Oil spills might lead to severe environmental impacts to the affected fauna, disrupting local food webs, and causing mass mortality in many species. However, little is known about long-term impacts of oil spills, or even if such impacts can be detectable after several generations. In this study, we investigate the genetic variability of three freshwater species—Mimagoniates microlepis (Characiformes: Characidae), Scleromystax barbatus (Siluriformes: Callichthyidae), and Phalloceros harpagos (Cyprinodontiformes: Poeciliidae)—in rivers that were affected by a large oil spill in the state of Paraná, southern Brazil, on February of 2001. Samples were obtained from nine different locations, such that rivers that were directly affected by the oil spill could be compared with similar rivers in the same region that were unaffected. A fragment of the cytochrome C oxidase subunit I mitochondrial gene was sequenced from each specimen, and the level of genetic variability was assessed. Based on estimates of haplotype and nucleotide diversity, no impact of the oil spill could be detected in impacted rivers. These results suggest that fish populations in the region showed resilience to the pollutant, such that immigration from other locations was able to reestablish levels of genetic variability comparable to those of unimpacted rivers.

A chelator, potassium dipropyl dithiophosphate, and humic acid were combined and used as a stabilizing agent to study the stabilization effect of the mixture on heavy metals in a contaminated sediment. The results indicated that the stabilization efficiencies for Cu, Zn, Pb, and Cd in the sediment were up to 99.98, 90.66, 99.38, and 92.83%, respectively, and the unstable Cu, Zn, Pb, and Cd fractions fell by 57.11, 54.74, 56.41, and 89.14%, respectively, when 5% potassium dipropyl dithiophosphate and 7% humic acid were added. This significantly reduced the bioavailability of the heavy metals. Under leaching caused by simulated acid rain (pH 3 and pH 5), the heavy metals mainly migrated from the solid phase to the liquid phase during the initial leaching period, and the Pb, Cu, Zn, and Cd leaching rates in the sediment after stabilization fell by 55–99%. Cu showed the greatest reduction. When the results for the sediment after stabilization were compared with the sediment before stabilization, the wheat stem height had increased by 53.62%, the dry weights of the leaves and roots increased by 86.25 and 34.85%, respectively, and Cu, Zn, Pb, and Cd enrichment in the wheat roots and leaves fell by 40–88 and 73–95%, respectively.

Genetically modified agricultural products have been introduced to increase food supply by enhancing their resistance to pests and diseases, along with easily adapting to environmental conditions. Due to the modification of DNA, public objections are prevalent, including concerns on the impact on the ecosystem. In this research, adsorption and transport of Cry1Ab, a toxin exuded by the transgenic Bt maize in alumino-silica clays, were evaluated in laboratory columns under steady-state flow conditions. Since Cry1Ab fate and transport were very responsive to animal waste field applications, during which humic acids were released, Cry1Ab adsorption and transport in humic acid-coated alumino-silica clays were also investigated. Cry1Ab breakthrough curves were simulated using the convection-dispersion transport models. It was discovered that the humic acid coating increased Cry1Ab deposition during the transport. Based on analysis of the breakthrough curves, adsorption isotherms of Cry1Ab in alumino-silica clays were obtained and compared with those of batch experiments. The humic acid coating changed the bonding energy between Cry1Ab and the adsorption receptor sites on alumino-silica clay surfaces, thereby changing Cry1Ab partition between the aqueous phase and the solid phase.

The objectives of this study were to determine and compare the concentrations of Hg, Cd, Pb, Zn, Cu, Ni and Se in the liver of macrourid fish as Trachyrinchus scabrus, Nezumia sclerorhynchus and Coelorhynchus coelorhynchus from the Mediterranean Sea, Italy. It was also carried out to evaluate the relationship between metal concentration and fish size and to explore selenium/mercury molar ratio. The highest concentrations were in T. scabrus, followed by N. sclerorhynchus and C. coelorhynchus. In all species, any element displayed significant correlation between metal body burden and fish size, except Hg. The mean selenium/mercury ratios were greater than one in all fish species indicating that Se antidotal effect in counteracting Hg occurred. This report represents one of the few surveys providing information on trace metal in deep-sea fish from Mediterranean Sea constituting, thus, an essential baseline work with which future levels may be compared.

Copper is an active component of some commercial algaecides and is commonly found in low concentrations in contaminated aquatic systems. Unintended consequences of algaecide application include macrophyte bioaccumulation and possible trophic level bioamplification especially by specialist herbivores. Trophic level effects of copper contamination were observed through feeding trials using the mustard beetle (Phaedon viridis). Several metals, including copper, interfere with the myrosinase enzyme system responsible for the watercress (Nasturtium officinale) allelopathic defense against herbivory. The mustard beetle is a specialist herbivore that has evolved a detection system that is stimulated by the products of the glucosinolate-myrosinase system. Because copper interferes with myrosinase enzymes, mustard beetles were expected to avoid copper-contaminated plants. While larvae exhibited a slight preference for contaminated plants, adult mustard beetles in this experiment exhibited a statistically significant preference for plants uncontaminated with copper.

In Portugal, the industrial production of phosphate fertilizers, has been dealing with a specific raw material—north African phosphate rock—with a high content of trace metals and natural radioactive elements mainly from the ²³⁸U decay series. A disabled phosphate plant located in the vicinity of the river Tejo estuary has produced phosphoric acid for several decades (1950–1989) and dumped tons of phosphogypsum (PG) on retention lagoons, formerly decanted and deposited into a stockpile. This paper deals with the assessment of radionuclides, rare earth elements (REEs) and heavy metals transfer to plants (fam. Plantaginaceae, Plantago sp.) and mosses (fam. Bryaceae, Bryum sp.) growing naturally on the PG pile. In Plantago sp., the concentration ratio (CR, plant tissue/PG) was 0.187 for ²²⁶Ra and 0.293 for ²¹⁰Pb. The translocation factor (TF, aerial parts/roots) was 0.781 for ²²⁶Ra and 0.361 for ²¹⁰Pb. In contradiction to the high CR, the leachability of ²²⁶Ra from PG was low, lower than 2%. The results confirmed the role of mosses as biomonitors. A high quantity of contaminants collected in its biomass confirmed the hypothesis of their significant transport by air and rain water. High concentrations of heavy metals (As, Cd, Zn, W) in samples collected on the stockpile are an evidence of their transport from former industrial zones in the surroundings and present even more important risk for public health and environment than natural radionuclides and REEs from the PG stockpile.

Dimethyl disulfide (DMDS) is a new soil fumigant that is considered a good alternative to methyl bromide due to its high activity toward soil-borne pests, with no ozone-depleting potential. The correlative literature for the study of DMDS and its environmental fate is limited. The hydrolysis kinetics of DMDS were studied in buffered aqueous solutions within a pH of 5, 7, and 9, temperature at 15, 25, 45, and 65 °C, and in natural water samples at an ambient temperature of 25 °C. The results showed that DMDS hydrolysis rates were accelerated by increases in pH and temperature. The calculated half-lives of DMDS hydrolysis in the solutions of pH 5, 7, and 9 were 13.91, 10.81, and 10.52 days, respectively at 25 °C, and the trend showed that DMDS hydrolyzed faster in neutral or mild alkali conditions than in acidic solutions at the same temperature. The calculated half-lives of DMDS hydrolysis in the solutions at 15, 25, 45, and 65 °C were 15.78, 10.81, 9.78, and 7.72 days at pH = 7, respectively. There existed no obvious correlations between the activation energies of DMDS hydrolysis and temperatures. However, the activation entropy absolute values of DMDS hydrolysis increased with increasing temperatures, suggesting that the hydrolysis of DMDS in aqueous solutions was driven by activation entropy. The hydrolysis rates of DMDS in natural water samples are as follows: rice paddy field water > Grand Canal water > tap water. Sterilization of three kinds of natural water samples showed that biodegradation accounted for 4.08, 21.52, and 8.82% in tap water, paddy field water, and Grand Canal water, respectively. This research result has important implications in the scientific evaluation of DMDS.

This study investigated the efficiency of rice husk carbon (RHC) for lead (Pb (II)) adsorption. The developed RHC was characterized by CHNS analyser, FTIR and FESEM. BET surface area, micropore area, micropore volume and average pore diameter of RHC were 58.54 m²/g, 14.53 m²/g, 0.007209 mL/g, and 45.46 Å, respectively. Batch adsorption experiments were conducted to assess the effect of initial pH, contact time, initial Pb (II) concentration and RHC dose on Pb (II) removal. A contact time of 120 min and a pH value of 5 were found as optimum for Pb (II) adsorption; maximum adsorption occurred at 8 g/L of RHC dose. Artificial neural network (ANN) was applied to model Pb (II) adsorption. For prediction of Pb (II) adsorption from aqueous solution by RHC, the smallest mean square error (MSE) and the largest coefficient of determination (R²) values were, respectively, obtained as 6.0053 and 0.988567 with Levenberg–Marquardt algorithm (LMA). Hence, it was selected as the best training algorithm. Traincgf and traincgp functions followed this function with a MSE of 6.1496 and 6.2967, respectively. Adsorption of Pb (II) by RHC followed pseudo-second-order kinetics. The experimental data were described well by both Langmuir and Freundlich isotherm models. Thermodynamics study revealed that Pb (II) adsorption by RHC was spontaneous and endothermic, and the system randomness increased during the whole process. Pb (II) adsorption capacity of RHC was compared with different adsorbents. As evidenced by its high adsorption capacity, RHC can be used as an effective adsorbent for Pb (II) removal from aqueous solutions and wastewaters.

Disposal and management of abattoir wastewater have been a long-term concern in a high meat-consuming country like Australia. Land-based application of wastewater is considered to be the most economically viable disposal method and is widely used by abattoirs. In this study, we assessed the effects of long-term abattoir wastewater irrigation on soil physical and chemical characteristics of calcareous soils. Soil samples were collected from 16 different locations with seven 5 cm depths intervals down to 35 cm. Soil properties including soil type, bulk density, moisture holding capacity, pH, electrical conductivity (EC), nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P), carbon (C) and micronutrients were measured. Soil characteristics were compared with non-irrigated soils. The study area receives annually about 327 ML of wastewater with high concentration of N and P (186 and 30.4 mg/L). Overall, the site retained 0.6 t N/ha, 0.1 t P/ha and 0.4 t of K per hectare. Irrigation for over a decade onto the study site has caused a significant change in the soil fertility. Soil total N was increased by 82% compared to non-irrigated. Similarly, soil total P concentration was increased more than sixfold. The overall results showed that the abattoir wastewater irrigation to soil caused very significant changes in soil nutrient levels. These changes indicate need to recapture the surplus nutrient, in particular N, to avoid potential leaching and off-site effects.

Nonlinear sorption of substituted phenols (degradation products of several pesticides) onto soils was often observed. This sorption nonlinearity at low solute concentration ranges could result in higher soil organic carbon-water distribution coefficient (K ₒc) values than those predicted by their hydrophobicity (K ₒw). In this study, nonlinear sorption characteristic of four substituted phenols (2,6-dimethylphenol, 2-chlorophenol, 2-nitrophenol, and 2,4-dichlorophenol) onto two agricultural soils was investigated. The sorption nonlinearity gradually approached apparent saturation at low solute activity ranges (e.g., a ᵢ < 0.01). At high a ᵢ ranges, linear sorption was observed. Thus, partition and adsorption of solutes were successfully evaluated by a dual-mode sorption model. The concentrations of substituted phenols in the environment are pretty low (e.g., usually lower than 1 mg/L). According to our results, nonlinear adsorption is dominant in such low concentration ranges in the environment. To predict varied log K ₒc values resulted from nonlinear adsorption, especially for low a ᵢ range, an expanded polyparameter linear free energy relationship (pp-LFER) is established: log K ₒc = [(1.829 ± 0.488) + (3.481 ± 0.462) log a ᵢ)]E+ [(− 4.307 ± 0.466) log a ᵢ]S+ [(− 0.876 ± 0.138) log a ᵢ]A+ [(− 0.086 ± 0.529) + (1.209 ± 0.218) log a ᵢ]B+ (6.280 ± 0.649)V – (6.814 ± 0.917) (E, the excess molar refraction; S, the dipolarity/polarizability parameter; A, the solute H-bond acidity; B, the solute H-bond basicity; and V, the molar volume). This model can provide a better prediction (within 0.3 log unit) than previous models. This study provides essential parameters for predicting and understanding the environmental behavior of substituted phenols in agricultural soils. Graphical Abstract ᅟ