Concrete is usually the preferred material for construction of structures in contact with water during their service life. Early age exposure to water is beneficial for curing of concrete structures. However, the pollution of water from freshly cast concrete in contact with water has not been investigated in detail. A significant increase in the alkalinity has recently been observed in a stream in contact with freshly installed concrete culverts. High alkalinity has caused distress to fresh water fish in the stream. A preliminary laboratory study was commenced to explore the effect of leaching of alkali into water from freshly placed concrete. Freshly cast concrete specimens were exposed to fresh water, covering a range of conditions observed in the field such as volume of concrete/volume of water, age of exposure and cement content. Analysis of the results indicated that early age contact with fresh concrete can lead to an increase in the pH levels of water up to 11, similar to the levels of pH observed in pore water inside freshly cast concrete. It was noted that until an age of 4 days from casting of concrete, the age of exposure does not significantly affect the changes in the peak pH levels of water. Continuous monitoring of water in contact with concrete also indicated that the pH levels diminish with time, which is attributed to the possible reaction of calcium hydroxide with atmospheric carbon. The paper will present the experimental study, the results, analysis and outcomes as well as planning of a more comprehensive study to observe possible ways of reducing the leaching of alkali from freshly placed concrete.

Chemical reduction of the hexavalent chromium, Cr(VI), present in contaminated soil and groundwater was carried out in a slurry reactor under dynamic conditions (120 rpm and 25°C) using different reductants [ferrous sulphate (Fe(II))], sodium bisulphite, sucrose, ascorbic acid and zerovalent iron (ZVI)] in order to evaluate the influence of the reductant on the redox process. Chemical analysis of the contaminated soil revealed a Cr(VI) concentration of 528 ± 31 mg kg⁻¹. Batch studies under dynamic conditions (slurry reactor) using different [Cr(VI)]/[reductant] molar ratios revealed that only Fe(II) and ZVI species can promote both reduction of Cr(VI) and immobilisation of Cr(III) (formation of an insoluble hydroxide compound). It was verified that 1.0 g of ZVI is capable of converting 104 ± 5 mg of Cr(VI) in Cr(III). A kinetic redox study was carried out using ZVI in different conditions. In all cases, it was verified that Cr(VI) reduction follows a pseudo-first-order kinetic behaviour. The dependence of the pseudo-first-order kinetic rate constant, k obs, on [ZVI] indicates that the redox process taking place in the slurry reactor is rather complex. A phenomenological kinetic equation for the redox process taking place in the slurry reactor was presented in order to describe the behaviour of k obs under non-ideal conditions.

Selective extraction techniques followed by batch adsorption experiments and statistical analyses were employed to investigate the adsorption behavior of bisphenol A (BPA) onto the natural surface coatings samples (NSCSs) and surficial sediments (SSs) and estimate the relative contribution of components (i.e. Fe oxides, Mn oxides, organic materials and residues) to the total BPA adsorption. The results indicate that nonlinear Langmuir model can describe the adsorption behavior of BPA on the NSCSs and SSs before and after extraction treatments. The removal of Mn oxides from the NSCSs and SSs caused a significant increase in BPA adsorption, which implied that Mn oxides inhibited BPA adsorption onto solid matrix, and Fe oxides played a positive role in BPA adsorption onto the NSCSs and SSs. However, the removal of organic materials (OMs) led to a dramatic decrease in BPA adsorption, suggesting considerable amounts of BPA adsorbed onto OMs in the NSCSs and SSs. This study may provide important insights into the understanding of the transport and ultimate fate of BPA in the aquatic environments.

In Brazil's littoral, many iron ore industries are located in areas of restinga, a type of coastal ecosystem; such industries represent stationary sources of iron and acid particulates. The industrial sector is under expansion, threatening the already fragile ecosystem. In the present study, the simulated impact of these emissions was studied on the early establishment stages of two native plant species, Sophora tomentosa and Schinus terebinthifolius. The results indicate that S. tomentosa display deficient germination and low root tolerance when exposed to iron dust and acidity. Toxic iron concentrations were found to accumulate only in the roots of S. tomentosa plants exposed to increasing doses of iron dust. In these plants, initial growth was reduced, leading to the conclusion that S. tomentosa was unable to regulate, and, thus, to overcome, the effects of the iron dust in the substrate. In contrast, the germination, root tolerance index, and initial growth of S. terebinthifolius were not affected by iron dust and acidity, revealing the species' resistance to these pollutants. We propose that under similar field conditions, S. tomentosa would be adversely affected, whereas S. terebinthifolius would thrive. On a long-term basis, this imbalance is likely to interfere in the vegetational composition and dynamics of the affected ecosystem.

The exact contribution of corporate social responsibility (CSR) to a company as well as to its stakeholders should be measurable in order to be evaluated correctly. The difficult task of measuring the results of CSR has been a matter of significant research both by academics and by practitioners. Some of the literature on corporate social responsibility combines CSR with stakeholder theory introducing corporate social performance. The literature has attempted to describe emerging models of the issues that lead to a coherent model of what would represent corporate social performance. However, it is the case that social aspects are “soft” in nature, therefore being difficult to quantify. Innovated methods of performance measurement such as that of Balanced Scorecard has lately been introduced in some companies in their attempt to include non-financial indicators to give a more balanced and forecasting power to the traditional financial performance assessment system, but the view of corporate social responsibility is rarely taken into account. Furthermore, management frameworks that try to cover social and environmental aspects, such as Global Reporting Initiative, by providing a number of related performance measures, are not able to connect them with corporate strategy and are poor evaluators of cause-effect relationships. In the present paper, a CSR performance measurement framework based on the adoption of the Balanced Scorecard approach is presented. For the development of the proposed framework, the existing assessment of CSR and Corporate Sustainability actions of the Greek companies of different sectors was analysed in order to identify common practices in CSR performance evaluation as well as existing limitations. Taking into account the social indicators suggested by the traditional balanced scorecard views, an extension of its structure is proposed in order to better embody the environmental and social aspects of company performance.

The objective of this investigation is to analyse the variations of xenobiotic concentrations and the fluxes of dissolved xenobiotics during runoff events in the small rural Mess catchment (35 km²) in the Southwestern part of Luxembourg. Sulfonamides, tetracyclines, analgesics and hormones, dissolved nutrients, sulphate and chloride were measured to gather information about runoff generation. Typically, the highest values can be found during the first flush mainly in the rising limb of the flood hydrographs. The highest concentrations in eleven flood events are measured for ibuprofen (2,383 ng l⁻¹), estrone (27 ng l⁻¹) and diclofenac (20 ng l⁻¹). From the tetracycline group tetracycline (9 ng l⁻¹) itself is of relevance, while the sulfonamides are mainly represented by sulfamethoxazole (5 ng l⁻¹). The variable patterns of chemographs are attributed to the heterogeneous runoff generation characterised by different reactions of storm overflows from the combined sewer systems. During single flood events, the fluxes of ibuprofen (maximum 24,000 mg), 17α-ethinylestradiol (122 mg), 17β-estradiol (32 mg) or estrone (274 mg) are rather low.

Air pollution associated with particulate matters is a serious problem in the mineral products industrial area (MPIA) in Saraburi, central Thailand. PM₁₀ concentrations monitored at Nah Phra Laan station located in the MPIA show that PM₁₀ levels exhibit strong seasonal variations; the number of days in 2005 that PM₁₀ concentrations exceeded the daily National Ambient Air Quality Standard of 120 μg/m³ were 58%, 29%, and 12% in the winter, rainy, and summer seasons, respectively. In this paper, the Hybrid Particle And Concentration Transport (HYPACT) model with meteorological fields from the Regional Atmospheric Modeling System (RAMS) was applied to Saraburi to investigate the impacts of meteorological parameters upon seasonal variations in PM₁₀ concentration. Analysis of model results shows that daily average PM₁₀ concentrations exceeding 200 μg/m³ are found in the downwind direction of emission sources and their horizontal gradients are strong. Hourly PM₁₀ concentrations exhibit obvious diurnal variation with maximum values in wintertime at around 2000-2100 local standard time in association with low ventilation with light wind speed and weak vertical mixing, while in the rainy season, they are generally higher in the daytime than in the nighttime, as that mixing height in cloudy days is low in daytime whereas emission rates are high during working time.

The purpose of this study was to gather information on the spatial and temporal variation of stream water total mercury concentrations ([THg]) and to test the hypothesis that stream water [THg] increases as stream pH decreases in the Shenandoah National Park (SNP). We based our hypothesis on studies in lakes that found mercury methylation increases with decreasing pH, and studies in streams that found total mercury and other trace metal concentrations increase with decreasing pH. Stream water was collected at baseflow in SNP in April, July, and October 2005 and February 2006. Contrary to our hypothesis, stream water [THg] decreased with decreasing pH and acid neutralizing capacity. In SNP, stream pH and acid neutralizing capacity are strongly influenced by bedrock geology. We found that bedrock also influences stream water [THg]. Streams on basaltic bedrock had higher [THg] (0.648 ng L⁻¹ ± 0.39) than streams on siliciclastic bedrock (0.301 ng L⁻¹ ± 0.10) and streams on granitic bedrock (0.522 ng L⁻¹ ± 0.06). The higher pH streams on basaltic bedrock had the highest [THg]. The variation in stream water [THg] occurred despite no known variation in wet deposition of mercury across the SNP. The findings of this study indicate that the SNP can be an important area for mercury research with significant variations in mercury concentrations across the park.

Leaching of trace metals and greenhouse plant growth (Collard greens; Brassica oleracea var. acephala) response studies were conducted in two types of soils with contrasting characteristics amended with varying rates (0 to 24.70 Mg ha⁻¹) of poultry litter (PL) or 1:1 mixture of PL and fly ash (FA). Leaching of Cr, Zn, Cd, Cu, and Pb from soils amended with PL or PL + FA (1:1) increased with increasing rates of amendment. Leaching losses were greater from coarse-textured soil compared to that from medium-textured soil. Crop performance study indicated that growth as well as trace elements concentrations increased with increasing rates of amendments only up to 12.35 Mg ha⁻¹. Trace element concentrations in plant parts were greater in plants grown in Candler fine sand (CFS) compared to that grown in Ogeechee loamy sand (OLS). Trace element concentrations were greater in the above ground plant parts (leaf and stem) than those in roots. This study demonstrated beneficial effects of PL or mixture of PL + FA amendments to soils at rates not exceeding 4.94 Mg ha⁻¹. Further field studies are recommended to evaluate the long-term impact of using poultry litter and fly ash on plant growth and tissue trace metal concentration as well as environmental impact.

Fecal pollution from human and natural sources enters soil or watercourses, mixes, then reemerges as a nuisance of unknown origin. Before remediation is attempted, the sources and identities of pollution must be identified. Previous microbial source tracking studies have relied on traditional methods of microbiology such as selective media and biochemical characteristics to quantify fecal bacteria in water samples. This is successful when single sources are responsible for pollution. However, when multiple sources are present, numbers must be subdivided into categories of pollution to define relative importance and select appropriate methods of remediation which are very different for examples such as humans and avifauna pollution. Rather than depending on a single method, we recommend a tiered approach which takes advantage of ecological parameters and conventional microbiology to provide context for more precise DNA data and related statistics.