A novel cement-polyurethane hybrid material invented to stop massive water ingress during e.g. tunnel construction is presented in this study. A special emphasis is put on the leaching behaviour and the environmental impact of the material. For this purpose, a batch test as worst-case scenario and a tank leaching test were used to compare different material combinations. Besides sum parameters like pH value, major elements from cement and organic species were analysed in the leachates. Simulations about the release behaviour of ionic species as well as the total organic carbon were performed. Release was governed by surface wash-off effects for all species except for Al which was controlled by diffusion. Leaching of major elements correlated with the amount of ground granulated blast furnace slag added to substitute ordinary Portland cement. Total organic carbon content was measured, and the cumulative value was in the range of 83 to 49 mmol/m² after 64 days of leaching. All investigated parameters were below the threshold values governed by German authorities. In addition, ecotoxicological tests with earthworm species (Enchytraeus albidus) have been performed to explore the impact of the leachates on the environment. While in pure eluate tests the early age leachates showed toxic effects, in soil and sand tests the buffering function plays a key role to prevent possible hazardous effects.

Biochar amendment can alter soil properties, for instance, the ability to adsorb and degrade different chemicals. However, ageing of the biochar, due to processes occurring in the soil over time, can influence such biochar-mediated effects. This study examined how biochar affected adsorption and degradation of two herbicides, glyphosate (N-(phosphonomethyl)-glycine) and diuron (3-(3,4-dichlorophenyl)-1,1-dimethylurea) in soil and how these effects were modulated by ageing of the biochar. One sandy and one clayey soil that had been freshly amended with a wood-based biochar (0, 1, 10, 20 and 30% w/w) were studied. An ageing experiment, in which the soil-biochar mixtures were aged for 3.5 months in the laboratory, was also performed. Adsorption and degradation were studied in these soil and soil-biochar mixtures, and compared to results from a soil historically enriched with charcoal. Biochar amendment increased the pH in both soils and increased the water-holding capacity of the sandy soil. Adsorption of diuron was enhanced by biochar amendment in both soils, while glyphosate adsorption was decreased in the sandy soil. Ageing of soil-biochar mixtures decreased adsorption of both herbicides in comparison with freshly biochar-amended soil. Herbicide degradation rates were not consistently affected by biochar amendment or ageing in any of the soils. However, glyphosate half-lives correlated with the Freundlich Kf values in the clayey soil, indicating that degradation was limited by availability there.

Samples of roots and spatial soils of native Rubus fruticosus L. were collected from the spots positioned at different distances from the copper smelter and city heating plants in the industrial zone of the town of Bor (Serbia) and subjected to chemical analyses in order to determine the content of several heavy metals, and 15 priority polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs). In this study, the results for 9 low and medium molecular weight PAHs (LMW and MMW PAHs) are represented and processed using the calculation of bio-concentration factors and statistical methods such as hierarchical cluster analysis and Pearson’s correlation study with the aim of investigating the plant capabilities for their uptake from the soil and later accumulation into the root tissue, under the hostile circumstances of multiple contamination. The obtained data revealed different accumulation rates for the investigated PAHs and showed that in several cases, the contents of root PAHs were under the strong influence of present contaminants such as soil copper and some soil PAHs, indicating at the same time that R. fruticosus can regulate the processes of LMW and MMW PAHs extraction/accumulation using different mechanisms, depending on the existing environmental circumstances. The used mechanisms could be exploited in phytoremediation methods based not only on the extraction and concentration of PAHs in plant roots but also on PAH degradation or stabilization in the soil. Also, the results of this study confirmed that, except in the case of naphthalene and fluoranthene, there was no PAH pollution, which originated solely from the industrial zone.

Road dust contains a wide range of potentially health-hazardous pollutant sources. In this study, road dust samples were collected from nine locations along the Sydney orbital motorway during wet weather events and analysed for their mineralogy and heavy metal contents. The aim of this study was to examine for the specific particle size fractions in road dust samples that can be associated with anthropogenic pollutant sources, mainly on the prevalence of heavy metals. Surface morphological and elemental composition of the road dust particles was analysed using scanning electron microscopy coupled with energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (SEM-EDX). The heavy metal contents and degree of contamination were also investigated including in the two specific particle size fractions of <75 and 75–150 μm. It was found that the particle size fraction of <75 μm made up between 6 and 16% of the entire particle size distributions and contributed to more than 90% of the heavy metal contents. In addition, a moderate to high degree of heavy metal contamination was measured in the collected road dust samples, and this was correlated well with the local traffic volumes. The good correlation between heavy metals and traffic volumes in the finer road dust particle size fraction of <75 μm indicated that the finer road dust particles were not only important in terms of heavy metal attachment, accumulation and mobilisation during wet weather events but they could also provide evidence of potential anthropogenic pollution sources. These findings will facilitate our scientific understanding on the specific role and importance of particle size fractions on the mobilisation of pollutant sources, particularly heavy metals during wet weather events. It is anticipated that this study will assist in the development of best management practices for pollution prevention and control strategies on the frequency of road sweeping and retention pond design to trap fine road dust particles.

Roof runoff is an important source of urban stormwater and a main source of rainwater harvesting. Deposition of pollutants on rooftops can have a negative impact on runoff quality and, therefore, on harvested rainwater. Laboratory experiments with simulated rainfall were performed in order to study the washout of fine sand particles deposited on a ceramic tile roof, by runoff, considering the effect of the particle position, particle areal load, particle connectivity and roof slope. Results indicated that particle washout was influenced by the particle position on the roof; particle transport peak and transported mass was higher for the particle mass positions closer to the outlet. Increase in particle areal load decreased particle transport whereas particle connectivity had no effect on particle transport. However, roof slope was a dominant aspect in the particle washout; increase in roof slope greatly increased particle transport peak and transported mass. It also remarkably increased the first flush effect.

Prometryn has been used in crop (e.g., corn and sorghum) field to prevent growth of annual grasses and broadleaf weeds for many years. As a moderately persistent herbicide in soil, prometryn may exert detrimental effects on environmental safety and crop production. The present study assessed the photodegradation of prometryn residues in soil by exploring a variety of factors such as soil moisture, temperature, and light exposure that potentially affect prometryn photodegradation. The dissipation rate of prometryn during a 14-day period of study was more than 90% under 15 (low pressure), 100, and 300 W (medium pressure) UV light exposure. The half-life of prometryn decay under UV light (53.5–116.4 h) was far less than that under xenon light (1131.6 h) and dark (3138.7 h) conditions. When the soil moisture (clay loam) was 60% of the field moisture capacity, it was most effective for prometryn photodegradation. The prometryn photodegradation on soil with 60% moisture level was increased with temperature and prometryn concentrations. The theoretical optimization scheme for eliminating prometryn in soil was recommended. The degraded products of prometryn under UV light and darkness were characterized using ultra high-performance liquid chromatography coupled to a linear ion trap-orbitrap hybrid mass spectrometer (UPLC-LTQ-orbitrap-MS/MS) and showed that prometryn decay in soil was through hydroxylation, dealkylation, and dethiomethylation pathways.

Gulls were assessed as sentinels of contamination in the coastal zone of the Southern Baltic, research material being obtained from dead birds collected on Polish beaches and near fishing ports in 2009–2012. In feathers and blood of four gull species: herring gull (Larus argentatus), common gull (Larus canus), black-headed gull (Chroicocephalus ridibundus), and great black-backed gull (Larus marinus), concentration of total mercury (HgT) was assayed, taking into account the type of feathers, sex, and age. Stable isotopes (δ¹⁵N, δ¹³C) were used as tracers of trophic position in the food web. In the study, feathers and blood were compared as non-invasive indicators of alimentary exposure introducing mercury into the system. In order to do that, the correlations between mercury concentrations in the blood, feathers, and the birds’ internal tissues were examined. The strongest relations were observed in the liver for each species R ²Cₒₘₘₒₙ Gᵤₗₗ = 0.94, p = 0.001; R ²Bₗₐcₖ₋ₕₑₐdₑd Gᵤₗₗ = 0.89, p = 0.001; R ²Gᵣₑₐₜ Bₗₐcₖ₋bₐcₖₑd Gᵤₗₗ = 0.53, p = 0.001; R ²Hₑᵣᵣᵢₙg Gᵤₗₗ = 0.78, p = 0.001. While no correlation was found with feathers, only developing feathers of juvenile herring gulls were found to be a good indicator immediate of exposure through food (R ²ₘᵤₛcₗₑ = 0.71, p = 0.001; R ²ₖᵢdₙₑyₛ = 0.73, p = 0.001; R ²ₕₑₐᵣₜ = 0.89, p = 0.001; R ²ₗᵤₙgₛ = 0.86, p = 0.001; R ²bᵣₐᵢₙ = 0.83, p = 0.001). Additionally, based on studies of herring gull primary feathers, decrease of mercury concentration in the diet of birds over the last two decades is also discussed.

Biochar presents great promise as a technology that makes a substantial contribution in various fields of environmental research. However, existing knowledge is still uneven and limited in terms of its effective utilization and field application. In this review, a comprehensive discussionof biochar technology is presentedwith respect to three main aspects:(1) biochar stability; (2) application in soil for conditioning, remediation, and GHG reduction; and (3) biochar sustainability and its environmental impacts. Biochar is a highly stable and slow-mineralizing product; therefore, its application promotes agricultural productivity by providingan efficient nutrient balance and soil fertility, and by restricting the loss of nutrients due to its surface sorption capacity. Moreover, it contributes significantly to the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions from the soil through carbon sequestration. The high adsorption capacity of biochar aids in removing contaminants from soil, thus assisting in the restoration of contaminated sites.Nevertheless, biochar poses certain negative impacts to the environment as well. A few studies have reported that biochar could release organic and inorganic contaminants such as phenol, PAHs, POPs, dioxins, furans, and heavy metals into the soil, altering the soil productivity and soil biota. In certain circumstances, biochar is also responsible for emission of CO₂ from soil due to the priming effect. However, the effect of biochar in soil varies widely depending upon ecological conditions, the pyrolysis process, and the feedstock materials. Overall, this review aims to help in evaluating and addressing the mechanistic understanding of biochar functions in the environment and encouraging awareness of the need forfuture research to counteract its negative environmental consequences.

The establishment of a complementary grass cover on vineyard soils can promote sustainability of the affected environment. In this work, we used an acid vineyard soil with total Cu concentration 188 mg kg⁻¹ to study the influence of pine bark amendment on Lolium perenne growth and Cu uptake. The results indicate that the pine bark amendment did not cause a significant increase in the mass of the shoots of Lolium perenne, but favored the root biomass: 0.034 g for control and 0.061 g for soil samples amended with 48 g kg⁻¹ of pine bark. Moreover, the pine bark amendment decreased Cu concentration in both, shoots (50 mg kg⁻¹ for control soil and 29 mg kg⁻¹ for soil amended with 48 g kg⁻¹ pine bark) and roots (250 mg kg⁻¹ for control soil and 64 mg kg⁻¹ for soil amended with 48 g kg⁻¹ pine bark). The main factor responsible for these results was a significant decrease of the most mobile fractions of Cu in the soil. Those fractions were extracted using ammonium acetate, ammonium chloride, sodium salt of ethylene-diamine-tetraacetic acid (EDTA-Na), and diethylene-triamine-pentaacetic acid (DTPA).

Sediments deposited on road surfaces are contaminated with pollutants; the load of pollution increases from coarse to fine particles. When it rains, different fractions of the road-deposited sediments are washed off depending on the rain intensity, the slope of the catchment, and other site-specific factors. This road runoff is often treated using settling processes implemented in different types of manufactured treatment devices. These devices can be tested with well-defined artificial test materials to determine the removal efficiencies of particulate matter in a reproducible manner. However, the suitability of the currently deployed artificial test materials to represent the settling behavior of real runoff particle collectives is largely unknown. In this study, a laboratory method to measure and compare the settling behavior of artificial and real particle collectives with a reproducible particle size composition was developed. The particle collectives were obtained from different road surfaces, fractionated into sieve classes, and then recomposed into a defined particle size distribution that represented the road runoff. The settling velocity was analyzed in a modified settling column setup under constant conditions. The resulting data form a cumulative curve of the settling velocities for both artificial and real particle collectives. The main result from this work is that the tested artificial material and the recomposed real particle collectives have comparable settling behaviors despite different losses on ignition and densities.