Although the chemical reduction and advanced oxidation processes have been widely used individually, very few studies have assessed the combined reduction/oxidation approach for soil remediation. In the present study, experiments were performed in spiked sand and historically contaminated soil by using four synthetic nanoparticles (Fe⁰, Fe/Ni, Fe₃O₄, Fe₃ ₋ ₓ Ni ₓ O₄). These nanoparticles were tested firstly for reductive transformation of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and then employed as catalysts to promote chemical oxidation reactions (H₂O₂ or persulfate). Obtained results indicated that bimetallic nanoparticles Fe/Ni showed the highest efficiency in reduction of PCB28 and PCB118 in spiked sand (97 and 79 %, respectively), whereas magnetite (Fe₃O₄) exhibited a high catalytic stability during the combined reduction/oxidation approach. In chemical oxidation, persulfate showed higher PCB degradation extent than hydrogen peroxide. As expected, the degradation efficiency was found to be limited in historically contaminated soil, where only Fe⁰ and Fe/Ni particles exhibited reductive capability towards PCBs (13 and 18 %). In oxidation step, the highest degradation extents were obtained in presence of Fe⁰ and Fe/Ni (18–19 %). The increase in particle and oxidant doses improved the efficiency of treatment, but overall degradation extents did not exceed 30 %, suggesting that only a small part of PCBs in soil was available for reaction with catalyst and/or oxidant. The use of organic solvent or cyclodextrin to improve the PCB availability in soil did not enhance degradation efficiency, underscoring the strong impact of soil matrix. Moreover, a better PCB degradation was observed in sand spiked with extractable organic matter separated from contaminated soil. In contrast to fractions with higher particle size (250–500 and <500 μm), no PCB degradation was observed in the finest fraction (≤250 μm) having higher organic matter content. These findings may have important practical implications to promote successively reduction and oxidation reactions in soils and understand the impact of soil properties on remediation performance.

More attention has been paid to the deterioration of water bodies polluted by drinking water treatment sludge (DWTS) in recent years. It is important to develop methods to effectively treat DWTS by avoiding secondary pollution. We report herein a novel investigation for recovery of Si and Fe from DWTS, which are used for the synthesis of two iron oxide@SiO₂ composites for adsorption of reactive red X-3B (RRX-3B) and NaNO₂. The results show that Fe³⁺ (acid-leaching) and Si⁴⁺ (basic-leaching) can be successfully recovered from roasted DWTS. Whether to dissolve Fe(OH)₃ precipitation is the key point for obtaining Fe₃O₄ or γ-Fe₂O₃ particles using the solvothermal method. The magnetic characteristics of Fe₃O₄@SiO₂ (390.0 m² g⁻¹) or Fe₂O₃@SiO₂ (220.9 m² g⁻¹) are slightly influenced by the coated porous SiO₂ layer. Peaks of Fe–O stretching vibration (580 cm⁻¹) and asymmetric Si–O–Si stretching vibrations (1080 cm⁻¹) of Fe₃O₄@SiO₂ indicate the successful coating of a thin silica layer (20–150 nm). The adsorption capacity of RRX-3B and NaNO₂ by Fe₃O₄@SiO₂ is better than that of Fe₂O₃@SiO₂, and both composites can be recycled through an external magnetic field. This method is an efficient and environmentally friendly method for recycling DWTS.

Levels of antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) and the fractions of antibiotic resistant bacteria (ARB) among culturable heterotrophic bacteria were compared in outdoor air near conventional (n = 3) and organic (n = 3) cattle rearing facilities. DNA extracts from filters taken from 18 locations were analyzed by quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) for five ARGs. At the reference (non-agricultural) site, all genes were below detection. ARGs sul1, bla SHV, erm(B), and bla TEM were more frequently detected and at higher levels (up to 870 copies m⁻³ for bla SHV and 750 copies m⁻³ for sul1) near conventional farms compared to organic locations while the opposite was observed for erm(F) (up to 210 copies m⁻³). Isolates of airborne heterotrophic bacteria (n = 1295) collected from the sites were tested for growth in the presence of six antibiotics. By disk diffusion on a subset of isolates, the fractions of ARB were higher for conventional sites compared to organic farms for penicillin (0.9 versus 0.63), cloxacillin (0.74 versus 0.23), cefoperazone (0.58 versus 0.14), and sulfamethazine (0.50 versus 0.33) for isolates on nutrient agar. All isolates’ ΔA600ₚᵣₑₛ/ΔA600ₐbₛ were measured for each of the six tested antibiotics; isolates from farms downwind of organic sites had a lower average ΔA600ₚᵣₑₛ/ΔA600ₐbₛ for most antibiotics. In general, all three analyses used to indicate microbial resistance to antibiotics showed increases in air samples nearby conventional versus organic cattle rearing facilities. Regular surveillance of airborne ARB and ARGs near conventional and organic beef cattle farms is suggested.

Agricultural management practices are among the major drivers of agricultural nitrogen (N) loss. Legislation and management incentives for measures to mitigate N loss should eventually be carried out at the individual farm level. Consequently, an appropriate scale to simulate N loss from a scientific perspective should be at the farm scale. A data set of more than 4000 agricultural fields with combinations of climate, soils and agricultural management which overall describes the variations found in the Baltic Sea drainage basin was constructed. The soil–vegetation–atmosphere model Daisy (Hansen et al. 2012) was used to simulate N loss from the root zone of all agricultural fields in the data set. From the data set of Daisy simulations, we identified the most important drivers for N loss by multiple regression statistics and developed a statistical N loss model. By applying this model to a basin-wide data set on climate, soils and agricultural management at a 10 × 10 km scale, we were able to calculate root-zone N losses from the entire Baltic Sea drainage basin and identify N loss hot spots in a consistent way and at a level of detail not hitherto seen for this area. Further, the root-zone N loss model was coupled to estimates of nitrogen retention in catchments separated into retention in groundwater and retention in surface waters allowing calculation of the coastal N loading.

The Bakken region of western North Dakota and Montana from January 2012 to December 2013 saw an increase of 3368 oil wells, causing a major increase in road dust emissions. A portion of the energy extraction in the Bakken occurs in the wetland rich Prairie Pothole Region, and there is little information on gravel road dust emissions or the ecological impacts. The objectives of this study were to (1) estimate surface loading of gravel road dust during different times of year and at different distances from the road, (2) evaluate dust loading effects on surface water quality, and (3) evaluate the impact of dust deposition on wetland soils. Ten wetlands were tested in the energy impacted area and ten in an adjacent area without energy development. There was a 355 % increase in dust loading 10 m from the road in the energy impacted area compared to an area without energy development; meanwhile, there was only a 46 % increase in dust loading 40 m from the road. This loading resulted in an annual deposition of 647 g/m² of gravel road dust close to the road. However, the effect of dust loading on the water quality and soils of wetlands was minimal when compared to wetlands not impacted by increased gravel road dust. The finding of minimal effect on wetland resources from increased road dust fills a knowledge gap in the Bakken on how energy development alters the environment.

The Potiguar Basin has oil and gas production fields offshore and onshore. All treated produced water (PW) from these fields is discharged through submarine outfalls. Although polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) are minor constituents of PW, their input into the marine ecosystem is environmentally critical due to potential ecological hazards. A 2-year monitoring program was conducted in the vicinity of the outfalls to evaluate PAH bioaccumulation in marine life from PW discharges. The study was performed using transplanted bivalves Crassostrea brasiliana and semipermeable membrane devices (SPMDs) to measure PAH concentrations via bioaccumulation and in seawater. The bioaccumulation of PAH in transplanted bivalves reached up to 1105 ng g⁻¹ in the vicinity of the monitored outfall. Significantly lower PAH concentrations were found in the reference area in comparison to the studied area around the outfalls. Time-integrated PAH concentrations in seawater ranged from 38 to 0.3 ng L⁻¹ near the outfalls and from 10 ng L⁻¹ to not detected in the reference area. Both measurement techniques were found to be effective for determining a gradient of descending PAH concentrations from the outfalls. In addition, this study also evaluated the bioavailability of PAH for local marine biota and provided information about the influence of PW discharges on the water quality of marine ecosystems.

The concentration partitioning between the sediment particle and the interstitial water phase plays an important role in controlling the toxicity of heavy metals in aquatic systems. The aim of this study was to assess the sediment quality in a polluted area of the Ziya River, Northern China. The contamination potential and bioavailability of six metals were determined from the concentrations of total metals and the bioavailable fractions. The results showed that the concentrations of Cr, Cu, Ni, Zn, and Pb exceeded the probable effect concentration at several sites. The high geoaccumulation indices showed that the sediments were seriously contaminated by Cd. The ratio of acid-volatile sulfide (AVS) to simultaneously extracted metal (SEM) was higher than 1, which indicated that the availability of metals in sediments was low. The risk assessment of interstitial waters confirmed that there was little chance of release of metals associated with acid-volatile sulfide into the water column. Values of the interstitial water criteria toxicity unit indicated that none of the concentrations of the studied metals exceeded the corresponding water quality thresholds of the US Environmental Protection Agency. Positive matrix factorization showed that the major sources of metals were related to anthropogenic activities. Further, if assessments are based on total heavy metal concentrations, the toxicity of heavy metals in sediment may be overestimated.

In this study, the effects of exposure to engineered nickel oxide (NiO 40–60 nm) and cobalt oxide (CoO <100 nm) nanoparticles (NP) were investigated on Artemia salina. Aggregation and stability of the aqueous NP suspensions were characterized by DLS and TEM. Acute exposure was conducted on nauplii (larvae) in seawater in a concentration range from 0.2 to 50 mg/L NPs for 24 h (short term) and 96 h (long term). The hydrodynamic diameters of NiO and CoO NPs in exposure medium were larger than those estimated by TEM. Accumulation rate of NiO NPs were found to be four times higher than that of CoO NPs under the same experimental conditions. Examinations under phase contrast microscope showed that the nanoparticles accumulated in the intestine of Artemia, which increased with increasing exposure concentration. Differences were observed in the extent of dissolution of the NPs in the seawater. The CoO NPs dissolved significantly while NiO NPs were relatively more stable. Oxidative stress induced by the NP suspensions was measured by malondialdehyde assay. Suspensions of NiO NPs caused higher oxidative stress on nauplii than those of CoO NPs. The results imply that CoO and NiO NPs exhibit toxicity on Artemia (e.g., zooplankton) that is an important source of food in aquatic food chain.

Myocardial infarction is the acute condition of myocardial necrosis that occurs as a result of imbalance between coronary blood supply and myocardial demand. Air pollution increases the risk of death from cardiovascular diseases (CVDs). The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of particulate matter (PM) on oxidative stress, the expression of inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) and endothelial nitric oxide synthase (eNOS) messenger RNA (mRNA) level induced by ischemia–reperfusion injury, and the protective effects of vanillic acid (VA) in the isolated rat heart. Male Wistar rats were randomly divided into eight groups (n = 10), namely control, VAc, sham, VA, PMa (0.5 mg/kg), PMb (2.5 mg/kg), PMc (5 mg/kg), and PMc + VA groups. Particles with an aerodynamic diameter <10 μm (PM₁₀) was instilled into the trachea through a fine intubation tube. Two days following the PM₁₀ instillation, the animal’s hearts were isolated and transferred to a Langendorff apparatus. The hearts were subjected to 30 min of global ischemia followed by 60 min of reperfusion. The activities of superoxide dismutase (SOD), glutathione peroxidase (GPx), catalase (CAT), xanthine oxidase (XOX), and lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) were measured using special kits. Reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) was used to determine levels of iNOS and eNOS mRNA. An increase in left ventricular end-diastolic pressure (LVEDP), S–T elevation, and oxidative stress in PM₁₀ groups was observed. Ischemia–reperfusion (I/R) induction showed a significant augment in the expression of iNOS mRNA level and a significant decrease in the expression eNOS mRNA level. This effect was more pronounced in the PM groups than in the control and sham groups. Vanillic acid caused a significant decrease in LVEDP, S–T elevation, and also a significant difference in eNOS mRNA expression level, antioxidant enzymes, iNOS mRNA expression level, and oxidative stress occurred on myocardial dysfunction after I/R in isolated rat hearts. This study showed that PM₁₀ exposure had devastating effects on the myocardial heart, oxidative stress, and eNOS and iNOS mRNA expression levels. Vanillic acid was able to improve these parameters. Vanillic acid as a potent antioxidant could also provide protection against particulate matter-induced toxicity.

Mesoporous magnetic ferrum-yttrium (Fe-Y) binary oxide was first synthesized as an effective absorbent for the removal of arsenite [As(III)] and arsenate [As(V)] from aqueous solution. The adsorbent was characterized by field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM), energy dispersion X-ray spectrometer (EDX), vibrating sample magnetometer (VSM), X-ray photoelectron spectra (XPS). A series of batch experiments were conducted to estimate the adsorption capacity of arsenic and to investigate the effect of solution pH and coexisting anions on the removal of arsenic. The results demonstrate that the adsorption of arsenic by the adsorbent was pH-dependent. The optimal adsorption was realized at pH 4 for As(V) and at pH 5 for As(III). The maximum capacity of As(V) and As(III) obtained in this study was 200 and 73 mg g⁻¹, respectively. The anions concluding sulfate, chloride, and nitrate exerted a weak impact on As(V) removal, whereas phosphate greatly suppressed the adsorption of both As(III) and As(V) through competing with arsenic species for active adsorption sites on the surface of the adsorbent. All above suggest that the novel adsorbent not only works efficiently for arsenic removal, but also is stable in a wide solution pH range, which is conducive to the practical application for wastewater treatment.