Événement(s) lié(s) : - Franco-Chinese Workshop on Environmental Remediation and Pollution Control and Evaluation; Guangzhou (CHN) - (2010-10-25 - 2010-10-29) | Soil carries out functions that are crucial for theenvironment and life on earth and is therefore an essential non renewableresource for mankind. Recently, the European Soil Framework Directive proposalindicated that soil is under increasing environmental pressure mostly due tothe intensification of human activities, which are damaging the capacity ofsoil to continue to perform in full its broad variety of crucial functions.Most of these soil functions are depending on micro-organisms inhabiting the soil.The diversity of soil micro-organisms is the highest on earth with estimates ofseveral thousand to several million different genomes per gram of soil. Howeverfundamental knowledge of the diversity and ecology of microbial communitiescarrying out soil functions is still limited. Understanding the impact ofanthropogenic activities on microbial communities and how this relates to soilfunctioning is therefore a major challenge in soil microbiology. The revolutionin the techniques available to date offer exciting opportunities for a betterunderstanding of the relationships between microbial diversity and soilfunctions. This talk will focus on the novel insights into the impact of humanactivities on microbial communities and potential consequences for ecosystemprocesses.

In the present work dry sewage sludge from a local municipal wastewater plant, has been incinerated at 900 º C with CaCO3 added at two sludge/CaCO3 ratios: 10 sludge /1 CaCO3 or 10 sludge /10 CaCO3 in weight. The ability of this salt to capture the SO2 produced during the incineration is studied. The SO2 captured is quantified as mole SO2 / mole of Ca. Results shows that the amount of SO2 captured /mole of CaCO3, is much higher at the 10 sludge /1 CaCO3 ratio. With the resulting ashes, reactivated at different ways, desulfurant sorbents were prepared and essayed in a desulfurization process at low temperature. Results of the process at low temperature showed that the highest value of SO2 captured was found with the sorbent coming from the ashes obtained from the mixture 10 sludge /1 CaCO3 and reactivated by hydration at room temperature.

The levels and chemical composition of the particulate matter (PM) are linked to the effects of this atmospheric pollutant on human health. An assessment of the PM levels and its constituents present in the atmosphere is an important requirement of the air quality management and air pollution abatement. Taking into account that (i) EC Directives allow the Regional Government to assess the air quality by objective estimation and modelling techniques and (ii) the experimental effort required in the analysis of heavy metals in air, the present work aims to estimate the annual levels of the heavy metals regulated by the EC Directives (Pb in 1999/30/EC, and As, Ni and Cd in 2004/107/EC) in PM10 by means of multivariate linear regression (MLR). The main results show that although important deviations are found for individual measurements, the 2008 annual average metal concentrations are well estimated by the MLR technique at the studied areas. So, these estimations may be used by Regional Governments for the level assessment of regulated metals when their concentrations are below the lower assessment threshold | The authors would like to thank the Spanish Ministry of Education and Science (CTM2006-00317) and the Government of Cantabria (“Actions for improving the air quality and its diagnosis in Cantabria”) for their funding.

This project develops an algorithm for allowing municipalities of dispersed villages of Cantabria, an Autonomous Community situated in the north coast of Spain, to check the environmental feasibility of extending the selective collection in their municipalities. The algorithm will allow these municipalities to introduce their own data and compare two waste management systems (Scenario A and B). Scenario A is referred to the current waste management system in which no selective collection is being carried out. Consequently, light packaging material (LP) and paper and cardboard (P/C) are collected together with the municipal solid wastes (MSW), following the same path. Scenario B is the hypothetic new waste management system in which selective collection is introduced. To determine the environmental preference of these scenarios, an algorithm based on Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) has been developed. Only if environmental impacts in Scenario B are lower than in A when running the model the extension of the selective collection for each individual municipality should be recommended.

A sodium chloride solution is decomposed electrolytically to generate gaseous chlorine, sodium hydroxide and hydrogen. Electricity accounts for about 50 % of total production cost. In Spain, the Electrical Sector Act 54/1997 commenced the electric market liberalization, with the introduction into national laws the provisions contained in European Directive 96/92/EC. In July 2008, tariffs disappear for industry consumers. Hourly discrimination complement, given by tariffs, it has been an important energy costs optimization way for chlor-alkali industry and now it is not so evident the modulation advantage. This article tries to analyze impacts in chlor-alkali industry of this new electric markett.

Under the current global energy scenario, the need of self-sustainable processes is encouraged. A process of Photovoltaic Solar powered Electrochemical Oxidation (PSEO) has been developed to remove the organic matter from lignosulfonate waste water. Experimental results show that the process is able to oxidize the organic matter up to removal yields around 90% of Total Organic Carbon (TOC) under the described operating conditions, demonstrating the technical suitability of the PSEO process.

Background, aim, and scope Diffusive gradients in thin films (DGT) have been recognized as a suitable tool to assess in situ metal bioavailability in soils. Mine tailings have some singular characteristics such as high heavy-metal concentrations, low pH, or absence of water retention capacity that may compromise the correct application of this technique whose applicability is known to be pH dependent. The goal of this study was to determine the response of DGT devices in heavy-metal-polluted mine tailings with different pH. In addition some experiments were performed in order to determine the effect of acidic pH and dissolved ions on the binding properties of the chelating resin. Materials and methods We tested DGT devices on three different mine tailings: acid pH 3, acid tailing limed to pH 5.5, and neutral pH 7.2. The tailings showed high metal concentrations, e.g., 7,000 mg kg⁻¹ Pb, 9,000 mg kg⁻¹ Zn, and 380 mg kg⁻¹ Cu. Diffusive and Chelex resin gels were prepared according to previously published methods. Two chelating resins and diffusive gels thicknesses (0.4 and 0.7 mm) were tested. Four DGT devices of each type were placed during 24 h in pots (one device per pot) containing 1 kg mine tailings in a climate chamber with humidity (50-90%) and controlled temperature conditions (night 16°C and day 23°C). Pots were irrigated with deionized water to field capacity, and then two different experiments were performed: (a) allowing free drainage and (b) maintaining the water saturation. In addition, we tested DGT devices in solutions at pH 3 with similar properties to the soil solution measured in the acid tailing. Eluted Zn, Cd, Pb, and Cu from the chelating resins were measured using inductively coupled plasma-optical emission spectrometer (ICP-OES; Vista-MPX Varian). Results and discussion The metal concentrations taken up by the DGT devices were affected by the different pH values of the tailings. The highest metal concentrations measured with DGT (C DGT) were obtained in the pH 3 treatments (both saturated and free drainage). Significant differences for C DGT were observed between water-saturated and free drainage treatments in the acid pH 3 tailing. When limed pH 5.5 tailing and neutral pH 7 tailing were considered, these differences were lower and not significant. In pH 3 tailings low values for C DGT/C soil solution were obtained (<0.06), indicating that these soils have a low capacity to resupply depleted metals to the solution. The limed acid tailing and the neutral tailing showed values between 0.05 and 0.94 indicating a much more rapid resupply from the solid phase. Deployment under water-saturated conditions yielded much higher C DGT values than under free drainage, indicating the importance to adequately control the moisture content in these soils with poor water retention capacity. In solutions with pH 3 mimicking the soil solution composition of the tailings, a loss of the binding capacity of the resin of 50-60% and 60-80% for Zn in 0.7-mm DGT and 0.4-mm DGT devices, respectively, was observed. As a consequence, 0.7-mm DGT devices had better reliability to carry out in situ determinations in solutions with high metal concentrations and low pH. Conclusions The use of DGT in mining soils can be a promising tool to study bioavailable metals concentrations in mine tailings but it has to be used carefully under acidic pH. Competition with other cations that are present at very high concentrations may hinder the accumulation of metals by the chelating resins, which should be tested under the conditions of the particular mine tailing.

Mining wastes may pose risk nearby urban and agricultural areas. We investigated a lettuce crop land close to a former capped mine tailing in order to determinate the metal uptake by crops. Soil plot sampling design within the crop area and two transects along the tailing were performed. In addition, lettuces (root and leaves) were analyzed after transplant and harvest. The results showed a pH of around 7-8 for all the soil samples. Total metal concentrations were as follows: 190-510 mg kg⁻¹ Pb, 13-21 mg kg⁻¹ Cu, and 210-910 mg kg⁻¹ Zn. Diethylene triamine pentaacetic acid-extractable Pb was around 18% of the total Pb in some samples. Transects along the base and on the plateau of the tailing showed high metal concentrations of Pb (up to 5,800 mg kg⁻¹) and Zn (up to 4,500 mg kg⁻¹), indicating that capping layer had been eroded. Lettuce leaves showed Pb concentrations within standard for human health (<0.3 mg kg⁻¹ in fresh weight). For essential micronutrients such as Cu and Zn, leaves had optimal content (10-28 mg kg⁻¹ Cu, 60-85 mg kg⁻¹ Zn). A continued monitoring in metal uptake is needed in crop lands close to mining wastes in order to prevent risks in food safety. Capped tailings must be monitored and rehabilitation works performed from time to time.

This work describes the evolution of NO₂ and O₃ levels from January to December of 2007, covering the four seasonal periods in the urban air of Ciudad Real in the central-southern Spain. The measurements were carried out by means of passive samplers (Radiello® samplers). Eleven samples were collected weekly, placed at different monitoring site locations. The data indicate that the mean levels obtained during this period for O₃ and NO₂ were 38.5 ± 3.5 and 20.8 ± 3.8 μg/m³, respectively. These measurements were compared with other studies in Ciudad Real. Meteorological conditions (temperature, pressure, humidity relative, wind speed and direction) were also investigated.