Passive air samplers were deployed at six locations across the province of Manitoba, Canada, to represent areas with, or at various distances from, agricultural herbicide applications. During the growing seasons in 2008 and 2009, the four southern sites always demonstrated mixtures of current-use herbicides (CUHs) in air, but CUHs were not detected at the two northern sites that were 400 and 800 km away from Manitoba’s most northern boundary of agricultural herbicide applications. The masses of the CUHs detected in the air were most strongly positively associated with their estimated masses typically applied in a ~100-km²township area surrounding the sampling sites (r = 0.70 to 0.74) and to a lesser extent with their estimated mass applied in incrementally larger areas (r = 0.53 to 0.59). The masses of CUHs detected in air were also significantly positively associated with their estimated masses applied at a provincial level (r = 0.45 to 0.52) but not with their reported half-lives in air, suggesting that a system of maintaining records of herbicide use data, even at a coarse scale, can strongly improve agri-environmental risk assessments. Of the nine CUHs detected, MCPA [(4-chloro-2-methylphenoxy)acetic acid] and bromoxynil, which are widely applied in Manitoba agriculture, were the only herbicides detected at all four southern sites. Triallate and metolachlor which have low use in Manitoba were the only CUHs detected in the winter months, confirming that these herbicides are relatively persistent in the air and may undergo long-range transport. Four passive air samplers, each installed 0.5 to 1.5 km apart at the same location, showed variations in the herbicide masses detected with the coefficient of variation ranging from 10 % for bromoxynil in 2008 to 137 % for MCPA in 2009. These variations were particularly observed not only for the two herbicides applied on-site (MCPA and clopyralid) but also for four herbicides transported into the area from longer distances (2,4-D (2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid), bromoxynil, ethalfluralin, and triallate). Future regional-scale research should therefore consider deploying multiple sets of passive air samplers at a site to obtain a more representative measure of herbicide air concentrations.

A pilot-scale constructed wetland treatment system (CWTS) was designed and built to produce biogeochemical conditions promoting processes targeted for removal of arsenic from simulated Bangladesh groundwater. Two CWTS series were designed to promote coprecipitation and sorption of arsenic with iron oxyhydroxides under oxidizing conditions, and two series were designed to promote precipitation of arsenic sulfide and coprecipitation of arsenic with iron sulfide under reducing conditions. Arsenic removal performance was greater in series with oxidizing conditions than in series with reducing conditions (mean outflow concentrations of 64 and 108 μg L⁻¹, respectively). Additions of zero-valent iron (ZVI) to oxidizing series and to reducing series enhanced arsenic removal (mean removal efficiencies of 72 and 42 %, respectively) compared to unamended series (27 and 20 %, respectively). Arsenic removal performance was significantly greater (α = 0.05) in the oxidizing series amended with ZVI than in the other series, with removal extents, efficiencies, and rate coefficients ranging from 6 to 79 μg L⁻¹, 40 to 95 %, and 0.13 to 0.77 day⁻¹, respectively. Results from this pilot-scale study demonstrate that a CWTS can decrease concentrations of arsenic in arsenic-contaminated water to below the World Health Organization (WHO) drinking water quality guideline of 10 μg L⁻¹.

In view of the fatal illnesses caused by methylene blue (MB) which is contained in the dye wastewater, the present study focused on the use of natural sunlight in heterogeneous photocatalysis to decolorize and degrade MB. The present study also investigated the effects of enhancers (hydrogen peroxide and persulfate ion) and inhibitors (chloride and carbonate ions) on photodecolorization of MB. Pseudo-first-order rate constants for each studied effect were determined through Langmuir-Hinshelwood model. The recommended conditions to photodecolorize 60 ppm of MB under natural sunlight were 1.0 g/L of titanium dioxide nanopowder at initial pH 10.5 in order to achieve 85.3 % decolorization (rate constant of 10.8 × 10⁻³ min⁻¹). The addition of 4,080 ppm of hydrogen peroxide and persulfate ion significantly enhanced the decolorization efficiency up to 96.6 and 99.3 %, respectively (rate constants of 66.2 and 91.0 × 10⁻³ min⁻¹, respectively). However, the addition of 2,000 ppm of chloride and carbonate ions reduced the decolorization efficiency of MB to 74.7 and 70.2 %, respectively (rate constants of 7.8 and 7.3 × 10⁻³ min⁻¹, respectively). The present study implied that it was possible to use natural sunlight as a light source for photocatalytic treatment of dye in tropical countries like Malaysia.

The degradation ability of newly isolated bacterial strain Ochrobactrum anthropi toward polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) was examined under aerobic conditions. The strain was isolated from historically PCB-contaminated sediments from Strážsky canal in eastern Slovakia, surrounding of the former PCB producer. The degradation ability of the strain was enhanced by addition of other substrates and degradation inducers—biphenyl, glucose, both biphenyl and glucose, ivy leaves, and pine needles. The adaptation of cells membrane toward PCBs in the presence of abovementioned substrates was evaluated with the changes in fatty acid composition (membrane saturation, cis–trans isomerization, and changes in branched fatty acids synthesis). The highest induction of PCB degradation and lowest cell adaptation in liquid medium was achieved using ivy leaves. On the other hand, lowest degradation was achieved when PCBs were added alone. Similar low degradation was observed in the presence of glucose addition together with biphenyl. Contrary, highest growth stimulation under the applied condition was observed. Obtained results indicated that addition of glucose together with biphenyl induced PCB degradation via bacterial growth stimulation, not via the induction of activity of degradation enzymes. Cut ivy leaves (containing terpenoic compounds serving as degradation inducer and structural analog of biphenyl) increased PCB removal from contaminated sediment by O. anthropi. Results indicate the degradation ability of O. anthropi toward penta-, hexa-, and hepta-chlorinated PCB congeners. The degradation of congeners with more than five chlorine atoms per molecule was detected in higher extent compared to dichlorinated congeners.

In the mid-20th century, similar to many lakes in the vicinity of Sudbury, Canada, Middle Lake was severely acidified due to nearby smelting operations. However, this lake is of particular interest because it was limed in 1973, and later fertilized as part of a restoration effort. Here, we use paleolimnological methods to track cladoceran assemblage responses to acidification, liming, and subsequent recovery in a ∼250-year lake sediment record. Cladoceran assemblage changes, notably increases in Chydorus brevilabris, coincided with the late 1800s establishment of open-pit ore roasting in the region. As acidification progressed, the Daphnia pulex complex was replaced by the Daphnia longispina complex. At the height of acidification, and with similar timing to the liming, C. brevilabris increased abruptly in relative abundance in the sediment record, followed by a rapid decline. Invertebrate predation was investigated using Bosmina mucro length; however, no significant trends were evident. Our results suggest that complete biological recovery has not occurred. Specifically, species richness (rarefied) is ∼64 % lower after the onset of acidification, and many rare species present prior to the onset of acidification have not yet returned to pre-impact levels despite dispersal events of these rare taxa being observed during contemporary zooplankton monitoring. Factors impeding the complete biological recovery of the cladocerans in Middle Lake may include biotic resistance, ongoing metal contamination, and a warming climate.

The aim of this study was to evaluate the agricultural reuse of the digestate products (DPs) obtained from mesophilic anaerobic co-digestion of different organic wastes (sludge, cattle slurries and organic fraction of municipal solid wastes). At this scope, the content of faecal indicators and pathogens as well as the heavy metal concentration of DPs was monitored. The fertilizing performance of the DPs was also investigated. Co-digestion trials were performed using laboratory-scale (LRs) and pilot-scale reactors (PRs). The microbiological analysis of DPs showed the common presence of Salmonella and an inadequate reduction of indicator organisms during the digestion process, both in the LRs and the PRs. Moreover, the presence of pathogens (e.g. Listeria monocytogenes) in some DP samples highlighted the importance of the microbiological quality evaluation of the DPs to study the possible health risks for consumer. In several samples of DPs, the Cu, Ni and Zn contents exceeded the maximum admissible concentration for fertilizer, as specified by Italian law, suggesting possible environmental contamination if the DPs are used for agricultural purposes. Considering the fertilizing performance, significant differences of growth parameters were observed only for the DPs that were produced by LRs. In conclusion, this work can be considered as a preliminary study to evaluate the possible agricultural reuse of the digestate obtained from different organic wastes.

In allocating the waste load of a river basin, the first priority is to achieve a given water quality goal for that river by utilizing several water quality management methods. Minimizing the waste load abatement cost within the river basin through appropriate, efficient water quality management is an important aspect of this process. In the past, it was common to concentrate on economic factors when constructing a waste load allocation (WLA) model. However, environmental resources (e.g., sub-basin area, population, wastewater flow, etc.) vary in each region of a river, and the fairness in the distribution of the treatment efforts among waste dischargers must be considered. The WLA model in this study was constructed as a multi-objective optimization problem and was established to achieve the economic goal of minimizing waste load abatement and to consider the inequality among waste dischargers. Two types of inequality were introduced into the WLA model. The first type is the inequality in the waste load discharge regarding the environmental resources in each region was computed with the environmental resource-based Gini coefficient. The second type of inequality is the fairness in the distribution of the treatment efforts among waste dischargers. The suitability of this WLA model was verified with its application in a heavily polluted total maximum daily load subject river in South Korea. Furthermore, Pareto-optimal solutions drawn from the multi-objective genetic algorithm were analyzed to infer the least cost solution, the least inequality solution, and the compromise solutions and to verify critical pollution sources.

Quantifying plant biomass and related processes such as element allocation is a major challenge at the scale of entire riparian zones. We applied sub-decimetre-resolution (5 cm) remote sensing using an unmanned aircraft system (UAS) in combination with field sampling to quantify riparian vegetation biomass at three locations (320-m river stretches) along a mining-impacted boreal river and estimated the amounts of Cd, Cu, and Zn stored in the dominant species. A species-level vegetation map was derived from visual interpretation of aerial images acquired using the UAS and field sampling to determine species composition and cover. Herbaceous and shrub biomass and metal contents were assessed by combining the vegetation maps with field sampling results. Riparian zone productivity decreased from 9.5 to 5.4 t ha⁻¹with increasing distance from the source of contamination, and the total amount of vegetation-bound Cd and Zn decreased from 24 to 0.4 and 3,488 to 211 g, respectively. Most Cu was stored at the central location. Biomass and metal contents indicated large variation between species. Salix spp. comprised only 17 % of the total dominant-species biomass but contained 95 % of all Cd and 65 % of all Zn. In contrast, Carex rostrata/vesicaria comprised 64 % of the total dominant-species biomass and contained 63 % of all Cu and 25 % of all Zn. Our study demonstrates the applicability of UAS for monitoring entire riparian zones. The method offers great potential for accurately assessing nutrient and trace element cycling in the riparian zone and for planning potential phytoremediation measures in polluted areas.

The application of combined electrochemical and photochemical techniques for the degradation of real textile effluent is presented. It is demonstrated that the simultaneous use of both techniques, in conjunction with in situ generation of free chlorine and its subsequent photolysis, is a promising technique for removing color and chemical oxygen demand (COD) from effluents. Crucially, the combination of electrochemical and photochemical techniques leads to lower quantities of chlorine-containing degradation by-products being produced and no overall increase in toxicity. Over the treatment times studied, up to 65 % less chloride-containing degradation by-products are formed while at the same time greater rates of color and COD removal are achieved.

The main objective of this study was to evaluate the degradation of a ternary mixture of n-hexane, benzene, and methanol fed to two Trickle Bed Air Biofilters (TBABs) designated as “A” and “B”. Both TBABs were loaded with pelletized diatomaceous earth support media and run at an empty bed residence time (EBRT) of 120 s. TBABs “A” and “B” were operated at pH 4 and fed with n-hexane:benzene:methanol (CH:CB:CM) concentrations ratios of 1:3:10 and 1:3:6.6, respectively under different loading rates. The influent total loading rates varied from 39.2 to 117.7 g/m³h and from 32 to 96.4 g/m³h for TBABs “A” and “B”, respectively. In both TBABs, methanol and benzene were the most eliminated volatile organic compounds (VOCs), while the removal of n-hexane was controlled by the VOCs ratios. Higher removal efficiencies were obtained for the VOCs ratio of 1:3:6.6 corresponding to a total VOCs load of 96.4 g/m³h. The addition of VOCs mixture to the TBABs resulted in change of the fungi community within the TBABs as compared to the fungi community when the TBABs were previously receiving only n-hexane as a sole substrate.