the heavy metal contents and fecal pollution in Tapes decussatus (carpet shell clam) from Izmir Bay (Eastern Aegean). Bivalve mollusks were sampled on January, March, July, and October 2007 in the Izmir Bay. Izmir Bay is one of the great natural bays of the Mediterranean. Concentrations of heavy metals were determined in the clams from the different seasons. Fecal coliform densities were determined to evaluate the degree of water pollution and clams’ microbiological accumulation of the classical microbial pollution indicators. The concentration of heavy metals in T. decussatus from Izmir Bay were Hg 0.044–0.13; Cd 0.026–0.24; Pb 0.38–1.2; Cr 2.3–3.7; Cu 6.4–8.4; Zn 56.0–81.8, and Ni 8.1–9.6 μg/g (dry weight). The maximum values were generally obtained in July and March except Ni. This study found that the levels of heavy metals except Cr in T. decussatus were below Spanish and European Communities legislations for shellfish as food. Microbial pollution indicators (heterotrophic bacteria and fecal coliform) were measured in T. decussatus. Maximum heterotrophic bacteria and fecal coliforms were recorded in the winter while the lowest were detected in summer.