Electrolytic manganese residue (EMR) is a solid waste found in filters after sulphuric acid leaching of manganese carbonate ore, which mainly contains manganese and ammonia nitrogen and seriously damages the ecological environment. This work demonstrated the use of electrokinetic (EK) remediation to remove ammonia nitrogen and manganese from EMR. The transport behavior of manganese and ammonia nitrogen from EMR during electrokinetics, Mn fractionation before and after EK treatment, the relationship between Mn fractionation and transport behavior, as well as the effects of electrolyte and pretreatment solutions on removal efficiency and energy consumption were investigated. The results indicated that the use of H₂SO₄ and Na₂SO₄ as electrolytes and pretreatment of EMR with citric acid and KCl can reduce energy consumption, and the removal efficiencies of manganese and ammonia nitrogen were 27.5 and 94.1 %, respectively. In these systems, electromigration and electroosmosis were the main mechanisms of manganese and ammonia nitrogen transport. Moreover, ammonia nitrogen in EMR reached the regulated level, and the concentration of manganese in EMR could be reduced from 455 to 37 mg/L. In general, the electrokinetic remediation of EMR is a promising technology in the future.

In the present study, landfill leachate of three landfill sites of Delhi, India, was toxico-chemically analyzed for human risk assessment. Raw leachate samples were collected from the municipal solid waste (MSW) landfills of Delhi lacking liner systems. Samples were characterized with relatively low concentrations of heavy metals while the organic component exceeded the upper permissible limit by up to 158 times. Qualitative analysis showed the presence of numerous xenobiotics belonging to the group of halogenated aliphatic and aromatic compounds, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), phthalate esters, and other emerging contaminants. Quantitative analysis of PAHs showed that the benzo(a)pyrene-toxic equivalence quotient (BaP-TEQ) ranged from 41.22 to 285.557 ng L⁻¹. The human risk assessment methodology employed to evaluate the potential adverse effects of PAHs showed that the cancer risk level was lower than the designated acceptable risk of 10⁻⁶. However, significant cytotoxic and genotoxic effects of leachates on HepG2 cell line was observed with MTT EC₅₀ value ranging from 11.58 to 20.44 % and statistically significant DNA damage. Thus, although the leachates contained low concentrations of PAHs with proven carcinogenic potential, but the mixture of contaminants present in leachates are toxic enough to cause synergistic or additive cytotoxicity and genotoxicity and affect human health.

Ambient levels of formaldehyde (HCHO) were measured in the tropical urban mega city of Kolkata from July 2012 to April 2014, based on USEPA Compendium Method TO-11A using 2,4-dinitrophenylhydrazine (2,4-DNPH). The samples were analyzed by isocratic reverse-phase high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) with an ultraviolet detector at a wavelength of 360 nm. High values of HCHO were recorded at our site. The highest and average HCHO mixing ratio measured for the entire study period was 803 and 217 ppbv respectively. Seasonal wind regimes have been found to influence the seasonal pattern of HCHO mixing ratio at this site resulting in relatively higher mixing ratio of HCHO during the pre-monsoon periods as compared to the others. Apart from these, sampling-based measurements of CH₄ and continuous measurements of ozone (O₃) and CO were also performed with the objective to study the interrelationship of HCHO with these species. The results suggest the presence of highly complex chemistry among them.

In the present study, the polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in indoor dust and outdoor dust including road and window dust around the traffic road in Hunan Province, China, were sampled and detected. The ∑PAHs in indoor dust ranged from 5007–24,236 ng g⁻¹, with a median of 14,049 ng g⁻¹. The ∑PAHs in road dust ranged from 3644–12,875 ng g⁻¹, with a median of 10,559 ng g⁻¹. The ∑PAHs in window dust ranged from 803–12,590 ng g⁻¹, with a median of 5459 ng g⁻¹. Similar pattern of PAHs was observed in road and window dust except in H3W and H4W samples, which was dominated by naphthalene (Nap), benzo(b+k)fluoranthene (B(b+k)F), phenanthrene (Phe), and fluorine (Fle). Indoor dust showed slightly different PAHs profiles, which was dominated by Nap, fluoranthene (Fla) and Phe. Risk assessment indicated that dermal contact and dust ingestion exposure pathways were more important than the inhalation pathway. Cancer risk of PAHs via dust varied from 2.73 × 10⁻⁸–8.04 × 10⁻⁶, with a median of 2.06 × 10⁻⁶for children, and from 2 × 10⁻⁸–5.89 × 10⁻⁶, with a median of 1.52 × 10⁻⁶for adult. Probit model showed that 76 and 71 % of samples in the sampling area would result in the risk of children and adult exposure to PAHs via dust higher than the acceptable level (1 × 10⁻⁶), respectively.

A fissured aquifer may be considered as a dense network of fissures separated by low permeability matrix blocks. A conceptual modeling of such a system consists of an infinite number of parallel fractures separated by constant width matrix slabs. While the fissures are assumed to be main flow conduits, the fluid in the porous matrix blocks are considered to be virtually immobile. The mathematical model of the transport of a solute and/or contaminant which assumes a purely convective flow in fissures and diffusion into the matrix blocks consists of two coupled differential equations. An analytical solution of this model for the case of solute entering into the system at a constant concentration has been presented by Skopp and Warrick in Soil Sci Soc Am Proc 38:545-550, 1974. Note however, Skopp and Warrick (Soil Sci Soc Am Proc 38:545-550, 1974) have not considered the additional processes of adsorption and radioactive decay. Unfortunately, their solution had computational limitations as it involved numerical integration of a quite complex expression. Therefore, one had to turn to employing numerical Laplace transform inverters to compute the solutions. This work presents simple real space analytical solutions for the contaminant transport model described above including the adsorption and radioactive decay. The real space solutions have been developed using the method of double Laplace transform and binomial series approximation. An accurate approximate solution has also been presented which converges to the exact solution only after computing three terms in the series full solution. The developed model has been used for 1) assessment of the efficiency of numerical Laplace transform algorithms and 2) investigation of the degree and scale of contamination, and 3) designing remediation schemes for the already contaminated aquifers.

Applications based on silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) are limited by low temperatures, which cause aggregation of the nanoparticle fraction, leading to reduced efficacy of their products. We aimed at studying AgNP synthesis by psychrotolerant bacteria, its stability under long-term storage, and larvicidal activity under low-temperature conditions. Electron and atomic force microscopy studies revealed that 6 among 22 psychrotolerant isolates synthesized AgNPs with an average diameter of 1.9–14.1 nm. Pseudomonas mandelii SR1 synthesized the least-sized AgNPs with an average diameter of 1.9–10 nm, at temperatures as low as 12 °C without aggregate formation, and the synthesized nanoparticles were stable for up to 19 months of storage period. On studying their larvicidal activity, LC₉₀(lethal concentration) values against Anopheles subpictus and Culex tritaeniorhynchus larvae were at 31.7 and 35.6 mg/L, respectively. Stable non-aggregate AgNPs at low-temperature conditions from P. mandelii SR1, coupled with their larvicidal property, can be applied to control larval populations in water bodies located in seasonal or permanently cold environments.

Chemical leasing is a new and innovative approach of selling chemicals. It aims at reducing the risks emanating from hazardous substances and ensuring long-term economic success within a global system of producing and using chemicals. This paper explores how, through chemical leasing, the consumption of chemicals, energy, resources and the generation of related wastes can be reduced. It also analyses the substitution of hazardous chemicals as a tool to protect environmental, health and safety and hence ensure compliance with sustainability criteria. For this, we are proposing an evaluation methodology that seeks to provide an answer to the following research questions: (1) Does the application of chemical leasing promote sustainability in comparison to an existing chemicals production and management system? 2. If various chemical leasing project types are envisaged, which is the most promising in terms of sustainability? The proposed methodology includes a number of basic goals and sub-goals to assess the sustainability for eight different chemical leasing case studies that have been implemented both at the local and the national levels. The assessment is limited to the relative assessment of specific case studies and allows the comparisons of different projects in terms of their relative contribution to sustainable chemistry. The findings of our assessment demonstrate that chemical leasing can be regarded as promoting sustainable chemistry in five case studies with certainty. However, on the grounds of our assessment, we cannot conclude with certainty that chemical leasing has equivalent contribution to sustainable chemistry in respect of three further case studies.

The influence of exposure to engineered nanoparticles (NPs) was studied in tomato plants, grown in a soil and peat mixture and irrigated with metal oxides (CeO₂, Fe₃O₄, SnO₂, TiO₂) and metallic (Ag, Co, Ni) NPs. The morphological parameters of the tomato organs, the amount of component metals taken up by the tomato plants from NPs added to the soil and the nutrient content in different tomato organs were also investigated. The fate, transport and possible toxicity of different NPs and nutrients in tomato tissues from soils were determined by inductively coupled plasma-optical emission spectrometry (ICP-OES). The tomato yield depended on the NPs: Fe₃O₄-NPs promoted the root growth, while SnO₂-NP exposure reduced it (i.e. +152.6 and −63.1 % of dry matter, respectively). The NP component metal mainly accumulated in the tomato roots; however, plants treated with Ag-, Co- and Ni-NPs showed higher concentration of these elements in both above-ground and below-ground organs with respect to the untreated plants, in addition Ag-NPs also contaminated the fruits. Moreover, an imbalance of K translocation was detected in some plants exposed to Ag-, Co- and Fe₃O₄-NPs. The component metal concentration of soil rhizosphere polluted with NPs significantly increased compared to controls, and NPs were detected in the tissues of the tomato roots using electron microscopy (ESEM-EDS).

Oxygen plays an important role during the thermal treatment of soil, contaminated with polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), due to the potential oxidation of PCBs to form polychlorinated dibenzofurans (PCDFs). The effect of oxygen content (0, 5, 21 and 100 %) in carrier gases on PCBs and PCDD/Fs was studied both in soil and gas after thermal desorption of PCBs contaminated soil at 500 °C. All 209 congeners of PCBs and 136 congeners of PCDD/Fs (P = 4 to 8) were analysed. Oxygen content showed little effect on PCB removal and destruction. Under different carrier gases, the removal efficiency and the destruction efficiency for PCBs attained 93.8–95.5 and 83.0–85.0 %, respectively. The levels of PCDD/Fs in soil and gas were correlated positively with oxygen content. Compared with PCDDs, PCDFs in soil were not effectively removed under oxidative conditions because there was chemistry going on and PCBs were being converted to PCDFs. The total concentration of PCDFs in soil and gas was 2.6, 11.3, 15.6 and 17.5 times of the initial PCDFs concentration (21.9 ng/g) in raw soil with increasing oxygen content. Thus, substantial amounts of PCDFs were generated in the presence of oxygen during the treatment of contaminated soil.

Hydrocarbons found in the environment are typically characterized by gas chromatography (GC). The shape of the GC chromatogram has been used to identify the source of petroleum contamination. However, the conventional practice of simply comparing the peak patterns of source products to those of environmental samples is dependent on the subjective decisions of individual analysts. We have developed and verified a quantitative analytical method for interpreting GC chromatograms to distinguish refined petroleum products in contaminated soils. We found that chromatograms for gasoline, kerosene, and diesel could be divided into three ranges with boundaries at C₆, C₈, C₁₆, and C₂₆. In addition, the relative peak area (RPAGC) of each range, a dimensionless ratio of the peak area within each range to that of the total range (C₆–C₂₆), had a unique value for each petroleum product. An identification index for GC chromatograms (IDGC), defined as the ratio of RPAGC of C₈–C₁₆ to that of C₁₆–C₂₆, was able to identify diesel and kerosene sources in samples extracted from artificially contaminated soils even after weathering. Thus, the IDGC can be used to effectively distinguish between refined petroleum products in contaminated soils.