Microorganisms isolated from soil are sources of known and new microorganisms and genetic material. This review examines general principles of soil bacterial biodiversity, limitations in sampling soils, and examples of bacterial diversity in chemically-contaminated soils. Both conventional and molecular methods used to assess microbial biodiversity in soils will be addressed as well as selected examples of the effects of organic and inorganic pollutants on soil microbial diversity.

Analysis of PCB, DDT, and chlordane contamination in selected finfish and shellfish species from estuarine and coastal marine waters of New Jersey (U.S.A.) indicates consistently highest organochlorine contaminant levels in samples from the north and northeast regions of the state in proximity to industrialized sites. Gas chromatographic analysis of tissue samples from three finfish species (bluefish, Pomatomus saltatrix; striped bass, Morone saxatilis; weakfish, Cynoscion regalis) and one shellfish species (blue crab, Callinectes sapidus) collected throughout the state during the 1986–1987 and 1988–1991 sampling periods revealed mean PCB, DDT, and chlordane concentrations ranging from 200–5, 380 µg g⁻¹ wet weight, 25.14–492.52 µg kg⁻¹ wet weight, and 5–106.44 µg kg⁻¹ wet weight, respectively. A major conclusion of this study is that some commercially and recreationally important finfish and shellfish species in New Jersey waters, especially those which are lipid-rich, have continued to accumulate PCBs, DDTs and chlordane from the environment long after restrictive regulations were first placed on their use in the United States during the 1970s. The greatest impact of organochlorine contamination is nearby urban centers, most notably Newark and New York City.

Resource added for the Environmental Engineering Waste and Water Technology program 105062.

The history of atmosheric mercury inputs to remote arctic regions can be measured in lake sediment cores using lead-210 chronology. In this investigation, total mercury deposition is measured in sediments from Imitavik and Annak Lakes on the Belcher Islands in southeastern Hudson Bay, an area in the southern Canadian Arctic with no history of local industrial or agricultural sources of contamination. Both lakes received background and atmospheric inputs of mercury while Annak also received mercury from raw domestic sewage from the Hamlet of Sanikiluaq, a growing Inuit community of about 550 established in the late 1960's. Results from Imitavik show that anthropogenic mercury inputs, apparently transported through the atmosphere, began to appear in the mid-eighteenth century, and continued to the 1990's. Annak had a similar mercury history until the late 1960's when disposal of domestic sewage led to increased sediment and contaminant accumulation. The high input of mercury to Annak confirms that Sanikiluaq residents are exposed to mercury through native food sources.

A great deal of research has been directed towards the problem of reduction and control of volatile organic compounds (VOCs). The aim of this research is to find a process that is both efficient and inexpensive in comparison with traditional air treatment technologies.Our biofilter (one stage system, 2 m in height) is an aerobic system for waste gases containing VOCs using the degradation properties of microbial flora (assorted cultures of Bacillus, Micrococcus, Acinetobacter and yeast). In this process, polluted gas diffuses across a filter bed into which a microbial culture has previously been introduced. Peat is the medium of choice for inoculation with microorganisms because of its adsorption and absorption properties, ability to retain moisture, and buffering capacity. Furthermore, the peat utilized is spherical in shape; thus, it is possible to avoid problems related to compacting.The objective of this study was to eliminate VOCs emitted from a rotogravure process. We were able to achieve promising results from biofiltration of two types of VOCs (a mixed solvent containing isopropyl acetate and 1-nitropropane, and the solvent: 1-nitropropane). The results obtained indicate that the elimination of nitropropane and the mixed solvent in the biofilter are considered to follow zero-order kinetics with reaction rate limitation and diffusion rate limitation, respectively.

In the practice of soil remediation, organoleptic observations such as the smell or the colour of contaminated soil play an important role when determining well-defined volumes of contaminated soil. A GIS is then used to combine quantitative measurements with such soft data. In this study general procedures concerning how to deal with this type of observations are presented. The procedures were applied to a former gas works site, which was contaminated with cyanide and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in the Netherlands. The volume of contaminated soil was determined. Use of soft data reduced the uncertainty in the volume of contaminated soil with 4 to 16%.

The Henry's law constant of trichloroacetic acid [K′H (mol kg⁻¹ atm⁻¹) for the equilibrium CCl₃COOH₍g₎ ⇌ CCl₃COOH₍ₐq₎] has been determined from measured partial pressures over aqueous solutions at 298.15 K and 308.15 K. Its value is given by: ln(K′H) = (11.21 ± 0.5) – 8.66 × 10³ (l/Tᵣ – l/T) where T (K) is temperature and Tᵣ is equal to 298.15 K, for an aqueous phase dissociation constant (Kₐ) of 0.55 mol kg⁻¹ determined from literature osmotic coefficient and electromotive force data. Accuracy is estimated to be 4–30% in the product K′HKₐ. Trichloroacetic acid is highly soluble and will partition strongly into aqueous atmospheric aerosols, and completely into fog and cloud water. Its occurrence and transport in the environment are therefore to be associated primarily with liquid phases.