The purpose of this study is to evaluate the capability of Secale montanum trusted for phytoremediation of contaminated soils with lead (Pb) and cadmium (Cd). To conduct this study, soil samples were taken from contaminated rangelands soils around National Lead & Zinc Factory, Zanjan, Iran. In this study, which was performed in a greenhouse, after preparing the pot and treating soils with nano-silica (NS) and municipal solid waste compost (MSWC) amendments, 20 Secale seeds were cultured in each pot. The translocation factor (TF), the bio-concentration factor (BCF), and remediation factor (RF) were calculated to determine the phytoremediation capability of Secale. Six months after establishment, plant organs were harvested and Pb and Cd concentrations were measured in shoot and roots of Secale. For statistical analysis and to compare the obtained means, ANOVA and Tukey’s tests were performed, respectively. The pot experiment results showed that Pb uptake and accumulation by roots of S. montanum were highest in pots amended with NS500. In comparison, Pb concentration in shoots of Secale was highest in pots amended with MSWC 2%. In general, it seems that NS500 and MSWC 2% help phytoremediation capability of Secale in the Pb-contaminated soils.

Grapevine (Vitis vinifera L.) intercropping with floricultural cadmium (Cd) accumulator plants (Helianthus annuus L., Cosmos sulphureus Cav., Cosmos bipinnata Cav., and Impatiens balsamina L.) in Cd-contaminated soils (5 mg/kg) was conducted in pot experiment to screen the floricultural Cd-accumulator plants that can effectively reduce Cd uptake in grapevine. Intercropping with H. annuus, C. sulphureus, and I. balsamina decreased the biomass of grape plants compared with that of the grape monoculture, whereas intercropping with C. bipinnata did not show differences in grape plant biomass both as compared to monoculture in Cd-contaminated soils and to control plants, grown in the same soil without Cd spiking. The superoxide dismutase and catalase activities, as well as soluble protein content, were increased by intercropping with C. bipinnata compared with the grape monoculture, but were decreased by the other intercropping treatments. In general, intercropping with the four floricultural Cd-accumulator plants decreased the Cd content in grape plants compared with the monoculture, and the Cd content in grapevine for the different treatments was as follows: monoculture > intercropped with I. balsamina > intercropped with C. bipinnata > intercropped with H. annuus > intercropped with C. sulphureus. As for the amount of Cd accumulated by shoots of the floricultural plants, the ranking was as follows: I. balsamina > C. sulphureus > H. annuus > C. bipinnata. Therefore, intercropping with floricultural Cd-accumulator plants could effectively decrease Cd accumulation in grape plants, and intercropping with C. sulphureus gave the best results in this study.

Cu(II) adsorption in continuous column using green adsorbents like peanut and almond shell was investigated. Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy, Brunaer-Emmett-Teller (BET) analysis, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and Point of Zero charge (pHₚzc) determination have been used for characterization of the adsorbents. Experiments were conducted at various operating conditions to calculate the adsorption capacity of the adsorbents. Adsorption studies signify that both the adsorbents have good adsorptive capacity for Cu(II) ion. Equilibrium of adsorption was described using Langmuir isotherm and the highest qₘₐₓ value for both the adsorbent were obtained at an operating condition of 20 ml/min flow rate, 15 mg/L influent Cu(II) concentration, and 7 cm bed depth. Regeneration of both the adsorbents suggests that these adsorbents can be used several times for Cu(II) removal. Seven different kinetic models were tested among which the modified dose response model was fitted well for peanut shell and the Thomas model was fitted well for almond shell. These fitted models were further used for scale-up design. Regeneration studies show that peanut shell and almond shell are useful up to the fifth adsorption cycle. Application of these adsorbents with industrial effluent was also reported. This study reveals that peanut and almond shells can be used for Cu(II) removal for industrial wastewater.

Insecticidal applications may result to morphological deformations upon exposed insects or their offspring production. In the present study, we tested whether pirimiphos-methyl can induce deformities to wings of progeny production of the invasive khapra beetle, Trogoderma granarium (Coleoptera: Dermestidae) when its parental female adults have been treated with this organophosphorus active ingredient. For that purpose, we analysed both elytra and hindwings of both sexes of T. granarium progeny production by using the geometric morphometrics method. Our results showed that the wings of progeny of the pirimiphos-methyl-treated T. granarium parental female adult individuals suffered certain changes in their usual shape depending on size. Deformations occurred on both pairs of wings, but changes were more noticeable on the hindwings. A longer than 5-h exposure of parental female adults to pirimiphos-methyl, resulted in progeny with more deformed wings than in those individuals emerged after the exposure of their parental female adults in shorter periods on the toxicant. Generally, wings of both sexes were sensitive to pirimiphos-methyl, distinguishing the control group from the insecticidal treatments. The existence of deformed adults could be a useful indicator of earlier insecticidal applications as surface treatments and/or grain protectants in the storage facilities.

A comprehensive approach has been developed to the assessment of composition and properties of atmospherically deposited dust in the area affected by a copper smelter. The approach is based on the analysis of initial dust samples, dynamic leaching of water soluble fractions in a rotating coiled column (RCC) followed by the determination of recovered elements and characterization of size, morphology and elemental composition of nano-, submicron, and micron par ticles of dust separated using field-flow fractionation in a RCC. Three separated size fractions of dust (<0.2, 0.2–2, and >2 μm) were characterized by static light scattering and scanning electron microscopy, whereupon the fractions were analyzed by ICP-AES and ICP-MS (after digestion). It has been evaluated that toxic elements, which are characteristics for copper smelter emissions (As, Cu, Zn), are accumulated in fraction >2 μm. At the same time, up to 2.4, 3.1, 8.2, 6.7 g/kg of As, Cu, Zn, Pb, correspondently, were found in nanoparticles (<0.2 μm). It has been also shown that some trace elements (Sn, Sb, Ag, Bi, and Tl) are accumulated in fraction <0.2, and their content in this fraction may be one order of magnitude higher than that in the fraction >2 μm, or the bulk sample. It may be assumed that Sn, Sb, Ag, Bi, Tl compounds are adsorbed onto the finest dust particles as compared to As, Cu, Zn compounds, which are directly emitted from the copper smelter as microparticles.

The present paper reports the heavy metal uptake by water lettuce (Pistia stratiotes L.) from paper mill effluent (PME) with its prediction modeling studies. Lab scale phytoremediation experiments were performed in glass aquariums to grow P. stratiotes in 0% (bore well water as a control), 25%, 50%, 75%, and 100% concentrations of PME. The influence of pH and heavy metal concentration in PME for the effective uptake and accumulation of heavy metal contents (∆Y: mg/kg) in plant tissues was modeled using two-factor multiple linear regression. The results showed that the selected input variables were supportive to develop prediction models with higher linear regression (R² > 0.72), high model efficiency (ME: 0.92–0.99), low mean average normalizing error (MANE < 0.02), and statistically significant F > Prob values. Kruskal-Wallis one-way post hoc test indicated that the contents of Cd, Cu, Fe, Pb, and Zn in the roots, leaves, and whole plant were affected by PME concentration while the contents of Mn did not. The correlation studies showed that the bioaccumulation of heavy metals was found both element and PME concentration specific. This work represents an effective method to model heavy metal uptake by P. stratiotes from PME. Furthermore, this methodology can also be adopted for predicting effective metal uptake by plant species being used for the phytoremediation of heavy metals from industrial effluents.

In response to the shortage of water resources, multiple processes have been applied to turn wastewater secondary effluent (SE) into potable water. However, trace organic contaminants (TOrCs) and high concentrations of organic matter contained in SE pose a significant challenge to the reclamation. In this manuscript, combined UV-based and biofilm processes were used to treat the SE spiked with ibuprofen (IBU) and clofibric acid (CA). The efficiency of these sequential treatments was characterized in terms of changes in dissolved organic carbon (DOC), absorbance at 254 nm (A₂₅₄), fluorescence excitation-emission matrix (FEEM), the concentration of IBU and CA, and molecular weight of SE. Parallel factor (PARAFAC) was applied as the analysis method for FEEM of the samples and two fluorescent components were successfully identified: humic-like substances (C1) and protein-like matter (C2). Large reductions in A₂₅₄, C1, C2, IBU, and CA were observed during the UV-based processes, especially with the addition of H₂O₂. Nearly 50% of A₂₅₄, 80% of the component C1 were decreased and almost complete removal of the component C2 and TOrCs was achieved by UV/2.0 mM H₂O₂ after 90-min treatment. During the oxidation processes, the formation of lower molecular weight (LMW) compounds was detected, and the biodegradability of the organic matters was greatly increased. Although no significant DOC reduction was obtained in UV-based processes, an obvious further DOC reduction (30~60%) was achieved by biofilm treatment following UV-based processes, especially after UV/H₂O₂ treatments. In the meantime, large amounts of LMW were removed in the biofilm treatment process. This manuscript provides an effective advanced treatment of SE for the removal of DOC and TOrCs, facilitating the wastewater reclamation.

An experimental study was carried out using in pilot-scale constructed wetland systems, operated in parallel to treat raw sewage. Each system consisted of a vertical flow (VF) unit that was filled with biochar as the main media, followed by a horizontal flow (HF) unit filled with crushed cement mortar. Hydraulic loading (HL) ranged 340–680 mm/day was applied on the VF wetland units, where high total nitrogen (TN) mass removal rate (20–23 g N/m² d) was obtained, demonstrating that biochar media had a beneficial effect on the degradation of nitrogenous pollutants. Total phosphorus (TP) removal percentage (concentration based) was ≥ 86% in HF wetlands packed with mortar materials. In one system, the flow direction of the sewage was directed by the deployment of downflow pipes and vertical baffles, aiming to facilitate the formation of aerobic and anaerobic zones in the wetland matrices. The effects of such arrangement were analyzed by comparing pollutant removal efficiencies in the two systems. On average, 99, 96, 93, and 86 percentage removals were obtained for ammonia (NH₄-N), TN, biochemical oxygen demand (BOD), and TP, respectively, during the experiments. Biochar and crushed mortar proved to be a highly effective combination as media in subsurface flow constructed wetlands for wastewater treatment.

The consumption of psychoactive pharmaceuticals has increased worldwide, and wastewater treatment plants are not able to eliminate them from the effluent. An extensive review was carried out to assess the environmental risk (ERA model) based on secondary data about potential impacts on non-target organisms of seven psychoactive drugs consumed worldwide (alprazolam, bromazepam, citalopram, clonazepam, diazepam, lorazepam, and oxazepam). Risk quotients (RQs) were calculated according to the European Medicines Agency (EMA) on ERA of Medicinal Products For Human Use based on (i) the predicted and measured environmental concentrations (PEC and MEC, respectively) of the psychoactive drug in surface water, groundwater, and wastewater effluent and (ii) the predicted no-effect concentration (PNEC) derived from ecotoxicological assays or ECOSAR software. Furthermore, this study reviews and discusses non-standardized ecotoxicity assays, such as sublethal and behavioral effects on different organisms. In total, 903 MEC entries of psychoactive drugs and 162 data on ecotoxicological assays were gathered from the literature survey addressing behavioral effects (115), acute/chronic effects (35), and sublethal effects (12). Citalopram and diazepam were the only substances that are likely to pose an environmental risk (RQ > 1) to surface waters. Even though there is considerable amount of data on behavioral effects of psychoactive drugs to aquatic species, results are currently not integrated into the EMA risk assessment framework. The large amount of data on psychoactive drug concentrations and effects on non-target organisms collected, interpreted, and discussed in the present study should be used as a baseline for future improvement of ERA strategies.