BACKGROUND, AIM, AND SCOPE: Soils of basaltic origin cause difficulties in environmental magnetic screening for heavy metal pollution due to their natural high background values. Magnetic parameters and heavy metal content of highly magnetic topsoils from the Deccan Trap basalts are investigated to assess their potential for use in environmental magnetic pollution screening. This work extends the fast and cost-effective magnetic pollution screening techniques into soils with high natural magnetic signals. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Fifty-five topsoil samples from N–S and W–E transects were collected and subdivided according to grain size using wet sieving technique. Magnetic susceptibility, soft isothermal remanent magnetization (Soft IRM), thermomagnetic analysis, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and heavy metal analysis were performed on the samples. RESULTS: Magnetic analyses reveal a significant input of anthropogenic magnetic particulate matter within 6 km of the power plant and the adjacent ash pond. Results depend strongly on the stage of soil development and vary spatially. While results in the W, E, and S directions are easily interpretable, in the N direction, the contribution of the anthropogenic magnetic matter is difficult to assess due to high magnetic background values, less developed soils, and a more limited contribution from the fly ash sources. Prevailing winds towards directions with more enhanced values seem to have a certain effect on particulate matter accumulation in the topsoil. Thermomagnetic measurements show Verwey transition and Hopkinson peak, thus proving the presence of ferrimagnetic mineral phases close to the pollution source. A quantitative decrease of the anthropogenic ferrimagnetic mineral concentration with increased distance is evident in Soft IRM measurements. SEM investigations of quantitatively extracted magnetic particles confirm the fly ash distribution pattern obtained from the magnetic and heavy metal analyses. Evaluation of magnetic and chemical data in concert with the Pollution Load IndiceS (PLIS) of Pb, Zn, and Cu reveals a good relationship between magnetic susceptibility and the metal content. CONCLUSIONS: Integrated approaches in data acquisition of magnetic and chemical parameters enable the application of magnetic screening methods in highly magnetic soils. Combined data evaluation allows identification of sampling sites that are affected by human activity, through the deviation of the magnetic and chemical data from the general trend. It is shown that integrative analysis of magnetic parameters and a limited metal concentration dataset can enhance the quality of the output of environmental magnetic pollution screening significantly.

PURPOSE: Implementation of current European environmental legislation such as the Water Framework Directive requires access to comprehensive, well-structured pollutant source and release inventories. The aim of this work was to develop a Source Classification Framework (SCF) ideally suited for this purpose. METHODS: Existing source classification systems were examined by a multidisciplinary research team, and an optimised SCF was developed. The performance and usability of the SCF were tested using a selection of 25 chemicals listed as priority pollutants in Europe. RESULTS: The SCF is structured in the form of a relational database and incorporates both qualitative and quantitative source classification and release data. The system supports a wide range of pollution monitoring and management applications. The SCF functioned well in the performance test, which also revealed important gaps in priority pollutant release data. CONCLUSIONS: The SCF provides a well-structured approach for European pollutant source and release classification and management. With further optimisation and demonstration testing, the SCF has the potential to be fully implemented throughout Europe.

PURPOSE: This study had an objective to identify the most potent chromium-resistant bacteria isolated from tannery effluent and apply them for bioremediation of chromium in tannery effluents. METHODS: Two such strains (previously characterized and identified by us)—Enterobacter aerogenes (NCBI GenBank USA Accession no. GU265554) and Acinetobacter sp. PD 12 (NCBI GenBank USA Accession no. GU084179)—showed powerful chromium resistivity and bioremediation capabilities among many stains isolated from tannery waste. Parameters such as pH, concentration of hexavalent chromium or Cr (VI), and inoculum volume were varied to observe optimum bioconversion and bioaccumulation of Cr (VI) when the said strains were grown in M9 minimal salt media. E. aerogenes was used to remediate chromium from tannery effluents in a laboratory level experiment. RESULTS: Observation by Scanning Electron Microscope and chromium peak in Energy Dispersive X-ray Spectroscopic microanalysis revealed that E. aerogenes helped remediate a moderate amount of Cr (VI) (8–16 mg L−1) over a wide range of pH values at 35–37°C (within 26.05 h). High inoculum percentage of Acinetobacter sp. PD 12 also enabled bioremediation of 8–16 mg L−1 of Cr (VI) over a wide range of temperature (25–37°C), mainly at pH 7 (within 63.28 h). The experiment with real tannery effluent gave very encouraging results. CONCLUSION: The strain E. aerogenes can be used in bioremediation of Cr (VI) since it could work in actual environmental conditions with extraordinarily high capacity.

PURPOSE: When fossil fuels on the Earth are used up, which kind of green energy can be used to replace them? Do every bioenergy generation or crop food chain results in environmental pollution? These questions are major concerns in a world facing restricted supplies of energy and food as well as environmental pollutions. To alleviate these issues, option biogases are explored in this paper. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Two types of biogas generators were used for modifying the traditional crop food chain [viz. from atmospheric CO2 photosynthesis to crops, crop stem/husk biowastes (burnt in cropland or as home fuels), to livestock droppings (dumping away), pork and people foods, then to CO2], via turning the biowaste pollutants into green bioenergies. By analyzing the traditional food chain via observation method, the drawbacks of by-product biowastes were revealed. Also, the whole cycle chain was further analyzed to assess its “greenness,” using experimental data and other information, such as the material balance (e.g., the absorbed CO2, investment versus generated food, energy, and wastes). RESULTS AND DISCUSSION: The data show that by using the two types of biogas generators, clean renewable bioenergy, crop food, and livestock meat could be continuously produced without creating any waste to the world. The modification chain largely reduced CO2 greenhouse gas and had a low-cost investment. The raw materials for the gas generators were only the wastes of crop stems and livestock droppings. Thus, the recommended CO2 bioenergy cycle chain via the modification also greatly solved the environmental biowaste pollutions in the world. CONCLUSIONS: The described two type biogases effectively addressed the issues on energy, food, and environmental pollution. The green renewable bioenergy from the food cycle chain may be one of suitable alternatives to fossil and tree fuels for agricultural countries.

INTRODUCTION: This study focused on the assessment of the geochemistry and hydrology of the Imgok Creek–Young Dong tributary for the design of a field coal mine drainage treatment system. METHODS AND RESULTS: Examination of this site showed that the pH was greatly lowered by the addition of the Young Dong water, except in the month of March. The alkalinity was also affected; the concentrations of iron, aluminum, and sulfate were elevated at sites below the confluence; of these, iron was particularly problematic. High iron concentrations were primarily restricted to the acid rock drainage (ARD) (YD-9) water sources, whereas high aluminum concentrations were seen in both the ARD and in some of the upstream water sources. The acidity was primarily due to ferrous and ferric iron with a lesser amount of aluminum acidity. Except for the sampling in March, the flow was dominated by the ARD. This hydrologic condition resulted from the loads of iron, aluminum, sulfate, and acidity, among other constituents, that were dominated by the ARD. CONCLUSION: Finally, treatment activities should primarily focus on the ARD and specifically seek to remove ferrous and ferric iron from the treatment system.

PURPOSE: The aim of this study is to investigate the potential effects of increased urbanization in the Athens city, Greece on the intrinsic features of the temporal fluctuations of the surface ozone concentration (SOC). METHODS: The detrended fluctuation analysis was applied to the mean monthly values of SOC derived from ground-based observations collected at the centre of Athens basin during 1901–1940 and 1987–2007. RESULTS: Despite the present-day SOC doubling in respect to SOC historic levels, its fluctuations exhibit long-range power-law persistence, with similar features in both time periods. This contributes to an improved understanding of our predictive powers and enables better environmental management and more efficient decision-making processes. CONCLUSIONS: The extensive photochemistry enhancement observed in the Athens basin from the beginning of the twentieth century until the beginning of the twenty-first century seems not to have affected the long memory of SOC correlations. The strength of this memory stems from its temporal evolution and provides the limits of the air pollution predictability at various time scales.

PURPOSE: The purpose of the research is to investigate the applicability of the low-cost natural biosorbents for the removal of Pb(II) ions from aqueous solution and effluent from battery industry. METHODS: Six different biosorbents namely rice straw, rice bran, rice husk, coconut shell, neem leaves, and hyacinth roots have been used for the removal of Pb(II) ions from aqueous solution in batch process. All the biosorbents were collected from local area near Kolkata, West Bengal, India. The removal efficiency was determined in batch experiments for each biosorbent. RESULTS: The biosorbents were characterized by SEM, FTIR, surface area, and point of zero charge. The sorption kinetic data was best described by pseudo-second-order model for all the biosorbents except rice husk which followed intraparticle diffusion model. Pb(II) ions adsorption process for rice straw, rice bran, and hyacinth roots were governed predominately by film diffusion, but in the case of rice husk, it was intraparticle diffusion. Film diffusion and intraparticle diffusion were equally responsible for the biosorption process onto coconut shell and neem leaves. The values of mass transfer coefficient indicated that the velocity of the adsorbate transport from the bulk to the solid phase was quite fast for all cases. Maximum monolayer sorption capacities onto the six natural sorbents studied were estimated from the Langmuir sorption model and compared with other natural sorbents used by other researchers. The Elovich model, the calculated values of effective diffusivity, and the sorption energy calculated by using the Dubinin–Radushkevich isotherm were indicated that the sorption process was chemical in nature. The thermodynamic studies indicated that the adsorption processes were endothermic. FTIR studies were carried out to understand the type of functional groups responsible for Pb(II) ions binding process. Regeneration of biosorbents were carried out by desorption studies using HNO3. Battery industry effluents were used for the application study to investigate applicability of the biosorbents. CONCLUSION: The biosorbents can be utilized as low-cost sorbents for the removal of Pb(II) ions from wastewater.

The prevalence of bisphenol A (BPA) in the environment has attracted increasing attention because of the toxicity of this manmade pollutant. However, the toxicity related to cardiac development remains largely unknown. In the present paper, we investigated the cardiac toxicity of BPA using marine medaka (Oryzias melastigma) embryos. At 2 days postfertilization (dpf), the embryos were continuously exposed to a low concentration of BPA (200 μg/L) for the whole embryonic stage. Heart rate and sinus venosus (SV)–bulbus arteriosus (BA) distance were measured under microscopy. The mRNA expression levels of genes were quantified by SYBR real-time RT-PCR, and hematoxylin and eosin (H&E) staining was used to examine the histology of fish larvae hearts. Neither the heart rate nor the SV-BA distance of the embryos was affected by BPA exposure. However, the mRNA expression levels of Na⁺–K⁺–ATPase, BMP4, COX-1, FGF8, GATA4, and NKX2.5 were all downregulated at the critical developmental stages (6 and 10 dpf). Interestingly, the mRNA expression levels of COX-2 and LERP were significantly upregulated at 10 dpf. The mRNA expressions of inflammation-related genes (TNFα, IL1β, SOD, and CCL11) were all significantly upregulated after exposure. Moreover, we found that both the body length and the body width decreased in the larvae after embryonic exposure to BPA. The distributed foci of inflammation were observed in the juveniles after 2 weeks’ depuration. Exposure to BPA at embryonic stages could alter the expression of heart development-related genes and inflammation-related genes of O. melastigma. The larvae hatched from exposed embryos showed the foci of inflammation in the heart ventricles and the decrease of the body length and width.

PURPOSE: This study presents a procedure to differentiate the local and remote sources of particulate-bound polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs). METHODS: Data were collected during an extended PM2.5 sampling campaign (2009–2010) carried out for 1 year in Venice-Mestre, Italy, at three stations with different emissive scenarios: urban, industrial, and semirural background. Diagnostic ratios and factor analysis were initially applied to point out the most probable sources. In a second step, the areal distribution of the identified sources was studied by applying the discriminant analysis on factor scores. Third, samples collected in days with similar atmospheric circulation patterns were grouped using a cluster analysis on wind data. Local contributions to PM2.5 and PAHs were then assessed by interpreting cluster results with chemical data. RESULTS: Results evidenced that significantly lower levels of PM2.5 and PAHs were found when faster winds changed air masses, whereas in presence of scarce ventilation, locally emitted pollutants were trapped and concentrations increased. This way, an estimation of pollutant loads due to local sources can be derived from data collected in days with similar wind patterns. Long-range contributions were detected by a cluster analysis on the air mass back-trajectories. Results revealed that PM2.5 concentrations were relatively high when air masses had passed over the Po Valley. However, external sources do not significantly contribute to the PAHs load. CONCLUSIONS: The proposed procedure can be applied to other environments with minor modifications, and the obtained information can be useful to design local and national air pollution control strategies.

The aim of this study was to establish the temporal trends and spatial distribution of Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons (PAHs) in Ria de Vigo by means of studying the PAH burden in wild mussels. The samples were collected in eight sites along the margins of the Ria de Vigo during November from 1998 to 2008 and Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbon contents were determined using high performance liquid chromatography–fluorescence derivatization (HPLC–FLD). Quality of chemical analysis was guaranteed by participation in QUASIMEME intercalibration exercises carried out during the period of analysis. The concentrations for the sum of 13 PAHs were in the range 24–480 μg/kg dw, typical of an urban and industrialized area (50–500 μg/kg dw) except for a punctual input in La Guía in 1998 that led to a concentration above 1,000 μg/kg dw. In general, the sites in the outermost section of the estuary (ría) showed the lowest values, with an increasing gradient in the medium and inner parts of the ría. Temporal patterns show, in general, a downward trend. The relative proportion of 3 and 4 ring PAHs also varies with the site, the former being predominant in the outermost area and the latter in the medium and inner parts of the ría. This is consistently related with the sources and processes taking place in different areas of the estuary.