Biological pollution, caused by the negative impact of alien species, also known as non-indigenous species (NIS), is regarded as one of the greatest threat to marine ecosystems. The recent upsurge in the number and spread of these species drew attention to putative vectors such as shipping and shellfish importation for culture and consumption. The port of Taranto in Southern Italy is a hub for several vectors as it serves commercial and military shipping, fishing and recreational boating, in addition to shellfish importation. An analysis of anthropogenic activities and possible vectors in Taranto Seas was recently carried out within the framework of the RITMARE Project, involving local stakeholders. Different categories of stakeholders answered dedicated questionnaires with a high degree of reticence, and this highlighted a general lack of awareness of the problems associated with alien species. Consequently, there is a strong need to instil a truly ecological awareness among the general public and stakeholders.

Increasing amount of dyes in an ecosystem has propelled the search of various methods for dye removal. Amongst all the methods, adsorption occupies a prominent place in dye removal. Keeping this in mind, many adsorbents used for the removal of hazardous anionic azo dye Congo red (CR) from aqueous medium were reviewed by the authors. The main objectives behind this review article are to assemble the information on scattered adsorbents and enlighten the wide range of potentially effective adsorbents for CR removal. Thus, CR sorption by various adsorbents such as activated carbon, non-conventional low-cost materials, nanomaterials, composites and nanocomposites are surveyed and critically reviewed as well as their sorption capacities are also compared. This review also explores the grey areas of the adsorption performance of various adsorbents with reference to the effects of pH, contact time, initial dye concentration and adsorbent dosage. The equilibrium adsorption isotherm, kinetic and thermodynamic data of different adsorbents used for CR removal were also analysed. It is evident from a literature survey of more than 290 published papers that nanoparticle and nanocomposite adsorbents have demonstrated outstanding adsorption capabilities for CR. Graphical abstract ᅟ

For the precise estimation of the risk to human health caused by persistent organic pollutants (POPs), it is important to discuss enantiomer fraction value (EF value) because it is reported that behaviors such as stability and toxicity of enantiomers are quite different in human body. Among POPs, polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB) is known as one of the most persistent compounds in human breast milk samples. The main exposure source of PCB for human body is mostly from food especially in seafood. The contamination of fish and shellfish has been a serious problem for the Japanese, who consume a large amount of fish in their diet. PCBs have 19 congeners which are chlorine-substituted in 3- or 4- ortho positions are known to have enantiomers. In this study, we analyzed PCB 183 (2,2′,3,4,4′,5′,6-hepta CB) in human breast milk and fish samples enantioselectively and revealed the time trends of the EF value. Though EF value of PCB 183 in fish samples sustained close to racemate (EF = 0.5) from 1982 to 2012, that in breast milk increased over time. This fact indicates that (+)-PCB-183 has greater bioaccumulation potential than (-)-PCB-183 in human body; therefore, the toxicity of (+)-PCB-183 should be emphasized.

Prevention of chemical transfer from soil to surface runoff, under condition of irrigation and subsurface drainage, would improve surface water quality. In this paper, a series of laboratory experiments were conducted to assess the effects of various soil and hydraulic factors on chemical transfer from soil to surface runoff. The factors include maximum depth of ponding water on soil surface, initial volumetric water content of soil, depth of soil with low porosity, type or texture of soil and condition of drainage. In the experiments, two soils, sand and loam, mixed with different quantities of soluble KCl were filled in the sandboxes and prepared under different initial saturated conditions. Simulated rainfall induced surface runoff are operated in the soils, and various ponding water depths on soil surface are simulated. Flow rates and KCl concentration of surface runoff are measured during the experiments. The following conclusions are made from the study results: (1) KCl concentration in surface runoff water would decrease with the increase of the maximum depth of ponding water on soil surface; (2) KCl concentration in surface runoff water would increase with the increase of initial volumetric water content in the soil; (3) smaller depth of soil with less porosity or deeper depth of soil with larger porosity leads to less KCl transfer to surface runoff; (4) the soil with finer texture, such as loam, could keep more fertilizer in soil, which will result in more KCl concentration in surface runoff; and (5) good subsurface drainage condition will increase the infiltration and drainage rates during rainfall event and will decrease KCl concentration in surface runoff. Therefore, it is necessary to reuse drained fertile water effectively during rainfall, without polluting groundwater. These study results should be considered in agriculture management to reduce soluble chemical transfer from soil to surface runoff for reducing non-point sources pollution.

In order to better understand air pollution in deve-loping regions, such as China, it is important to investigate the wet deposition behavior of atmospheric trace metals and its sources in the subtropical watershed. This paper studies the seasonal change of trace metal concentrations in precipitation and other potential sources in a typical subtropical watershed (Jiazhuhe watershed) located in the downstream of the Yangtze River of China. The results show that typical crustal elements (Al, Fe) and trace element (Zn) have high seasonal variation patterns and these elements have higher contents in precipitation as compared to other metals in Jiazhuhe watershed. In addition, there is no observed Pb in base flow in this study, and the concentration magnitudes of Al, Ba, Fe, Mn, Sr, and Zn in base flow are significantly higher than that of other metals. During different rainfall events, the dynamic export processes are also different for trace metals. The various trace metals dynamic export processes lead to an inconsistent mass first flush and a significant accumulative variance throughout the rainfall events. It is found that in this region, most of the trace metals in precipitation are from anthropogenic emission and marine aerosols brought by typhoon and monsoon.

This study investigated organic matter (OM) and nutrient removal efficiency of mixed algal species from slaughterhouse wastewater (SWW) by using photo-bioreactor. For this purpose, different dilution multiples of 10, 4, and 2 were applied to the SWW, and pure wastewater was finally used for algal cultivation. OM and nutrient removal performance in an algal photo-bioreactor were severely affected by the dilution ratio. After 7 days of cultivation, the highest removal percentages of total organic carbon (TOC), total nitrogen (TN), and total phosphorus (TP) were 89.6, 70.2, and 96.2 %, respectively. Furthermore, the changes in eukaryotic algae and cyanobacterial species in the algal photo-bioreactors were investigated using polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis (DGGE) techniques. The results indicated that cyanobacterial species were more efficient than eukaryotic species in removing nutrients from the SWW. This study suggests that mixed algal photo-bioreactors could be used efficiently in the treatment of SWW.

In this study, miscible displacement experiment and batch sorption experiments were performed with sulfadimethoxine, dye tracer, Brilliant Blue FCF (BB) and a conservative tracer (bromide) to depict, analyse and interpret transport paths of sulfadimethoxine in undisturbed and disturbed soil columns. Batch sorption experiment revealed that sorption potential increased in the order: Brilliant Blue FCF > sulfadimethoxine > bromide. The horizontal spatial patterns of sulfadimethoxine and the tracers were analysed in each depth, and selective samples were taken in horizontal cross-section. Non-adsorbable and conservative tracer, bromide spread more widely into longitudinal and horizontal direction than sulfadimethoxine and Brilliant Blue FCF, since adsorption reduced transversal dispersion of the sulfadimethoxine and dye. In non-stained area, residual concentrations of sulfadimethoxine were relatively lower than in stained areas. Therefore, Brilliant Blue FCF distribution can be used to approximate sulfadimethoxine movement in soil. However, presence of preferential flow networks found in undisturbed soil cores can enhance mobility of sulfadimethoxine and the tracers, due to faster flow velocities and non-equilibrium adsorption. Our findings showed that other dye tracers may also be applicable to identify transport pathways of various organic contaminants, of which physico-chemical properties are similar to those of the dye tracers. Preferential flow should be considered for drinking water managements and transport modelling, since this allows faster pollutants transport from their sources, and create critical consequences for groundwater quality and solute transport modelling.

This paper reports the results of the first geomechanical laboratory experiments carried out on the polluted submarine clayey sediments of the Mar Piccolo in Taranto (South of Italy). The study had to face with extreme difficulties for the very soft consistency of the sediments and the contaminants. The mineralogy, composition and physical properties of the sediments were analysed, along with their compression and shearing behaviour. The investigation involved sediments up to about 20 m below the seafloor, along three vertical profiles in the most polluted area of the Mar Piccolo, facing the Italian Navy Arsenal. The experimental results were used to derive a preliminary geotechnical model of the site, necessary for the selection and design of the most sustainable in situ mitigation solutions. Moreover, the experimental data reveal that the clayey sediments of the most polluted top layer do not follow the classical geotechnical correlations for normally consolidated deposits. This seems to open interesting perspectives about the effects of pollutants on the geotechnical behaviour of the investigated sediments.

Polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) were measured in air (TSP and PM₂.₅) and dust samples collected from 16 households and the corresponding workplaces of eight volunteer citizens in Shanghai, China. The PBDEs concentrations in the workplace air (mean: 281 ± 126 pg m⁻³) were over two times higher than those in the household (121 ± 44.0 pg m⁻³), while the mean levels of PBDEs in dust were 995 ± 547 and 544 ± 188 ng g⁻¹ for workplace and household, respectively. BDE209 was the most abundant congener in all samples. PBDEs appeared to be composed of mostly small particles. The C ₚₐᵣₜᵢcₗₑ/C dᵤₛₜ ratios of less brominated PBDEs in PM₂.₅ were higher than those in TSP, while the values were approximately constant for the more brominated PBDEs. A correlation analysis by network indicated different sources and behavior of the PBDE congeners. The results of a cluster analysis were displayed on a heat map that specified the source and abundance of each PBDE congener. The daily PBDE exposure via dust ingestion was the predominant part of the total intake and was more than 10 times higher than the intake via inhalation.