Compared to organochlorines, little is known about polybrominated diphenyl ether (PBDE) contamination of birds of prey breeding in the Chesapeake Bay, the largest estuary in the U.S. This study examined and compared PBDE contamination in eggs of osprey, double-crested cormorant, brown pelican and peregrine falcon from this area. Several legacy persistent organic pollutants such as PCBs and DDE were also investigated. The level of urbanization of the landscape appeared to influence the level of PBDE exposure. PBDE congener distribution patterns varied between piscivorous and terrestrial-feeding birds. This suggests individual congeners may be subject to differences in bioaccumulation, biomagnification or metabolism in the aquatic and terrestrial food webs. Biomagnification of PBDEs was studied in the Bay aquatic food chains for the first time. A biomagnification factor of 25.1 was estimated for ΣPBDEs for the fish - osprey egg food chain. Hazard quotients, applied as a preliminary evaluation, indicated that PBDEs may pose a moderate hazard to ospreys and peregrine falcons through impairment of reproductive performance.

The accumulation and rhizotoxicity of Ni to pea were investigated. Calcium, H, and Ni competed for root-binding sites with high pH and low Ca favoring more Ni accumulation. At low pH, Ca accumulation is the key factor determining root growth, while at medium to high pH, root elongation is more sensitive to Ni concentration. The tissue concentration of Ni and Ca ([Ni]t or [Ca]t, μmol g-1 dry root) can be predicted from total dissolved Ni ([Ni]T, μM), pH, and total dissolved Ca ([Ca]T, mM) by two approaches. Approach 1 is the empirical equations [Ni]t = (0.361 pH-0.695[Ca]T)*[Ni]T and [Ca]t = 8.29 pH + 10.8 [Ca]T. The second approach involves a two-step model. The surface-bound Ni and Ca are estimated from a surface adsorption model with binding constants derived from independent ion adsorption experiments. Then transfer functions are used to predict internal root Ni and Ca accumulation.

The design criteria for wastewater treatment plants (WWTP) and the sludge retention time, respectively, have a significant impact on micropollutant removal. The upgrade of an Austrian municipal WWTP to nitrogen removal (best available technology, BAT) resulted in increased elimination of most of the analyzed micropollutants. Substances, such as bisphenol-A, 17α-ethinylestradiol and the antibiotics erythromycin and roxithromycin were only removed after the upgrade of the WWTP. Nevertheless, the BAT was not sufficient to completely eliminate these compounds. Thus, a pilot scale ozonation plant was installed for additional treatment of the effluent. The application of 0.6 g O3 g DOC−1 increased the removal of most of the micropollutants, especially for compounds that were not degraded in the previous biological process, as for example carbamazepine and diclofenac. These results indicated that the ozonation of WWTP effluent is a promising technology to further decrease emissions of micropollutants from the treatment process.

A microcosm study was conducted to address the influences of air-soil partition and sequestration on the fate of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in soil. Sterilized and unsterilized soils with soil organic carbon (SOC) content ranging from 0.23 to 7.06% were incubated in a chamber with six PAHs supplied through air. After 100 d of incubation when the system approached pseudo-steady state, the PAHs concentrations in the unsterilized soils still correlated with SOC significantly, while the association did not exist for those sterilized. The lower degradation rate in the soil with higher SOC was likely the major reason for the association between SOC and PAHs concentrations, while the decreased surface porosity likely suppressed such correlation for the sterilized samples. The results indicated that the sequestration was likely the major mechanism for the accumulation of PAHs in soils, while both of the soil porosity and PAHs properties had observed influences.

Field runoff is an important transport mechanism by which pesticides move into the hydrologic environment of intensive agricultural regions such as California's Central Valley. This study presents a spatially explicit modeling approach to extend Pesticide Root Zone Model (PRZM), a field-scale pesticide transport model, into basin level. The approach was applied to simulate chlorpyrifos use in the Central Valley during 2003-2007. The average value of loading as percent of use (LAPU) is 0.031%. Results of this study provide strong evidence that surface runoff generation and pesticide application timing are the two influencing factors on the spatial and temporal variability of chlorpyrifos sources from agricultural fields. This is one of the first studies in coupling GIS and field-scale models and providing simulations for the dynamics of pesticides over an agriculturally dominated landscape. The demonstrated modeling approach may be useful for implementations of best management practice (BMP) and total maximum daily load (TMDL).

To reveal the degradation capacity of bacteria in PAH polluted soil and rhizosphere we combined bacterial extradiol ring-cleavage dioxygenase and 16S rRNA analysis in Betula pubescens rhizoremediation. Characterisation of the functional bacterial community by RFLP revealed novel environmental dioxygenases, and their putative hosts were studied by 16S rRNA amplification. Plant rhizosphere and PAH amendment effects were detected by the RFLP/T-RFLP analysis. Functional species richness increased in the birch rhizosphere and PAH amendment impacted the compositional diversity of the dioxygenases and the structural 16S rRNA community. A shift from an Acidobacteria and Verrucomicrobia dominated to an Alpha- and Betaproteobacteria dominated community structure was detected in polluted soil. Clone sequence analysis indicated catabolic significance of Burkholderia in PAH polluted soil. These results advance our understanding of rhizoremediation and unveil the extent of uncharacterized functional bacteria to benefit bioremediation by facilitating the development of the molecular tool box to monitor bacterial populations in biodegradation.

In the assessment of the quality of surface waters, the typical procedure is that the concentration of contaminants in the surface water is monitored and subsequently compared with their respective Maximum Permissible Concentrations (MPCs). If the MPCs are not exceeded the water quality is considered to be safe. But can we be certain that this is true? We compared MPCs to observed and calculated effects of measured contaminants in Dutch surface waters and showed that effects of mixtures can cause a daphnid population to go extinct within 30 h of exposure even when MPCs are not exceeded. We conclude that there are shortcomings underlying the concepts of the MPCs. And that the MPCs aim to protect 95% of all species is not met.

The spatial and temporal variations of mercury (Hg) in sediments of the Pearl River Estuary (PRE) and the surrounding coastal area (South China Sea) were studied. In surface sediments, the concentrations of Hg ranged from 1.5 to 201 ng/g, with an average of 54.4 ng/g, displaying a decreasing trend with the distance from the estuary to the open sea. This pattern indicates that the anthropogenic emissions from the Pearl River Delta (PRD) region are probably the main sources of Hg in this coastal region. Using the 210Pb dating technique, the historical changes in the concentrations and influxes of Hg in the last 100 years were also investigated. The variations in Hg influxes in sediment cores obviously correlate with the economic development and urbanization that has occurred the PRD region, especially in the last three decades.

Desorption of pyrene and phenanthrene, from two charcoals and humic acid preloaded charcoals were studied. Desorption occurred obviously in two fractions, with rapid and slow desorption rate constant ranging from 0.18 to 0.71 d-1, and from 6.3 × 10-5 to 7.4 × 10−3 d-1, respectively. Both the kinetics and percentage extent of desorption were influenced greatly by the properties of chemical and charcoal. Generally, slower and less desorption is related to larger chemical at lower level, and occurred from charcoal with greater aromaticity and polarity. Both rapid and slow desorption rates of pyrene decreased after the two charcoals were preloaded with humic acids. This demonstrates that the size and surface property of charcoal micropores exhibit great influence on the combination state of sorbed chemicals. Aging caused a greater reduction in desorption of phenanthrene compared to pyrene, which supports the mechanism of the transferring of chemical molecules from fast-desorbing sites to slowly-desorbing sites during aging.

The effectiveness and mechanism of nano-hydroxyapatite particles (nHAp) in immobilizing Pb and Cd from aqueous solutions and contaminated sediment were investigated. The maximum sorption amount (Qmax) of Pb and Cd in aqueous solution was 1.17 and 0.57 mmol/g. The X-ray diffraction (XRD) and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) surface and depth analysis indicated that dissolution-precipitation is the primary immobilization mechanism for Pb, while surface complexation and intraparticle diffusion account for Cd sequestration. Different amounts of nHAp (0–10% nHAp/dry weight) were added to the contaminated sediment. Sequential extraction showed that nHAp could effectively reduce the exchangeable fraction of Pb and Cd in the sediment and significantly reduce the concentration in porewater. The results in this study showed that nHAp can immobilize Pb and Cd in sediment effectively. Nano-hydroxyapatite shows potential and advantages to immobilize lead and cadmium in aqueous solution and sediment.