Radon concentration and gamma activity concentration of naturally occurring radionuclides were determined and presented for two tourist caves (Karaca and Çal caves) in this study. These caves are reported to receive about 77,000 visitors during the summer season in 2007. It was seen that mean radon activity concentrations for the winter and summer seasons for the Karaca cave is 1,023 and 823 Bq/m³ and for the Çal cave is 264 and 473 Bq/m³. Mean ²²⁶Ra, ²³²Th, and ⁴⁰K activity concentrations are found to be 43, 19, and 262 Bq/kg for the Karaca cave and 31, 27, and 460 Bq/kg for the Çal cave. Doses received by the cave guides due to radon were estimated to be 2.9 mSv/year for the winter season and 2.3 mSv/year for the summer season for the Karaca cave. Same values were estimated for the Çal cave, and the results were found to be 0.6 mSv/year for the winter season and 1.1 mSv/year for the summer season. Annual effective doses received by the visitors in both caves were estimated to be in the order of μSv/year because of the short exposure time comparing the cave guides. Although the reported values are below the recommended values, both groups are exposed to possible radiological risk during their stay inside the cave, since prolonged exposure to high radon concentration has been linked to lung cancer.

Two commercially available aerobic bioremediation methods (Daramend® and BioSan) were utilized to study the aerobic biodegradation of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH) and the effect of the simultaneously present arsenic. The soil was collected at an old wood preservation site, and the initial PAH₁₆-concentration was 46 mg/kg, with mainly high molecular weight congeners. The As concentration was 105 mg/kg with low availability as assessed with sequential extraction. To enhance the availability of PAH, the effect of a nonionic surfactant was evaluated. Degradation of both low and high molecular weight PAH was observed; however, after 30 weeks, the degradation was generally low and no treatment was significantly better than the others. The treatments had, on the other hand, an effect on As remobilization, with increased As concentration in the available fraction after treatment. This may be due to both the microbial activity and the presence of anoxic microsites in the soil. The overall efficiency of the biological treatment was further evaluated using the standardized ecotoxicity test utilizing Vibrio fischeri (Microtox®). The toxicity test demonstrated that the bioremediation led to an increase in toxicity, especially in treatments receiving surfactant. The surfactant implied an increase in contaminant availability but also a decrease in surface tension, which might have contributed to the overall toxicity increase.

Soil dispersion is a prerequisite process for the separation of metal oxides from bulk soil when magnetic separation is employed to enhance the efficiency for soil treatment. This study examined the stability of goethite, hematite, birnessite, and manganite in common dispersion solutions. The stability of pH in the oxide suspension decreased in the order carbonate (50 mM Na2CO3) > pyrophosphate (50 mM Na4P2O7) > simple alkaline (1 mM NaOH) solutions regardless of the oxides. Dissolution of the four oxides was negligible in the carbonate and the simple alkaline solutions. In the pyrophosphate solutions, however, the oxides were subject to ligand-promoted dissolution by pyrophosphate ion. The extent of dissolution was highest for goethite followed by manganite, hematite, and birnessite. Dissolved Fe and Mn concentrations reached 68.3 and 4.1 μM for goethite and manganite suspensions, respectively, in 21 days with 5 mM pyrophosphate. Higher pyrophosphate concentrations (up to 150 mM) did not substantially affect the extent of ligand-promoted dissolution due to the limited surface sites of the oxides. The results of this study suggest that the carbonate solution would be more desirable than the simple alkaline or the pyrophosphate solution for soil dispersion in the presence of common Fe or Mn oxides.

One of the aims of the Water Framework Directive 2000/60/CE is to assess the ecological status of water bodies in Europe in relation to priority contaminants, including some persistent organic pollutants (POPs). Recognizing the benefits of measuring hydrophobic compounds in biota tissues rather than in water, we used the European eel Anguilla anguilla in the present study as a bioindicator species for monitoring POPs in freshwater/brackish environments. We present the results of a contamination analysis of eels carried out in three Italian sites representative of different pollution levels: the last part of Tevere River, which flows through a very urbanized and industrialized area, Caprolace Lake and Lesina Lagoon, inside two different protected national parks. A very high pollution variability was recorded within each group of eels, in particular for those caught at Caprolace Lake. Due to this high variability, inter-population comparisons were carried out only between eels collected in Tevere River and Lesina Lagoon. PCBs values in Lesina Lagoon were two orders of magnitude lower than those measured in Tevere River, while no significant differences were found for levels of DDT compounds. Our results confirm the suitability of the eel as an indicator of persistent bioaccumulative pollutants in brackish environments and rivers where it can be easily caught, but we are sceptical of its use in deep lakes where its capture might be problematic considering standard operation procedures for fish sampling.

The spread of antibiotic-resistant bacteria in the environment is raising serious public health concerns, and manure is being increasingly recognized as a major source of antibiotic-resistant bacteria. In this research, we isolated Escherichia coli and enterococci from manure produced in a Wisconsin, USA family dairy farm to determine their resistance to six representative antibiotics. The average densities for E. coli and enterococci were 6.37(±4.38) × 107 colony formation units (CFU) g−1 and 1.60(±1.57) × 104 CFU g−1, respectively. The E. coli isolates were found to be resistant to cephalothin, ampicillin, tetracycline, and erythromycin. In addition to these four antibiotics, the Enterococcus isolates were also resistant to gentamicin and ciprofloxacin. Additionally, we examined the survival and growth of E. coli and enterococci in dairy manure over a period of ~3 days. While the densities of enterococci remained stable over the study period, the concentrations of E. coli on average increased by 1.5 log10 units. Further tests of the bacterial antibiotic resistance over time showed no significant changes in the prevalence of antibiotic resistance. This result indicated that slightly aged manure could represent a larger source of antibiotic-resistant E. coli than fresh manure and the accumulation of antibiotic-resistant E. coli and enterococci in the agricultural fields must be accounted for in the modeling of the spread of antibiotic-resistant bacteria in the environment.

Daily mass concentrations of PM1, PM2.5, and PM10 were measured along with meteorological parameters from October 2008 to October 2009 in the city of Elche, close to the southeastern Spanish Mediterranean coast. Annual mean levels of 9.2, 13.2, and 26.2 μg m−3 were obtained for PM1, PM2.5, and PM10, respectively. PM2.5 and PM10 concentrations were lower than those previously measured at the same location due to unusual weather conditions that occurred during winter 2009, specially the decrease in the number of high atmospheric stability episodes. The contribution of road traffic to the levels of submicron (PM1), fine (PM2.5–1), and coarse (PM10–2.5) particles was studied by correlating PM concentrations with NO2. The results showed a higher relative contribution in winter (0.45 < r < 0.65) than in summer (−0.26 < r < 0.05). However, the scarce variability in traffic intensity (in terms of number of vehicles per day) was unable to explain daily and seasonal variations in PM levels. Rather, these variations were associated to seasonal changes in other PM sources and meteorological conditions. The three size fractions showed good negative correlations with wind speed during winter, suggesting that the main effect of cold season winds was the dilution of atmospheric aerosols. For the coarse fraction, good correlation coefficients were obtained with temperature and solar radiation (0.60 and 0.70, respectively) due to identical seasonal behavior of coarse PM and these parameters during the study period.

The ForSAFE-VEG model was used to investigate the impacts of climate change and air pollution scenarios on soil chemistry and ground vegetations composition. In particular, the model involves a ground vegetation model incorporating plant changes to ambient site conditions in terms of climate and chemistry, but the model also incorporate competition between the different plant groups. The model was validated against observed values and reproduced observations of tree growth, soil chemistry, and ground vegetation compositions to satisfaction. The results show that the ground vegetation reacts strongly to changes in air pollution, in particular nitrogen as well as to climate change with major shifts in plant composition. A procedure for estimating critical loads for nitrogen, using ground vegetation biodiversity as criterion, was tested and the method seems operable. It suggests that if we want to protect the present biodiversity of the ground vegetation, this will face significant difficulties because of permanent climate change that induced changes in the ecosystem. We conclude that the reference state for ground vegetation biodiversity is rather to be sought for in the future, hopefully using models, than in the past or present.

Coastal lands around Bay of Bengal in Central Godavari Delta are mainly agriculture fields and two times annually paddy crops putting in the study area. Canals of Godavari River are the main source of water for irrigation. Geophysical and geochemical investigations were carried out in the study area to decipher subsurface geologic formation and assessing seawater intrusion. Electrical resistivity tomographic surveys carried out in the watershed-indicated low resistivity formation in the upstream area due to the presence of thick marine clays up to thickness of 20–25 m from the surface. Secondly, the lowering of resistivity may be due to the encroachment of seawater in to freshwater zones and infiltration during tidal fluctuation through mainly the Pikaleru drain, and to some extent rarely through Kannvaram and Vasalatippa drains in the downstream area. Groundwater quality analyses were made for major ions revealed brackish nature of groundwater water at shallow depth. The in situ salinity of groundwater is around 5,000 mg/l and there is no groundwater withdrawal for irrigation or drinking purpose in this area except Cairn energy pumping wells which is using for inject brackish water into the oil wells for easy exploration of oil. Chemical analyses of groundwater samples have indicated the range of salt concentrations and correlation of geophysical and borehole litholog data in the study area predicting seawater-contaminated zones and influence of in situ salinity in the upstream of study area. The article suggested further studies and research work that can lead to sustainable exploitation/use and management of groundwater resources in coastal areas.

This study examined the relationship between abundance of submerged aquatic vegetation (SAV) and the water trophic status of a group of lakes located in northwestern Hillsborough county. SAV abundance was expressed by the percent of lake volume infested with SAV (PVI) and the percent of lake area covered with SAV (PAC). The group of lakes was divided into two subgroups based on SAV abundance less than 20 PVI (PVI < 20) and lakes with more than 20 PVI (PVI > 20). Mean concentrations of total phosphorus (TP), total nitrogen (TN), and chlorophyll-α in lake water were used as indicators of trophic status, with the concentration of each nutrient in one group of lakes compared to its corresponding concentration in the other group. Lakes with PVI < 20 had a mean concentration of TP and chlorophyll-α of 28 and 11 µg/l, respectively, while those with a PVI > 20 had a mean concentration of 18 and 4 µg/l for the same parameters, respectively. The results of a t test and one-way ANOVA performed at the 95% confidence level indicated that the differences were significant for the concentrations of TP and chlorophyll-α but not for TN, the last of which had a mean lake water concentration of 0.8 and 0.7 mg/l for the PVI < 20 and PVI > 20 subgroups, respectively.

The adsorption of lead onto date palm fibers (palm fibers) and leaf base of palm (petiole) has been examined in aqueous solution by considering the influence of various parameters such as contact time, solution pH, adsorbent dosage, particle sizes, ionic strength, and temperature. The adsorption of Pb(II) increased with an increase of contact time. The optimal range of pH for Pb(II) adsorption is 3.0-4.5. The linear Langmuir and Freundlich models were applied to describe the equilibrium isotherms, and both models fitted well. The monolayer adsorption capacity of Pb(II) on palm fibers and petiole was found as 18.622 and 20.040 mg/g, respectively, at pH 4.5 and 25°C. Dubinin-Radushkevich (D-R) isotherm model was also applied to equilibrium data. The mean free energy of adsorption (2.397 and 4.082 kJ/mol) onto palm fibers and petiole, respectively, may be carried out via physisorption mechanism. Pseudo-first-order rate equation and pseudo-second-order rate equation were applied to study the adsorption kinetics. In comparison to first-order kinetic model, pseudo-second-order model described well the adsorption kinetics of Pb(II) onto palm fibers and petiole from aqueous solution. From the results of the thermodynamic analysis, Gibbs free energy ΔG, enthalpy change ΔH, and entropy ΔS were determined. The positive value of ΔH suggests that interaction of Pb(II) adsorbed by palm fibers is endothermic. In contrast, the negative value of ΔH indicates that interaction of Pb(II) ions by petiole is exothermic. The negative value of ΔG indicates that the adsorption of Pb(II) ions on both palm fibers and petiole is a spontaneous process.