Basil (Ocimum basilicum L.) is extensively cultivated as either an important spice and food additive or a source of essential oil crucial for the production of natural phenylpropanoids and terpenoids. It is frequently attacked by fungal diseases. The aim of the study was to estimate the impact of thiuram contact time on the uptake of manganese, cobalt, nickel, copper, zinc, cadmium, and lead by Ocimum basilicum L. The relevant plant physiological parameters were also investigated. Two farmland soils typical for the Polish rural environment were used. Studies involved soil analyses, bioavailable, and total forms for all investigated metals, chlorophyll content, and gas exchange. Atomic absorption spectrometry was used to determine concentration of all elements. Analysis of variance proved hypothesis that thiuram treatment of basil significantly influences metal transfer from soil and their concentration in roots and aboveground parts. This effect is mostly visible on the 14th day after the fungicide administration. Thiuram modifies mycoflora in the rhizosphere zone and subsequently affects either metal uptake from the soil environment or their further migration within the basil plant. Notable, those changes are more evident for basil planted in mineral soil as compared to organic soil with higher buffering capacity.

Batch experiments were conducted to study the effect of freeze-thaw frequency on the adsorption behavior of Pb²⁺ and Cd²⁺ and its related mechanisms. The results indicated that the adsorption capacities of Pb²⁺ and Cd²⁺ to the freeze-thaw treated soil were lower than those to the unfrozen soil, and with increasing freeze-thaw frequency, the adsorption capacities of them decreased. These were attributed to the fact that freeze-thaw cycles reduced pH value, CEC, organic matter content, and free iron oxide content of soil, and these soil properties presented negative correlations with freeze-thaw frequency. Freeze-thaw cycles reduced specific adsorption capacities of Pb²⁺ and Cd²⁺ and enhanced nonspecific adsorption ratios of Pb²⁺ and Cd²⁺ compared with the unfrozen soil. The higher freeze-thaw frequency, the higher nonspecific adsorption ratio was. However, the relationship between specific adsorption capacities of Pb²⁺ and Cd²⁺ and freeze-thaw frequency was opposite. Furthermore, the adsorption processes to the unfrozen and freeze-thaw treated soils were spontaneous, for Pb²⁺, its adsorption to soil was endothermal process, for Cd²⁺, on the contrary.

Simultaneous power generation and fecal wastewater treatment were investigated using a combined ABR-MFC-MEC system (anaerobic baffled reactor-microbial fuel cell-microbial electrolysis cell). The installation of multi-stage baffles can benefit retaining the suspended solids in the system and help separate the hydrolysis-acidification and the methanogen processes. The efficiencies of the nitrification-denitrification process were improved because of the weak current generation by coupling the microbial electrochemical device (MFC-MEC) with the ABR unit. Maximum removal rates for chemical oxygen demand (COD) and ammonia nitrogen (NH₄ ⁺-N) were 1.35 ± 0.05 kg COD/m³/day and 85.0 ± 0.4 g NH₄ ⁺-N/m³/day, respectively, while 45% of methane (CH₄), 9% of carbon dioxide (CO₂), and 45% of nitrogen gas (N₂) contents in volume ratio were found in the collected gas phase. An average surplus output voltage of 452.5 ± 10.5 mV could be achieved from the combined system, when the initial COD concentration was 1500.0 ± 20.0 mg/L and the initial NH₄ ⁺-N concentration was 110.0 ± 5.0 mg/L, while the effluent COD could reach 50.0 mg/L with an HRT of 48 h. The combined process has the potential to treat fecal wastewater efficiently with nearly zero energy input and a fair bio-fuel production.

The construction materials industry faces major challenges since 2013 when the European Construction Products Regulation was implemented, especially in the sector of environmentally friendly construction products. This study determined concentrations of leachable inorganic and organic compounds from microfine cement paste with and without superplasticiser addition. Furthermore, the leached superplasticiser amounts were detected via LC-MS. The multi-method approach was supplemented by ecotoxicological assays. Phytotoxicity was tested with white mustard (Sinapis alba) and cress (Lepidium sativum). The mutagenic and genotoxic potential of the leachates was tested with the Ames fluctuation assay and the umuC assay. As leaching protocol, the European horizontal dynamic surface leaching test was used. The cement paste samples with superplasticiser followed the wash-off effect with a total organic carbon release up to 43 mmol/m², whereas the release of samples without superplasticiser was driven by diffusion. The ecotoxicological assays showed a clear time depending behaviour. No cytotoxicity and mutagenicity could be observed; anyhow some leachates show minor genotoxic potential. In all tests, a clear difference between the samples with and without superplasticiser could be detected.This study clearly demonstrates the importance of further studies in the field of leaching of construction products.

Ecological remediation is one of the most practical methods for removing nutrients from river ecosystems. In this study, transformation and fate of nitrate and ammonium among four different ecological restoration treatments were investigated by stable ¹⁵N isotope pairing technique combined with quantitative polymerase chain reaction and high-throughput sequencing technology. The results of ¹⁵N mass-balance model showed that there were three ways to the fate of nitrogen: precipitated in the sediment, absorbed by Elodea nuttallii (E. nuttallii), and consumed by microbial processes (denitrification and anaerobic ammonium oxidation (anammox)). The results shown that the storage of ¹⁵NH₄ ⁺ in sediments was about 1.5 times as much as that of ¹⁵NO₃ ⁻. And much more ¹⁵NH₄ ⁺ was assimilated by E. nuttallii, about 2 times as much as ¹⁵NO₃ ⁻. Contrarily, the rate of microbial consuming ¹⁵NO₃ ⁻ was higher than converting ¹⁵NH₄ ⁺. As for the group with ¹⁵NO₃ ⁻ added, 29.61, 45.26, 30.66, and 51.95 % were accounted for ¹⁵N-labeled gas emission. The proportions of ¹⁵NH₄ ⁺ loss as ¹⁵N-labeled gas were 16.06, 28.86, 16.93, and 33.09 % in four different treatments, respectively. Denitrification and anammox were the bacterial primary processes in N₂ and N₂O production. The abundances of denitrifying and anammox functional genes were relatively higher in the treatment with E. nuttallii-immobilized nitrogen cycling bacteria (E-INCB) assemblage technology applied. Besides, microbial diversity increased in the treatment with E. nuttallii and INCB added. The ¹⁵NO₃ ⁻ removal rates were 35.27, 49.42, 50.02, and 65.46 % in four different treatments. And the removal rates of ¹⁵NH₄ ⁺ were 24, 34.38, 48.84, and 57.74 % in treatments A, B, C, and D, respectively. The results indicated that E-INCB assemblage technology could significantly promote the nitrogen cycling and improve nitrogen removal efficiency.

Nano-enabled materials are produced at growing volumes which increases the likelihood of nanoparticles being released into the environment. Constructed wetlands (CWs) are likely to receive wastewater containing nanoparticles leaching from products during usage. Therefore, we investigate the retention of silver nanoparticles (Ag-NPs) in microcosms simulating CWs treating domestic wastewater. The effects of aeration and organic matter content on the Ag-NP removal efficiencies are studied in particular. CWs remove most of the Ag (80–90%) and the largest fraction of Ag is found in/on the biofilm. Detailed electron microscopy analyses suggest that Ag-NPs are transformed into Ag₂S in all microcosm experiments. The good correlation between total suspended solids (TSS) and the Ag concentration measured in the effluent indicates that Ag-NPs are bound to the solids in the effluent. Aeration of the microcosms does not affect the release of Ag-NPs from the systems but increasing organic matter leads to increased amounts of Ag passing the CWs, correlating with the increased release of TSS from the CWs. These results suggest that Ag-NPs are retained with the (suspended) solids in CWs and that the removal efficiency of TSS is an important factor determining the discharge of Ag-NPs from CWs.

In this investigation, the photocatalytic activity of α-Bi₄V₂O₁₁ in the degradation of 2-naphthol under simulated solar light was evaluated. Bismuth vanadate α-Bi₄V₂O₁₁ was synthesized by the solid-state reaction method and by co-precipitation in aqueous media, with the aim of comparing their performance in the photodegradation of the aromatic pollutant. The latter method (co-precipitation) has not been previously reported for the synthesis of α-Bi₄V₂O₁₁. Structural evolution of the oxides precursors was determined by X-ray diffraction. Morphology and optical properties of the solids were analyzed by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and UV-vis diffuse reflectance spectroscopy (UV-vis), respectively. The results showed that at 800 °C, only α-Bi₄V₂O₁₁ was formed in both preparations. The SEM micrographs revealed that the powders were composed of agglomerates with sizes between 0.8–2 μm for those synthesized by co-precipitation and 2–10 μm for those obtained by solid-state reaction. The optical properties indicated that α-Bi₄V₂O₁₁ was activated with visible light during the photocatalytic process. The photocatalytic degradation of 2-naphthol was largely influenced at basic pH, degrading 79% of the contaminant in 240 min, with the powder obtained by co-precipitation; meanwhile, for the solid-state preparation, the degradation reached only 55%.

The aim of this work was to analyse the response of Rosa rubiginosa to salinity induced by different concentrations of sodium chloride and calcium chloride (0, 25, 50, 100, 150 and 200 mM). Besides salt accumulation and pH changes, other parameters were investigated including photosynthetic activity, leaf water content, the dynamics of necrosis and chlorosis appearance and leaf drying. The study was complemented with microscopic analysis of changes in leaf anatomy. R. rubiginosa was more sensitive to the salinity induced by calcium chloride than by sodium chloride. Plant response to salinity differed depending of the salt concentration. These differences were manifested by higher dynamics of necrosis and chlorosis appearance and leaf drying. CaCl₂ showed greater inhibition of the photosynthetic apparatus and photosynthetic activity. Treatment with CaCl₂ caused more visible deformation of palisade cells, reduction in their density and overall reduction in leaf thickness. The study demonstrated higher accumulation of CaCl₂ in the soil, and thus greater limitations in water availability resulting in reduced leaf water content and quicker drying of leaves as compared with NaCl-treated plants.

Understanding the spatial distribution of PM₂.₅ concentration and its contributing environmental variables is critical to develop strategies of addressing adverse effects of the particulate pollution. In this study, a range of meteorological and land use factors were incorporated into a linear regression (LR) model and a logistic model-based regression (LMR) model to simulate the annual and winter PM₂.₅ concentrations. The vegetation cover, derived from a linear spectral unmixing analysis (LSUA), and the normalized difference built-up index (NDBI), were found to improve the goodness of fit of the models. The study shows that (1) both the LR and the LMR agree on the predicted spatial patterns of PM₂.₅ concentration and (2) the goodness of fit is higher for the models established based on the annual PM₂.₅ concentration than that based on the winter PM₂.₅. The modeling results show that higher PM₂.₅ concentration coincided with the major urban area for the annual average but focused on the suburban and rural areas for the winter. The methods introduced in this study can potentially be applied to similar regions in other developing countries.

Carbon nanotubes (CNTs) synthesized by the catalytic decomposition of methane were used as the support for magnetic Fenton and photo-Fenton catalysts to treat real wastewater contaminated with dyes and Escherichia coli. The effect of methane flow, the use of diluent (N₂), and the reaction time in the production of CNTs were studied. An increase in the production of CNTs with increased CH₄ flow and a decrease over the reaction time were recorded. Catalysts with 1, 3, and 5% w/w Fe were obtained and characterized by several spectroscopic and microscopic techniques. Multi-walled CNTs and bamboo-like carbon nanofibers with average diameters of 44.0 nm and average lengths of 237.0 nm were obtained. The catalysts had Fe ₓ O y (oxide species) crystallite sizes between 10 and 18 nm and soft ferromagnetic properties. A factorial 3³ design was used for selecting variables for the catalytic tests, wherein the concentration of H₂O₂, the catalyst mass, and the percentage of iron were evaluated. Subsequently, kinetic experiments were performed. The photo-Fenton process (5% Fe, 200 mg, and 0.4 M H₂O₂) showed the best results in terms of total organic carbon (TOC) abatement, discoloration, and E. coli inactivation without leaching of Fe. Graphical Abstract ᅟ