A free water surface flow constructed wetland (CW) was designed to evaluate the capacity of this biological treatment system, which receives wastewater from aquaculture and upflow anaerobic sludge blanket (UASB) reactors, to retain heavy metal. The purpose of this study was to determine the role of the sediment and the macrophytes Cyperus giganteus, Typha domingensis, Eichhornia crassipes, and Pontederia cordata in accumulating Al, Cd, Cr, Cu, Fe, Ni, Mn, Pb, and Zn, during the dry (winter) and rainy (summer) seasons. In general, the concentrations and mass loading of heavy metals in the outlet water were lower than in the inlet water. The highest removal efficiency rates of water (mainly mass removal) occurred in the dry season. In the rainy season, the probable low oxygen level in the upper layer of sediment resulted in a release of reduced metals into the water because of organic matter mineralization and an increase in depth. This, coupled with an increase in the hydraulic loading rate (HLR), affected the efficiency removal in this season. The metals were especially immobilized as a result of the sedimentation process and could be removed weakly via macrophyte uptake, with the exception of Mn. In addition to the sediment, which is the main compartment for heavy metal retention in the CW system, the macrophytes have the advantage of being harvested. Therefore, E. crassipes and T. domingensis, which are good metal accumulators, can be recommended for the removal of heavy metals from agricultural wastewaters.

The objective of this study was to investigate the removal of multi-pesticides through a combined treatment process with coagulation–adsorption on nano-clay. Nano-clays like nano-bentonite, nano-halloysite and organically modified nano-montmorillonite were used as the adsorbent, and alum and polyaluminium chloride (PAC) were used as the coagulants. The coagulation method alone was not sufficient to purify water, whereas coagulation plus adsorption methods provided superior purification. Amongst the nano-clays used, organically modified nano-montmorillonite gave the best result in terms of pesticide removal from water. In order to evaluate the effect of coagulant addition on the removal efficiency of nano-clay, the respective adsorption isotherms were also calculated in the presence and absence of coagulants. Freundlich isotherm constants have shown that adsorption of pesticides on different nano-clay depends on the type of clay, presence and absence of coagulants as well as the properties of pesticides. The treatment combination having the maximum removal capacity was used efficiently for the removal of pesticides from natural and fortified natural water. The results indicated that alum–PAC coagulation aided by nano-clay as an adsorbent was the superior process for the simultaneous removal of multi-pesticides from water.

We investigated a peat profile from the Izery Mountains, located within the so-called Black Triangle, the border area of Poland, Czech Republic, and Germany. This peatland suffered from an extreme atmospheric pollution during the last 50 years, which created an exceptional natural experiment to examine the impact of pollution on peatland microbes. Testate amoebae (TA), Centropyxis aerophila and Phryganella acropodia, were distinguished as a proxy of atmospheric pollution caused by extensive brown coal combustion. We recorded a decline of mixotrophic TA and development of agglutinated taxa as a response for the extreme concentration of Al (30 g kg⁻¹) and Cu (96 mg kg⁻¹) as well as the extreme amount of fly ash particles determined by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) analysis, which were used by TA for shell construction. Titanium (5.9 %), aluminum (4.7 %), and chromium (4.2 %) significantly explained the highest percentage of the variance in TA data. Elements such as Al, Ti, Cr, Ni, and Cu were highly correlated (r > 0.7, p < 0.01) with pseudostome position/body size ratio and pseudostome position. Changes in the community structure, functional diversity, and mechanisms of shell construction were recognized as the indicators of dust pollution. We strengthen the importance of the TA as the bioindicators of the recent atmospheric pollution.

The analysis of 18 elements in muscle, liver, gills, and gonads of sichel (Pelecus cultratus), ruffe (Gymnocephalus cernua), and European perch (Perca fluviatilis), caught at a polluted segment of the Danube River near Belgrade, was carried out with the aim to expand the knowledge about the ecotoxicology of these species for monitoring purposes and the possible impact on human health. Generally, the elemental concentration significantly differed between species and tissues (p < 0.0001), and a statistical interaction between these two factors was observed (p < 0.0001). In muscle and liver, concentrations of Hg and Se were statistically higher in ruffe than in sichel and European perch. In gills, statistically highest concentrations of Mn, Sr, and Zn were found in sichel, and of Fe in European perch. In gonads, statistically highest concentrations of As were detected in sichel, of Zn in ruffe, and of Mn and Mo in European perch. The highest number of coefficients of partial correlations between fish weight and element levels was found in sichel (11 in total). Of all analyzed elements, Al and B had the highest number of partial correlations in tissues. The levels of Hg exceeded the maximum acceptable concentration (0.5 mg kg⁻¹) in all muscle samples, which can pose a risk for human consumption. Different diet preferences of the investigated fish species resulted in a different accumulation of elements in tissues, and ruffe (as a species that consume mainly benthic macroinvertebrates) accumulated the highest level of Hg, which makes it suitable for monitoring of this element in water bodies.

To develop an efficient adsorbent for humic acid, the present study represents the first attempt to investigate the capability of zeolitic imidazole frameworks to remove humic acid from water. Zeolitic imidazole framework-8 (ZIF-8) is particularly selected as a prototype ZIF to adsorb humic acid owing to its high stability in aqueous solutions. ZIF-8 was synthesized and characterized using scanning electronic microscopy (SEM), powder X-ray diffraction pattern (PXRD), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), and thermogravimetric analyzer (TGA) and then used to adsorb humic acid under various conditions. The structure of ZIF-8 was found to remain intact after the exposure to humic acid in water. Factors affecting the adsorption were examined, including solid-to-liquid ratio, mixing time, temperature, pH, presence of salt, and surfactants. The adsorption capacity of ZIF-8 was found to be much higher than that of activated carbon, fly ash, zeolites, graphite, etc., showing its promising potential for removal of humic acid. The adsorption mechanism could be attributed to the electrostatic interaction between the positive surface of ZIF-8 and the acidic sites of humic acid, as well as the π–π stacking interaction between imidazole of ZIF-8 and benzene rings of humic acid. The humic acid adsorption to ZIF-8 could be enhanced in the acidic conditions, and the adsorption process remained highly stable in the solutions of a wide range of NaCl concentrations. ZIF-8 can be also regenerated by simple ethanol-washing process and reused for humic acid adsorption. These features enable ZIF-8 to be an efficient and stable adsorbent to remove humic acid from water.

Various geochemical studies have yielded conflicting data on whether humic coatings decrease or increase adsorption of heavy metals by soil minerals. The objective of the present study is to determine how humate pre-adsorption affects subsequent retention of Cd and Pb by palygorskite and sepiolite, as special silicate clay minerals of soil in many arid regions. For this purpose, a series of equilibrium batch experiments were conducted on the interactions of Pb and Cd with Ca–palygorskite and Ca–sepiolite before and after humate adsorption. The results showed that the Langmuir (L), Freundlich (F), Langmuir–Freundlich (LF), and Toth (T) equations satisfactorily described metal sorption data on the minerals. In the presence of humate as the pre-adsorbate, the values for sorption capacities of palygorskite and sepiolite for Cd and Pb slightly decreased. This can be attributed to the competition between humates and metal ions for mineral active sites and steric hindrance of the adsorbed humates, which reduces the access of metal ions to the mineral surface and internal channels. Humate coatings decreased the adsorption equilibrium constants of Cd, suggesting that the affinity of the organo-clays for Cd sorption is lower than those of Ca–clays. The values for the heterogeneity factor (β) generally showed an increasing trend with increasing humate coverage on palygorskite and sepiolite, which can be explained by the increased diversity of adsorption centers on humate–clay complexes. It may be concluded that the presence of humate bound on fibrous clay surfaces can influence the sorption, and hence the bioavailability and mobility of heavy metals in fibrous clay-containing arid and semiarid soils.

The spider webs of Malthonica ferruginea (Panzer, 1804) from the Agelenidae family were used for the evaluation of heavy metal contamination, and major and trace elements presence in the air of Wrocław, Poland. The concentrations of 16 elements were determined (Mg, Al, K, Ca, Ti, V, Cr, Mn, Fe, Co, Ni, Cu, Zn, W, Pt, and Pb). Samples of webs were collected from six different locations with low, moderate, and high pollution level (urban of low and high traffic, residential, and postindustrial sites) after 60 days of exposure. Samples collected from high traffic sites and postindustrial site were found to have high contents of elements than residential sites and one of low traffic urban site. The principle component analysis (PCA) and correlation analysis provide important information about the potential sources of the elements in spider webs. Two contamination sources were identified: road traffic emissions and industrial. This was a first-time ever attempt to use webs for biomonitoring of small-scale distribution of airborne major and trace elements in the city of Wrocław.

A novel cerium-loaded cellulose nanocomposite bead (CCNB) is synthesized and tested for fluoride adsorption. The optimization of the process under the cooperative influence of different experimental variables was made employing response surface methodology (RSM). It is found from fractional factorial design (FFD) that among the different experimental variables, only adsorbent dose, temperature, and pH are significant. At the optimum condition (adsorbent dose 1 g L⁻¹, temperature 313 K, pH 3.0), a maximum fluoride adsorption of 94 % was observed for an initial fluoride concentration of 2.5 mg L⁻¹. A quadratic polynomial model equation based on central composite design (CCD) was built to predict the extent of adsorption. The result of the analysis of variance (ANOVA) shows high coefficients of determination (correlation coefficient; R² = 0.9772, adjusted R² = 0.9545, and adequate precision = 18.1045) and low probability value (Prob > F, 0.001) which signifies the validity of the model. The equilibrium adsorption data conformed to the Tempkin isotherm, having higher R²and lower SE value, among the Langmuir, Freundlich, and Tempkin equations at different temperatures. The adsorption data was found to fit well the second-order rate equation with film diffusion governing the overall rate. The activation energy value was calculated to be 16.74 kJ mol⁻¹. Fluoride can be eluted from fluoride-loaded CCNB using alkali. CCNB can be reused at least for five successive operations.

Flatford Swamp, a 2800-acre forested wetland in east Manatee County, Florida, serves as the headwaters of the Myakka River. Over the last two decades, Flatford swamp has experienced significant tree mortality. The cause of this mortality, as well as dramatic encroachment of several invasive herbaceous and shrub species, is thought to be linked to hydrologic alterations that resulted in increased inundation during the wet and dry seasons. A biogeochemical characterization of wetland soils was conducted to (1) establish a baseline spatial distribution of soil P and N in Flatford Swamp, (2) determine if soil biogeochemistry could be related to tree mortality, and (3) determine if soil biogeochemical conditions may affect future restoration efforts. Mean total nitrogen and total carbon in sampled soils ranged from 13.8 to 24.9 mg kg⁻¹ and 211 to 468 mg kg⁻¹, respectively, indicating that soils are predominantly organic. Environmental conditions suggest that the nitrate-reduction process occurs readily in Flatford Swamp, and thus N abatement will continue naturally during restoration. Soil total phosphorus content is significantly higher than expected and is likely one of several contributing factors that led to observed changes in vegetation community structure. Levels of total sulfur, total calcium, and conductivity, indicative of agricultural use of groundwater for irrigation, suggest sulfide toxicity as a plausible contributing mechanism in the observed dieback of Nyssa sylvatica var. biflora.