An in vitro experiment was carried out to evaluate the phytoremediation potentials of two somatic embryo-derived ecotypes of Arundo donax—BL (American ecotype) and 20SZ (Hungarian ecotype)—of copper from synthetic wastewater. The two ecotypes were grown under sterile conditions in tubes containing a nutrient solution supplied with increasing doses of Cu (0, 1, 2, 3, 5, 10, and 26.8 mg L⁻¹) for 6 weeks. The translocation and bioaccumulation factors and removal rate were estimated. In general, increasing Cu concentration in nutrient solution slightly decreased root, stem and leaf biomass without toxicity symptoms up to 26.8 mg L⁻¹. Moreover, both ecotypes showed high Cu removal efficiency from aqueous solution. However, Cu removal rate ranged between 96.6 to 98.8 % for BL ecotype and 97 to 100 % for 20SZ ecotype. Data illustrated that both BL and 20SZ ecotypes may be employed to treat Cu-contaminated water bodies up to 26.8 mg L⁻¹.

This study develops a new semiparametric statistical approach for urban air quality forecasting. Compared to conventional approaches, the semiparametric approach allows the model users to benefit from the positive aspects and alleviate the negative ones of parametric and nonparametric approaches. Two advantages of the approach lie in (1) the interpretation of the data set being easily decoded and used by the model and (2) its capability in dependence on prior assumption. To illustrate the performance of the proposed approach, three semiparametric regression models (i.e., linear-, quadratic-, and interactive-based semiparametric regression) are applied to an air quality forecasting problem in the city of Xiamen, China, and satisfactory training and prediction performance are obtained. The three models are also compared to three parametric and two nonparametric regression models. The results indicate that the predictive accuracy of semiparametric regression models is higher than those obtained from the parametric and stepwise cluster analysis models. However, the proposed three semiparametric regression models could be much favored, since they can be achieved more easily and rapidly than the artificial neural network model.

To better construct a bioaugmented system for tobacco wastewater treatment, activated sludge was inoculated with different concentrations of the nicotine-degrading bacterium Pseudomonas sp. HF-1. The results showed that inoculum concentrations of 0.55 ± 0.01 and 1.10 ± 0.03 mg/g (dry weight of strain HF-1/dry weight of activated sludge) were best to ensure strain HF-1 survival and successful bioaugmentation. The release pattern of autoinducer (AI) for quorum sensing in the bioaugmented system was also investigated. During the period of HF-1 inoculation, compared with failed bioaugmented systems, AI-2 was significantly increased in the successful systems, suggesting that AI-2-mediated bacterial communication played an important role in the colonization of HF-1. When inoculation of strain HF-1 was stopped, the amount of AI-2 decreased and leveled out in all systems. Notably, there was a greater than threefold increase of short-chain AHLs in failed bioaugmented systems, but no increase in successful ones, implying that the fluctuation of short-chain AHLs could be an indicator of the failure of bioaugmentation. Thus, AI-2-mediated quorum sensing could be implemented to facilitate HF-1 colonization.

Pollution from urban highway runoff has been identified as one of the major causes of the deterioration of receiving water quality. The purpose of this study is to assess the toxicity of urban storm water samples in Shanghai using the zebrafish (Danio rerio) embryo test and the bacterial luminescence (Vibrio qinghaiensis) assay. The toxicity of highway runoff from seventeen storm events was investigated in both grab and composite samples. Zebrafish embryos were exposed to the runoff samples and development parameters including lethality, spontaneous movements in 20 s, heart beat rate, hatching rate, and abnormality of zebrafish embryos were observed after 24, 48, 72, and 96 h of exposure. Inhibition rates of luminescence intensity were also recorded. The results showed that in the zebrafish embryo toxicity tests, both grab and composite samples increased the lethality, reduced the percentage with spontaneous movements and heart beats, inhibited the hatching of embryos, and induced morphological abnormalities. In the Vibrio qinghaiensis toxicity test, all the grab samples inhibited the luminescence, while some of the composite samples promoted it, which indicated that different types of toxicants might have been affecting the species. The multivariate statistics analysis indicated that heavy metal (zinc, manganese, and copper) and PAHs might mainly contribute to the toxicity of runoff samples.

As it flows through a dense steelmaking area, the Fensch River does transport iron-rich particles and colloids, displaying high contents in metallic contaminants (Zn, Cr, Pb, Cu, Ni, and As). Chemical analysis using inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) was carried out on three compartments—waters, suspended materials, and sediments—along the river linear. The variations of metallic trace element concentrations along the river were shown to be partially related to external inputs (industrial and domestic wastewaters and urban surfaces leaching). However, some discrepancies of element partitioning were evidenced. Pb, Cu, and Mn tend to concentrate in suspended particulate and in dissolved fraction, while Cr and As follow the trend of Fe and concentrate within sediments of the most downstream station, just before the junction with Moselle waters. Zn appears strongly associated to iron-rich particles, resulting in a decrease of its concentration in waters for the last station. Along the Fensch linear, the variation of metal partitioning between water and particulate phases is accompanied with strong modifications of the nature and mineralogy of iron-rich particles, as evidenced by microanalyses using electron and X-ray beams. The combination of bulk analyses using ICP-MS and microanalyses applied to the three compartments allowed us to propose a three-step process “settling–weathering–resuspension” to explain Zn partitioning.

Liver lesions in wild fish have been associated with xenobiotic exposure. Facing reports of pollution in the Douro River estuary (north of Portugal), we have been making field surveys using fishes and targeting histopathological biomarkers of exposure and effect. Herein, we intended to better characterize and report the rate of one poorly understood lesion—hepatocellular fibrillar inclusions (HFI)—found in European flounder (Platichthys flesus). With this report, we aimed to establish sound baseline data that could be viewed as a starting point for future biomonitoring, while offering the world's second only pool of field data on such a liver toxicopathic lesion, which could be compared with data available from the UK estuaries. Sampling was done in the Douro River estuary over 1 year. A total of 72 animals were fished with nets, in spring–summer (SS) and autumn–winter (AW) campaigns. Livers were processed for histopathology and both routine and special staining procedures (alcian blue, periodic acid Schiff (PAS), tetrazonium coupling reaction). Immunohistochemistry targeted AE1/AE3 (pan cytokeratins). The severity of the HFI extent was graded using a system with four levels, varying from 0 (absence of HFI) to 3 (high relative density of cells with HFI). Cells (isolated/groups) with HFI appeared in 35 % or more of the fish, in the total samples of each season, and over 40 % in more homogeneous sub-samples. There were no significant differences when comparing samples versus sub-samples or SS versus AW. When merging the data sets from the two seasons, the frequency of fish with HFI was ≈36 % for the total sample and ≈49 % for the sub-sample. The extreme group (biggest and smallest fish) revealed a HFI frequency of only 16 %, which differed significantly from the total and sub-sampled groups. Immunostaining and PAS were negative for the HFI, and alcian blue could, at times, faintly stain the inclusions. These were positive with the tetrazonium reaction. We showed the presence of HFI in European flounder from the Douro River estuary, proving that they are essentially protein in nature, that no seasonal changes existed in the HFI frequency, and that it was rarer in the smallest and biggest fish groups. Within the ranges of weight/size of our total sample, we estimate that the frequency of HFI in the local flounder is ≈35 %. That rate stands as a baseline value for future assessments, namely for biomonitoring purposes targeting correlations with the estuary pollution status.

Perchlorate concentrations in rice samples from many different provinces, and correlation with surface water contamination, were investigated in the Republic of Korea. Perchlorate levels in the 51 rice samples purchased from local markets ranged from below the detection limit to 1.79 ± 0.39 μg/kg with a mean level of 0.21 μg/kg and 7 samples collected from the Nakdong River watershed ranged from 0.38 ± 0.1 to 3.23 ± 0.47 μg/kg with a mean level of 0.9 μg/kg. The correlation coefficient between perchlorate levels in rice samples from the Nakdong river watershed and the levels in surface water was estimated to be approximately 0.904 in the 95 % confidence interval. These results show that surface water contamination was highly related to the perchlorate pollution of rice in the Republic of Korea.

The aim of this work was to evaluate the bioremediation potential of microorganisms from intertidal sediments of a sandy beach affected by a major oil spill 7 years before and subject to chronic petroleum contamination since then. For that, the response of microorganisms to a new oil contamination was assessed in terms of community structure, abundance, and capacity to degrade hydrocarbons. Experiments were carried out under laboratory-controlled conditions by mixing sediment with crude oil with three different nitrogen supplementations in 50 ml serum bottles under constant shake for 15 days. Autochthonous microorganisms were able to respond to the new oil contamination by increasing their abundance (quantified by DAPI) and changing the community structure (evaluated by DGGE). This response was particularly clear for some specific bacterial groups such as Pseudomonas, Actinomycetales, and Betaproteobacteria. These communities presented an important potential for hydrocarbon degradation (up to 85 % for TPHs and 70 % for total PAHs), being the biodegradation stimulated by addition of an appropriate amount of nitrogen.

In recent years, the application of titanium dioxide (TiO₂) as a photocatalyst in asphalt pavement has received considerable attention for purifying ambient air from traffic-emitted pollutants via photocatalytic processes. In order to control the increasing deterioration of ambient air quality, urgent and proper risk assessment tools are deemed necessary. However, in practice, monitoring all process parameters for various operating conditions is difficult due to the complex and non-linear nature of air pollution-based problems. Therefore, the development of models to predict air pollutant concentrations is very useful because it can provide early warnings to the population and also reduce the number of measuring sites. This study used artificial neural network (ANN) and neuro-fuzzy (NF) models to predict NOₓconcentration in the air as a function of traffic count (Tᵣ) and climatic conditions including humidity (H), temperature (T), solar radiation (S), and wind speed (W) before and after the application of TiO₂on the pavement surface. These models are useful for modeling because of their ability to be trained using historical data and because of their capability for modeling highly non-linear relationships. To build these models, data were collected from a field study where an aqueous nano TiO₂solution was sprayed on a 0.2-mile of asphalt pavement in Baton Rouge, LA. Results of this study showed that the NF model provided a better fitting to NOₓmeasurements than the ANN model in the training, validation, and test steps. Results of a parametric study indicated that traffic level, relative humidity, and solar radiation had the most influence on photocatalytic efficiency.

The objective of this study was to evaluate the effect of frequent and periodic applications of sewage sludge to the soil, on corn productivity. The experiment was carried out as part of an experiment that has been underway since 1999, using two types of sludge. One came from the Barueri Sewage Treatment Station (BS, which receives both household and industrial sludge) and the other came from the Franca Sewage Treatment Station (FS, which receives only household sludge). The Barueri sludge was applied from 1999 up to the agricultural year of 2003/2004. With the exception of the agricultural years of 2004/2005 and 2005/2006, the Franca sludge was applied up to 2008/2009. All the applications were made in November, with the exception of the first one which was made in April 1999. After harvesting the corn, the soil remained fallow until the next cultivation. The experiment was set up as a completely randomized block design with three replications and the following treatments: control without chemical fertilization or sludge application, mineral fertilization, and dose 1 and dose 2 of sludge (Franca and Barueri). The sludges were applied individually. Dose 1 was calculated by considering the recommended N application for corn. Dose 2 was twice dose 1. It was evident from this work that the successive application of sludge to the soil in doses sufficient to reach the productivity desired with the use of nitrogen fertilizers could cause environmental problems due to N losses to the environment and that the residual and cumulative effects should be considered when calculating the application of sludge to soil.