The concentration changes of 18 different polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in two different biochars were assessed after (1) chemical oxidative treatment with a solution of H₂O₂ and Na₂S₂O₈, (2) exposure to sunlight with intermittent wetting, and (3) exposure to sunlight with intermittent wetting after mixing in ZnO and Na₂S₂O₈. Chemical oxidative treatment of biochars derived from gasified wood biochar and a gasified wood/Arundo donax mixture led to decreases in six-ring PAHs, but overall significant increases in measured PAH concentration sums for both biochars (from 225 ± 7 to 312 ± 18 μg g⁻¹ for wood-derived and 165 ± 3 to 244 ± 7 μg g⁻¹ for mixture-derived). Sunlight exposure of the mixture-derived biochar led to increases in some three- and four-ring PAHs, but overall decreases in summed PAH concentrations (165 ± 3 to 60 ± 1 μg g⁻¹ with wetting only and 165 ± 3 to 41 ± 4 μg g⁻¹ when Na₂S₂O₈ and ZnO were included). The mass losses in the sunlight-exposed samples primarily were due to losses of low molar mass (two-ring) PAHs, though high molar mass (five- and six-ring) PAH concentrations also decreased. This result implies sun and rain exposure to biochar, prior to agricultural application, will help reduce potential PAH soil contamination from the biochar.

In urban areas, primary and secondary organic aerosols are typically considered to originate from vehicular traffic emissions. However, industrial emissions within or in the vicinity of urban areas may also be significant contributors to carbonaceous aerosol concentrations. This hypothesis was tested and validated in two urban areas in Spain. The observed unusual dominance of organic carbon (OC) over elemental carbon (EC), the analysis of the variability of OC, EC and OC/EC and their correlation with transport patterns suggested the presence of OC sources associated with industrial activities. A methodology based on chemical speciation of particulate matter (PM) followed by the application of receptor modelling techniques allowed for the identification of the specific industrial sources of OC, which were linked to primary OC emissions from a grain drying plant (cereal) and to secondary OC formation from paper production activities (paper mills), as well as from urban sources and biogenic emissions. This work presents an integrated approach to identifying and characterizing of industrial sources of carbonaceous aerosols in urban areas, aiming to improve the scarce body of literature currently available on this topic.

Cadmium (Cd) is an important toxic chemical due to its increasing levels in the environment and its resulting accumulation in humans and animals. The present study was performed to evaluate the long-term effects of low doses of Cd administered in offspring by oral route to rats during pregnancy and lactation. There were no adverse effects on the physical and sexual development in the pups, except to delay the development of offspring. The relative weights of livers and kidneys in the adult female offspring were significantly decreased after exposure to 10 ppm Cd. These results indicated that there were adverse effects on growth and development from exposure to 5 or 10 ppm Cd in utero and during lactation. The results also showed differential gender sensitivity effects on the organ weights.

Microbial community compositions in pesticide-contaminated aquifers have not been studied, although such information is important for remediation and maintaining freshwater sources clean under changing climate. Therefore, phospholipid (PLFAs), glycolipid (GLFAs), and neutral lipid (NLFAs) fatty acids were determined from sand and clay sediments at depths of 0.3–24.8 m, all contaminated with triazines and dichlobenil/2,6-dichlorobenzamide. The portion of fungi and Gram-negative bacteria at 0.3 m was greater than at 0.8 m, where the percentage of Gram-positive bacteria, actinobacteria, and sulfate-reducing bacteria (SRB) increased. In deeper sediments, microbial biomass, activity, and diversity decreased. Clay sediments seemed to serve as a reservoir for slow pesticide elution to groundwater, and their biomarker portion for all bacteria except actinobacteria was greater than in sand sediments. The slow pesticide dissipation seemed to occur in the main groundwater flow zone, resulting in nitrogen release simultaneously with organic matter elution from gardening and bank filtration. As a result, microbial biomass, activity, and diversity were increased. This shift in conditions towards that in surface soil may be appropriate for enhanced natural attenuation of pesticides in groundwater sources.

A low crystalline Fe-oxyhydroxy sulfate (FeOS) was used to immobilize arsenic (As) in soils in this study. The effects of FeOS amount, treatment time and soil moisture on As immobilization were investigated. The results showed that water-soluble and NaHCO₃-extractable As were immobilized by 53.4–99.8 and 13.8–73.3 % respectively, with 1–10 % of FeOS addition. The highest immobilization of water-soluble (98.5 %) and NaHCO₃-extractable arsenic (47.2 %) was achieved under condition of 4 % of FeOS and 80 % of soil moisture. Further, more amounts of FeOS addition resulted in less time requirement for As immobilization. Sequential chemical extraction experiment revealed that easily mobile arsenic phase was transferred to less mobile phase. The FeOS-bonded As may play a significant role in arsenic immobilization. Under leaching with simulated acid rain at 60 times pore volumes, accumulation amount of As release from untreated soil and soil amended with FeOS were 98.4 and 1.2 mg, respectively, which correspond to 7.69 and 0.09 % of total As amounts in soil. The result showed that the low crystalline FeOS can be used as a suitable additive for arsenic immobilization in soils.

Di-n-butyl phthalate (DBP), a xenobiotic, is widely used in industries as a softener for polyvinyl chloride resins. The aim of the present study was to evaluate whether DBP induces oxidative stress in testes of Wistar rats. DBP at doses of 500, 1,000 and 1,500 mg/kg b.wt. (doses below LD₅₀) was given orally for 7 days. After 24 hrs from the last dose, the animals were killed under ether anesthesia. Nonsignificant increase in testicular weight was observed. Histological studies indicated a dose-related degeneration of germinal, Leydig and Sertoli cells along with loss of spermatozoa in the lumen. The concentrations of malondialdehyde (TBARS), lipid hydroperoxides, water-soluble antioxidant capacity, glutathione-S-transferase, catalase and trace elements—zinc and copper increased while concentrations of total protein, lipid soluble antioxidant capacity, ascorbic acid, glutathione, total superoxide dismutase (SOD), Cu–ZnSOD, MnSOD, glutathione peroxidase, glutathione reductase and metallothionein decreased at all the dose levels. The data suggests that the cellular functions were adversely affected due to impairment of spermatogenesis indicative of oxidative stress as evident by altered antioxidative defense system which appears to mediate through hypothalamo-pituitary-gonadal axis. The spectrum of changes in testes reflects its susceptibility to phthalate even at low dose with the potential to interfere with critical reproductive function.

Heavy-metal-contaminated soil is one of the major environmental pollution issues all over the world. In this study, two low-cost amendments, inorganic eggshell and organic banana stem, were applied to slightly alkaline soil for the purpose of in situ immobilization of Pb, Cd, and Zn. The artificially metal-contaminated soil was treated with 5 % eggshell or 10 % banana stem. To simulate the rainfall conditions, a metal leaching experiment for a period of 12 weeks was designed, and the total concentrations of the metals in the leachates were determined every 2 weeks. The results from the metal leaching analysis revealed that eggshell amendment generally reduced the concentrations of Pb, Cd, and Zn in the leachates, whereas banana stem amendment was effective only on the reduction of Cd concentration in the leachates. A sequential extraction analysis was carried out at the end of the experiment to find out the speciation of the heavy metals in the amended soils. Eggshell amendment notably decreased mobility of Pb, Cd, and Zn in the soil by transforming their readily available forms to less accessible fractions. Banana stem amendment also reduced exchangeable form of Cd and increased its residual form in the soil.

Health effects from air pollution are severe concern of today’s world. The study was undertaken to assess the effects of air pollution on hematological profiles of trained and untrained males of West Bengal. The sample consisted of 60 sprinters, 60 footballers, and 120 untrained males, subdivided into two groups from two zones, namely, Tollygunge and Sonarpur. Suspended particulate matter (SPM), respirable particulate matter (RPM), oxides of sulfur (SOₓ), and oxides of nitrogen (NOₓ) of ambient air were monitored for both zones. Height and weight of all the subjects were measured. Venous blood sample was drawn from the cubital vein, and the red blood cell count (TC), packed cell volume (PCV), hemoglobin (Hb) concentration, mean corpuscular volume (MCV), and mean corpuscular hemoglobin concentration (MCHC) were determined by standard methods. Results revealed that SPM, RPM, SOₓ, and NOₓ concentrations were significantly higher in the Tollygunge area than Sonarpur. TC, PCV, and Hb concentration of untrained males were significantly higher than footballers in both regions but no significant difference were observed when compared with sprinters, except the Hb concentration in the Tollygunge zone. On the other hand, all hematological parameters of both trained and untrained males were significantly higher in the Sonarpur area than Tollygunge. It was concluded that environmental air pollutants might influence hematological profile adversely both in trained and sedentary males. However, further investigation in this area is needed.

Antimony occurs locally at high concentrations in some mineralized soils. Very little is known about behavior of antimony in plants. In this study, we analyzed the soil and vegetation of two mining areas in Iran, Patyar, and Moghanlo. Total Sb concentrations in soil were 358–3482 mg/kg in Moghanlo and 284–886 mg/kg in Patyar. Corresponding Sb concentrations in plant shoots were 0.8–287 and 1.3–49 mg/kg, respectively. In both areas, foliar Sb concentrations increased with acid-extractable soil Sb, although the slope was about 2-fold steeper for Patyar than for Moghanlo. Regressing the foliar concentrations on water-soluble Sb yielded identical slopes for both areas, suggesting that the soluble fraction of Sb rather than total Sb is the direct determinant of foliar Sb accumulation. Both in Patyar and Moghanlo, only a minor part of the total variance of shoot Sb was explained by soluble Sb. The major part was explained by plant species, demonstrating that plant taxonomic identity is the most important determinant of foliar Sb accumulation capacity in both areas. The translocation factor (TF) was highly variable too, with species as the only significant variance component. Only four species were able to accumulate more than 100 mg/kg Sb in their leaves. Among these species, Achillea wilhelmsii and Matthiola farinosa were by far the best Sb accumulators, with, on average, 141 and 132 mg/kg Sb in their leaves. Of these two, only Matthiola farinosa consistently maintained TF values far above unity across the whole range of soluble Sb in Moghanlo.

The Bien Hoa airbase (south of Vietnam) is known as one of the Agent Orange hotspots which have been seriously contaminated by Agent Orange/dioxin during the Vietnam War. Hundreds of samples including soil, sediment and fish were collected at the Bien Hoa Agent Orange hotspot for assessment of the environmental contamination caused by dibenzo-p-dioxins and polychlorinated dibenzofurans (PCDD/Fs). The toxicity equivalency quotient (TEQ) concentration of PCDD/Fs in soil and sediment varied from 7.6 to 962,000 and 17 to 4860 pg/g dry wt, respectively, implying very high contamination of PCDD/Fs in several areas. PCDD/F levels in fish ranged between 1.8 and 288 pg/g TEQ wet wt and was generally higher than advisory guidelines for food consumption. 2,3,7,8-Tetrachlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins (2,3,7,8-TCDD) contributed 66–99 % of TEQ for most of the samples, suggesting 2,4,5-trichlorophenoxyacetic acid (2,4,5-T) from Agent Orange as the major source of the contamination. The vertical transport of PCDD/Fs was observed in soil column with high TEQ levels above 1000 pg/g dry wt (Vietnamese limit for necessary remediation activities- TCVN 8183:2009 (2009)) even at a depth of 1.8 m. The vertical transport of PCDD/Fs has probably mainly taken place during the “Ranch Hand” defoliant spray activities due to the leaks and spills of phenoxy herbicides and solvents. The congener patterns suggest that transports of PCDD/Fs by weathering processes have led to their redistribution in the low-land areas. Also, an estimate for the total volume of contaminated soil requiring remediation to meet Vietnamese regulatory limits is provided.