The degradation of diethyl phthalate (DEP) in aqueous solution by titanium dioxide (TiO2) photocatalysis has been investigated in our research. DEP was completely removed in the solution by 50-min irradiation. Results show that DEP degradation rate was affected by initial DEP concentration, photocatalyst amount, light intensity, and pH. Photocatalytic degradation intermediates were identified by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry intermediates were identified by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry. The major intermediates are methyl benzoate, ethyl benzoate, and carboxylic derivatives. The photocatalytic degradation process was found to obey first-order reaction. Consequently, the result of photocatalytic degradation could be an efficient method of DEP removal from wastewater.

This study was carried out to test ex situ growth and soil nutrient removal efficiency of 1-year-old potted willow and poplar plants. Plants were grown under two different water regimes: low irrigation—around soil field capacity (W)—and high irrigation—five times higher than field capacity (W 5). Results showed that plant productivity and water use efficiency were greater when trees were grown in the appropriate level of soil water content rather than at excessive moisture levels. Nutrient leaching was also affected by the high irrigation treatment. However, the poplar and willow clones used in this experiment showed different nutrient allocation patterns in the plant–soil–water system. The poplar clone accumulated the highest quantities of N and P in the soil. Willow accumulated N and P mainly in the biomass due to better root development under both treatments. This indicates the better performance of the willow clone in removing N and P from contaminated aquaculture wastewaters during the first growing season.

Global demand for carbon nanotubes (CNTs) is increasing dramatically. As CNTs become commonplace, the range of uses is expected to expand as will the potential for release into ecosystems. Recent research suggests that CNTs display increased suspension in water in the presence of natural organic matter (NOM), thus increasing their ability for transport and dispersion. However, it remains unclear how CNT size will affect the suspension of CNTs in natural waters. Here we examine the effect of CNT diameter (10-500 nm) and CNT length (1-40 μm) in the presence of 1% sodium docecyl sulfate (SDS), and two different freshwater NOM extracts on suspension of CNTs in water. Absorbance spectrometry (UV-VIS) was used to determine CNT concentration in solutions over a 68 h period in the dark. Seventy to ninety-five percent of the CNTs settled out of the 1% SDS solution as compared to 23-54% in each of the NOM solutions. The half-life of suspension in solution increased with decreasing CNT diameter (from 13.9 to 138.8 h⁻¹ for solutions containing NOM). These results demonstrate that settling rates are strongly determined by NOM presence in solution as well as CNT size.

After elevated concentrations of perfluorooctanoate (PFO) were found in river and groundwater in the vicinity of a fluoropolymer manufacturing facility, numerous soils at adjacent sites were sampled in 2007. Within a 5-km northeast-oriented sector around a probable point source, 20 forest sites were investigated and compared to deposition and groundwater data. PFO concentrations up to 600 µg/kg were detected in the soils, and PFO concentrations typically decreased toward deeper soil depths. In mixed or deciduous forests, maximum concentrations of PFO occurred in the topsoil, pointing to the favorable decomposition and incorporation of deciduous litter. PFO concentrations of the organic layer over the 20 sampling sites were interpolated using ordinary kriging. Highest PFO content in the organic layer was located about 500 m away from the point source in the regional wind direction, decreasing asymptotically outwards. Long-term monitoring data pointed to an accumulation of PFO over time in the organic layer. The data suggest that PFO might be released in the course of litter decomposition and transported toward deeper soil regions only gradually. The soils' PFO concentrations reflect the deposition data. The transport link toward groundwater is currently established in lysimeter studies.

The loads and sources of heavy metals (Cd, Co, Cu, Mn, Mo, Ni, Pb, V, and Zn) in the midstream of Tama River were evaluated on the basis of their chemical analyses in ordinary and stormwater runoff from July 2007 to November 2008. Tama River is one of the three major rivers flowing into Tokyo Bay. The total annual water discharges differed largely for 2007 and 2008, depending on the scales of typhoon rainfalls and other heavy rainfalls in each year. The concentrations of the metals other than Mo in the river did not change markedly at a flow rate of less than approximately 200 m³ s⁻¹, but at higher flow rates, the concentrations of all the metals increased linearly with the increase in the log of flow rate (r ² = 0.94-0.99). The annual loads of heavy metals for 2007 and 2008 were estimated using regression equations between the above parameters and the hourly flow rate data for each year. For the metals other than Mo, the contribution of the loads at higher flow rates (>200 m³ s⁻¹) was much larger than that at lower flow rates (<200 m³ s⁻¹), showing the importance of the particulate loads (primarily crustal materials) during storm runoff following typhoon rainfalls and other heavy rainfalls. In contrast, the loads of Mo at lower flow rates accounted for major portions (56-78%) of the total loads, because of a relatively small contribution of particulate load during storm runoff. The contribution of the loads of Mo, Zn, Cd, Cu, and Ni at lower flow rates to the annual loads was larger than that of other metals. It was found that the concentrations of these metals in ordinary runoff are strongly affected by the discharge of treated water from sewage treatment plants which are located along the catchment. Thus, treated water from sewage treatment plants may be the primary source contributing to the present pollution of Mo, Zn, Cd, Cu, and Ni in Tokyo Bay.

Covers of the nuclear waste repository are of great significance to the long-term safe storage and disposal of nuclear wastes. Capillary barriers have proven to be effective to resist the downward water seeping into the underlying nuclear wastes, especially in dry climate, and have been widely used worldwide. Infiltrating water is removed from the fine layer by evaporation or transpiration or through percolation into the coarse layer, which plays a critical role in preventing the water from further infiltration in the bulk wastes. In this paper, laboratory infiltration tests were conducted with an organic glass box, filled with fine-grained quartz sand in which a layer of coarse-grained quartz sand was emplaced horizontally or at various slopes (10° and 20°), and the capillary barrier effect under various conditions (different thickness, slop of coarse-grained quartz sand layer, and sprinkling intensity) was investigated in detail. The results show that the thickness of the underlying coarse layer plays a critical role in governing the performance of the capillary barrier. The efficiency of capillary barrier increases with increasing thickness and/or slope of the coarse layer, but decreases with increasing sprinkling intensity. For a sprinkling intensity of 20 mm/day, a 30-mm-thick coarse layer even emplaced horizontally can achieve 100% water diversion. In addition, a visible tracer test was performed with an inert red dyestuff to trace the streamlines; the results indicate that even with a 7-mm-thick coarse layer, the capillary barrier can offer marked ability to prevent water from percolating into the coarse layer. The findings could be useful for improving engineered uses of capillary barriers at waste repository sites.

Although the climate change effects on plants have been a focus for more than two decades, such effects on aquatic species remain largely unknown. To evaluate the potential effects of elevated CO₂ on growth and nutrient uptake of Eichhornia crassipe Solms (commonly known as water hyacinth, the world's most significant invasive aquatic weed), plants were grown at two CO₂ concentrations (380 and 800 ppm) combined with four nutrient levels (oligo-, meso-, eu-, and hypertrophic) for 2 months. Overall, elevated CO₂ consistently enhanced plant growth at all nutrient levels, indicating more infestations of water hyacinth in future natural eutrophic waters. Moreover, the enhancement extent varied among nutrient availabilities, being more in eu- and hypertrophic levels and less in meso- and oligotrophic levels. Furthermore, the CO₂ enrichment-deduced assimilation was allocated more to plant roots than shoots which would improve the nutrient absorption capacity and mostly transferred to offspring ramets rather than maintained at the mother ramet which would benefit the vegetative reproduction. Finally, under elevated CO₂, although the nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) contents of E. crassipe slightly decreased which might mean increased difficulties in preventing its infestation by reducing N and/or P in eutrophic waters, the total N and P accumulation increased suggesting higher bioremediation efficiency of using water hyacinth for water eutrophication.

The concentration of Al, Cd, Co, Cr, Cu, Fe, Mn, Ni, Pb, Sb, Se, V and Zn was measured in the aquatic bryophyte Rhynchostegium riparioides after a 4-week transplantation at 83 stations in seven main watercourses and three smaller tributaries of the basin of the River Bacchiglione (NE Italy). The study, carried out in 9 months, aimed at establishing a database for statistical analyses to define a novel index of water quality, specifically calibrated for moss bags, and suitable for bio-monitoring purposes where autochthonous bryophytes are not available. The background level was estimated for each element, the ratio between sample and background concentration was adopted as measure of environmental alteration and a five-class interpretation scale was defined. The 73.8% of measured concentrations reflected a condition of naturality, 16.6% suspect of alteration, 7.6% sure alteration, 1.6% severe alteration and <0.5% extreme alteration. The condition of global environmental alteration (all contaminants) at each station was also defined. Forty-four stations presented absence or suspect of alteration, 39 sure alteration for one or more elements. Bivariate and multivariate analyses revealed (1) highly significant correlations (p < 0.001) between the concentrations of Co-Mn, Sb-Zn, and Fe-V, depending on both natural and human factors, (2) chemical patterns leading to galvanic industries, metallurgy or urban sewages, in some case with a geographical distribution and (3) a gradient of environmental alteration from the Pre-Alps to the lowland. Coloured maps indicate both point sources and widespread environmental alteration, highlighting not only industrial-urban areas but also some apparently undisturbed sites.

A pot experiment was conducted to study the effects of high concentrations of available Cu and Pb in soil originated from the vicinity of a copper foundry in Poland (Cu, 2,585–3,725 mg kg−1 d.wt.; Pb, 1,459–1,812 mg kg−1 d.wt.) on the growth and chemical constituents of Betula pendula seedlings. Control plants grew in unpolluted forest soil. Dry matter accumulation in the plants during the growing season and root/leaf mineral content were determined. Colonization of birch roots by ectomycorrhizal (ECM) fungi also was evaluated, as was soil dehydrogenase activity for influence of the metals on soil microorganisms. The heavy metals negatively affected seedling growth, ECM colonization, and soil dehydrogenase activity. A reverse relationship was found between ECM abundance and heavy metal concentrations in birch leaves, indicating the potential of mycorrhizas to protect the aboveground part of young silver birch seedlings from elevated environmental levels of Cu and Pb.

The photodegradation of azo dyes aqueous solution has been investigated using TiO₂ as catalyst in sunlight. The effect of amount of catalyst, concentration of dye, and pH value on the degradation of Direct Blue 78 was observed. A complete degradation of 100 mg/L Direct Blue 78 solution under solar irradiation was achieved in 6 h at pH 3.0, dosage of TiO₂ 1.0 g/L. A possible pathway for the photodegradation of Direct Blue 78 in sunlight was proposed.