The purpose of this study was to survey the distribution patterns of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and formaldehyde in the various indoor environments using cluster analysis. We investigated VOCs and formaldehyde in subway stations, underground shopping areas, medical centers, maternity recuperation centers, public childcare centers, large stores, funeral homes, and indoor parking lots from June 2005 to May 2006 (9 p.m. to 6 a.m.). The concentration of total volatile compounds (TVOCs) in maternity recuperations was 2,605.7 μg/m3, which was higher than that stated in the guideline and other chosen facilities. TVOCs in public childcare centers were 1,951.6 μg/m3, which also exceeded the guideline. Moreover, the concentration of TVOCs in every facility exceeded the guideline of the Ministry of Environment, Korea. In the case of formaldehyde, the mean concentration of 336.5 μg/m3 found only in public childcare centers exceeded the 120 μg/m3 stated in the guideline. Finally, by applying cluster analysis, three patterns of the indoor air pollutions were distinguished. In the results of the analysis, concentrations of TVOCs and formaldehyde of cluster 3 were higher than clusters 1 and 2, which were 2,561.4 and 184.9 μg/m3, respectively.

Increasing release of organic pollutants to the environment has caused one of the largest world crises for water resources. Volatile organic compounds are toxic monoaromatic pollutants of soil and water. In this research, natural zeolite nanoparticles were produced mechanically by means of a milling technique, modified using two cationic surfactants of hexadecyltrimethylammonium chloride and n-cetyl pyridinium bromide and formed as granules using a novel technique already developed by our group. The granulated adsorbents were used to uptake benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene, and xylenes (BTEX) from contaminated water. Two intra-particle diffusion models (i.e., Weber and Morris and Vermeulen models) and three surface reaction models (i.e., pseudo-first order, pseudo-second order, and Elovich) were applied to evaluate the kinetics of adsorption and the best fitted model was chosen. Results of the adsorption kinetic evaluations were shown that uptake of granulated nanozeolites are higher than natural zeolites (in the order of four). Kinetic results revealed that the adsorption follows a pseudo-second order indicating existence of chemisorption in the studied conditions. It was noticed that the intra-particle diffusion is prevailing in the first stage of adsorption for a relatively short time (i.e., first 25 min).

Cr3+ sorption on strong acid exchanger Amberlyst-15(H+) is studied as a function of time and temperature using CrCl3.6H2O and [Cr4(SO4)5(OH)2] solutions. The rate is found to be governed by a mixed diffusion for both the solutions and faster for Cl1− solution than SO4 2−. The exchange capacities are found to be higher for Cl1− system than SO4 2−. From the rate constant values, the energies of activation are calculated using the well-known Arrhenius equation. Equilibrium data is explained with the help of the Langmuir equation. The Langmuir parameters are also found to be higher for exchange from the chloride solutions. Various thermodynamic parameters (ΔHo, ΔSo, and ΔGo) for Cr3+ exchange on the resin are calculated. The ΔGo values are found to be negative while ΔHo and ΔSo are positive for both the Cr3+/Cl1− and Cr3+/SO4 2− systems. It is suggested that in case of Cl1− solutions, the metal is exchanged as Cr3+, while in case of SO4 2− solutions, the metal exchanging specie is CrSO4 +.

In this study, the photocatalytic degradation of commercial azo dye (Remazol Red 133) in the presence of titanium dioxide (TiO2) suspensions as photocatalyst was investigated. The effect of various operational parameters, such as pH of dye solution and catalyst concentration on the photocatalytic degradation process, was examined. The mineralization of dye was also evaluated by measuring the chemical oxygen demand of the dye solutions. The extent of photocatalytic degradation was found to increase with increasing TiO2 concentration. For the Remazol Red dye solutions, a 120-min treatment resulted in 97.9% decolorization and 87.6% degradation at catalyst loading of 3 g/L. Experiments using real textile wastewater were also carried out. Textile wastewater degradation was enhanced at acidic conditions. The decolorization and degradation efficiencies for textile wastewater were 97.8% and 84.9% at pH 3.0, catalyst loading of 3 g/L, and treatment time of 120 min.

A modeling study on fertilizer by-products fate and transport was performed in an unconfined shallow aquifer equipped with a grid of 13 piezometers. The field site was located in a former agricultural field overlying a river paleochannel near Ferrara (Northern Italy), cultivated with cereals rotation until 2004 and then converted to park. Piezometers were installed in June 2007 and were monitored until June 2009 via pressure transducer data loggers to evaluate the temporal and spatial variation of groundwater heads, while an onsite meteorological station provided data for recharge rate calculations via unsaturated zone modeling. The groundwater composition in June 2007 exhibited elevated nitrate (NO3 −) and chloride (Cl−) concentrations due to fertilizer leaching from the top soil. The spatial distribution of NO3 − and Cl− was heterogeneous and the concentration decreased during the monitoring period, with NO3 − attenuation (below 10 mg/l) after 650 days. A transient groundwater flow and contaminant transport model was calibrated versus observed heads and NO3 − and Cl− concentrations. Cl− was used as environmental tracer to quantify groundwater flow velocity and it was simulated as a conservative species. NO3 − was treated as a reactive species and denitrification was simulated with a first order degradation rate constant. Model calibration gave a low denitrification rate (2.5e−3 mg-NO3 −/l/d) likely because of prevailing oxic conditions and low concentration of dissolved organic carbon. Scenario modeling was implemented with steady state and variable flow time discretization to identify the mechanism of NO3 − attenuation. It was shown that transient piezometric conditions did not exert a strong control on NO3 − clean up time, while transient recharge rate did, because it is the main source of unpolluted water in the domain.

In this study, a fast bioassay using the ECOTOX system to evaluate biological safety of waste water samples from different sources was performed. This biological system works full automatically to test water quality. The system uses the image analysis of movement behavior of the flagellate Euglena gracilis as a model organism. The measured parameters are cell motility, velocity, orientation (r-value, upward swimming and alignment) as well as cell form (compactness). In most tested waste samples, precision of orientation (r-value) is inhibited at concentrations which showed less effect on the other parameters. Motility and compactness were noticed to be the least inhibited parameters in response to waste water samples. The results of waste treatment plants revealed the efficiency of the used purification system. Movement as well as orientation parameters in E. gracilis showed high sensitivity toward chlorine. The order of sensitivity was motility > velocity > r-value > upward swimming with EC50 values of 0.69, 0.81, 0.85, and 1.78 mg L−1, respectively. ECOTOX with its test organism (E. gracilis) provides an automatic, fast and sensitive system to monitor water samples.

Radon levels in two old mines in San Luis, Argentina, are reported and analyzed. The radiation dose and environmental health risk of 222Rn concentrations to both guides and visitors were estimated. CR-39 nuclear track detectors were used for this purpose. The values for the 222Rn concentration at each monitoring site ranged from 0.43 ± 0.04 to 1.48 ± 0.12 kBq m−3 in the Los Cóndores wolfram mine and from 1.8 ± 0.1 to 6.0 ± 0.5 kBq·m−3 in the La Carolina gold mine, indicating that, in this mine, the radon levels exceed up to four times the action level of 1.5 kBq m−3 recommended by the International Commission on Radiological Protection. The patterns of the radon transport process revealed that the La Carolina gold mine can be interpreted as a gas confined into a single tube with constant cross-section and air velocity. Patterns of radon activity, taking into account the chimney-effect winds, were used to detect tributary currents of air from shafts or larger fissures along the main adit of the Los Cóndores mine, showing that radon can be used as an important tracer of tributary air currents stream out from fissures and smaller voids in the rock of the mine.

A greenhouse pot experiment was conducted in Agrinion, Greece, in 2009, using a Randomized Block Design. Treated Municipal Wastewater (TMWW) in five levels was applied to Brassica oleracea var. Capitata (cabbage) in four replications. The experiment aimed at investigating the effect of TMWW on: (a) the interrelationships of cabbage plant parts (roots, stems, leaves, and heads) heavy metal content, with the respective dry matter yield. (b) The relationship between each individual soil bioavailable diethylenetriaminepentaacetic acid (DTPA extractable) heavy metal, with the dry matter (dm) yield of the abovementioned cabbage plant parts. The heavy metals of cabbage plant parts dry matter were significantly related negatively and statistically with the respective dry matter yield. Similarly, the soil available DTPA-extractable heavy metals were generally negatively affecting the dry matter yield of roots, stems, leaves, and heads. Conversely, Co, Cr, and Cd were found to be positively associated with the dry matter yield increase of the aforementioned plant parts. This effect was indirect, probably being due to contribution in essential elements by the synergistic interactions of these heavy metals with plant nutrients, such as Ca, Mg, Fe, and Mn.

In the last 10 years, the number of field applications of zero-valent iron differing from permeable reactive barrier has grown rapidly and at present are 112. This study analyzes and compares such field applications. By using statistical analysis, especially ANOVA and principal component analysis, this study shows that chlorinated solvent contamination can be treated efficiently by using zero-valent iron material singly or associated with other technologies. In the analyzed sample of case studies, the association with microbial dechlorination increased significantly the performances of nanoscale iron. This is likely due to the synergistic effect between the two processes. Millimetric iron was always used in association with source zone containment; therefore, it is not possible to distinguish the contributions of the two techniques. The comparison also shows that catalyst addition seems to not dramatically improve treatment efficiency and that such improvement is not statistically significant. Finally, the injection technology is correlated to the type of iron and to the soil permeability.

Riparian buffer strip guidelines are under scrutiny in the River Njoro Watershed in Kenya. This study investigated soil properties (bulk density, carbon, nitrogen, and phosphorus) in different land use types (small scale agriculture in recent settlements, mixed agriculture in established peri-urban settlements, large-scale commercial agriculture, and the gazetted forest reference condition) and their adjacent buffer strips. Bulk density, carbon, nitrogen, and phosphorus within 30-m riparian buffer strips adjacent to recent settlement land use areas were similar to those of the gazetted forest reference condition, but only bulk density of the buffer strips adjacent to peri-urban and commercial agriculture land use areas were similar to the gazetted forest reference condition. Phosphorus is a sensitive indicator of the impacts of human activity, as increased concentrations were observed with increasing scale of land use activity. For riparian buffers adjacent to recent settlements, soil phosphorus was significantly higher in buffers narrower than 30 m (5.01 mg P kg−1) than gazetted forest (3.40 mg P kg−1) but not significantly different for riparian buffers wider than 30 m (3.81 mg P kg−1) compared to gazetted forest. Based on the research, it is recommended that policies governing riparian buffer strips become (1) stricter, with the current “maximum” of 30 m considered a minimum; and (2) adaptive, with 30 m used in small-scale agricultural areas, and wider riparian buffer strips used in medium- and large-scale agricultural areas.