The aim of the present study is to provide information on the ecological integrity of an industrial district located in the estuary of Pará River (Amazon estuary), by applying a selection of fish based multimetric indices of ecosystem integrity: Abundance Biomass Comparation (ABC); Biological Health Index; Estuarine Fish Community, Transitional Fish Classification and Estuarine Biotic Integrity Indexes. To evaluate the impacts of the industrial area and cargo terminal, three areas were considered: Zone 1, (maximum impact), Zone 2 (median risk) and Zone 3 (reference area). All the biological indices used were considered to be excellent indicators of the ecological integrity of the different sectors of the study area and were especially effective for the demonstration of the critical alterations of the fish community of Zone 1 and Zone 2. The simultaneous use of diferents indices family, with diferente assumptions, did strengthen the results enhancing the confidence in the diagnostic.

The present study reports the level of total petroleum hydrocarbon (TPH) in 27 commercially important fish, crustaceans and cephalopods from Orissa coast, Bay of Bengal to provide the baseline data for oil contamination in marine biota. The results showed significant differences in the TPH concentration in different species. Of all fish, Carangoides malabaricus showed the maximum TPH level (av. 13.70μgg⁻¹). In cephalopods, Loligo recorded the maximum TPH (av. 14.87μgg⁻¹) while Metapenaeus dobsoni recorded the maximum TPH (av. 13.18μgg⁻¹) among crustaceans. The concentration of TPH recorded in the present study were higher than the reported values from other studies in Bay of Bengal but were comparable with those of other Indian coast and Gulf water. The species recording maximum concentration and giving significant correlation coefficient may be of interest in oil pollution monitoring and can be used as indicator of hydrocarbon pollution in the region.

peer reviewed | Physiologically based pharmacokinetic (PBPK) models are mathematical models that are largely based upon the physiological characteristics of the species and the biochemical properties of the chemical of interest. They quantitatively describe and predict the kinetics of pollutants inside the body and can be of major importance for risk assessment of chemicals in marine mammals. PBPK models which consist of five compartments (liver, blubber, kidney, brain, and the rest of the body) were made for selected polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) in order to address the bioaccumulation of these compounds in tissues of harbour porpoises (Phocoena phocoena). Harbour porpoises have relatively long life spans, are common cetaceans in the North Sea, a heavily polluted area, and are known to be very sensitive to pollution. Models developed for all compounds (some PCBs and PBDEs) were evaluated using existing datasets from the literature and from analyses performed by GC-MS, the latter being obtained from stranded porpoises in the Black Sea and the North Sea over a period of 18 years (1990–2008) to assess spatial and temporal trends in bioaccumulation of the respective PCBs and PBDEs. We demonstrate that PBPK models are a feasible computational approach that can be used as a non-destructive tool for predicting the chemical pollution status of the marine mammals.

Semiconductor industry requires ultrapure chemicals to manufacture microelectronic devices. Hydrogen peroxide is one of the most demanded chemical by the semiconductor industry and ultrapurification processes are needed to achieve the electronic grade requirements for this chemical. Among all the ultrapurification alternatives, reverse osmosis emerges as the most desirable option according to environmentally friendly criteria. Through modelling based on membrane transport equations and mass balances, different integrated reverse osmosis membrane cascades have been previously optimized. All the optimal solutions were characterized by the maximum allowed values for the applied pressures in the reverse osmosis stages, corresponding to the highest energy consumption and the lowest energy productivity (expressed as economic profit of the process for each unit of energy consumed). In this work, the energy productivity of the process was maximized and the optimal operation conditions were those with minimum applied pressures. However, under those conditions the membrane area required increased and the membrane productivity (expressed as economic profit of the process for each unit of membrane area employed) decreased. Therefore, multi-objective optimization was formulated to maximize simultaneously the productivities of both resources (energy and membranes).

According to European Directive and national regulations in Spain, techniques based on thermal decomposition are proposed for the sewage sludge disposal. In this work, the sludge from the wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) of Casar de Periedo, in Cantabria (Spain) is studied by Thermogravimetry – Differential Scanning Calorimetry – Mass Spectrometry (TG –DSC – MS). A sample of this sludge was submitted, after drying, to different atmospheres: 100 % He, N2 /air or He/air 80/20 and 100 % air, from 20 to 900 ºC, to study primary decomposition reactions in pyrolysis, gasification and combustion respectively. The purpose was to determine the weight loss at different temperatures, the heat flow at each atmosphere and the presence of some gas products like H2, CO, CO2, CH4, or HCl, SO2, SO3, NO and NO2 released, these last five gases to know the contaminants emitted. Combustion conditions (air) rend the greatest mass loss and energy production. Reactions take place at lower temperatures, being mainly CO2 and H2O the products detected in MS, with little amounts of CH4, as it is expected for mainly total oxidation reactions. In gasification conditions, essayed with two atmospheres (N2-air and He-air), quantitative results found are similar, but the highest thermal conductivity of He produces exothermic reactions at lower temperatures, observed in the mass loss and heat flow profiles. From reactions of decomposition, partial oxidation and total oxidation, CO2, H2, H2O and CH4, were identified by MS. Pyrolysis conditions (He) produce the lowest mass loss and slightly endothermic reactions, mainly because of decomposition reactions. Higher H2 amounts were obtained at higher temperatures than in gasification conditions. No gas contaminant (HCl, SO2, SO3, NO and NO2) has been detected by MS, considering this sewage sludge as a “clean sludge”. Comparing the thermal behaviour of the sewage sludge of this plant to that obtained in the WWTP of Santander, the sludge from Casar de Periedo is more appropriated to thermal valorization. | We are thankful to MICINN in Spain, National Plan for scientific Research, Development and innovation, for financial support under Project: MAT2010-18862.

In the year 2010 more than 24 Mt and 5 Mt of Municipal Solid Waste (MSW) were generated in Spain and Portugal. Landfilling, incineration and recycling are the most common treatments. In 2010, in the Iberian Peninsula between 58-6 2 % of the MSW generated was sent to the landfill, 9-19 % was incinerated and the rest was recycled and composting (EUROSTAT, 2010). Despite landfilling is still the most common practice, waste treatment by means of an incineration process has increased. The main advantages of this type of waste treatment are the reduction of mass and volume of residues and the energy recovery. Nevertheless, incineration had gained a bad reputation owing to the environmental impact, in particular, due to the emissions of acid gases, dioxins and furans (PCDD/F) and greenhouse gases. To assess the environmental advantages and disadvantages as well as the potential environmental impacts of waste incineration a life cycle perspective is required. Within this framework is the development of FENIX-Giving Packaging a New Life, a 3-year European LIFE+ funded project. This work is just the first step within this project where a database and a model based on Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) to assess the environmental impacts of waste incineration in Spain and Portugal will be developed. Particularly, the aim of this paper is to review the different technologies applied to MSW solid waste incineration and to carry out both the diagnosis of the current situation at the incineration plants in Spain and Portugal and to collect data to develop the Life Cycle Inventory (LCI).

Desulfurant sorbents prepared by hydration, in sea or distilled water, of calcined sewage sludge (ash) and CaO at CaO/ash weight ratios of 0.2 or 3 at room temperature or at 90 º C, were characterized by X-ray diffraction in order to relate the X-ray composition of the sorbents to the preparation process and to the specific surface area of the obtained sorbents. Results show that the main compounds detected in the sludge´s ash are the same than those found in bibliography for the calcined sludge. In all the sorbents, independently of the preparation conditions, Ca(OH)2 was found instead of CaO used as raw material. New and different crystalline products were found in the sorbents depending on the preparation conditions. All the sorbents prepared in seawater contain NaCl in their composition; the specific surface area of the sorbents increased with hydration time and temperature and was lower when seawater was used for hydration. | We are thankful to MICINN in Spain, National Plan for scientific Research, Development and innovation, for financial support under Project: MAT2010-18862.

L’identification des zones des bassins versants, potentiellement contributrices en contaminants d’origine agricole, est effectuée par une modélisation spatiale (méthode PIXAL) en croisant des indicateurs spatialisés de la vulnérabilité des eaux de surface avec ceux de la pression agricole. Ces indicateurs qui traduisent les facteurs de risque sont choisis d’abord suivant leur pertinence à l’égard des milieux sur les espaces géographiques considérés, mais aussi suivant la disponibilité des données nécessaires en ce qui concerne l’évaluation de la vulnérabilité des eaux de surface. Les pressions anthropiques d’origine agricole résultent du croisement entre l’occupation du sol et les pratiques agricoles pour une campagne donnée. L’occupation du sol est obtenue soit à partir d’images satellitales pour les grands bassins versants tels que Save, Flumen, soit à partir des données parcellaires du SIG-PAC pour les petits bassins tels qu’Alegria, Enxoe.