Airborne trace element pollution in 11 European cities assessed by exposure of standardised ryegrass cultures

Within a European biomonitoring programme, Italian ryegrass (Lolium multiflorum Lam.) was employed as accumulative bioindicator of airborne trace elements (As, Cd, Cr, Cu, Fe, Ni, Pb, Sb, V, Zn) in urban agglomerations. Applying a highly standardised method, grass cultures were exposed for consecutive periods of four weeks each to ambient air at up to 100 sites in 11 cities during 2000–2002. Results of the 2001 exposure experiments revealed a clear differentiation of trace element pollution within and among local monitoring networks. Pollution was influenced particularly by traffic emissions. Especially Sb, Pb, Cr, Fe, and Cu exhibited a very uneven distribution within the municipal areas with strong accumulation in plants from traffic-exposed sites in the city centres and close to major roads, and moderate to low levels in plants exposed at suburban or rural sites. Accumulation of Ni and V was influenced by other emission sources. The biomonitoring sites located in Spanish city centres featured a much higher pollution load by trace elements than those in other cities of the network, confirming previously reported findings obtained by chemical analyses of dust deposition and aerosols. At some heavily-trafficked sites, legal thresholds for Cu, Pb, and V contents in foodstuff and animal feed were reached or even surpassed. The study confirmed that the standardised grass exposure is a useful and reliable tool to monitor and to assess environmental levels of potentially toxic compounds of particulate matter.     

Effects of Ageing and Microbial Component on Chemical Availability of 137Cs in a Long-term Experimental Site

A loamy soil contaminated with ¹³⁷CsCl 40 years ago was investigated by a sequential extraction technique to determine the effect of ageing on chemical availability of ¹³⁷Cs. The soil samples were sequentially extracted with H₂O, NH₄Ac, NH₂OH·HCl, H₂O₂, and HNO₃. Extractability of ¹³⁷Cs decreased in the order: HNO₃ > Residual > H₂O₂ > NH₄Ac > NH₂OH·HCl > H₂O. Only 0.94% in labile fractions (H₂O and NH₄Ac), while more than 96% was found in the strongly bound fraction (HNO₃ and residual). However, the activity percentage in labile fractions was increased to 1.34% after autoclaving treatment, while those in the other fractions did not significantly differ. This indicates that the microbial activity played a role in the ¹³⁷Cs retention. In the subsequent pot experiments with ryegrass and leek, specific activities in both plants were significantly higher in autoclaved soil than in non-autoclaved soil, and uptake of ¹³⁷Cs in the five cuts by ryegrass was 25% of the labile ¹³⁷Cs in the soil. In addition, a positive correlation was found between the amount of ¹³⁷Cs in labile fractions and that by plant uptake.     

Floating aquatic macrophytes for the treatment of aquaculture effluents

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - Aquaculture is an activity with economic and social importance since it generates food, employment, and income. However, like other human activities,...     

Long-term effects of single potassium fertilization on 137Cs levels in plants and fungi in a boreal forest ecosystem

We examined the long-term effects of a single application of potassium (K) fertilizer (100 kg K ha⁻¹) in 1992 on ¹³⁷Cs uptake in a forest ecosystem in central Sweden. ¹³⁷Cs activity concentrations were determined in three low-growing perennial shrubs, heather (Calluna vulgaris), lingonberry (Vaccinium vitis-idaea) and bilberry (Vaccinium myrtillus), and in four wild fungal species (Cortinarius semisanguineus, Lactarius rufus, Rozites caperata and Suillus variegatus). Uptake of ¹³⁷Cs by plants and fungi growing on K-fertilized plots 17 years after application of the K fertilizer was significantly lower than in corresponding species growing in a non-fertilized control area. The ¹³⁷Cs activity concentration was 21-58% lower in fungal sporocarps and 40-61% lower in plants in the K-fertilized area compared with the control. Over the study period, this decrease in ¹³⁷Cs activity concentration was more consistent in plants than in fungi, although the effect was statistically significant and strongly pronounced in all species. The effect of K fertilization in reducing ¹³⁷Cs activity concentration in fungi and plants decreased over time but was still significant in 2009, 17 years after fertilization. This suggests that application of K fertilizer to forests is an appropriate and effective long-term measure to decrease radiocaesium accumulation in plants and fungi.     

Cellular damages in the Allium cepa test system, caused by BTEX mixture prior and after biodegradation process

Petroleum and derivatives have been considered one of the main environmental contaminants. Among petroleum derivatives, the volatile organic compounds benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene and xylene (BTEX) represent a major concern due to their toxicity and easy accumulation in groundwater. Biodegradation methods seem to be suitable tools for the clean-up of BTEX contaminants from groundwater. Genotoxic and mutagenic potential of BTEX prior and after biodegradation process was evaluated through analyses of chromosomal aberrations and MN test in meristematic and F₁ root cells using the Allium cepa test system. Seeds of A. cepa were germinated into five concentrations of BTEX, non-biodegraded and biodegraded, in ultra-pure water (negative control), in MMS 4 × 10⁻⁴ M (positive control) and in culture medium used in the biodegradation (blank biodegradation control). Results showed a significant frequency of both chromosomal and nuclear aberrations. The micronucleus (MN) frequency in meristematic cells was significant for most of tested samples. However, MN was not present in significant levels in the F₁ cells, suggesting that there was no permanent damage for the meristematic cell. The BTEX effects were significantly reduced in the biodegraded samples when compared to the respective non-biodegraded concentrations. Therefore, in this study, the biodegradation process showed to be a reliable and effective alternative to treat BTEX-contaminated waters. Based on our results and available data, the BTEX toxicity could also be related to a synergistic effect of its compounds.     

Removal of polyvinylamine sulfonate anthrapyridone dye by application of heterogeneous electro-Fenton process

Diversity and rapidly multiplication of the pollutants incite as to improve the conventional treatments wastewater methods. One of the bottlenecks often faced is the presence into wastewater of organic pollutants with complex structures that requests the design of efficient processes. Thus, this work investigates the removal of polyvinylamine sulfonate anthrapyridone (PSA) dye which complex structure makes difficult its degradation by conventional technologies. For that, a heterogeneous oxidative process using pyrite as sustainable catalyst was designed. Initially, the performance of the system BBD-carbon felt as anode and cathode, respectively for the production of H₂O₂ was determined in comparison with system boron-doped diamond nickel foam. The carbon felt electrode provided the highest oxidant production, and it was selected for the treatment of the polymeric dye. Several oxidative processes were evaluated, and the best degradation levels were obtained by application of electro-Fenton-pyrite process. In addition, it was determined that dye removal followed a kinetic model of pseudo-first-order achieving the highest efficiency by operation at optimum dosage of pyrite 2 g/L and 200 mA of current intensity. Depending on the optimal experimental conditions, these values lead to a nearly complete mineralization (total organic carbon removal of 95%) after 6 h. Furthermore, the reusability of pyrite was evaluated, by removal of PSA in four cycles.

     

Insights into real cotton-textile dyeing wastewater treatment using solar advanced oxidation processes

Different advanced oxidation processes (AOPs) were applied to the treatment of a real cotton-textile dyeing wastewater as a pre-oxidation step to enhance the biodegradability of the recalcitrant compounds, which can be further oxidized using a biological process. Tests were conducted on a lab-scale prototype using artificial solar radiation and at pilot scale with compound parabolic collectors using natural solar radiation. The cotton-textile dyeing wastewater presents a lilac color, with a maximum absorbance peak at 641 nm, alkaline pH (pH?=?8.2), moderate organic content (DOC?=?152 mg C L^?1, COD?=?684 mg O₂ L^?1) and low-moderate biodegradability (40 % after 28 days in Zahn–Wellens test). All the tested processes contributed to an effective decolorization and mineralization, but the most efficient process was the solar-photo-Fenton with an optimum catalyst concentration of 60 mg Fe²⁺ L^?1, leading to 98.5 % decolorization and 85.5 % mineralization after less than 0.1 and 5.8 kJ_UV L^?1, respectively. In order to achieve a final wastewater with a COD below 250 mg O₂ L^?1 (discharge limit into water bodies imposed by the Portuguese Legislation-Portaria no. 423/97 of 25 June 1997), considering the combination of a solar-photo-Fenton reaction with a biological process, the phototreatment energy required is 0.5 kJ_UV L^?1, consuming 7.5 mM hydrogen peroxide, resulting in 58.4 % of mineralization $ \left({t}_{30\mathrm{W}}=3.2\ \min; \overline{T}=30.7\ {}^{\circ}\mathrm{C};\overline{\mathrm{pH}}=2.80;{\overline{\mathrm{UV}}}_{G,n}={13\ \mathrm{W}\ \mathrm{m}}^{-2}\right). $      

Removal of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs ibuprofen and ketoprofen from water by emulsion liquid membrane

In this work, the removal of the worldwide non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs ibuprofen (IBP) and ketoprofen (KTP) by emulsion liquid membrane (ELM) was carried out. An ELM system is made up of hexane as diluent, Span 80 as the surfactant and sodium carbonate as the inner aqueous solution. Effect of experimental conditions that affect the extraction of IBP such as surfactant concentration, emulsification time, sulfuric acid concentration in external phase, acid type in external phase, internal phase concentration, type of internal phase, stirring speed, volume ratio of internal phase to membrane phase, treatment ratio, IBP initial concentration, diluent type and salt was investigated. The obtained results showed that by appropriate selection of the operational parameters, it was possible to extract nearly all of IBP molecules from the feed solution even in the presence of high concentration of salt. Under optimum operating conditions, the efficiencies of IBP removal from distilled water (99.3 %), natural mineral water (97.3 %) and sea water (94.0 %) were comparable, which shows that the ELM treatment process represents a very interesting advanced separation process for the removal of IBP from complex matrices such as natural and sea waters. Under the optimized experimental conditions, approximately 97.4 % KTP was removed in less than 20 min of contact time.     

A step forward using QuEChERS (Quick,Easy, Cheap,Effective, Rugged,and Safe) based extraction and gas chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry—levels of priority polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in wild and commercial mussels

A new and fully validated QuEChERS (Quick, Easy, Cheap, Effective, Rugged, and Safe) extraction and gas chromatography–tandem mass spectrometry methodology was developed and subsequently implemented for the quantification of 16 polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in wild (from Matosinhos Beach, Portugal) and commercial (from Ria de Arousa, Spain) mussels. The method proved to be robust, precise, and accurate, with recoveries ranging from 89.2 to 111.8 %. Total sums of 16 PAHs were 52.91 and 37.58 ng/g of wet weight for wild and commercial specimens, respectively. The three- to four-ring PAHs were the most abundant, and a mixture of petrogenic and pyrolytic sources were suspected to occur in both origin areas. Although the contamination levels were below the European regulated limits, specifically for commercial mussels (this despite wild specimens are also consumed), care should be taken in terms of human health, since we are still not aware of the low-dose versus long-term effects, even more in high-risk population groups.     

Fate and effects of metal-based nanoparticles in two marine invertebrates,the bivalve mollusc Scrobicularia plana and the annelid polychaete Hediste diversicolor

The objective of this paper is to synthesize results from seven published research papers employing different experimental approaches to evaluate the fate of metal-based nanoparticles (Ag NPs, Au NPs, CuO NPs, CdS NPs, ZnO NPs) in the marine environment and their effects on two marine endobenthic species, the bivalve Scrobicularia plana and the ragworm Hediste diversicolor. The experiments were carried out under laboratory (microcosms) conditions or under environmentally realistic conditions in outdoor mesocosms. Based on results from these seven papers, we addressed the following research questions: (1) How did the environment into which nanoparticles were released affect their physicochemical properties?, (2) How did the route of exposure (seawater, food, sediment) influence bioaccumulation and effects?, (3) Which biomarkers were the most responsive? and (4) Which tools were the most efficient to evaluate the fate and effects of NPs in the marine environment? The obtained results showed that metal‐based NPs in general were highly agglomerated/aggregated in seawater. DGT tools could be used to estimate the bioavailability of metals released from NPs under soluble form in the aquatic environment. Both metal forms (nanoparticulate, soluble) were generally bioaccumulated in both species. Among biochemical tools, GST and CAT were the most sensitive revealing the enhancement of anti-oxidant defenses in both species exposed to sub-lethal concentrations of metal-based NPs. Apoptosis and genotoxicity were frequently observed.