Composting municipal wastewater sludge may generate composting wastewater (acid washer water and tunnel wastewater) with high ammonium-nitrogen (NH₄-N) concentration; this kind of wastewater is usually generated in a rather small daily amount. A procedure of air stripping with catalytic oxidation was developed and tested with pilot-scale and full-scale units for synthetic disposal of the high NH₄-N wastewaters from composting facilities. In air stripping, around 90% NH₄-N removal efficiency was reliably achieved with a maximum of 98%. A model to describe the stripping process efficiency was constructed, which can be used for process optimization. After catalytic oxidation, the concentrations in the outlet gas were acceptable for NH₃, NOX, NO₂, and N₂O, but the NH₃ and N₂O concentrations limited the feasible loading range. The treatment costs were estimated in detail. The results indicate that air stripping with the catalytic oxidation process can be applied for wastewater treatment in composting facilities.

We evaluated the applicability of a simple passive sampling method to quantify HNO₃(g) in ambient air. The method has the advantages of not only ease of operation but also low cost. A sampling velocity of 214 m day⁻¹ was determined based on the concentration of HNO₃(g) measured by the four-stage filter-pack method at nine sites located within a 250 × 250-km area in Japan. This sampling velocity was applied at sites located outside of area to verify the applicability and accuracy of the simple passive sampling method. The variation in the results for the application of the sampling velocity ranged from 0.39 to 0.95. The simple passive sampling method should be applied to sites with different meteorological conditions, and the obtained data should be used to obtain more significant information and/or to indicate the need for further developments in the methodology.

Thermogravimetry (TG) was used to investigate the pollution on marine sediments close to urban and industrial sites. Sediment weight loss when heated (TG) was performed under oxidizing conditions from 250°C to 900°C. The first derivative of TG curves was used to generate a Cartesian diagram for sediments cataloging, in a quick way, according to their organic matter and grain size contents. Thus, sediment placed at the right of the diagram were characterized by a prevalence of the thin fraction and high organic matter content, while on the left side, samples were characterized by large sandy fractions, and, in general, low organic matter contents. Two references materials and metal pollution index were used to validate the Cartesian diagram obtained.

To clarify nitrogen (N) sources, the overall N budget in a forested watershed in Kanagawa Prefecture, Central Japan was estimated by measuring dissolved inorganic N (DIN; NH₄ ⁺ + NO₃ ⁻ + NO₂ ⁻) from Nov 2004 through Oct 2005. The estimated N budget (-1.43 kg N ha⁻¹ year⁻¹) showed that the N output rate (stream water N) was higher than the N input rate (bulk deposition N) in the watershed. The annual NO₂ ⁻ and NO₃ ⁻ input rates were 0.02 and 1.99 kg N ha⁻¹ year⁻¹, respectively. NH₄ ⁺ was the predominant source in this forested watershed, accounting for 71% (4.99 kg N ha⁻¹ year⁻¹) of DIN input rate. In addition, this study estimated rainfall pH, air temperature, and wind direction, which were considered as controlling factors related to the atmospheric deposition rate of NH₄ ⁺. This study showed that the rainfall NH₄ ⁺ was inversely proportional to the initial pH of the rainfall, which was calculated by adding the amount of H⁺ consumed by the dissociation process of NH₃₍aq₎ to the measured rainfall pH. This result implies that acid rain can elevate the solubility of NH₃₍g₎ and the dissociation capacity of NH₄ ⁺ throughout the process of precipitation. Also, this study provides strong evidence that the high NH₄ ⁺ deposition rate is mainly derived from NH₃₍g₎ emitted from livestock wastes under the NH₃ transport condition of warm summer and favorable wind direction.

Cattle manure vermicompost has been used for the adsorption of Al(III) and Fe(II) from both synthetic solution and kaolin industry wastewater. The optimum conditions for Al(III) and Fe(II) adsorption at pH 2 (natural pH of the wastewater) were particle size of ≤250 µm, 1 g/10 mL adsorbent dose, contact time of 4 h, and temperature of 25°C. Langmuir and Freundlich adsorption isotherms fitted reasonably well in the experimental data, and their constants were evaluated, with R ² values from 0.90 to 0.98. In synthetic solution, the maximum adsorption capacity of the vermicompost for Al(III) was 8.35 mg g⁻¹ and for Fe(II) was 16.98 mg g⁻¹ at 25°C when the vermicompost dose was 1 g 10 mL⁻¹, and the initial adjusted pH was 2. The batch adsorption studies of Al(III) and Fe(II) on vermicompost using kaolin wastewater have shown that the maximum adsorption capacities were 1.10 and 4.30 mg g⁻¹, respectively, at pH 2. The thermodynamic parameter, the Gibbs free energy, was calculated for each system, and the negative values obtained confirm that the adsorption processes were spontaneous.

Climatic changes and the increased air pollution intensify the atmospheric degradation of stone, affecting the aspect and integrity of valuable historical buildings constructed using limestone and located in tropical coastal sites. This paper analyzes limestone degradation process due to air pollution and humidity in tropical humid conditions in historical buildings located in the cities of Havana, Cuba and San Francisco de Campeche, Mexico. Havana shows higher pollution level than San Francisco de Campeche, which presents pollution levels as a consequence of a multipollutant situation along with the presence of airborne salinity. Temperature and humidity data were recorded from the walls of historical buildings in the city of Havana: the Minor Basilica and the convent of San Francisco. Changes in dry/wet cycles due to the absence of direct sun radiation as well as a high level of SO₂ allow the formation of a black crust (mainly composed of gypsum) in the lower part of the surface of the facade of the Basilica Minor in Havana; however, crusts formed in historical buildings located in San Francisco de Campeche City are mainly composed of calcium carbonate, indicating the importance of natural degradation mechanisms mainly due to dissolution in water. In the last case, the influence of water plays an important role in the development of biodegradation, which induces the formation of calcium oxalates. Caves and cracks were found in the walls of military buildings caused by water infiltration. The influence of air contamination, humidity, and construction materials determine the type of degradation that historical buildings undergo.

The current study investigated the sorption of sulfadimethoxine (SMT), sulfamethoxazole (SMX), tetracycline (TET), and oxytetracycline (OTC) to Na-rich montmorillonite clay in synthetic effluent (SE) and field wastewater effluent (FE). Both SMT and SMX showed a low sorption capacity and are therefore likely to be highly mobile in the environment, while the sorption of TET to clay in environmental pH range (6.5-7.5) showed similarly high adsorption capacity. Differences in sorption capacities of TET and OTC to SE or FE were attributed to the various concentrations of divalent cations in the effluents. In addition, differences in sorption of OTC or TET to SE were attributed to their different molecular structure. Moreover, the adsorption of TET in SE and FE showed linear adsorption isotherms and fitted to Freundlich model. Further experiments showed that addition of humic acid or SE to TET sorbed to clay did not enhance or suppress the sorption of TET to clay.

The adsorption of pentachlorophenol (PCP) from aqueous solutions using pristine multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) was studied kinetically and thermodynamically. The results showed that MWCNTs are good adsorbents for the elimination of PCP from aqueous solutions in a very short time compared with activated charcoal. The kinetics study showed that the adsorption of PCP is mainly due to the diffusion of PCP from the aqueous phase to the solid phase beside intra-particle diffusion. This intra-particle diffusion was more significant for activated charcoal compared with MWCNTs. The equilibrium adsorption of PCP at different temperatures was studied, and the adsorption isotherms were well described using different adsorption models. Thermodynamics study showed that the adsorption process was product-favored (enhanced) as the temperature decreased.

Literature reports on N₂O and NO emissions from organic and mineral agricultural soil amended with N-containing fertilizers have reached contradictory conclusions. To understand the influence of organic manure (OM) and chemical fertilizer application on N₂O and NO emissions, we conducted laboratory incubation experiments on an agricultural sandy loam soil exposed to different long-term fertilization practices. The fertilizer treatments were initiated in 1989 at the Fengqiu State Key Agro-ecological Experimental Station and included a control without fertilizer (CK), OM, mineral NPK fertilizer (NPK), mineral NP fertilizer (NP), and mineral NK fertilizer (NK). The proportion of N emitted as NO and N₂O varied considerably among fertilizer treatments, ranging from 0.83% to 2.50% as NO and from 0.08% to 0.36% as N₂O. Cumulative NO emission was highest in the CK treatment after NH ₄ ⁺ -N was added at a rate of 200 mg N kg⁻¹ soil during the 612-h incubation period, whereas the long-term application of fertilizers significantly reduced NO emission by 54-67%. In contrast, the long-term application of NPK fertilizer and OM significantly enhanced N₂O emission by 95.6% and 253%, respectively, compared to CK conditions. The addition of NP fertilizer (no K) significantly reduced N₂O emission by 25.5%, whereas applications of NK fertilizer (no P) had no effect. The difference among the N-fertilized treatments was due probably to discrepancies in the N₂O production potential of the dominant ammonia-oxidizing bacteria (AOB) species rather than AOB abundance. The ratio of NO/N₂O was approximately 24 in the CK treatment, significantly higher than those in the N-fertilized treatments (3-11), and it decreased with increasing N₂O production potential in N-fertilized treatments. Our data suggests that the shift in the dominant AOB species might produce reciprocal change in cumulative NO and N₂O emissions.

Micellar-enhanced ultrafiltration (MEUF) is an effective separation technique for removing metal ions from aqueous environments. The critical micellar concentration (CMC) of two anionic surfactants, sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) and linear alkylbenzene sulfonate (LAS), was determined by means of conductometry. The effects of pH, conductivity, and surfactant concentration on the permeate flow, retention of surfactants and nickel by MEUF, was studied. Results showed that for surfactant concentrations beyond the CMC, Ni(II) retention with SDS was slightly higher than with LAS (S/M = 45: Ni(II) retention was 70% and 55% for SDS and LAS, respectively). LAS surfactant was always retained in higher quantities than SDS. An increase in conductivity produced large reduction in Ni(II) retention and slightly increased surfactant retention. pH values between 4 and 8 did not affect nickel retention but enhanced the SDS and LAS surfactant retentions.