Chromium (Cr) stress is one of the most adverse environmental factors that affect plant growth and food chain contamination. Fulvic acid (FA) is known to enhance the growth and production of crops, but the studies are scare regarding the application of FA on metal tolerance in plants. The effects of FA application on alleviating Cr phytotoxicity in wheat plants were investigated in a pot experiment conducted in sand- and soil-grown plants. Three Cr (0, 0.25, and 0.50 mM) treatments in the form of K₂Cr₂O₇ were applied in both soils with or without foliar application of 1.5 mg L⁻¹ FA. Plants were harvested after 4 months of treatments, and data regarding growth characteristics, biomass, photosynthetic pigments, and antioxidant enzymes were recorded. FA application increased plant biomass, photosynthetic pigments, and antioxidant enzymes while it decreased Cr uptake and accumulation in plants as compared with Cr treatments alone. We conclude that FA application contributes to decreased Cr concentrations in wheat grains and could be used as an amendment when aiming for decreased metal concentration in plants.

The present study was conducted to assess the impact of gibberellic acid on growth and yield of sunflower in hexavalent chromium [Cr(VI)]-contaminated soil in the presence as well as absence of pressmud. Seeds of sunflower were sown in potted soil amended with pressmud as an organic amendment and contaminated with different levels of Cr(VI) (12, 18, and 24 mg kg⁻¹) by using K₂Cr₂O₇ salt. Gibberellic acid (10⁻⁴ M) was applied at time of seedling emergence in the rhizosphere. The results showed that Cr(VI) stress significantly reduced the growth and yield of sunflower. However, application of gibberellic acid and pressmud reversed the toxic effects of Cr(VI) and improved the growth and yield of sunflower. Combined application of gibberellic acid and pressmud further improved growth and yield compared to their separate application in Cr(VI) stress. Moreover, gibberellic acid and pressmud decreased the uptake of Cr and stabilized it in the soil.

A mesophilic alkali-tolerant bacterial consortium belonging to the Bacillus genus was evaluated for its ability to biodegrade high free cyanide (CN⁻) concentration (up to 500 mg CN⁻/L), subsequent to the oxidation of the formed ammonium and nitrates in a continuous bioreactor system solely supplemented with whey waste. Furthermore, an optimisation study for successful cyanide biodegradation by this consortium was evaluated in batch bioreactors (BBs) using response surface methodology (RSM). The input variables, that is, pH, temperature and whey-waste concentration, were optimised using a numerical optimisation technique where the optimum conditions were found to be as follows: pH 9.88, temperature 33.60 °C and whey-waste concentration of 14.27 g/L, under which 206.53 mg CN⁻/L in 96 h can be biodegraded by the microbial species from an initial cyanide concentration of 500 mg CN⁻/L. Furthermore, using the optimised data, cyanide biodegradation in a continuous mode was evaluated in a dual-stage packed-bed bioreactor (PBB) connected in series to a pneumatic bioreactor system (PBS) used for simultaneous nitrification, including aerobic denitrification. The whey-supported Bacillus sp. culture was not inhibited by the free cyanide concentration of up to 500 mg CN⁻/L, with an overall degradation efficiency of ≥99 % with subsequent nitrification and aerobic denitrification of the formed ammonium and nitrates over a period of 80 days. This is the first study to report free cyanide biodegradation at concentrations of up to 500 mg CN⁻/L in a continuous system using whey waste as a microbial feedstock. The results showed that the process has the potential for the bioremediation of cyanide-containing wastewaters.

Increased application of titanium dioxide and zinc oxide nanoparticles (nano-TiO₂and nano-ZnO) raises concerns related to their environmental impacts. The effects that such nanoparticles have on environmental processes and the bacteria that carry them out are largely unknown. In this study, ammonia-oxidizing bacteria (AOB) enrichment cultures, grown from surface sediments taken from an estuary wetland in Fujian Province, China, were spiked with nano-TiO₂and nano-ZnO (with an average size of 32 and 43 nm, respectively) at predicted environmentally relevant concentrations (≤2 mg L⁻¹) to determine their impacts on ammonia oxidation and the mechanisms involved. Results showed that higher nano-TiO₂concentrations significantly inhibited ammonia oxidation in enrichment cultures. It is noteworthy that the average ammonia oxidation rate was significantly correlated to the Shannon index, the Simpson’s index, and AOB abundance. This suggested that ammonia oxidation inhibition primarily resulted from a reduction of AOB biodiversity and abundance. However, AOB biodiversity and abundance as well as the average ammonia oxidation rate were not inhibited by nano-ZnO at predicted environmentally relevant concentrations. Accordingly, an insignificant correlation was established between biodiversity and abundance of the AOB amoA gene and the average ammonia oxidation rate under nano-ZnO treatments. AOB present in samples belonged to the β-Proteobacteria class with an affinity close to Nitrosospira and Nitrosomonas genera. This suggested that identified impacts of nano-TiO₂and nano-ZnO on ammonia oxidation processes can be extrapolated to some extent to natural aquatic environments. Complex impacts on AOB may result from different nanomaterials present in aquatic environments at various ambient conditions. Further investigation on how and to what extent different nanomaterials influence AOB diversity and abundance and their subsequent ammonia oxidation processes is therefore required.

The study was planned to quantify the distribution of bacteria between bulk water and biofilm formed on different materials in an industrial scale cooling tower system of an oil refinery operating with clarified and chlorinated freshwater (CCW) or chlorinated tertiary effluent (TRW) as makeup water. The sessile and planktonic heterotrophic bacteria and Pseudomonas aeruginosa densities were significantly higher in the cooling tower supplied with clarified and chlorinated freshwater (CTCW) (p < 0.05). In the two towers, the biofilm density was higher on the surface of glass slides and stainless steel coupons than on the surface of carbon steel coupons. The average corrosion rates of carbon steel coupons (0.4–0.8 millimeters per year (mpy)) and densities of sessile (12–1.47 × 10³ colony-forming unit (CFU) cm⁻¹) and planktonic (0–2.36 × 10³ CFU mL⁻¹) microbiota remained below of the maximum values of reference used by water treatment companies as indicative of efficient microbial control. These data indicate that the strategies of the water treatment station (WTS) (free chlorine) and industrial wastewater treatment station (IWTS) followed by reverse electrodialysis system (RES) (free chlorine plus chloramine) were effective for the microbiological control of the two makeup water sources.

Mosquitoes transmit major communicable diseases such as dengue, malaria, filariasis, Japanese encephalitis, chikungunya, and so on. Vector control is important in epidemic disease situations as there is an urgent need to develop new and improved mosquito control methods that are economical and effective yet safe for non-targeted organisms. In the present study, silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) were synthesized from the aqueous leaf extract of neem plant (Azadirachta indica), and their effects on mosquito vectors (Aedes aegypti and Culex quinquefasciatus) were assessed. The synthesised AgNPs were characterized by UV–vis spectroscopy, scanning electron microscope (SEM), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), and X-ray diffraction analysis (XRD). The nanoparticles have maximum absorption at 442 ± 1.5 nm with an average size of 41–60 nm. The XRD data showed six well-defined diffraction peaks, corresponding to a relative intensity of the crystal structure of metallic silver 36.42, 100.00, 53.70, 14.20, 16.05, and 6.79, respectively. The FT-IR data showed strong prominent peaks in different ranges, reflecting its complex nature. The mosquito larvae were exposed to varying concentrations of AgNPs synthesized from the neem leaves under investigation (0.07–25 mg/l) for 24 h; this revealed larvicidal activity of AgNPs with LC₅₀and LC₉₀values of 0.006 and 0.04 mg/l for A. aegypti, respectively. Further, the LC₅₀and LC₉₀values were also identified as 0.047 and 0.23 mg/l for Cx. quinquefasciatus, respectively. The result obtained from this study presents biosynthesized silver nanoparticle from A. indica as the biolarvicidal agent with the most potential for mosquito control.

The effects of inorganic and organic arsenic on the germination and seedling growth of 10 crop plants were investigated to elucidate the relationship between toxicity and the arsenic chemical states. Two types of soils, soil A and B, were also tested to determine how physicochemical properties of soils were related to toxicity of arsenic and the sensitivity of the plants. All tested plant species, except mung bean and cucumber, showed inhibition of germination by two types of inorganic arsenic, arsenite, and arsenate, while the organic arsenic compound, dimethylarsinic acid (DMA), had no inhibitory effects on plants in soil A. In contrast, the growth of seedlings of all 10 plant species was sensitive to the presence of arsenic. The sensitivity of the plants toward inorganic arsenic compounds showed similar trends but differed for DMA. Overall, seedling growth was a more sensitive endpoint to arsenic toxicity than germination, and the relative toxicity of arsenic compounds on plants was arsenite > DMA > arsenate. Interestingly, the sensitivity of wheat varied significantly when the soil was changed, and the DMA was most toxic rather than arsenite in soil B. Thus, the systematic study employed here provides insights into the mechanisms of arsenic toxicity in different plant species and the role of physicochemical properties of soils.

Red mud is a highly alkaline (pH >12) waste product from bauxite ore processing. The red mud spill at Ajka, Hungary, in 2010 released 1 million m³ of caustic red mud into the surrounding area with devastating results. Aerobic and anaerobic batch experiments and solid phase extraction techniques were used to assess the impact of red mud addition on the mobility of Cu and Ni in soils from near the Ajka spill site. Red mud addition increases aqueous dissolved organic carbon (DOC) concentrations due to soil alkalisation, and this led to increased mobility of Cu and Ni complexed to organic matter. With Ajka soils, more Cu was mobilised by contact with red mud than Ni, despite a higher overall Ni concentration in the solid phase. This is most probably because Cu has a higher affinity to form complexes with organic matter than Ni. In aerobic experiments, contact with the atmosphere reduced soil pH via carbonation reactions, and this reduced organic matter dissolution and thereby lowered Cu/Ni mobility. These data show that the mixing of red mud into organic rich soils is an area of concern, as there is a potential to mobilise Cu and Ni as organically bound complexes, via soil alkalisation. This could be especially problematic in locations where anaerobic conditions can prevail, such as wetland areas contaminated by the spill.

There is often great uncertainty in water quality modeling for urban drainage systems because water quality variation in systems is complex and affected by many factors. The stormwater management model (SWMM) was applied to a small-scale urban catchment with a simple and well-maintained stormwater drainage system without illicit connections. This was done to assess uncertainty in build-up and wash-off modeling of pollutants within the generalized likelihood uncertainty estimation (GLUE) methodology, based on a well-calibrated water quantity model. The results indicated great uncertainty of water quality modeling within the GLUE methodology. Comparison of uncertainties in various pollutant build-up and wash-off models that were available in SWMM indicated that those uncertainties varied slightly. This may be a consequence of the specific characteristics of rainfall events and experimental sites used in the study. The uncertainty analysis of water quality parameters in SWMM is conducive to effectively evaluating model reliability, and provides an experience base for similar research and applications.

The biological reaction process of sulfur in biofilms and sediments causes serious problems of corrosion and odor in sewage systems. This study aims to reveal the distribution and shift of microbial diversity that survives inside the sediment in response to surrounding changes in sewage systems. The successions of microbial community were compared via denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis and by constructing phylogenetic trees via maximum likelihood method. The results indicated that the shift of microbial diversity is not significant along the vertical layer inside the sediment. The influences of sediment accumulation time on the shift in microbial diversity are evident, particularly with the switch of the accumulation stage. Implementing a control strategy for oxygen injection and nitrate addition evidently inhibits and stimulates some dominant sulfate-reducing bacterial strains in the sediment. The diversity in the total bacteria is positively related with ORP, dissolved oxygen, and sulfide concentration.