Main aim of the work assumed recognition of physicochemical changes in snowpack occurring during the melting period. Properties of snow cover had been identified at two sites in Western Sudetes mountains (860 and 1228 m asl) in SW Poland since the end of January, and monitored until the disappearance of snow in late Spring. Snow pit measurements and sample collection at both sites were made followed by chemical analyses with the use of ionic chromatography. The results were compared for subsequent stages of snowpack evolution. Thermometers installed above the ground during summer in one site (860 m asl) helped to identify the thermal gradient existing inside snow during winter. During studies, special attention was paid to the pollutant elution with determination the different release rates of individual ions from the snow cover. Results of chemical analysis showed that during the thaw, the first portions of meltwater were responsible for drainage into the ground a substantial part of the impurities. During the first two weeks of thaw at higher elevated site, pollutants released from the snow cover load amounted to 123.5 mMol·m⁻². In those days, there was a release to the ground of approximately 74, 74, and 57 %, respectively of H⁺, NO³⁻, and SO₄ ²⁻ ions contained in the snow cover, while only 14 % of snow mass in the form of meltwater was released.

Plant stoichiometry has been used to diagnose phosphorus (P) limitation caused by increased atmospheric nitrogen (N) deposition. Spatial variability of N/P stoichiometry within a forested watershed has not yet been evaluated. This study conducted synoptic sampling of leaf matter in 27 plots within a temperate forested watershed on low P availability rock (serpentine bedrock) with a moderately high atmospheric N deposition (16 kg N ha⁻¹ year⁻¹) to assess the effects of spatial topographic variation on N/P stoichiometry. Leaf N and P concentrations and N/P ratios of Japanese cypress were assessed, and their spatial variations were evaluated across a catchment. Average leaf P concentration was low (0.66 ± 0.16 mg g⁻¹) across the sites, while leaf N concentration was high (13.0 ± 1.5 mg g⁻¹); subsequently, N/P ratios were high (21 ± 5). In addition, the aboveground biomass growth of Japanese cypress positively correlated with litter P, implying the P limitation of Japanese cypress at the study site. Leaf P concentrations responded to the index of convexity (IC) values more than those of N. Subsequently, the N/P ratio correlated with IC, suggesting that N/P ratios are susceptible to topographic features. This could be partly caused by smaller spatial variability of N availability compared with P, owing to increased atmospheric N deposition. Thus, topography should be taken into consideration when diagnosing P limitation caused by N deposition.

This paper first time reports the geochemical processes that are controlling fluoride enrichment in the groundwater of western Kumamoto area, Japan. Fifty (50) groundwater samples were collected and analyzed for the study where fluoride (F⁻) concentration ranges from 0.1 to 1.57 mg/L. About 58 % of the shallow groundwater and 26 % of the deep groundwater samples contain fluoride concentration beyond the Japanese drinking water permissible limit (0.8 mg/L). High F⁻ is largely accumulated in the stagnant zone of the Kumamoto Plain area and associated with Na-HCO₃-type groundwater. High pH, high HCO₃, low Ca²⁺, and high Na⁺ are the major characteristics of high-F⁻ groundwater. Hydrolysis of F⁻-bearing minerals and desorption of F⁻ from hydrous metal oxides are considered to be the primary sources of fluoride in groundwater. A positive correlation between F⁻ and Na⁺/Ca²⁺ ratio (r ² = 0.53) indicates that major ion chemistry plays a significant role in fluoride mobilization. Weakly alkaline nature of groundwater with high pH (7.05–9.45) expedites the leaching process of exchangeable F⁻ from F⁻-bearing minerals as well as favors desorption of F⁻ from metal oxide surfaces. High HCO₃ ⁻ and high PO₄ ³⁻ in the groundwater facilitate desorption process as competing anions, while high Na⁺/Ca²⁺ ratio largely control this process by decreasing positive-charge density of the metal-oxide surfaces. High Na⁺/Ca²⁺ ratio is attributed due to the cation-exchange process, while high pH and HCO₃ ⁻ are the result of both silicate hydrolysis and microbial reduction processes. In addition, calcite and fluorite seem to have a control on groundwater fluoride geochemistry.

Due to natural and production activities, mercury contamination has become one of the major environmental problems over the world. Mercury contamination is a serious threat to human health. Among the existing technologies available for mercury pollution control, the adsorption process can get excellent separation effects and has been further studied. This review is attempted to cover a wide range of adsorbents that were developed for the removal of mercury from the year 2011. Various adsorbents, including the latest adsorbents, are presented along with highlighting and discussing the key advancements on their preparation, modification technologies, and strategies. By comparing their adsorption capacities, it is evident from the literature survey that some adsorbents have shown excellent potential for the removal of mercury. However, there is still a need to develop novel, efficient adsorbents with low cost, high stability, and easy production and manufacture for practical utility.

The present study examines the efficiency of soil amendments regarding the retention of chromate ions, from water and cultivated soil with wheat (Triticum durum). The minerals and iron oxides that have been used were zeolite, bentonite, goethite, and zeolite modified with goethite I and II. Each adsorbent was added to different Cr solutions, either Cr(NO₃)₃·9H₂O or CrO₃ in a proportion of 1/100 g adsorbent mL⁻¹ solution. Moreover, greenhouse experiments were also conducted using the above materials as soil amendments. Two doses of chromate ions, i.e., 50 mg Cr(III) L⁻¹ in the form of Cr(NO₃)₃·9H₂O and 1 mg Cr(VI) L⁻¹ in the form of CrO₃, were added to plant pots cultivated with wheat. According to the results, the uptake of chromate ions from aqueous solutions onto different adsorbents has shown that modified zeolites (Z-G I and II) adsorb the highest amount of chromate ions, compared to all the other adsorbents. The statistical analysis of the greenhouse experimental data has shown that the increase of the dry weight in soils with amendments follows the order: Z-G II > G > Z-G I > B > Z for pots where Cr(NO₃)₃·9H₂O solutions were added and Z-G II > G > Z > Z-G I > B for pots where CrO₃ solutions were added, respectively. Moreover, all the used soil amendments reduced the total Cr concentration in plants, especially Z-G II. Consequently, such modified zeolites can be used for the remediation of polluted soils with chromium and the production of high-quality food products.

This is a green method for determination of mercury ion (Hg²⁺) in environmental samples. The method of exchangeable water based on liquid-liquid microextraction (EW-LLME) was first time introduced as a green analytical separation technique. Exchangeable water was made by the reaction of carbon dioxide with diethylenetriamine. The exchanging phenomena from low polarity to high polarity were confirmed by Fourier transforms infrared spectrometry. The complex formation between Hg²⁺ and 1, 5-diphenylcarbazone was achieved under the optimized experimental conditions. The enrichment factor and limits of detection of the present method were obtained to be 45.2 and 0.5 ng L⁻¹, respectively. The accuracy of the present method was confirmed with certified reference materials. The EW-LLME was successfully applied for determination of Hg²⁺ in solid matrices of block-III and V of Thar coalfield.

The contamination of soil with heavy metals is a serious agricultural issue. The presence of foods contaminated with heavy metals in the human diet can cause health damages. Metal phytoextraction processes remove soil contaminants through plant absorption; however, plants display different responses to the metal contamination of the soil. Thus, the purposes of this paper were to determine cadmium (Cd), chromium (Cr), and lead (Pb) immobilization in soil mixed with different amounts of stabilized vermicompost (obtained by earthworm composting) and verify if this vermicompost helps in the removal of heavy metal through the phytoextraction technique with black oat (Avena strigosa Schreb cv IAPAR 61) plants. The addition of a high quantity of vermicompost (50, 75, and 100%) to the soil presents similar results to the immobilization of Cd, Cr, and Pb, and a similar trend was observed in lower quantities (0 and 25%) of vermicompost. The addition of vermicompost improves the growth of black oat plants, but only the treatment with 25% of vermicompost showed promising results in the absorption of Cr and Pb, and the treatment with 50% in the absorption of Cd. Finally, we suggest that “IAPAR 61” black oat cultivar is efficient Cd, Cr, and Pb accumulators. However, heavy metal remained mostly in the root, indicating that root-to-shoot translocation was not efficient, hindering its application for phytoremediation strategies.

Although 8-hydroxy-2-deoxyguanosine (8-OHdG) is a widely used promising biomarker of DNA damage, there are concerns about which tissues or body fluids should be sampled. The objective of this study is to evaluate the correlation of DNA oxidative damage biomarkers, 8-OHdG, between blood and urine and risk factors associated with 8OHdG. The study population was recruited from a baseline survey of a worksite lifestyle study including 92 office workers aged 23 to 60 years. A self-administered questionnaire was used to collect information on personal characteristics. The plasma and urinary 8-OHdG was measured by liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS). In linear regression, a positive relation was found (p < 0.01) between the log-transformed plasma and urinary 8-OHdG levels adjusted for gender, age, BMI, and smoking status. Our findings showed that age, gender and smoking were significantly associated with plasma 8-OHdG, but not with urinary 8-OHdG. Our results suggest that there is a positive relation between the biomarkers of plasma (steady state DNA damage) and urinary 8-OHdG (total DNA damage). However, the plasma 8-OHdG is more sensitive than urinary 8-OHdG to detect increased oxidative damages induced by risk factors.

A series of nano-BiOBr were prepared by an effective hydrothermal method in the presence of cetyltrimethyl ammonium bromide (CTAB) and ethanol at different calcination temperatures. The as-prepared nano-BiOBr samples were characterized by measuring the specific area (S BET), UV-Vis diffuse reflectance spectrum, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), and X-ray diffraction (XRD). The results show that the calcination temperature has an important impact on the morphology and microstructure of BiOBr. The nano-BiOBr calcined at 120 °C showed excellent photocatalytic degradation properties for benzene, with photocatalytic degradation rate of 75 % for benzene under UV irradiation for 90 min, and removal efficiency of benzene was significantly enhanced by using nano-BiOBr catalyst compared to UV irradiation alone. BiOBr catalyst possessed good photocatalytic activity even after three consecutive photocatalytic reaction cycles, illustrating its excellent stability. The photocatalytic degradation of benzene followed the first-order kinetics, and the good catalytic capability of nano-BiOBr catalyst can be attributed to its crystalline, hierarchical nanostructure and nanosheet thickness.