Little is known about the potential toxicity of Cu nanoparticles (nCu), Cr nanoparticles (nCr), and their mixtures to aquatic organisms. To fill this gap, a comprehensive toxicity assessment was conducted using Daphnia magna as a test organism, including a 48-h acute toxicity test, a 21-day chronic test, and a feeding experiment. Four biomarkers were estimated after exposure to nCu, nCr, and their mixtures for 7 days, including acetylcholinesterase (AChE), catalase (CAT), superoxide dismutase (SOD), and glutathione S-transferase (GST). The results at all endpoints showed that nCu was more toxic than nCr. The 48-h median lethal concentration values of nCu and nCr were 0.63 and 1.57 mg/L, respectively. Significant inhibition of reproduction and growth of D. magna was found, and the intrinsic rate of natural increase was a sensitive parameter for nCu and nCr during the 21-day exposure. A concentration-dependent decrease in filtration and ingestion was observed which was consistent with inhibition of reproduction and growth of D. magna. The biochemical responses revealed an increase in GST activity and decrease in AChE activity, while SOD and CAT activities were increased at low concentrations and decreased at high concentrations for all exposures. Collectively, our results confirmed that nanoscale Cu and Cr can exert negative effects at different levels on D. magna.

Dispersal of functional microorganisms is a rate-limiting process during in situ bioremediation of contaminated soil and groundwater. In this work, series of column experiments were conducted to investigate the retention and transport behaviors of Herbaspirillum chlorophenolicum FA1, a promising bacterial agent for bioremediation, in saturated porous media under conditions of different combinations of grain size, solution pH, solution ionic strength (IS), and humic acid (HA) concentration. Experimental data showed that the mobility of FA1 in saturated porous media was strongly dependent on the physicochemical conditions. The breakthrough curves (BTCs) indicated that the amounts of FA1 in the effluent increased with increasing in sand size, solution pH, and HA concentration, but decreased with increase of solution IS. The shape of retention profiles (RPs) was hyper-exponential. The amounts of retained bacteria in the media also varied with the experimental conditions with opposite trends to that of effluent. Both experimental BTCs and RPs were simulated by a mathematical model that accounted for deposition kinetics to better interpret the effects of physicochemical conditions on FA1 deposition dynamics. Findings from this study showed that fate and transport of the functional bacterium FA1 in porous media strongly relied on the environmental conditions. Both experimental and modeling results can provide guidelines for field application of functional bacteria for soil and groundwater remediation.

Cities in developing countries encounter rapid waves of social transformation and economic development where the environment is mostly a neglected aspect. The Katari watershed encompasses mining areas, El Alto city (one of the fastest growing urban areas in South America and the biggest in the Altiplano) as well as agricultural areas. Its outlet is Cohana Bay, one of the most polluted areas of Lake Titicaca. Here we propose an integrative approach (hydrological, physicochemical, chemical and bacterial data) to understand the pollution problem of this developing area, in which a variety of anthropogenic activities takes place. Both mining and urban areas appear to be sources of metal pollution. Nutrient and bacterial contaminations are mainly related to urban and industrial discharges. These situations have impacts in the basin from the mining area down to Cohana Bay of Lake Titicaca. Pollutant concentration patterns are highly influenced by seasonal hydrology variations. The poor quality of surface waters in the basin represents a risk for human and animal populations, as well as for the quality of aquifers located underneath El Alto city.

Simultaneous power generation and fecal wastewater treatment were investigated using a combined ABR-MFC-MEC system (anaerobic baffled reactor-microbial fuel cell-microbial electrolysis cell). The installation of multi-stage baffles can benefit retaining the suspended solids in the system and help separate the hydrolysis-acidification and the methanogen processes. The efficiencies of the nitrification-denitrification process were improved because of the weak current generation by coupling the microbial electrochemical device (MFC-MEC) with the ABR unit. Maximum removal rates for chemical oxygen demand (COD) and ammonia nitrogen (NH₄ ⁺-N) were 1.35 ± 0.05 kg COD/m³/day and 85.0 ± 0.4 g NH₄ ⁺-N/m³/day, respectively, while 45% of methane (CH₄), 9% of carbon dioxide (CO₂), and 45% of nitrogen gas (N₂) contents in volume ratio were found in the collected gas phase. An average surplus output voltage of 452.5 ± 10.5 mV could be achieved from the combined system, when the initial COD concentration was 1500.0 ± 20.0 mg/L and the initial NH₄ ⁺-N concentration was 110.0 ± 5.0 mg/L, while the effluent COD could reach 50.0 mg/L with an HRT of 48 h. The combined process has the potential to treat fecal wastewater efficiently with nearly zero energy input and a fair bio-fuel production.

The efficiency of phytoremediation is mainly dependent on the capacity of plants in absorption, translocation, and accumulation of Cd. This study was designed to investigate whether Cd translocation and accumulation in tall fescue plants was regulated by foliar application of KH₂PO₄. The results showed that the foliar application of KH₂PO₄ significantly increased Cd concentration and total Cd accumulated in leaves and the capacity of Cd extraction, compared to the root application. The water-soluble organic acid complexes and the pectate- and protein-integrated Cd were the two major Cd chemical forms deposited in leaves. The foliar application increased Cd in the pectate- and protein-integrated forms and decreased the water-soluble forms in leaves. Cd phosphates were not the major chemical forms deposited in leaves in both foliar and root applications. The results indicated that the foliar application of KH₂PO₄ enhanced Cd accumulation in leaves of tall fescue, which might be associated with the leaf deposit of the pectate- and protein-integrated Cd forms.

This study compares the effect of heavy metals (Hg²⁺, Cu²⁺, and Pb²⁺) on the Rhodotorula mucilaginosa and Saccharomyces boulardii biofilm and planktonic cells. A MBECᵀᴹ-HTP assay was used to test the levels of tolerance to heavy metals. The minimum inhibitory concentration (MICp) and minimum lethal concentration (MLCp) of the R. mucilaginosa and S. boulardii planktonic cells were determined, as well as minimum biofilm eradication concentration (MBEC). Metal removal efficiency was determined by batch biosorption assay. Previous studies had focused on heavy metal tolerance and removal efficiency of planktonic cells from Rhodotorula species only. Hence, our study presents and compares results for metal tolerance and removal efficiency of the R. mucilaginosa planktonic cells and biofilm. Biofilm tolerance was higher than the planktonic cells. The R. mucilaginosa planktonic cells showed the tolerance in the presence of Hg²⁺ (MICp 0.08 mM), Cu²⁺ (MICp 6.40 mM), and Pb²⁺ (MICp 3.51 mM), while the S. boulardii planktonic cells only tolerated Pb²⁺ (MICp 0.43 mM). The R. mucilaginosa biofilm showed the highest tolerance in the presence of Hg²⁺ (MBEC >0.31 mM), Cu²⁺(MBEC >12.81 mM), Pb²⁺ (MBEC >7.12 mM), and obtained results were confirmed by fluorescence microscopy. S. boulardii did not show potential in biofilm formation. The R. mucilaginosa biofilm exhibited better efficiency in removal of all tested metals than the planktonic cells. Metal removal efficiency was in the range from 4.79–10.25% for planktonic cells and 91.71–95.39% for biofilm.

Understanding the spatial distribution of PM₂.₅ concentration and its contributing environmental variables is critical to develop strategies of addressing adverse effects of the particulate pollution. In this study, a range of meteorological and land use factors were incorporated into a linear regression (LR) model and a logistic model-based regression (LMR) model to simulate the annual and winter PM₂.₅ concentrations. The vegetation cover, derived from a linear spectral unmixing analysis (LSUA), and the normalized difference built-up index (NDBI), were found to improve the goodness of fit of the models. The study shows that (1) both the LR and the LMR agree on the predicted spatial patterns of PM₂.₅ concentration and (2) the goodness of fit is higher for the models established based on the annual PM₂.₅ concentration than that based on the winter PM₂.₅. The modeling results show that higher PM₂.₅ concentration coincided with the major urban area for the annual average but focused on the suburban and rural areas for the winter. The methods introduced in this study can potentially be applied to similar regions in other developing countries.

Activated carbon has widespread application in antibiotic-loaded wastewater treatment in recent years, owing to its developed pore structure, high superficies reactivity, and excellent mechanical and chemical stability. In this work, sorption experiments of four representative antibiotics, including sulfadiazine (SDZ), norfloxacin (NOR), metronidazole (MDE), and tetracycline (TC), over granular activated carbon (GAC), which was made from maize straw, were firstly studied. Kinetics, mechanism, and isotherm models related to the sorption process were employed. Results revealed that the sorption capacity by GAC followed the order SDZ > NOR > MDE > TC. The sorption kinetics of the four antibiotics well conformed to the pseudo-second-order model. Both the Weber-Morris intraparticle diffusion and Boyd kinetic models conveyed the information that film diffusion was dominant in the sorption process. The sorption isotherm was better fitted to the Langmuir model. This research may pave a basic way for removing antibiotics in municipal and industrial wastewater by activated carbon.

Dynamics of chemical characteristics and hygienic quality, particularly nutrients, heavy metals, and bacterial pathogens, were investigated along the storage of anaerobically digested slurry derived from chicken and pig manure. The average total solid (TS) content decreased by 3.6 and 24.1%, while soluble chemical oxygen demand (SCOD) decreased by 23.7 and 31.4%, in chicken manure- and pig manure-digested slurries storage, respectively. A rapid increase in NH₄ ⁺-N concentration from 1600 to 4800 mg/L in chicken manure-digested slurry and from 1200 to 1700 mg/L in pig manure-digested slurry was noted, particularly during the first 10 days of storage. A positive correlation between TS and content of heavy metals (Cu, Zn, Cr, and Pb) in the digested slurry was clearly shown. These metals are mainly associated with suspended particles and tend to be settled in the bottom during the storage process. Increasing attention should be paid to the land application of these bottom-settled digestates with higher TS content. The number of total coliforms and Escherichia coli in the both digested slurries decreased continuously during the whole storage period. The higher reduction rate observed during the storage of chicken manure-digested slurry may be due to the higher content of NH₄ ⁺-N, which may cause the inhibition of gram-negative bacteria. The results of this study provides a better understanding of the storage process of anaerobically digested slurry, which could benefit the digested slurry further utilization as agriculture fertilizer.

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.