We investigated changes of bacterial abundance and biodiversity during bioremediation experiments carried out on oxic and anoxic marine harbor sediments contaminated with hydrocarbons. Oxic sediments, supplied with inorganic nutrients, were incubated in aerobic conditions at 20 °C and 35 °C for 30 days, whereas anoxic sediments, amended with organic substrates, were incubated in anaerobic conditions at the same temperatures for 60 days. Results reported here indicate that temperature exerted the main effect on bacterial abundance, diversity and assemblage composition. At higher temperature bacterial diversity and evenness increased significantly in aerobic conditions, whilst decreased in anaerobic conditions. In both aerobic and anaerobic conditions, biodegradation efficiencies of hydrocarbons were significantly and positively related with bacterial richness and evenness. Overall results presented here suggest that bioremediation strategies, which can sustain high levels of bacterial diversity rather than the selection of specific taxa, may significantly increase the efficiency of hydrocarbon degradation in contaminated marine sediments.

This paper presents results related to the occurrence and distribution of estrogens along the Brazilian coast. Three mangrove areas were chosen to evaluate the presence of estrogens in surface sediments of mangrove forests. The presence of estrogens was observed in all studied sites. 17-α-Ethinylestradiol (EE2), a synthetic estrogen, was the most common and has been found in higher concentration (0.45–129.78ng/g) compared to 17-β-estradiol (E1) and estrone (E2) (both being natural estrogens). The concentrations of E1 and E2 ranged from 0.02 to 49.27ng/g and 0.03 to 39.77ng/g, respectively. Theoretically, under anaerobic conditions EE2 can be reduced to E1 even in environments such as sediments of mangrove forests, which are essentially anaerobic. Even if the concentrations of estrogens seem to be insignificant in some samples, the effects remain uncertain.

Water quantity and quality were monitored for 3 years in a 360-m-long wetland with riparian fences and plants in a pastoral dairy farming catchment. Concentrations of total nitrogen (TN), total phosphorus (TP) and Escherichia coli were 210–75,200 g N m−3, 12–58,200 g P m−3 and 2–20,000 most probable number (MPN)/100 ml, respectively. Average retentions (±standard error) for the wetland over 3 years were 5 ± 1%, 93 ± 13% and 65 ± 9% for TN, TP and E. coli, respectively. Retentions for nitrate–N, ammonium–N, filterable reactive P and particulate C were respectively −29 ± 5%, 32 ± 10%, −53 ± 24% and 96 ± 19%. Aerobic conditions within the wetland supported nitrification but not denitrification and it is likely that there was a high conversion rate from dissolved inputs of N and P in groundwater, to particulate N and P and refractory dissolved forms in the wetland. The wetland was notable for its capacity to promote the formation of particulate forms and retain them or to provide conditions suitable for retention (e.g. binding of phosphate to cations). Nitrogen retention was generally low because about 60% was in dissolved forms (DON and NOX–N) that were not readily trapped or removed. Specific yields for N, P and E. coli were c. 10–11 kg N ha−1 year−1, 0.2 kg P ha−1 year−1 and ≤109 MPN ha−1 year−1, respectively, and generally much less than ranges for typical dairy pasture catchments in New Zealand. Further mitigation of catchment runoff losses might be achieved if the upland wetland was coupled with a downslope wetland in which anoxic conditions would promote denitrification.

The behavior of estrone (E1) and 17β-estradiol (E2) in relatively closed water environment was studied by continuous flow experiment using sediments from a freshwater reservoir. For this, four sediment columns (two oxic ones and two anoxic ones) were employed, which were structured by packing 30 cm of undisturbed sediment and 60 cm of overlying water collected from two sites within a reservoir. A mass balance model that considered the influent flux, the effluent flux, mass transfer, sorption, and biodegradation was proposed to describe the behavior of E2 and E1 in the columns. The results indicated that the water–sediment partition coefficient of E1 [Formula: see text] was higher than E2 [Formula: see text]. The degradation rate of E1 (k E1) was smaller than E2 (k E2). Under both oxic and anoxic conditions, E1 was formed from E2. Furthermore, to clarify the impact of the model parameters such as the hydraulic retention time (HRT), K d, and k on the behavior of E2 and E1, variance analysis was performed based on the results of model simulations. The results showed that the concentrations of E2 and E1 in the column effluent were controlled most significantly by the sorption capacity of the natural estrogens onto sediment particles, with the determined contributory ratios changing in the order of sorption > HRT > degradation.

Wastewater samples originating from an explosives production plant (3,000 mg N l−1 nitrate, 4.8 mg l−1 nitroglycerin, 1.9 mg l−1 nitroglycol and 1,200 mg l−1 chemical oxygen demand) were subjected to biological purification. An attempt to completely remove nitrate and to decrease the chemical oxygen demand was carried out under anaerobic conditions. A soil isolated microbial consortium capable of biodegrading various organic compounds and reduce nitrate to atmospheric nitrogen under anaerobic conditions was used. Complete removal of nitrates with simultaneous elimination of nitroglycerin and ethylene glycol dinitrate (nitroglycol) was achieved as a result of the conducted research. Specific nitrate reduction rate was estimated at 12.3 mg N g−1 VSS h−1. Toxicity of wastewater samples during the denitrification process was studied by measuring the activity of dehydrogenases in the activated sludge. Mutagenicity was determined by employing the Ames test. The maximum mutagenic activity did not exceed 0.5. The obtained results suggest that the studied wastewater samples did not exhibit mutagenic properties.

High phosphorus (P) in surface drainage water from agricultural and urban runoff is the main cause of eutrophication within aquatic systems in South Florida, including the Everglades. While primary sources of P in drainage canals in the Everglades Agricultural Area (EAA) are from land use application of agricultural chemicals and oxidation of the organic soils, internal sources from canal sediments can also affect overall P status in the water column. In this paper, we evaluate P release and equilibrium dynamics from three conveyance canals within the EAA. Incubation and flux experiments were conducted on intact sediment cores collected from four locations within the Miami, West Palm Beach (WPB), and Ocean canal. After three continuous exchanges, Miami canal sediments reported the highest P release (66 ±â€‰37 mg m−2) compared to WPB (13 ±â€‰10 mg m−2) and Ocean (17 ±â€‰11 mg m−2) canal over 84 days. Overall, the P flux from all three canal sediments was highest during the first exchange. Miami canal sediments showed the highest P flux (2.4 ±â€‰1.3 mg m−2 day−1) compared to WPB (0.83 ±â€‰0.39 mg m−2 d−1) and Ocean canal sediments (0.98 ±â€‰0.38 mg m−2 day−1). Low P release from WPB canal sediments despite having high TP content could be due to carbonate layers distributed throughout the sediment column inhibiting P release. Equilibrium P concentrations estimated from the sediment core experiment corresponded to 0.12 ±â€‰0.04 mg L−1, 0.06 ±â€‰0.03 mg L−1, and 0.08 ±â€‰0.03 mg L−1 for Miami, WPB, and Ocean canal sediments, respectively, indicating Miami canal sediments behave as a source of P, while Ocean and WPB canal sediments are in equilibrium with the water column. Overall, the sediments showed a significant positive correlation between P release and total P (r = 0.42), Feox (r = 0.65), and Alox (r = 0.64) content of sediments. The contribution of P from the three main canals sediments within the EAA boundary corresponded to a very small portion of the total P load exiting the EAA. These estimates, however, only take into consideration diffusive fluxes from sediments and no other factors such as canal flow, bioturbation, resuspension, and anaerobic conditions.