Aircraft and pavement deicing formulations and other potential freezing point depressants were tested for biochemical oxygen demand (BOD) and chemical oxygen demand (COD). Propylene glycol-based aircraft deicers exhibited greater BOD5 than ethylene glycol-based aircraft deicers, and ethylene glycol-based products had lower degradation rates than propylene glycol-based products. Sodium formate pavement deicers had lower COD than acetate-based pavement deicers. The BOD and COD results for acetate-based pavement deicers (PDMs) were consistently lower than those for aircraft deicers, but degradation rates were greater in the acetate-based PDM than in aircraft deicers. In a 40-day testing of aircraft and pavement deicers, BOD results at 20°C (standard) were consistently greater than the results from 5°C (low) tests. The degree of difference between standard and low temperature BOD results varied among tested products. Freshwater BOD test results were not substantially different from marine water tests at 20°C, but glycols degraded slower in marine water than in fresh water for low temperature tests. Acetate-based products had greater percentage degradation than glycols at both temperatures. An additive component of the sodium formate pavement deicer exhibited toxicity to the microorganisms, so BOD testing did not work properly for this formulation. BOD testing of alternative freezing point depressants worked well for some, there was little response for some, and for others there was a lag in response while microorganisms acclimated to the freezing point depressant as a food source. Where the traditional BOD5 test performed adequately, values ranged from 251 to 1,580 g/kg. Where the modified test performed adequately, values of BOD28 ranged from 242 to 1,540 g/kg.

The paper presents results of a long-term investigations of tritium activity concentrations in precipitation and radiocesium activity concentrations in ground level air in Belgrade, Serbia. Samples were collected at three locations in Belgrade (Meteorological Station of Belgrade MS at Zeleno Brdo (ZB), Meteorological Station MS Usek (USEK), and Vinča Institute of Nuclear Sciences (VINS)). Presented data cover the period 1985–1997. Significantly higher tritium levels were measured in samples in VINS compared with off-site location, while the impact of research reactor for 137Cs was not detected. It was found that the value of the symmetrical index n is higher for VINS in case of tritium, compared to other locations, which is in accordance with the fact that the highest average monthly concentrations of tritium were obtained in the samples from the cited place. Although the highest value of index n in case of 137Cs was also obtained for VINS, average monthly concentrations of 137Cs in ground level air for this location were the lowest. The 137Cs concentration in the ground level air is described by a kinetic equation of the first order and provides a good description of the time changes in these concentrations.

Increasing environmental pollution is connected with broad applications of dyes and imperfection of dyeing technology. Decolourization of triphenylmethane brilliant green and disazo Evans blue by bacterial and fungal strains and toxicity (phyto- and zootoxicity) of degradation by-products were investigated. Influence of incubation method on dyes removal was evaluated (static, semi-static, shaken). Dead biomass was used for sorption estimation. Toxicity of treated dyes was measured to estimate possible influence on aquatic ecosystems. The zootoxicity test was done with Daphnia magna and phytotoxicity with Lemna minor. Samples were classified according to ACE 89/BE 2/D3 Final Report Commission EC. The best results of removal for all tested strains were reached in shaken samples. In opposite to fungi, bacterial strains decolourized brilliant green more effectively than Evans blue. The most effective bacterial strain was Erwinia spp. (s12) and fungal strains were Polyporus picipes (RWP17) and Pleurotus ostreatus (BWPH and MB). Decolourization of brilliant green was connected with decrease of zootoxicity (D. magna) and phytotoxicity (L. minor). Removal of Evans blue was connected with no changes in zootoxicity and decrease of phytotoxicity in most of samples.

We present in this paper a new strategy based on the use of polynomial chaos expansion (PCE) for both global sensitivity analysis and parameter optimization. To limit the number of evaluations of the direct model, we develop a simple and efficient procedure to construct a sparse PCE where only coefficients that have a significant contribution to the variance of the model are retained. Parameter estimation is performed using an adaptive procedure where the intervals of variation of the parameters are progressively reduced using information from sensitivity analysis calculated using the sparse PCE. The strategy is shown to be effective for the parameter estimation of two reactive transport problems: a synthetic reactive transport problem involving the Freundlich sorption isotherm and a field experiment of Valocchi et al. (Water Resources Research 17:1517–1527, 1981) involving nonlinear ion exchange reactions.

Field experiments were conducted to assess the influence of plant growth and amendment addition on phytostabilisation of copper (Cu), lead (Pb), manganese (Mn) and zinc (Zn) along highway soil in southwest British Columbia, Canada. The plant species tested were Lolium perenne L (perennial rye grass), Festuca rubra L. (creeping red fescue) and Poa pratensis L. (Kentucky blue grass) and the amendments, lime and phosphate. The treatment efficiencies were assessed during different seasons as a completely randomized factorial experiment in split plot design. The research tasks involved: (1) quantifying the seasonal extent of metal accumulation in soil and assessing the seasonal impact on metal speciation for different soil amendments and plant species; (2) determining seasonal accumulation differences between sampling periods in plant parts; and (3) assessing the influence of root–soil interactions on metal dynamics. The amendments decreased the exchangeable fraction and plant uptake of all four metals. The lowest mobile fractions (exchangeable and carbonate bound) were found in soils growing Festuca for Cu, Lolium for Mn and a Lolium/Poa/Festuca combination for Pb and Zn. Metal accumulation and metal dynamics in the rhizosphere soil are compared with those of the bulk soil. The final outcome was the development of a remediation strategy for all four metals involving suitable plants and amendments and incorporating seasonal and rhizosphere influences.

The characteristics (natural, socioeconomic and administrative/institutional) of Alfeios River basin, in Greece, are identified and presented, incorporating and critically reviewing all possibly found literature. The Alfeios River is a water resources system of great natural, ecological, social and economic importance for Western Greece, since it has the longest and highest flow rate watercourse in the Peloponnisos region. Moreover, the river basin was exposed in the last decades to a plethora of environmental stresses (such as hydrogeological alterations, intensively irrigated agriculture, surface and groundwater overexploitation and infrastructure developments), resulting in the degradation of its quantitative and qualitative characteristics. It is therefore necessary for the development of an integrated river basin management plan for this basin, to study and analyse the interplay between the river components and the exerted environmental stresses, taking into account the puzzle of various and conflicting water uses, including water supply, irrigation, hydropower generation, lignite thermal power production and recreation. Mitigative, preventive and control measures for the analysed environmental stresses are epigrammatically depicted. Focusing on the problematic features, the present work provides a concrete foundation for the determination and conceptualisation of management objectives and possible sustainable alternatives.

Characterization of spatial variation of heavy metals in urban soils is essential to identify pollution sources and potential risks to humans and the environment. While heavy metals concentration in soils depends also on the nature of bedrock and on abiotic and biotic factors, it can be argued that nowadays, due to increasing human activities, it is determined mainly by anthropogenic sources. We determined concentrations and spatial distribution of heavy metals, with particular focus on those potentially toxic (As, Cr, Pb, V, and Zn), in urban and peri-urban soils of Cosenza-Rende (southern Italy). One hundred forty-nine samples of topsoil (0–10 cm) were collected and analyzed for 36 elements by X-ray fluorescence spectrometry and inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS). In addition, 18 samples of rocks were collected on outcrops of whole area and analyzed by ICP-ES and ICP-MS. Geostatistical methods were used to map the concentrations of major oxides and several minor elements. Heavy metals in the analyzed samples showed a wide range of concentrations, primarily controlled by the geochemical composition of bedrock, with the notable exceptions of Cu, Pb, and Zn, whose concentrations are heavily affected by land use and anthropogenic pollution in urban areas. Geochemical analysis and spatial distribution showed that high concentrations of potentially toxic elements are found in soils near major roads, indicating that anthropogenic factors determine the anomalies in these areas.

The formation of complexes between tebuconazole (Teb) and cadmium in simplified model solutions as well as soil solutions was studied using electrospray ionization mass spectrometry. Teb and cadmium form two types of complexes with the general formulas [Cd(Teb) ₙ ]²+ (n = 1–4) and [CdI(Teb) ₘ ]+ (m = 1–3), where iodine corresponds to the counterion used. The most intense Teb/cadmium complex is [CdI(Teb)₂]+, and the most stable one is [Cd(Teb)(Teb − H)]+. Another detected complex, the dication [Cd(Teb)₄]²+, was considered as the origin complex for the iodine-free complexes and was found in a sample prepared from forest soil solution naturally contaminated with cadmium ions.

The aim of this study was to investigate the removal of both polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and heavy metals from field-contaminated sediments by activated persulfate oxidation. Various chemicals, including hydroxypropyl-β-cyclodextrin (HPCD), S,S-ethylenediaminedisuccinic acid (EDDS), tetrasodium pyrophosphate (Na₄P₂O₇), and hydrochloric acid (HCl), were applied individually before or after activated persulfate oxidation to enhance the co-removal of both types of pollutants. It was found that the organic removal efficiency was not significantly enhanced by increasing the concentration of HPCD from 2.5 to 5.0 mM. The removal efficiency of heavy metals was not improved even at an excess amount of EDDS after activated persulfate oxidation. However, the addition of EDDS acted as the Fe²+ carrier for activated persulfate oxidation. In addition, no significant enhancement of heavy metal removal was observed by increasing the concentrations of Na₄P₂O₇ and HCl from 0.01 to 0.1 M after activated persulfate oxidation. However, comparing 0.1 M HCl with 0.1 M Na₄P₂O₇, HCl was shown to be more effective in promoting the removal of organic pollutants. With further adjustments on the experimental conditions, the highest removal amount of metals and PAHs was achieved by adding 2 M of HCl with 3 days mixing, followed by Fe²+-activated persulfate oxidation (PS/Fe²+ molar ratio at 4:1) for further 6 h mixing. The removal efficiency of low and high molecular weight PAHs was about 70 and 20 %, respectively, while the removal efficiency of metals was 70, 100, 40, 65, 65, 80, and 100 % for Cr, Cu, Hg, Mn, Ni, Pb, and Zn, respectively.

The connection between nutrient input and algal blooms for inland water productivity is well known but not the spatial pattern of water nutrient loading and algae concentration. Remote sensing provides an effective tool to monitor nutrient abundances via the association with algae concentration. Twenty-one field campaigns have been conducted with samples collected under a diverse range of algal bloom conditions for three central Indiana drinking water bodies, e.g., Eagle Creek Reservoir (ECR), Geist Reservoir (GR), and Morse Reservoir (MR) in 2005, 2006, and 2008, which are strongly influenced anthropogenic activities. Total phosphorus (TP) was estimated through hyperspectral remote sensing due to its close association with chlorophyll a (Chl-a), total suspended matter, Secchi disk transparency (SDT), and turbidity. Correlation analysis was performed to determine sensitive spectral variables for TP, Chl-a, and SDT. A hybrid model combining genetic algorithms and partial least square (GA-PLS) was established for remote estimation of TP, Chl-a, and SDT with selected sensitive spectral variables. The result indicates that TP has close association with diagnostic spectral variables with R 2 ranging from 0.55 to 0.72. However, GA-PLS has better performance with an average R 2 of 0.87 for aggregated dataset. GA-PLS was applied to the airborne imaging data (AISA) to map spatial distribution of TP, Chl-a, and SDT for MR and GR. The eutrophic status was evaluated with Carlson trophic state index using TP, Chl-a, and SDT maps derived from AISA images. Mapping results indicated that most MR belongs to mesotrophic (48.6%) and eutrophic (32.7%), while the situation was more severe for GR with 57.8% belongs to eutrophic class, and more than 40% to hypereutrophic class due to the high turbidity resulting from dredging practices.