This paper deals with the photolytic and the photocatalytic degradation of sulfonamide antibiotic sulfamethazine (SMT) dissolved in Milli-Q water and in synthetic wastewater. Besides the direct photolysis, oxidation processes including UV/H₂O₂, UV/TiO₂, and UV/TiO₂/H₂O₂ using UV-A and UV-C radiation were investigated. Pseudo-first-order kinetics was observed for the degradation of SMT in all investigated processes. Additions of an electron acceptor (H₂O₂) and a catalyst (TiO₂ film) accelerated the photolytic degradation of SMT for both the UV-A- and the UV-C-based processes. The most efficient process was UV-C/TiO₂/H₂O₂ with complete degradation of SMT obtained in 10 min. The UV-A-based processes have been less efficient in terms of irradiation time required to totally degrade SMT than the UV-C-based processes. It was also confirmed that different wastewater components can significantly reduce the degradation rate of SMT. An almost ninefold reduction in the rate constant of SMT was observed for the specific synthetic wastewater. Although UV-A radiation experiments need more time and energy (2.7 times more electrical energy was consumed per gram of demineralized SMT) than UV-C experiments, they have a potential for practical use since natural UV-A solar radiation could be used here, which lowers the overall cost of the treatment. Five degradation products were detected during the degradation processes, and their structural formulae are presented. The structural formulae were elucidated based on mass spectra fragmentation pattern obtained using the tandem mass spectrometry (MS/MS) and NMR analysis.

Population growth and world climate changes are putting high pressure on agri-food production systems. Exacerbating use of energy sources and expanding the environmental damaging symptoms are the results of these difficult situations. This study was conducted to determine the energy balance for saffron production cycle and investigate the corresponding greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in Iran. Saffron (Crocus sativus L.) is one of the main spice that historically cultivated in Iran. Data were obtained from 127 randomly selected saffron growers using a face to face questionnaire technique. The results revealed that in 5 years of saffron production cycle, the overall input and output energy use were to be 163,912.09 and 184,868.28 MJ ha⁻¹, respectively. The highest-level of energy consumption belongs to seeds (23.7 %) followed by chemical fertilizers (23.4 %). Energy use efficiency, specific energy, net energy, and energy productivity of saffron production were 1.1, 13.4 MJ kg⁻¹, 20,956.2 MJ ha⁻¹, and 0.1 kg MJ⁻¹, respectively. The result shows that the cultivation of saffron emits 2325.5 kg CO₂ eq. ha⁻¹ greenhouse gas, in which around 46.5 % belonged to electricity followed by chemical fertilizers. In addition the Cobb-Douglas production function was applied into EViews 7 software to define the functional relationship. The results of econometric model estimation showed that the impact of human labor, electricity, and water for irrigation on stigma, human labor, electricity, and seed on corm and also human labor and farmyard manure (FYM) on flower and leaf yield were found to be statistically significant. Sensitivity analysis results of the energy inputs demonstrated that the marginal physical productivity (MPP) worth of electricity energy was the highest for saffron stigma and corm, although saffron flower and leaf had more sensitivity on chemicals energy inputs. Moreover, MPP values of renewable and indirect energies were higher than non-renewable and direct energies, respectively.

Heavy metals released into the water bodies and on land surfaces by industries are highly toxic and carcinogenic in nature. These heavy metals create serious threats to all the flora and fauna due to their bioaccumulatory and biomagnifying nature at various levels of food chain. Existing conventional technologies for heavy metal removal are witnessing a downfall due to high operational cost and generation of huge quantity of chemical sludge. Adsorption by various adsorbents appears to be a potential alternative of conventional technologies. Its low cost, high efficiency, and possibility of adsorbent regeneration for reuse and recovery of metal ions for various purposes have allured the scientists to work on this technique. The present review compiles the exhaustive information available on the utilization of bacteria, algae, fungi, endophytes, aquatic plants, and agrowastes as source of adsorbent in adsorption process for removal of heavy metals from aquatic medium. During the last few years, a lot of work has been conducted on development of adsorbents after modification with various chemical and physical techniques. Adsorption of heavy metal ions is a complex process affected by operating conditions. As evident from the literature, Langmuir and Freundlich are the most widely used isotherm models, while pseudo first and second order are popularly studied kinetic models. Further, more researches are required in continuous column system and its practical application in wastewater treatment.

Although it is known that the first As hyperaccumulator identified, Pteris vittata L., could exist in As-contaminated as well as uncontaminated soils, intra-specific variation in As accumulation among metallicolous (from As-contaminated soils) and nonmetallicolous populations (from uncontaminated soils) of P. vittata has not been fully explored. Variations in As concentrations of fronds were observed in three nonmetallicolous populations and four metallicolous populations of P. vittata collected from southeast China. The kinetics study showed that the concentration-dependent influx of arsenate and arsenite observed followed Michaelis–Menten kinetics, and that the average V ₘₐₓ for arsenate and arsenite was apparently larger in the three nonmetallicolous populations than that in the three metallicolous populations. The pot trials indicated that the nonmetallicolous populations had significantly (p < 0.05) higher frond biomass, about 1.5–1.9-folds, when compared with the metallicolous populations in 250 and 500 mg As kg⁻¹ soil treatments. The pot trials also demonstrated that the nonmetallicolous population of P. vittata had a significantly higher accumulation and translocation capacity for As. The present study suggests that As removal by P. vittata can be greatly enhanced by the judicious selection of the appropriate populations.

In the present study, the bioaccumulation of six heavy metals (Cd, Cr, Cu, Hg, Pb, and Zn) in Hediste (Nereis) diversicolor (O.F. Müller, 1776) and also in the muscle and liver of Mugil cephalus (Linnaeus, 1758) collected from seven stations in the Bafa Lake was investigated. Sediment samples were also collected in each site to assess heavy metal levels and to provide additional information on pollution of the lake. The mean concentrations of heavy metals in sediment, H. diversicolor, and muscle and liver of the fish were found to be in the magnitude of Cr>Pb>Zn>Cu>Cd>Hg, Zn>Cu>Cr>Pb>Hg>Cd, Zn>Cu>Pb>Cr >Hg>Cd, and Cu>Zn>Cr>Cd>Pb>Hg, respectively. Hg, Cu, and Zn in H. diversicolor and Hg and Zn in muscle and also Hg, Cd, Cu, and Zn in liver of fish accumulated in a higher degree than in sediment. There was no clear relationship between metal concentrations in sediments, polychaetes, and fish, except Cr. According to international criteria and Turkish regulations, Pb and Zn values in edible muscle of the fish collected from stations S6 and S5 exceeded the food safety limits, respectively. The results of this study suggest that these sentinel species can be considered as good anthropogenic biological indicators for heavy metal pollution along the Bafa Lake.

The mechanisms of industrial dye transformation by versatile peroxidase were elucidated. Purified versatile peroxidase from Bjerkandera adusta was able to decolorize different classes of dyes including azo and phthalocyanines, but unable to transform any of the anthraquinones tested. Kinetic constants for selected dyes were determined and the transformation products were analyzed by EPR spectroscopy and mass spectrometry. The EPR and MS analyses of the enzymatic decolorization products showed the cleavage of the azo bond in azo dyes and the total disruption of the phthalocyaninic ring in phthalocyanine dyes. The EPR analysis on two copper-containing dyes, reactive violet 5 (azo) and reactive blue 72 (phthalocyanine), showed that the transformation can or not break the metal-ion coordination bond according the dye nature. The role of the catalytic Trp172 in the dye transformation by a long-range electron transfer pathway was confirmed and the oxidation mechanisms are proposed and discussed.

Pollution control initiatives in Greater Sudbury, Ontario, Canada, resulted in the decommissioning of the Coniston Smelter in 1972. The last assessment of the effects from the smelter on the surrounding lichen biota was in 1990, which showed an overall improvement in richness following these initiatives, but still few species were present close to the smelter. We examined five sites along this gradient to determine if this pattern is still present on the landscape. Sixty-four macrolichen species in 15 genera were found. Lichen richness and Shannon diversity increased at all sites, but the increase was no longer linear with distance from the smelter. There was no significant difference between lichen richness and diversity at sites at increasing distances from the smelter. We show that past air pollution from the Coniston Smelter is no longer restricting lichen growth and development in the Greater Sudbury area as it was historically. Lichen populations are, therefore, now shaped by other environmental variables.

Despite the key role of higher plants in aquatic ecosystems as functional and structural elements, sediment-contact tests with macrophytes are still scarce. Moreover, due to large differences in exposure routes for pollutants as well as in life cycles between the diverse taxa of macrophytes, sensitivities to pollutants vary between taxa. Therefore, the development of new test systems with aquatic macrophytes, in general, is favorable. This study proposes a protocol for a sediment-contact test with Oryza sativa and addresses the main question whether the rice plant is a suitable test organism for sediment toxicity testing with higher plants. As a first evaluation step, the variability and sensitivity of the test was investigated using spiked artificial sediments. Thus, according to the protocol, rice was exposed to arsenic-, cadmium-, chromium-, and nickel-spiked sediments. Additionally, it was investigated which classical endpoints for plant bioassays, such as root and shoot elongation, are suitable for this bioassay. As a second evaluation step, the test system was used for assessment of natural sediments. Thereupon, a sensitivity profile of the presented test protocol was analyzed in comparison to other plant-based test systems. Inhibition of root and shoot elongation turned out to be the most sensitive endpoints for single-substance testing in spiked artificial sediments. However, regarding testing of natural sediments, rice shoots responded more sensitive than rice roots. In conclusion, the rice plant clearly showed pollutant-induced effects on growth in sediments, and thus, it is likely a promising test organism to complement sediment-contact tests with higher plants.

PM₂.₅carbonaceous particles were measured at Gosan, South Korea during 29 March–11 April 2002 which includes a pollution period (30 March–01 April) when the highest concentrations of major anthropogenic species (nss-SO₄²⁻, NO₃⁻, and NH₄⁺) were observed and a strong Asian dust (AD) period (08–10 April) when the highest concentrations of mainly dust-originated trace elements (Al, Ca, Mg, and Fe) were seen. The concentrations of elemental carbon (EC) measured in the pollution period were higher than those measured in the strong AD period, whereas an inverse variation in the concentrations of organic carbon (OC) was observed. Based on the OC/EC ratios, the possible source that mainly contributed to the highly elevated OC concentrations measured in the strong AD period was biomass burning. The influence of the long-range transport of smoke plumes emitted from regional biomass burning sources was evaluated by using MODIS (Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer) satellite data for fire locations and the potential source contribution function analysis. The most potential source regions of biomass burning were the Primorsky and Amur regions in Far Eastern Russia and southeastern and southwestern Siberia, Russia. Further discussion on the source characteristics suggested that the high OC concentrations measured in the strong AD period were significantly affected by the smoldering phase of biomass burning. In addition to biomass burning, secondary OC (SOC) formed during atmospheric long-range transport should be also considered as an important source of OC concentration measured at Gosan. Although this study dealt with the episodic case of the concurrent increase of dust and biomass burning particles, understanding the characteristics of heterogeneous mixing aerosol is essential in assessing the radiative forcing of aerosol.

As a novel approach to characterize the phenolic pollutants of Lake Balaton (Central Europe, western Hungary), 26 endocrine disrupting phenols (chlorophenols, nitrophenols, alkylphenols, triclosan, bisphenol-A) were quantified in dissolved and suspended particulate matter (SPM) phases, alike. Sample collection was performed in the western and eastern basins, at 20 sites in April and October 2014. Solid-phase and ultrasound-assisted extractions to withdraw target phenols from dissolved and suspended phases were employed. Compounds were derivatized with hexamethyldisilazane and trifluoroacetic acid for their quantification as trimethylsilyl derivatives by gas chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry. In Lake Balaton’s dissolved phase, 2-chlorophenol (103–164 ng/L), 4-chlorophenol (407–888 ng/L), 2,4-dichlorophenol (20.2–72.0 ng/L), 2,4,6-trichlorophenol (10.4–38.1 ng/L), 2-nitrophenol (31.0–66.5 ng/L), 4-nitrophenol (31.5–94.1 ng/L), and bisphenol-A (20.6–112 ng/L), while in its SPM, 4-chlorophenol (<LOQ-1274 μg/kg, dry matter), 4-nitrophenol (423–714 μg/kg), 4-nonylphenol isomers (1500–2910 μg/kg), and bisphenol-A (250–587 μg/kg) were determined. Since phenolics appear partially or exclusively in the SPM, the analysis of both phases proved to be of primary importance.