In order to meet the environmental legislative framework in force in Europe and reduce sludge processing and disposal costs, several sludge treatment technologies and management strategies have been proposed in the last two decades. The evaluation of their technical and economic suitability, case by case, may be a challenge, since many aspects are involved, so that a robust decision support system should be used. Within the ROUTES project (founded within the EU Seventh Framework Programme), the authors have developed an assessment procedure which allows rating several technical factors (such as system reliability, complexity, safety aspects, modularity, etc.) and estimating capital and operating costs, in case a plant is being upgraded. The comparison between the original (reference) plant and the modified configuration informs about technical hot spots (which are expressed by a traffic light-type colour code) and cost gaps resulting from the implementation of the new solution.

Dioxin-like compounds (DLCs) have been classified by the World Health Organization (WHO) as one of the most persistent toxic chemical substances in the environment, and they are associated with several occupational activities and industrial accidents around the world. Since the end of the 1970s, these toxic chemicals have been banned because of their human toxicity potential, long half-life, wide dispersion, and they bioaccumulate in the food web. This review serves as a primer for environmental health professionals to provide guidance on short-term risk assessment of dioxin and to identify key findings for health and exposure assessment based on policies of different agencies. It also presents possible health effects of dioxins, mechanisms of action, toxic equivalency factors (TEFs), and dose–response characterization. Key studies related to toxicity values of dioxin-like compounds and their possible human health risk were identified through PubMed and supplemented with relevant studies characterized by reviewing the reference lists in the review articles and primary literature. Existing data decreases the scope of analyses and models in relevant studies to a manageable size by focusing on the set of important studies related to the perspective of developing toxicity values of DLCs.

Antimony occurs locally at high concentrations in some mineralized soils. Very little is known about behavior of antimony in plants. In this study, we analyzed the soil and vegetation of two mining areas in Iran, Patyar, and Moghanlo. Total Sb concentrations in soil were 358–3482 mg/kg in Moghanlo and 284–886 mg/kg in Patyar. Corresponding Sb concentrations in plant shoots were 0.8–287 and 1.3–49 mg/kg, respectively. In both areas, foliar Sb concentrations increased with acid-extractable soil Sb, although the slope was about 2-fold steeper for Patyar than for Moghanlo. Regressing the foliar concentrations on water-soluble Sb yielded identical slopes for both areas, suggesting that the soluble fraction of Sb rather than total Sb is the direct determinant of foliar Sb accumulation. Both in Patyar and Moghanlo, only a minor part of the total variance of shoot Sb was explained by soluble Sb. The major part was explained by plant species, demonstrating that plant taxonomic identity is the most important determinant of foliar Sb accumulation capacity in both areas. The translocation factor (TF) was highly variable too, with species as the only significant variance component. Only four species were able to accumulate more than 100 mg/kg Sb in their leaves. Among these species, Achillea wilhelmsii and Matthiola farinosa were by far the best Sb accumulators, with, on average, 141 and 132 mg/kg Sb in their leaves. Of these two, only Matthiola farinosa consistently maintained TF values far above unity across the whole range of soluble Sb in Moghanlo.

The Bien Hoa airbase (south of Vietnam) is known as one of the Agent Orange hotspots which have been seriously contaminated by Agent Orange/dioxin during the Vietnam War. Hundreds of samples including soil, sediment and fish were collected at the Bien Hoa Agent Orange hotspot for assessment of the environmental contamination caused by dibenzo-p-dioxins and polychlorinated dibenzofurans (PCDD/Fs). The toxicity equivalency quotient (TEQ) concentration of PCDD/Fs in soil and sediment varied from 7.6 to 962,000 and 17 to 4860 pg/g dry wt, respectively, implying very high contamination of PCDD/Fs in several areas. PCDD/F levels in fish ranged between 1.8 and 288 pg/g TEQ wet wt and was generally higher than advisory guidelines for food consumption. 2,3,7,8-Tetrachlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins (2,3,7,8-TCDD) contributed 66–99 % of TEQ for most of the samples, suggesting 2,4,5-trichlorophenoxyacetic acid (2,4,5-T) from Agent Orange as the major source of the contamination. The vertical transport of PCDD/Fs was observed in soil column with high TEQ levels above 1000 pg/g dry wt (Vietnamese limit for necessary remediation activities- TCVN 8183:2009 (2009)) even at a depth of 1.8 m. The vertical transport of PCDD/Fs has probably mainly taken place during the “Ranch Hand” defoliant spray activities due to the leaks and spills of phenoxy herbicides and solvents. The congener patterns suggest that transports of PCDD/Fs by weathering processes have led to their redistribution in the low-land areas. Also, an estimate for the total volume of contaminated soil requiring remediation to meet Vietnamese regulatory limits is provided.

Crops could accumulate trace metals by soil-root transfer and foliar uptake from atmospheric fallout, and an accurate assessment of pollution sources is a prerequisite for preventing heavy metal pollution in agricultural products. In this study, we examined Pb isotope rates to trace the sources of Pb in wheat grain grown in suburbs. Results showed that, even in zones with scarcely any air pollution spots, atmospheric fallout was still a considerable source of Pb accumulation in wheat. The concentration of Pb in wheat grain has poor correlation with that in farm soil. The Pb concentration in wheat grains with dust in bran coat was significantly higher than that in wheat grains, which indicates that Pb may accumulate by foliar uptake. The Pb isotope rate has obvious differences between the soil and atmospheric fallout, and scatter ratio is significantly closer between the wheat grain and atmospheric fallout. Atmospheric fallout is a more significant source of Pb concentration in wheat grains than in soil. As far as we know, this is the first study on the main sources of lead in grain crop (wheat) samples with isotope. This study aims to improve our understanding of the translocation of foliar-absorbed metals to nonexposed parts of plants.

The first nationwide survey of six phthalates (diethyl phthalate (DEP); dimethyl phthalate (DMP); di-n-butyl phthalate (DBP); butyl benzyl phthalate (BBP); bis(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate (DEHP); din-octyl phthalate (DnOP)) in drinking waters from waterworks was conducted across seven geographical zones in China. Of the six target phthalates, DBP and DEHP were the highest abundant phthalates with median (± interquartile range) values of 0.18 ± 0.47 and 0.18 ± 0.97 μg/L, respectively, but did not exceed the limit values in China’s Standards for Drinking Water Quality. These phthalates in drinking water were generally higher in the northern regions of China than those in the southern and eastern regions. Based on the investigated concentrations, lifetime exposure risk assessment indicated that phthalates in drinking water did not pose carcinogenic and noncarcinogenic risks to Chinese residents, even under the conservative scenario (with 95th percentile risk). In addition, we found that DEHP contributed the greatest risk to the total exposure risk of all the selected phthalates and oral ingestion was the main exposure route for phthalates in drinking water.

The ability of aquatic (Juncus effusus L., Scirpus holoschoenus L., Thypha latifolia L. and Juncus sp.) and land (Cistus ladanifer L., Erica andevalensis C.-R., Nerium oleander L., Isatis tinctoria L., Rosmarinus officinalis L., Cynodon dactylon L. and Hordeum murinum L.) plants from Portugal (Aljustrel, Lousal and São Domingos) and Morocco (Tighza and Zeida) mining areas to uptake, translocate and tolerate heavy metals (Cu, Zn and Pb) was evaluated. The soils (rhizosphere) of the first mining area are characterized by high acidity conditions (pH 2–5), whereas from the second area, by alkaline conditions (pH 7.0–8.5). Physicochemical parameters and mineralogy of the rhizosphere were determined from both areas. Chemical analysis of plants and the rhizosphere was carried out by inductively coupled plasma emission spectrometry. The sequential chemical extraction procedure was applied for rhizosphere samples collected from both mining areas. In the acid conditions, the aquatic plants show a high capacity for Zn bioaccumulation and translocation and less for Pb, reflecting the following metal mobility sequence: Zn > Cu > Pb. Kaolinite detected in the roots by infrared spectroscopy (IR) contributed to metal fixation (i.e. Cu), reducing its translocation to the aerial parts. Lead identified in the roots of land plants (e.g. E. andevalensis) was probably adsorbed by C–H functional groups identified by IR, being easily translocated to the aerial parts. It was found that aquatic plants are more efficient for phytostabilization than bioaccumulation. Lead is more bioavailable in the rhizosphere from Morocco mining areas due to scarcity of minerals with high adsorption ability, being absorbed and translocated by both aquatic and land plants.

Processed municipal sewage sludges (MSS) are an abundant, unwanted by-product of wastewater treatment, increasingly applied to agriculture and forestry for inexpensive disposal and soil conditioning. Due to their high organic carbon and lipid contents, MSS not only is rich in carbon and nutrients but also represents a “sink” for recalcitrant, hydrophobic, and potentially bioaccumulative compounds. Indeed, many organics sequestered and concentrated in MSS meet the US Environmental Protection Agency’s definition of being persistent, bioaccumulative, and toxic (PBT). In a strategic effort, our research team at the Biodesign Institute has created the National Sewage Sludge Repository (NSSR), a large repository of digested MSSs from 164 wastewater treatment plants from across the USA, as part of the Human Health Observatory (H2O) at Arizona State University (ASU). The NSSR likely represents the largest archive of digested MSS specimens in the USA. The present study summarizes key findings gleaned thus far from analysis of NSSR samples. For example, we evaluated the content of toxicants in MSS and computed estimates of nationwide inventories of mass produced chemicals that become sequestrated in sludge and later are released into the environment during sludge disposal on land. Ongoing efforts document co-occurrence of a variety of PBT compounds in both MSS and human samples, while also identifying a large number of potentially harmful MSS constituents for which human exposure data are still lacking. Finally, we summarize future opportunities and invite collaborative use of the NSSR by the research community. The H2O at ASU represents a new resource and research tool for environmental scientists and the larger research community. As illustrated in this work, this repository can serve to (i) identify and prioritize emerging contaminants, (ii) provide spatial and temporal trends of contaminants, (iii) inform and evaluate the effectiveness of environmental policy-making and regulations, and (iv) approximate, ongoing exposures and body burdens of mass-produced chemicals in human society.

In the study, arsenic, antimony, and chromium concentrations and selected physicochemical parameters in water and sediment samples from the thermal anthroporessure subjected Rybnik Reservoir (Poland) were determined. As(III), As(V), Sb(III), and Sb(V) ions were successfully separated on Dionex IonPac AS7 column, and Cr(III) and Cr(VI) on Dionex IonPac AG7 column. The obtained limits of detection were 0.18, 0.22, 0.009, 0.012, 0.11, and 0.17 μg/L, respectively. Water and bottom sediment samples were collected monthly at three-point transect between January and November 2013. The As(III) and Sb(III) speciation forms dominated in the bottom water, and Cr(VI) concentration in the bottom water was twice as high as the value measured for the surface water. The oxidized arsenic, antimony, and chromium forms dominated in the bottom sediments in the heated water discharge zone of the Rybnik Power Plant. The location of sampling point had a significant influence on the observed transformations and contents of the analyzed speciation forms. The chemometric analysis coupled with the dissimilarity analysis and principal component analysis helped to visualize the variability in the concentrations of the element speciation forms within the researched period and analyzing correlations.

Aging effect can influence the fractions distribution and mobility of metals after they are added into soil. In this study, incubation and soil column experiments under simulated acid rain condition were conducted to evaluate aging effect on the leaching characteristic of Cu, Zn, and Cd in artificial polluted red paddy soil. Our results showed that aging effect reduced metal contents in exchangeable and HoAc soluble fractions. Power function was the most excellent to describe the variation of exchangeable fraction, while pseudo first- and second-order functions were more successful to describe the leaching characteristic of metals from soil columns. The leaching amount of the metals from the polluted soil only accounted for a small part of their total content in soil, and the leachability of Cu was the weakest. Both the exchangeable and HoAc soluble fraction were available as indicators to evaluate the leachability of metals in red paddy soil. The shorter time the soil was contaminated, the more amounts of metals released from the soil. The reduction of exchangeable fraction caused by aging effect was the main reason for the decrease of metal mobility in soil.