The paper presents the varied presence of nitrates and phosphates in water from caves located in Częstochowa and Kraków, in urban, strongly anthropogenic conditions, representing the vadose zone of the fissure-karstic-porous massif of Upper Jurassic limestones. Hydrochemical research was carried out by the authors in the Cave on the Stone in Częstochowa in 2012–2015, in caves of the Zakrzówek horst from 1996 to 2002, and in the Dragon’s Cave by the research team of J. Motyka in 1995–1998. A number of NO₃ and PO₄ measurements were performed in waters sampled at these research sites: 20 measurements each of NO₃ and PO₄ at the Cave on the Stone, 228 of NO₃ and 422 of PO₄ at Zakrzówek, and 19 each of NO₃ and PO₄ at the Dragon’s Cave. To assess the quality aspect of N and P compounds in waters from the Cave on the Stone, the results of geochemical modelling were processed using PHREEQC software. In cave waters, the oxidised form of nitrogen NO₃ ⁻ predominates; in surface waters in the vicinity, unoxidised forms prevail: NH₄₊, NH₃, and NH₄SO₄ ⁻. Among phosphorus speciations, dissolved forms are dominant: HPO₄ ²⁻, H₂PO₄ ⁻, and the insoluble form CaHPO₄; in surface waters, these forms are practically absent. Transformations of water chemistry in ‘urban’ caves, often centuries old, manifest themselves in, inter alia, the occurrence of multi-ionic waters, including seasonal variations and extremely diversified concentrations, with very high concentrations in subpopulations of NO₃ (0.2–485 mg dm⁻³) and P (0.02–6.87 mg dm⁻³). The common presence of NO₃ in waters of the phreatic zone of the Częstochowa Upland, an area developed in an agricultural direction, is documented by, inter alia, the exploitation of intakes supplying the city of Częstochowa (10–57 mg dm⁻³, 2011) and crenological studies from 2008 to 2015 (NO₃, 2–58 mg dm⁻³), at simultaneously low phosphate concentrations (PO₄, 0.02–0.24 mg dm⁻³).

With the rapid development of graphene synthesis and functionalization approaches, graphene and its related derivatives have shown great potential in many applications in material science, including biomedical applications. Several in vitro and in vivo studies clearly showed no definitive risks, while others have indicated that graphene might become health hazards. In this study, we explore the biocompatibility of graphene-related materials with chicken embryo red blood cells (RBC). The hemolysis assay was employed to evaluate the in vitro blood compatibility of reduced graphene, graphene oxide, and reduced graphene oxide, because these materials have recently been used for biomedical applications, including injectable graphene-related particles. This study investigated structural damage, ROS production and hemolysis of chicken embryo red blood cells. Different forms of graphene, when incubated with chicken embryo RBC, were harmful to cell structure and induced hemolysis.

Size-segregated aerosol samplings were carried out near the potential sources of airborne biological particles i.e. at a landfill site, an agricultural field and a road side restaurant-cluster site in winter, spring and summer seasons during 2013–2015 in New Delhi. The culturable airborne bacterial (CAB) concentrations showed significant seasonal variation from higher to moderate in spring and winter seasons and lowest during summer. Highest CAB concentrations were observed at the Okhla landfill site followed by restaurant-cluster area and agriculture site. The CAB particles showed bimodal size distribution, abundant in the size ranges of 1.1–2.1, 2.1–3.3 and 4.7–5.8 μm. However, substantial concentrations were also observed in the size bins of 0.43–0.65 and <0.43 μm, which are important for cloud condensation nuclei (CCN) activity of aerosols in addition to their adverse health effects. In spring, bacterial particles were also maximized in size ranges between 5.8 and >9.0 μm. Fine mode proportions of CAB were found to be higher in winter than other two seasons. Bacterial identification was done by 16s rDNA sequencing, and most abundant identified strains were Bacillus cereus (16%), Bacillus licheniformis (11%), Bacillus thuringiensis (9%), Micrococcus sp. (7%) and Acinetobacter sp. (9%).

For the drinking water treatment plant (DWTP), the organic pollutant removal was the primary focus, while the suspended bacterial was always neglected. In this study, the suspended bacteria from each processing unit in a DWTP employing an ozone-biological activated carbon process was mainly characterized by using heterotrophic plate counts (HPCs), a flow cytometer, and 454-pyrosequencing methods. The results showed that an adverse changing tendency of HPC and total cell counts was observed in the sand filtration tank (SFT), where the cultivability of suspended bacteria increased to 34%. However, the cultivability level of other units stayed below 3% except for ozone contact tank (OCT, 13.5%) and activated carbon filtration tank (ACFT, 34.39%). It meant that filtration processes promoted the increase in cultivability of suspended bacteria remarkably, which indicated biodegrading capability. In the unit of OCT, microbial diversity indexes declined drastically, and the dominant bacteria were affiliated to Proteobacteria phylum (99.9%) and Betaproteobacteria class (86.3%), which were also the dominant bacteria in the effluent of other units. Besides, the primary genus was Limnohabitans in the effluents of SFT (17.4%) as well as ACFT (25.6%), which was inferred to be the crucial contributors for the biodegradable function in the filtration units. Overall, this paper provided an overview of community composition of each processing units in a DWTP as well as reference for better developing microbial function for drinking water treatment in the future.

Ozone helps decontamination environments due to its oxidative power, however present toxicity when it is in high concentrations, by long periods of exposition. This study aimed to assess the safety of ozone generator air purifier at concentrations of 0.05 ppm in rats exposed to 3 and 24 h/day for 14 and 28 days. No significant differences are observed between groups in clinical signs, feed and water intake, relative body weight gain and relative weight of organs, macroscopy and microscopy of lungs, and oxidative plasma assay. In this exposure regime, ozone does not cause genotoxicity and no significant changes in pulmonary histology indicative of toxicity. Ozone generated in low concentrations, even in exposure regimes above the recommended is safe, both acute and sub-acute exposition.

No-till wheat is gaining popularity in rice-based cropping system as it provides a better chance for timely planting of wheat, management of crop residues, as well as environmental and soil sustainability. However, fertilizer application in no-tillage requires careful attention in order to optimize efficiency of fertilizer use by crops. The present study was conducted to develop the most favorable and economical no-till technique along with best blend of nitrogen for successful wheat production in residue-based cropping system. The experiment was composed of five no-till techniques viz., (1) even spreading of loose rice residue and wheat sowing with turbo seeder, (2) even spreading of loose rice residue and wheat sowing with happy seeder, (3) even spreading of loose rice residue and wheat sowing with zone disc tiller, (4) wheat sowing with conventional zero tillage drill after manual removal of rice residues, and (5) wheat sowing with conventional zero tillage drill after burning of rice residues. There were five blends of nitrogen (N) including (1) 100% N from urea, (2) 75% N from urea and 25% N from ammonium sulfate (AS), (3) 50% N from urea and 50% N from AS, (4) 25% N from urea and 75% N from AS, and (5) 100% N from AS. Different no-till techniques and N treatments significantly affected the stand establishment and yield-related traits of wheat during both growing seasons. Soil physical condition was improved by turbo seeder treatment, while it remained poor in residue burned field sown by conventional zero tillage drill. The results over the years revealed that turbo-seeded wheat with N fertilization in the form of 50% urea + 50% AS performed better in terms of productive tillers, grain yield and benefit cost ratio than other no-till techniques along different blends of nitrogen during both years of study. In crux, wheat sowing by turbo seeder along N fertilization in the form of 50% urea + 50% AS treatment is a viable and economical option to increase the wheat production in rice-based production system.

The acaricide, dicofol, is a well-known pesticide and partly a substitute for dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane (DDT). Only few reports on environmental occurrence and concentrations have been reported calling for improvements. Hence, an analytical method was further developed for dicofol and dichlorobenzophenone (DCBP) to enable assessments of their environmental occurrence. Concentrated sulfuric acid was used to remove lipids and to separate dicofol from DCBP. On-column injection was used as an alternative to splitless injection to protect dicofol from thermal decomposition. By the method presented herein, it is possible to quantify dicofol and DCBP in the same samples. Arctic cod (Gadus morhua) were spiked at two dose levels and the recoveries were determined. The mean recovery for dicofol was 65% at the low dose (1 ng) and 77% at the high dose (10 ng). The mean recovery for DCBP was 99% at the low dose (9.2 ng) and 146% at the high dose (46 ng). The method may be further improved by use of another lipid removal method, e.g., gel permeation chromatography. The method implies a step forward in dicofol environmental assessments.

The adsorption characteristics of Arundo donax L.(AD) biochars for ammonium(NH₄ ⁺-N) were investigated. Absorbents were characterized through scanning electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction, and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy analyses. AD-500 and AD-800 were produced from raw AD and pyrolyzed from room temperature to 500 and 800 °C, respectively. PD-500 was prepared by impregnating AD with a mild alkali solution and pyrolyzing from room temperature to 500 °C. The feasibility of the use of AD-500, AD-800, and PD-500 removing NH₄ ⁺-N from an aqueous solution was examined. The adsorption system followed the pseudo-first-order model. Results showed that the adsorption capacities of AD-biochars for NH₄ ⁺-N were enhanced after the final pyrolysis; temperature was increased or the mild alkali pretreatment was administered. When the initial NH₄ ⁺-N concentration was changed from 4 to 8 mM, the NH₄ ⁺-N sorption capacity of the biochar increased from 23 to 51%, with the final pyrolysis temperature increasing from 500 to 800 °C. The improved ratios were 12 to 33% when the biochar was prepared at 500 °C after the mild alkali pretreatment, and NH₄ ⁺-N sorption was enhanced due to ion exchange in the PD biochar. Graphical abstract Biochars derived from giant reed (Arundo donax L.) with different treatment :characterization and ammonium adsorption potential.

The presence of personal care product (PCP) residues in the aquatic environment is an emerging issue due to their uncontrolled release through graywater; for this reason, efforts are being made to develop methods to inactivate or eliminate this class of substances in the environment. In this work, homogeneous photocatalysis has been applied for the degradation of UV filter para-aminobenzoic acid (PABA), which exists in several types of PCPs, in order to identify the optimum degradation conditions. The oxidation of PABA by photo-Fenton and oxalate-induced photo-Fenton (ferrioxalate) processes was investigated, and the effect of various operating variables has been assessed, i.e., Fe³⁺ (0.0035–0.014 g L⁻¹), H₂O₂ (0.025–0.2 g L⁻¹), T (280–323 K), and type of radiation (UV-A, visible). Furthermore, experiments under optimal conditions have been performed in order to evaluate the transformation pathways and phytotoxicity of the treated PABA solution.

Natural (SEP) and partially acid-activated (AAS) sepiolites were used to prepare composites with nanoscale zerovalent iron (nZVI) at different (SEP or AAS)/nZVI ratios in order to achieve the best nZVI dispersibility and the highest adsorption capacity for Cd²⁺. Despite the higher surface area and pore volume of AAS, better nZVI dispersibility was achieved by using SEP as the support. On the other hand, a lower oxidation degree was achieved during the synthesis using AAS. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) analysis of the composite with the best nZVI dispersibility, before and after Cd²⁺ adsorption, confirmed that the surface of the nZVI was composed of oxidized iron species. Metallic iron was not present on the surface, but it was detected in the subsurface region after sputtering. The content of zerovalent iron decreased after Cd²⁺ adsorption as a result of iron oxidation during Cd²⁺ adsorption. The XPS depth profile showed that cadmium was present not only at the surface of the composite but also in the subsurface region. The adsorption isotherms for Cd²⁺ confirmed that the presence of SEP and AAS decreased the agglomeration of the nZVI particles in comparison to the pure nZVI, which provided a higher adsorption capacity. The results showed that the prevention of both aggregation and oxidation during the synthesis was necessary for obtaining an SEP/AAS–nZVI composite with a high adsorption capacity, but oxidation during adsorption was beneficial for Cd²⁺ removal. The formation of strong bonds between Cd²⁺ and the adsorbents sites of different energy until monolayer formation was proposed according to modeling of the adsorption isotherms.