A harbor sediment is successfully recycled at 1150°C as low water-absorption lightweight aggregate via addition of waste glass powder. Sodium content in the waste glass is responsible for the formation of low-viscosity viscous phases during firing process to encapsulate the gases generated for bloating pellet samples. Water sorption capacity of the lightweight products can be considerably reduced from 5.6% to 1.5% with the addition of waste glass powder. Low water-absorption property of lightweight products is beneficial for preparing lightweight concrete because the water required for curing the cement would not be seized by lightweight aggregate filler, thus preventing the failure of long-term concrete strength.

A new database of atmospheric particulate matter emission source profiles in Europe (SPECIEUROPE) developed in the framework of the Forum for air quality modeling in Europe (FAIRMODE, Working Group 3) is accessible at the website http://source-apportionment.jrc.ec.europa.eu/Specieurope/index.aspx. It contains the chemical composition of particulate matter emission sources reported in the scientific literature and reports drafted by competent authorities. The first release of SPECIEUROPE consists of 151 measured (original), 13 composite (merging different subcategories of similar sources), 6 calculated (from stoichiometric composition) and 39 derived (results of source apportionment studies) profiles. Each profile is related to one or more source categories or subcategories. The sources with the highest PM relative mass toxic pollutants such as PAHs are fuel oil burning, ship emissions, coke burning and wood burning. Heavy metals are most abundant in metal processing activities while halogens are mostly present in fertilizer production, coal burning and metallurgic sector. Anhydrosugars are only measured in biomass and wood burning source categories, because are markers for these categories. The alkaline earth metals are mostly present in road dust, cement production, soil dust and sometimes coal burning. Source categories like traffic and industrial, which contain heterogeneous subcategories, show the greatest internal variability.The relationships between sources profiles were also explored using a cluster analysis approach based upon the Standardized Identity Distance (SID) indicator. The majority of profiles are allocated in 8 major clusters. Some of the clusters include profiles mainly from one source category (e.g. wood burning) while others, such as industrial source profiles, are more heterogeneous and spread over three different clusters.

As in situ use of amendments for restoration of metal-contaminated mining sites becomes increasingly accepted, the expected level of ecosystem function at these sites will increase. Use of appropriate tools to measure both the level and value of that function is critical to expand use of this approach. For these sites, amendment mixtures must reduce metal availability in situ and restore ecosystem function. Combinations of mixtures, typically consisting of a material with high metal binding capacity (cyclonic ashes, municipal biosolids, or other materials rich in Fe, Al, or Mn oxides), material to adjust soil pH (sugar beet lime, cement kiln dust, dolomitic limestone), and an organic residual to provide soil structure and nutrients (composts, animal manures, municipal biosolids) have been tested in multiple lab and field trials on metal-contaminated sites. This review focuses on field tests of this approach with the goal of providing methods to quantify reduction of hazard and restoration of functional systems. Methods to evaluate success of amendments including extractions to measure changes in metal availability, microbial function and diversity, phytoavailability of metals, and earthworm and small mammal assays are discussed. In most cases, measures of metal availability and ecosystem function are related. For example, surveys of small mammals on restored sites provide information on metal availability as well as suitability of restored habitat. Additional measures of ecosystem function including soil fertility, physical properties, and diversity of habitat are described. Finally, measures of the value of this approach for restoring ecosystems are detailed.

Urban fugitive dust samples were collected to determine the chemical profiles of fugitive dust over Xi'an. Seventy eight samples were collected and divided into categories of paved road dust, construction dust, cement dust, and soil dust. Eighteen elements, including Na, Mg, Al, Si, K, Ca, Ti, V, Cr, Mn, Fe, Co, Ni, Cu, Zn, As, Ba, and Pb, and eight water–soluble inorganic ions, including Na+, Mg2−, Ca2−, NH4−, F−, Cl−, NO3− and SO42−, were measured. The most abundant elements in these urban dust samples were Al, Si, Ca, and Fe. Al, Si, K, and Ti and showed strong positive correlations with each other, indicating they are typical dust trace elements. In contrast, elements of Ca, Zn, As, and Pb had negative correlations to crustal elements. Si/Al, K/Al, Ti/Al, Mn/Al, and Fe/Al ratios varied insignificantly among these four samples types; these ratios are similar to the properties of loess, desert, and Gobi soil dust reported in previous studies. A significantly higher Ca/Al ratio was dominant in the chemical profile of the cement samples. In addition, high Pb/Al and Zn/Al ratios were detected in comparison with those in the Gobi soil, desert soil, and loess soil samples, which indicated that Pb/Al and Zn/Al ratios can be considered as markers of urban dust. To t a l water–soluble ions occupied only a small fraction (<5%) in the urban fugitive soil samples indicating that most of the materials in the fugitive dust were insoluble. Ca2+ and SO42− were the most abundant ions in all samples. Most of the Ca and K in the fugitive soil samples were in insoluble phases, which differ significantly in comparison with combustion sources. A strong correlation was observed between Ca2+ and estimated CO32− levels indicating that most of Ca2+ was in the form of CaCO3 rather than other calcium minerals in Xi’an fugitive dust.

Biomonitoring studies, based on pollutant accumulation analyses in tree leaves, allow evaluating the impact caused by air–dispersed pollutants on ecosystems, providing useful data, complementary to those obtained by instrumental monitoring. In particular, leaves of sclerophylls present morphological characteristics, such as the presence of hairs and of a tick cuticle, making them particularly useful in bioaccumulation studies. The first aim of this research was to compare heavy metal (HM) and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) leaf accumulation capabilities of two Mediterranean tree species. The second aim was to evaluate the impact of a cement plant and/or of other anthropogenic activities occurring in industrial and urban areas on HM and PAH depositions. For these purposes, holm oak (Quercus ilex L.) and olive (Olea europaea L.) leaves collected along a transect industrial–urban–remote sites in southern Italy were employed. A different accumulation degree was observed for the two species. For HMs, Q. ilex leaves had the highest concentrations. The results showed that the influence of the cement plant emissions on pollutant concentrations was substantial in the area closer to clinker production and storage with the highest Pb, Ni, V, Cr, Fe, indeno(1,2,3–c,d)pyrene, benzo(g,h,i)perylene and benzo(a)anthracene leaf concentrations. However, Q. ilex leaves showed high HM and PAH concentrations also in the urban site, in relation to vehicular traffic emissions and depositions. The comparison of the results of the present study with those from the literature indicates that the overall air quality of the studied sites is not particularly compromised, also in proximity of the cement production. The use of holm oak should be preferred in biomonitoring due to its wider distribution compared to O. europaea.

This study assessed the level of contamination of the topsoil by Pb, Cu, Cr, Cd and Zn and the spatial distribution of these heavy metals around a cement factory. Thirty–eight composite soil samples were collected around the cement factory and subjected to nitric–perchloric acid digestion. Total metal contents of the soil were determined by flame atomic absorption spectrophotometry (FAAS) and the data generated were analyzed statistically. Spatial mapping of the distribution of heavy metals was done through the use of Inverse Distance Weighted technique (IDW) of ArcGIS 10. The results showed that the contamination domain of Cd was in the extreme domain while Pb and Cu levels in the soil were in the severe and moderate contamination domains. Zn and Cr posed no potential environmental hazard because of their low level in the soil. The spatial mapping of the heavy metals indicated Pb and Cu enrichment of the soil not only to come from cement production activities but also from vehicular activities while Cd enrichment of the soil was mainly from the cement production. Mapping of Zn and Cr distribution showed that their enrichments in the soil were from cement production activities. From these findings, it is highly recommended that environmental auditing of the cement production line be carried out to reduce the release of pollutants. It is also important that remediation activities be carried out on the soil to reduce the levels of Cd, Pb and Cu to avert potential ecological disasters.

To assess the spatial distribution and ecological risk assessment along the Red Sea coast, Saudi Arabia, 30 samples were collected for aluminum, chromium, copper, zinc, cadmium, lead, mercury, iron, cobalt, nickel and organic matter analysis. The descending order of metal concentrations was Al > Fe > Cr > Cu > Zn > Ni > Co > Pb > Hg > Cd. Average values of enrichment factor of Hg, Cd, Cu, Co, Cr, Ni, Pb and Zn were higher than 2 (209.50, 25.52, 20.36, 9.62, 7.28, 6.52, 6.21 and 6.07 respectively), which means anthropogenic sources of these metals. The average levels most of the studied metals were lower than those of the background shale and the earth crust and those recorded along most worldwide coasts, while the average values of zinc, copper, cobalt and nickel were higher than the values recorded from the Red Sea coast, the Gulf of Aqaba and some Caspian Sea coasts. The Duba bulk plant-Saudi Aramco, Duba refinery station and the tourist resort were the possible anthropogenic sources of pollutants in the southern part of the study area; and the landfilling, cement factory and Duba port and shipment operations in the central part, while the landfilling resulting from construction of the green Duba power plant and crowded fish boats were the possible sources in the northern part.