Two strains capable of degrading cyclohexane were isolated from the soil and sludge of the wastewater treatment plant of the University of Stuttgart and a biotrickling filter system. The strains were classified as gram negative and identified as Acidovorax sp. CHX100 and Chelatococcus sp. CHX1100. Both strains have demonstrated the capability to degrade cycloalkanes (C5–C8), while only strain CHX1100 used as well short linear n-alkanes (C5–C8) as the sole source of carbon and energy. The growth of Acidovorax sp. CHX100 using cyclohexane was much faster compared to Chelatococcus sp. CHX1100. Degenerated primers were optimized from a set sequences of cyclohexanol dehydrogenase genes (chnA) as well as cyclohexanone monooxygenases (chnB) and used to amplify the gene cluster, which encodes the conversion of cyclohexanol to caprolactone. Phylogenetic analysis has indicated that the two gene clusters belong to different groups. The cyclohexane monooxygenase-induced activity which oxidizes also indole to 5-hydroxyindole has indicated the presence of a CYP-type system monooxygenase involved in the transformation of cyclohexane to cyclohexanol.

Four bacterial strains isolated from hydrocarbon-contaminated soils in Lagos, Nigeria, displayed extensive degradation abilities on carbazole, an N-heterocyclic aromatic hydrocarbon. Physicochemical analyses of the sampling sites (ACPP, MWO, NESU) indicate gross pollution of the soils with a high hydrocarbon content (157,067.9 mg/kg) and presence of heavy metals. Phylogenetic analysis of the four strains indicated that they were identified as Achromobacter sp. strain SL1, Pseudomonas sp. strain SL4, Microbacterium esteraromaticum strain SL6, and Stenotrophomonas maltophilia strain BA. The rates of degradation of carbazole by the four isolates during 30 days of incubation were 0.057, 0.062, 0.036, and 0.050 mg L⁻¹ h⁻¹for strains SL1, SL4, SL6, and BA. Gas chromatographic (GC) analyses of residual carbazole after 30 days of incubation revealed that 81.3, 85, 64.4, and 76 % of 50 mg l⁻¹carbazole were degraded by strains SL1, SL4, SL6, and BA, respectively. GC-mass spectrometry and high-performance liquid chromatographic analyses of the extracts from the growing and resting cells of strains SL1, SL4, and SL6 cultured on carbazole showed detection of anthranilic acid and catechol while these metabolites were not detected in strain BAunder the same conditions. This study has established for the first time carbazole angular dioxygenation and mineralization by isolates from African environment.

The objective of the study is to empirically examine the air pollution, greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and low birth weight in Pakistan through the cointegration and error correction model over a 36-year time period, i.e., between 1975 and 2012. The study employed the Johansen cointegration technique to estimate the long-run relationship between the variables, while an error correction model was used to determine the short-run dynamics of the system. The study was limited to the following variables, including carbon dioxide emissions, methane emissions, nitrous oxide emissions, GHG emissions, and low birth weight in order to manage robust data analysis. The results reveal that air pollution and GHG emissions significantly affects the low birth weight in Pakistan. In the long run, carbon dioxide emissions act as a strong contributor for low birth weight, as the coefficient value indicates there is a more elastic relationship (i.e., −1.214, p < 0.000) between them, whereas in the short run, this results has been evaporated. Subsequently, in the short run, GHG emissions have a one-to-one corresponding relationship with the low birth weight in Pakistan. Nitrous oxide emissions, both in the short and long run, have a significant and less elastic relationship (i.e., −0.517 with p < 0.001 and −0.335 with p < 0.090). Methane emissions have no significant relationship with the low birth weight in Pakistan.

A large number of filter materials, organic and inorganic, for removal of heavy metals in mine drainage have been reviewed. Bark, chitin, chitosan, commercial ion exchangers, dairy manure compost, lignite, peat, rice husks, vegetal compost, and yeast are examples of organic materials, while bio-carbons, calcareous shale, dolomite, fly ash, limestone, olivine, steel slag materials and zeolites are examples of inorganic materials. The majority of these filter materials have been investigated in laboratory studies, based on various experimental set-ups (batch and/or column tests) and different conditions. A few materials, for instance steel slag materials, have also been subjects to field investigations under real-life conditions. The results from these investigations show that steel slag materials have the potential to remove heavy metals under different conditions. Ion exchange has been suggested as the major metal removal mechanisms not only for steel slag but also for lignite. Other suggested removal mechanisms have also been identified. Adsorption has been suggested important for activated carbon, precipitation for chitosan and sulphate reduction for olivine. General findings indicate that the results with regard to metal removal vary due to experimental set ups, composition of mine drainage and properties of filter materials and the discrepancies between studies renders normalisation of data difficult. However, the literature reveals that Fe, Zn, Pb, Hg and Al are removed to a large extent. Further investigations, especially under real-life conditions, are however necessary in order to find suitable filter materials for treatment of mine drainage.

The present study used an eco-ditch system that employed Eichhornia crassipes, Bacillus subtilis, and Bellamya aeruginosa (E–B–B) during the summer and fall (high temperature) seasons and a second eco-ditch system that employed Elodea nuttallii, a compound microbial preparation called “EM bacteria”, and Hypophthalmichthys molitrix (E–E–H) during the winter and spring (low temperature) seasons successively to purify the discharged wastewater produced by Chinese soft-shelled turtle greenhouse cultivation. The wastewater was sampled, and the dynamic changes in the major nutrient pollutant indicators over several months were analysed. After the E–B–B and E–E–H eco-ditch purification systems were operated for nearly 140 days each, the following results were observed: the total nitrogen (TN) removal rates in the wastewater were 75 % and 69 %, respectively; the total phosphorus (TP) removal rates were 82 % and 86 %, respectively; the NH₄⁺-N removal rates were 91 % and 75 %, respectively; the chemical oxygen demand (CODcr) decreased 54 % and 44 %, respectively; the dissolved oxygen (DO) contents increased nearly 3 to 4 times; and the wastewater was maintained at neutral or alkaline pH values. The wastewater physical traits gradually changed from being yellow, brown, and muddy to being pale yellow, slightly turbid, and odourless. Both eco-ditch systems were observed to have a relatively favourable effect on the purification of Chinese soft-shelled turtle aquaculture wastewater. The continuous use of both eco-ditch systems could result in a year-round purification effect on Chinese soft-shelled turtle greenhouse aquaculture wastewater; therefore, this method has good prospects for promotion and application.

Bioaccumulation of perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS) in a restricted terrestrial food chain was investigated with the omnivorous wood mouse (Apodemus sylvaticus) on top of the studied food chain. The levels detected are very high compared with literature as a result of the presence of fluorochemical plant in the immediate vicinity of the study area. Soil, surface water, fruits of European elder and common blackberry, invertebrates, bank vole and wood mouse were collected at two sites, e.g. Blokkersdijk, adjacent to the fluorochemical plant, and Galgenweel, a reference site 2 km further away. In wood mouse, the highest PFOS concentrations were found in the liver followed by the pancreas, lungs and kidneys, with the spleen having the lowest levels. In the liver, the concentrations ranged from 787 to 22,355 ng/g ww at Blokkersdijk and these were significantly correlated with those detected in the kidneys (13.7–4,226 ng/g ww). If current results are compared to the findings of a previous study conducted in 2002 at the same sites, a significant decrease of PFOS in livers of wood mouse is observed. To the best of our knowledge, so far no studies reported levels of PFOS in terrestrial invertebrates under field conditions. At Blokkersdijk, PFOS was detected in all invertebrate species ranging from 28 to 9,000 ng/g. Soil and water were also contaminated with levels of respectively 68 ng/g and 22 ng/L. Biota-to-soil accumulation factors ranged from 0.11 to 68 for earthworms. Biomagnification factors (BMFs) of liver wood mouse/berries were as high as 302. BMFs for invertebrates were remarkably lower (up to 2).

Economic adsorbents in bead form were fabricated and utilised for the adsorption of Al³⁺from aqueous solutions. Polyacrylonitrile (PAN) beads, PAN powder and the thermally treated PAN beads (250 °C/48 h/Ar and 600 °C/48 h/Ar-H₂) were characterised using different techniques including Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction, specific surface analysis (Brunauer–Emmett–Teller), thermogravimetric analysis as well as scanning electron microscopy. Effects of pH, contact time, kinetics and adsorption isotherms at different temperatures were investigated in batch mode experiments. Aluminium kinetic data best fit the Lagergren pseudo-second-order adsorption model indicating a one-step, surface-only, adsorption process with chemisorption being the rate limiting step. Equilibrium adsorption data followed a Langmuir adsorption model with fairly low monolayer adsorption capacities suitable for freshwater clean-up only. Various constants including thermodynamic constants were evaluated from the experimental results obtained at 20, 40 and 60 °C. Positive values of ΔH° indicated that the adsorption of Al³⁺onto all three adsorbents was endothermic with less energy input required for PAN powder compared to PAN beads and low-temperature thermally treated PAN. Negative ΔG° values indicated that the aluminium adsorption process was spontaneous for all adsorbents examined.

Biodegradable chelating agents ([S,S]-ethylenediamine-N,N-disuccinic acid (EDDS) and glutamic-N,N-diacetic acid (GLDA)) and natural humic substances (lignite-derived, standard, and commercially available humic acids) are potentially useful for enhancing soil remediation of timber treatment sites. This study integrated macroscopic and spectroscopic analyses to assess their influence on the distribution and chemical speciation of the remaining metals as well as their interaction with the soil surface after 48-h washing of a field-contaminated soil. The results demonstrated that EDDS and GLDA were an appealing alternative to non-biodegradable ethylenediamine-tetraacetic acid, but the three humic substances were less effective. As shown by sequential extractions, Cu was primarily extracted from the carbonate fraction while Cr and As extraction resulted from (co-)dissolution of the oxide fraction. As a result, the relative proportion of strongly bound organic matter and residual fractions increased by 7–16 %. However, it was noteworthy that the exchangeable fraction also increased by 5–11 %, signifying that a portion of the remaining metals was destabilized by chelating agents and transformed to be more labile in the treated soil. The X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy spectra confirmed the substantial removal of readily accessible Cu from the soil surface, but Cr maintained its original chemical forms of trivalent chromium oxides and iron–chromium coprecipitates, whereas As remained as arsenic trioxide/pentoxide and copper arsenate precipitates. On the other hand, the absence of characteristic peaks of adsorbed carboxylate groups in the Fourier-transform infrared (FTIR) spectra inferred that the extent of adsorption of chelating agents and humic substances on the bulk soil was insufficient to be characterized by FTIR analysis. These results suggested that attention should be paid to the exchangeable fraction of Cu and oxides/coprecipitates of As prior to possible on-site reuse of the treated soil.