A study was carried out to determine the pathogenicity (hemolytic activity) on corals (Turbinaria sp.) and sea bass (Lates calcarifer) of Aeromonas hydrophila from water, sediment, and coral. Samples were collected from coastal water and coral reef areas. One hundred and sixty-two isolates were successfully isolated. Out of 162, 95 were from seawater, 49 from sediment, and 18 from coral. Sixteen isolates were picked and identified. Isolates were identified using a conventional biochemical test, the API 20NE kit, and 16S rRNA nucleotide sequences. Hemolytic activity was determined. Out of 16 isolates, 14 isolates were β-hemolytic and two isolates were non-hemolytic. Corals infected with A. hydrophila suffered bleaching. Similar effect was observed for both hemolytic and non-hemolytic isolates. Intramuscular injection of A. hydrophila into sea bass resulted in muscular bleeding and death. Higher infection rates were obtained from hemolytic compared to non-hemolytic strains of A. hydrophila isolates.

To conserve water resources and guarantee food security, a new technology termed as “wet irrigation” is developed and practiced in rice fields; thus, its impact on radiative forcing derived from nitrous oxide (N₂O) and methane (CH₄) emissions merits serious attention. Dicyandiamide (DCD), a kind of nitrification inhibitor, is proposed as a viable means to mitigate greenhouse gas (GHG) emission while enhancing crop productivity. However, little is known about the response of GHG emission and grain yield to DCD application in a rice system under wet irrigation. In these regard, effects of water regime and DCD application on CH₄ and N₂O emissions, grain yield, global warming potential (GWP), and greenhouse gas intensity (GHGI) from rice fields were studied. For this study, a field experiment, designed: Treatment II (intermittent irrigation), Treatment WI (wet irrigation), Treatment IID (II plus DCD), and Treatment WID (WI plus DCD), was conducted in Jurong, Jiangsu Province, China, from 2011 to 2012. Relative to Treatment II, Treatment WI decreased CH₄ emission significantly by 49–71 % while increasing N₂O emission by 33–72 %. By integrating CH₄ and N₂O emissions and grain yield, Treatment WI was 20–28 and 11–15 % lower than Treatment II in GWP and GHGI, respectively. The use of DCD under wet irrigation reduced N₂O emission significantly by 25–38 % (p < 0.05) and CH₄ emission by 7–8 %, relative to Treatment WI, resulting in a decline of 18–30 % in GWP. Due to the increase in N use efficiency, maximal grain yield (6–7 %) and minimal GHGI (22–34 %) was observed in Treatment WID. These findings indicate that combined application of N fertilizer and DCD is a win-win strategy in water-saving high-yield rice production with less GHG emission.

Groundwater studies often involve using any one of geophysical, geological, geochemical, or chemical data in the assessment of its characteristics. An integrated method in using all the above had been carried out for more comprehensive and confirmative assessments along the Thandava River basin, India. The geophysical data included the recording of the vertical electrical soundings by Schlumberger array configuration in 50 stations along the basin. Thirty soil samples and rainfall data of 5 years included the geological data. Chemical characterizations for 117 groundwater water samples were carried for two seasons. This study proposes the advantages besides delineating the approach in carrying integrated rather than mere single parameter-based speculative study. This correlative and computer modeling aided study led to an in-depth along with confirmative assessments on various geological, geophysical, and chemical characteristics of the groundwater along with the pollution status. Comprehensive details of groundwater like geomorphology, potential water zones, flow pattern, soil types, geochemical evolution of ions, chemical status, and suitability can be accessed by applying this type of integrated study. Graphical Abstract ᅟ

Controlling water and air pollution by photocatalysts is an advanced technique and has aroused great interest. TiO₂/hydroxyapatite (HAP) composites were successfully prepared via a one-step hydrothermal route that add a certain weight of tetrabutyl titanate to a mixed solution of Ca(NO₃)₂ and (NH₄)₂HPO₄, and then put into a Teflon-lined autoclave for hydrothermal reaction. The surface morphology, chemical composition, crystalline structure, and optical property of the TiO₂/HAP composites were characterized. The field emission-scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM) observed the cube-like structure of crystal with the size of 10–20 μm. Energy dispersive X-ray spectrometry (EDS) and X-ray diffraction (XRD) demonstrated that Ti ₓ Ca₅₋ₓ (PO₄)₃(OH) was a unit of the crystal. UV–visible diffuse reflectance spectra show that the optical absorbance edge appeared at long wavelength (∼400 nm). Both higher temperature and longer time could contribute to the complete crystallization. Photocatalytic activity was evaluated by the degradation of rhodamine B (RhB) under visible light irradiation and found that the TiO₂/HAP composites exhibited excellent photocatalytic activity. Therefore, these TiO₂/HAP composites were expected to become one of advanced materials removing dyes from water.

Stormwater filtration system has proven to be effective for the removal of dissolved and particulate pollutants from roadways and car parking areas. However, the long-term treatment performance of filtration systems strongly depends on the hydraulic conductivity and sorption capacity of the filter media. This paper sought to provide information regarding the hydraulic performance, characteristics and metal concentration profiles in sediments accumulated at the surface of filtration systems (SDPL) and core filter media (FMC). The lifespan of the filter media was used to estimate the lifespan of the filter media. The results showed that saturated hydraulic conductivity of the filtration systems have significantly reduced over the operational time, yet acceptable (Kf = 5.9 × 10⁻⁵ to 1.4 × 10⁻⁴ m/s). The accumulated sediments (SDPL) were predominantly composed of fine particles with 70 % < 63 μm but the heavy metals were rather uniformly distributed in the different size fractions. The concentrations of heavy metals, particularly Cu, Pb and Zn were significantly higher in the SDPL and decreased with depth of the filter bed. However, Cr and Ni increased with depth of filter media demonstrating their removal was mainly by adsorption. Concentrations of Ba, Mn, Ti and V were comparable to Zn levels indicating comparable concentrations in roadway runoff. Simultaneous adsorption of multiple heavy metals in a column experiment demonstrated that the filter media could remain operational for over 34 years. However, there is a significant concern about their lifespan, particularly due to significant reduction in the hydraulic performance and the possibility of clogging of the systems over time. Therefore, to minimize hydraulic failure, the accumulated sediment be scraped off every 7 years.

Present technologies for wastewater treatment do not sufficiently address the increasing pollution situation of receiving water bodies, especially with the growing use of personal care products and pharmaceuticals (PPCP) in the private household and health sector. The relevance of addressing this problem of organic pollutants was taken into account by the Directive 2013/39/EU that introduced (i) the quality evaluation of aquatic compartments, (ii) the polluter pays principle, (iii) the need for innovative and affordable wastewater treatment technologies, and (iv) the identification of pollution causes including a list of principal compounds to be monitored. In addition, a watch list of 10 other substances was recently defined by Decision 2015/495 on March 20, 2015. This list contains, among several recalcitrant chemicals, the painkiller diclofenac and the hormones 17β-estradiol and 17α-ethinylestradiol. Although some modern approaches for their removal exist, such as advanced oxidation processes (AOPs), retrofitting most wastewater treatment plants with AOPs will not be acceptable as consistent investment at reasonable operational cost. Additionally, by-product and transformation product formation has to be considered. The same is true for membrane-based technologies (nanofiltration, reversed osmosis) despite of the incredible progress that has been made during recent years, because these systems lead to higher operation costs (mainly due to higher energy consumption) so that the majority of communities will not easily accept them. Advanced technologies in wastewater treatment like membrane bioreactors (MBR) that integrate biological degradation of organic matter with membrane filtration have proven a more complete elimination of emerging pollutants in a rather cost- and labor-intensive technology. Still, most of the presently applied methods are incapable of removing critical compounds completely. In this opinion paper, the state of the art of European WWTPs is reflected, and capacities of single methods are described. Furthermore, the need for analytical standards, risk assessment, and economic planning is stressed. The survey results in the conclusion that combinations of different conventional and advanced technologies including biological and plant-based strategies seem to be most promising to solve the burning problem of polluting our environment with hazardous emerging xenobiotics.

Crisis Management of Chronic Pollution: Contaminated Soil and Human Health deals with a long term pollution problem, generated by the former use of organochlorine pesticides. Through a case study of the chlordecone pollution in the French West Indies, the authors illustrate a global and systemic mobilization of research institutions and public services. This "management model", together with its major results, the approach and lessons to be learned, could be useful to other situations. This book gathers all the works that have been carried out over the last ten years or more and links them to decision makers' actions and stakeholders' expectations. This reference fills a gap in the literature on chronic pollution. (Résumé d'auteur)

Antibiotic ciprofloxacin is ubiquitous in the environment. However, little is known about ciprofloxacin dissipation by microbial community. The present study investigated the biodegradation potential of ciprofloxacin by mixed culture and the influential factors and depicted the structure of ciprofloxacin-degrading microbial community. Both the original microbiota from drinking water biofilter and the microbiota previously acclimated to high levels of ciprofloxacin could utilize ciprofloxacin as sole carbon and nitrogen sources, while the acclimated microbiota had a much stronger removal capacity. Temperature rise and the presence of carbon or nitrogen sources favored ciprofloxacin biodegradation. Many novel biotransformation products were identified, and four different metabolic pathways for ciprofloxacin were proposed. Bacterial community structure illustrated a profound shift with ciprofloxacin biodegradation. The ciprofloxacin-degrading bacterial community was mainly composed of classes Gammaproteobacteria, Bacteroidia, and Betaproteobacteria. Microorganisms from genera Pseudoxanthomonas, Stenotrophomonas, Phenylobacterium, and Leucobacter might have links with the dissipation of ciprofloxacin. This work can provide some new insights towards ciprofloxacin biodegradation.

Humic acids were divided into several fractions using buffer solutions as extraction agents with different pH values. Two methods of fractionation were used. The first one was subsequent dissolution of bulk humic acids in buffers adjusted to different pH. The second one was sequential dissolution in buffers with increasing pH values. Experimental data were compared with hypothesis of partial solubility of humic acids in aqueous solutions. Behaviour of humic fractions obtained by sequential dissolution, original bulk sample and residual fractions obtained by subsequent dissolution at pH 10 and 12 agrees with the hypothesis. Results demonstrated that regardless the common mechanism, solubility and dissociation degree of various humic fractions may be very different and can be estimated using parameters of the model based on the proposed mechanism. Presented results suggest that dissolving of solid humic acids in water environment is more complex than conventional solubility behaviour of sparingly soluble solids.