Information on the relationship between black carbon (BC) and particle number levels in urban areas is limited. Therefore, investigating the relationship between BC and particle number levels in different particle size ranges at an urban area is worthwhile. This study used an aethalometer and scanning mobility particle sizer to measure the levels of BC and particle number simultaneously at an urban roadside in Taipei City. Measurement results show that hourly BC levels are 0.62–8.80 μg m⁻³ (mean = 3.50 μg m⁻³) and hourly particle number levels are 4.21 × 10³–4.64 × 10⁴ particles cm⁻³ (mean = 2.00 × 10⁴ particles cm⁻³) in Taipei urban area. The BC and particle number levels peak during morning (7:00–9:00) and evening (16:00–18:00) rush hours on weekdays. Low BC and particle number levels exist in the early morning hours. Time variations in BC levels are the same as those of particle number levels in this study, clearly indicating that BC and particles are likely released from the same emission source. Additionally, BC levels in the urban area are more strongly associated with ultrafine particle levels than with total particle number levels, particularly in the size range of 56–180 nm. According to measurement results, most BC in aerosols in urban areas can be in the ultrafine size range.

In order to screen dioxin pollution in sediment of Three Gorges Dam (TGD) area, three sediment cores were obtained from two sites in 2010~2011; each core was divided into different samples with every 10 cm depth. Sediment dating determined by radiometry (¹³⁷Cs, ²¹⁰Pb) and concentrations of dioxins were analyzed by high-resolution gas chromatography/mass spectrometry. The results indicated: Sediment dating showed no significant difference among all the samples from the same core and the two locations (ANOVA, p > 0.05). The total amount of polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins (PCDD)/Fs in all sample ranged from 30.7 to 371 pg/g dry weight (d.w.), with the mean value of 66.2 pg/g d.w. PCDDs occupied 60.33~85.22 % of dioxins in each sample, and PCDFs contributed to a very small extend. There was no significant difference in the dioxin concentration between 2010 and 2011 and in the two locations (t test, p > 0.05), but the vertical distribution of dioxins showed significant different in different depths. Toxic equivalent (TEQ) (WHO 2005, Humans) of samples ranged from 0.15 to 1.60 pg/g d.w.; the mean was 0.41 pg/g d.w. No significant difference was found in TEQ between 2010 and 2011(t test, p > 0.05). It could be concluded that the distribution of dioxins showed the spatial heterogeneous which resulted from the strong mixing and sediment deposition characteristics. Dioxin concentration in sediment cores was low with very low environmental risk potential. Dioxins at the two sites had the same origin, and exogenous input was the main source. It is the first report on the dioxins concentrations in sediment cores in the TGD area.

As(V) retention capacity is determined by means of adsorption/desorption trials performed for coarse and fine ground mussel shell, forest and vineyard soils with or without fine shell, pine wood ash, oak wood ash, pine sawdust and slate-processing fines. Pine ash shows the highest arsenic retention potential (with >97 % adsorption and ≤1 % desorption), followed by shell-amended forest soil (adsorption between 96 and 92 %), by un-amended forest soil (adsorption between 98 and 86 %) and by the amended vineyard soil (adsorption between 92 and 75 %). Sawdust is the material with the lowest arsenic retention capacity in most cases, with un-amended vineyard soil also showing poor results. In the case of oak ash, As(V) percentage adsorption becomes higher with increasing added arsenic concentrations, while this increase in added arsenic causes lower percentage adsorption in the case of slate fines. Regarding adsorption ability, As(V) adsorption data were fitted to Freundlich and Langmuir models, showing good fitting, with pine ash and shell-amended forest soil having the highest K F values. In view of that, mussel shell amendment would be useful to increase arsenic retention on forest and vineyard soils, while pine ash could be used to retain arsenic even from wastewaters.

The formation of several by-products from the photodegradation of testosterone was previously observed under laboratory conditions. The objectives of the manuscript were to complete the identification of testosterone’s photoproducts and to develop an analytical method for the detection of testosterone as well as its three main photoproducts in natural sunlit surface waters. To accomplish these tasks, an efficient extraction method was developed based on solid-phase extraction, followed by the use of liquid chromatography coupled to tandem mass spectrometry, a selective and sensitive detection method. This analytical procedure has the capability of detecting target analytes in the ng/L range, with recoveries above 80 %. The methodology was successfully applied to the analysis of testosterone and its photoproducts in several surface waters.

Hyperaccumulators contain tubular cellulose and heavy metals, which can be used as the sources of carbon and metals to synthesize nanomaterials. In this paper, carbon nanotubes (CNTs), Cu₀.₀₅Zn₀.₉₅O nanoparticles, and CNTs/Cu₀.₀₅Zn₀.₉₅O nanocomposites were synthesized using Brassica juncea L. plants, and the ultraviolet (UV)-light-driven photocatalytic degradations of bisphenol A (BPA) using them as photocatalysts were studied. It was found that the outer diameter of CNTs was around 50 nm and there were a few defects in the crystal lattice. The synthesized Cu₀.₀₅Zn₀.₉₅O nanocomposites had a diameter of around 40 nm. Cu₀.₀₅Zn₀.₉₅O nanocomposites have grown on the surface of the CNTs and the outer diameter of them was around 100 nm. The synthesized hybrid carbon nanotubes using B. juncea could enhance the efficiency of photocatalytic degradation on BPA. The complete equilibration time of adsorption/desorption of BPA onto the surface of CNTs, Cu₀.₀₅Zn₀.₉₅O nanoparticles, and CNTs/Cu₀.₀₅Zn₀.₉₅O nanocomposites was within 30, 20, and 30 min, and approximately 14.9, 8.7, and 17.4 % BPA was adsorbed by them, respectively. The combination of UV light irradiation (90 min) with CNTs, Cu₀.₀₅Zn₀.₉₅O nanoparticles, and CNTs/Cu₀.₀₅Zn₀.₉₅O nanocomposites could lead to 48.3, 75.7, and 92.6 % decomposition yields of BPA, respectively. These findings constitute a new insight for synthesizing nanocatalyst by reusing hyperaccumulators.

In this study, the occurrence and sources of five cataloged antibiotics and metabolites were studied in Jiulongjiang River basin, south China. Nineteen antibiotics and 13 metabolites were detected in water samples from 16 river sampling sites, wastewater from 5 swine-raising facilities, and effluent from 5 wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs). The results showed that 12 antibiotics and 6 metabolites were detected in river water samples. Sulfonamides (SAs) and their metabolites were detected at high concentrations (8.59-158.94 ng/L). Tetracyclines (TCs) and their metabolites were frequently detected in swine wastewater, and the maximum concentration was up to the level in milligram per liter. Macrolides (MLs) and β-lactams (β-Ls) were found in all WWTP effluent samples and some river samples, while they were never found in any of the swine wastewater samples. SAs and quinolones (QNs) were detected in all samples. Hierarchical cluster analysis of 16 surface water samples was applied to achieve the spatial distribution characteristics of antibiotics in the Jiulongjiang River. As a result, two categories were obviously obtained. Principal component analysis and redundancy analysis showed that TCs and SAs as well as their metabolites were the major antibiotics in Jiulongjiang River, and they mainly originated from swine wastewater, while the QNs, MLs, and β-Ls in the Jiulongjiang River came from WWTP effluent.

Atmospheric carbonaceous aerosols were sampled discontinuously from July 2006 to December 2009 at Nam Co Comprehensive Observation and Research Station (NCOS) in the central Tibetan Plateau (TP). The mean daily concentration of carbonaceous aerosols increased from 268 to 330 ng m(-3), and pollution episodes could significantly increase the mean level of carbonaceous aerosols in the total mass concentration. Organic carbon was the main component of carbonaceous aerosols at NCOS, and black carbon (BC) accounted for 5.8 %. Seven-day air masses backward trajectories calculated by the Hybrid Single-Particle Lagrangian Integrated Trajectory model and the aerosol optical depth distribution in the TP and South Asia both suggested that atmospheric pollutants emitted from Northern India and South Asia could penetrate into central TP by southwest winds. Due to the seasonal variations of emission sources and regional atmospheric conditions, calculated BC deposition flux in the nonmonsoon season was higher than that in the monsoon season. Increased BC concentration in snowpack in winter from 2007 to 2009 indicated that the atmospheric environment in central TP became more polluted and the influences from human activities have strengthened. Pollution episodes could significantly increase BC concentrations in the snowpack on a seasonal scale, which would furthermore affect the surface albedo.

This paper focuses on the evaluation of water quality variations in Hirfanlı Water Reservoir, which is one of the most important water resources in Turkey, through EO-1 (Earth Observing-1) Advanced Land Imager (ALI) multispectral data and real-time field sampling. The study was materialized in 20 different sampling points during the overpass of the EO-1 ALI sensor over the study area. A multi-linear regression technique was used to explore the relationships between radiometrically corrected EO-1 ALI image data and water quality parameters: chlorophyll a, turbidity, and suspended solids. The retrieved and verified results show that the measured and estimated values of water quality parameters are in good agreement (R ² > 0.93). The resulting thematic maps derived from EO-1 multispectral data for chlorophyll a, turbidity, and suspended solids show the spatial distribution of the water quality parameters. The results indicate that the reservoir has average nutrient values. Furthermore, chlorophyll a, turbidity, and suspended solids values increased at the upstream reservoir and shallow coast of the Hirfanlı Water Reservoir.

Soil pollution by hydrocarbons (aromatic and aliphatic hydrocarbons) is a major environmental issue. Various treatments have been used to remove them from contaminated soils. In our previous studies, the ability of magnetite has been successfully explored to catalyze chemical oxidation for hydrocarbon remediation in batch slurry system. In the present laboratory study, column experiments were performed to evaluate the efficiency of magnetite catalyzed Fenton-like (FL) and activated persulfate (AP) oxidation for hydrocarbon degradation. Flow-through column experiments are intended to provide a better representation of field conditions. Organic extracts isolated from three different soils (an oil-contaminated soil from petrochemical industrial site and two soils polluted by polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) originating from coking plant sites) were spiked on sand. After solvent evaporation, spiked sand was packed in column and was subjected to oxidation using magnetite as catalyst. Oxidant solution was injected at a flow rate of 0.1 mL min⁻¹ under water-saturated conditions. Organic analyses were performed by GC–mass spectrometry, GC–flame ionization detector, and micro-Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy. Significant abatement of both types of hydrocarbons (60–70 %) was achieved after chemical oxidation (FL and AP) of organic extracts. No significant by-products were formed during oxidation experiment, underscoring the complete degradation of hydrocarbons. No selective degradation was observed for FL with almost similar efficiency towards all hydrocarbons. However, AP showed less reactivity towards higher molecular weight PAHs and aromatic oxygenated compounds. Results of this study demonstrated that magnetite-catalyzed chemical oxidation can effectively degrade both aromatic and aliphatic hydrocarbons (enhanced available contaminants) under flow-through conditions.

Nine typical waste incinerating plants were investigated for polychlorinated naphthalene (PCN) contents in their stack gas. The incinerators investigated include those used to incinerate municipal solid, aviation, medical, and hazardous wastes including those encountered in cement kilns. PCNs were qualified and quantified by isotope dilution high resolution gas chromatography–high resolution mass spectrometry techniques. An unexpectedly high concentration of PCNs (13,000 ng Nm⁻³) was found in the stack gas emitted from one waste incinerator. The PCN concentrations ranged from 97.6 to 874 ng Nm⁻³ in the other waste incinerators. The PCN profiles were dominated by lower chlorinated homologues, with mono- to tetra-CNs being the main homologues present. Furthermore, the relationships between PCNs and other unintentional persistent organic pollutants involving polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins and dibenzofurans, polychlorinated biphenyls, hexachlorobenzene, and pentachlorobenzene were examined to ascertain the closeness or otherwise of their formation mechanisms. A good correlation was observed between ΣPCN (tetra- to octa-CN) and ΣPCDF (tetra- to octa-CDF) concentrations suggesting that a close relationship may exist between their formation mechanisms. The results would provide an improved understanding of PCN emissions from waste incinerators.