The aim of this study was to examine the contamination, accumulation, and distribution of mercury in fruiting bodies by Leccinum versipelle fungus collected from distant sites across Poland. Mercury was determined using validated method by cold-vapor atomic absorption spectroscopy after direct sample matrix combustion. A large set of data gained using 371 fruiting bodies and 204 soil samples revealed the susceptibility of L. versipelle to Hg contamination and permitted the estimation of probable intake of Hg contaminant by consumers foraging for this species. The range of median values of Hg determined in caps of L. versipelle was from 0.20 to 2.0 mg kg⁻¹ dry biomass, and the median for 19 localities was 0.65 mg kg⁻¹ dry biomass. The values of the Hg bioconcentration factor (BCF) determined for L. versipelle correlated negatively with Hg contents. Mercury in topsoil beneath L. versipelle ranged from 0.019 to 0.041 mg kg⁻¹ dry matter for less-contaminated locations (BCF of 17 to 65 for caps) and from 0.076 to 0.39 mg kg⁻¹ dry matter for more contaminated locations (BCF of 1.9 to 22). Fruiting bodies of L. versipelle collected in some regions of Poland if consumed in amount of 300 g in one meal in a week could provide Hg doses above the provisionally tolerable weekly intake (PTWI) value of 0.004 mg Hg kg⁻¹ body mass, while regular consumptions for most of the locations were below the limit even with more frequent consumption. Also summarized are available data on Hg for three species of fungi of genus Leccinum foraged in Europe.

A modified montmorillonite (MMT) was prepared using an acid activation-sodium activation-iron oxide coating method to improve the adsorption capacities of natural MMTs. For MMT, its interlamellar distance increased from 12.29 to 13.36 Å, and goethite (α-FeOOH) was intercalated into its clay layers. Two novel media-injected permeable reactive barrier (MI-PRB) configurations were proposed for removing arsenic from groundwater. Sand tank experiments were conducted to investigate the performance of the two MI-PRBs: Tank A was filled with quartz sand. Tank B was packed with quartz sand and zero-valent iron (ZVI) in series, and the MMT slurry was respectively injected into them to form reactive zones. The results showed that for tank A, total arsenic (TA) removal of 98.57 % was attained within the first 60 mm and subsequently descended slowly to 88.84 % at the outlet. For tank B, a similar spatial variation trend was observed in the quartz sand layer, and subsequently, TA removal increased to ≥99.80 % in the ZVI layer. TA removal by MMT mainly depended on both surface adsorption and electrostatic adhesion. TA removal by ZVI mainly relied on coagulation/precipitation and adsorption during the iron corrosion. The two MI-PRBs are feasible alternatives for in situ remediation of groundwater with elevated As levels.

In two previous papers, the authors have shown that benzothiazole, benzotriazole, quinoline, and several of their derivatives are widespread in clothing textile articles. A number of these compounds exhibit allergenic and irritating properties and, due to their octanol–water partition coefficient, are prone to be absorbed by the skin. Moreover, they are slightly soluble in water, which could make washing of clothes a route of emission into the environment. In the present study, the washout effect of benzothiazole, benzotriazole, quinoline, and some of their derivatives has been investigated. Twenty-seven textile samples were analyzed before, as well as after five and ten times of washing. The most abundant analyte was found to be benzothiazole, which was detected in 85 % of the samples with an average concentration of 0.53 μg/g (median 0.44 μg/g), followed by quinoline, detected in 81 % of the samples with an average concentration of 2.42 μg/g (median 0.21 μg/g). The average decrease in concentration for benzothiazoles was 50 % after ten times washing, while it was around 20 % for quinolines. The average emission to household wastewater of benzothiazoles and quinolines during one washing (5 kg of clothes made from polyester materials) was calculated to 0.5 and 0.24 g, respectively. These results strongly indicate that laundering of clothing textiles can be an important source of release of these compounds to household wastewater and in the end to aquatic environments. It also demonstrates a potential source of human exposure to these chemicals since considerable amounts of the compounds remain in the clothes even after ten times of washing.

This study evaluated the protective and antioxidant potential of Omega3 fatty acids (FAs) against aluminum intoxicated male albino rats. Twenty-four male albino rats were divided into four equal groups: group I served as control; group II (Omega3-treated) received Omega3 FAs 1000 mg/kg bwt/day orally; group III (aluminum-treated) received aluminum chloride 100 mg/kg bwt/day orally and group IV (aluminum + Omega3-treated) received aluminum chloride 100 mg/kg bwt/day and Omega3 FAs 1000 mg/kg bwt/day orally. Treatments lasted for 4 weeks. Results indicate that administration of aluminum chloride showed non-significant changes in serum alanine aminotransferase, urea, and creatinine levels, a significant increase in serum aspartate aminotransferase and malondialdehyde as well as a significant reduction in serum-reduced glutathione levels. Aluminum treatment induced histopathological alterations in the liver, kidney, brain, testes, and epididymis. Omega3 FAs supplementation improved the serum parameters, enhanced endogenous antioxidant status, reduced lipid peroxidation, and ameliorated the intensity of the histopathological lesions. These findings reveal that Omega3 FAs supplementation can lighten the toxic effects of aluminum through their antioxidant and free radical-scavenging effects.

Livestock pollution, caused by rural household’s scatter breeding mainly, is one of the major non-point sources. Different animal manures are abundant with different nutrients. Adopting the policies, management practices, and technologies related to livestock production based on livestock structure analysis can improve the efficiency on preventing pollution. Based on statistical data, the component structure of livestock was analyzed and corresponding effect on pollution was evaluated during the period of 1992–2012 in China. The results showed that the average annual growth rate (AAGR) of total China was 1.58 % during the 20 years. Larger amounts of livestock were concentrated in Southwest China and East China. In the view of component structure, each type of livestock had different distribution characteristics and constant increasing amounts were presented during the 20 years. Cattle took the largest proportion in almost every province, and the number of heads was over 40 % of all the livestock quantity for most provinces. Pollution of total nitrogen (TN), total phosphorus (TP), and chemical oxygen demand (COD) caused by livestock excretion in East and Southeast China was much more serious than that in other regions. However, the load of COD was far less than that of TN and TP. Cattle accounted most for the livestock pollution, and swine was the second one. The intensity characteristics of TN, TP, and COD were different from that of total pollution loads. The spatio-temporal characteristics of amounts and component structure of livestock were influenced by three kinds of factors (natural, economic, and social), such as climate, topography, modes of production, feed grain sector, related policies, and area of the study regions. Different livestock excrements had different impacts on environment. According to various livestock structures and economy conditions, different disposal methods should be adopted.

Dried leaves are a potential source of energy although these are not commonly used beside to satisfy daily energy demands in rural areas. This paper aims at preparing a leafy biomass feedstock in the form of briquettes which can be directly used for combustion or to extract the combustible gas using a gasifier. Teak (Tectona grandis) and rubber (Hevea brasiliensis) leaves are considered for the present study. A binder-assisted briquetting technique with tapioca starch as binder is adopted. Properties of these leafy biomass briquettes such as moisture content, calorific value, compressive strength, and shatter index are determined. From the study, briquettes with biomass-to-binder ratio of 3:5 are found to be stable. Higher mass percentage of binder is considered for preparation of briquettes due to the fact that leafy biomasses do not adhere well on densification with lower binder content. Ultimate analysis test is conducted to analyze the gasification potential of the briquettes. Results show that the leafy biomass prepared from teak and rubber leaves has calorific values of 17.5 and 17.8 MJ/kg, respectively, which are comparable with those of existing biomass feedstock made of sawdust, rice husk, and rice straw.

Zeolite was synthesized from coal fly ash by a fusion method and was used for the removal of heavy metal ions (Pb²⁺, Cd²⁺, Cu²⁺, Ni²⁺, and Mn²⁺) in aqueous solutions. Batch method was employed to study the influential parameters such as adsorbent dosage, pH, and coexisting cations. Adsorption isotherms and kinetics studies were carried out in single-heavy and multiheavy metal systems, respectively. The Langmuir isotherm model fitted to the equilibrium data better than the Freundlich model did, and the kinetics of the adsorption were well described by the pseudo-second-order model, except for Cd²⁺ and Ni²⁺ ions which were fitted for the pseudo-first-order model in the multiheavy metal system. The maximum adsorption capacity and the distribution coefficients exhibited the same sequence for Pb²⁺ > Cu²⁺ > Cd²⁺ > Ni²⁺ > Mn²⁺ in both single- and multiheavy metal systems. In the end, the adsorption capacity of zeolite was tested using industrial wastewaters and the results demonstrated that zeolite could be used as an alternative adsorbent for the removal of heavy metal ions from industrial wastewater.

In the present study, magnetic seeding flocculation was applied to remove copper (200 mg/L) and turbidity (180 mg/L) from simulated microetch copper waste. Fe₃O₄ particles (40 to 1600 mesh) were used as magnetic seeds. Poly-aluminum chloride (PAC) and anionic polyacrylamide (PAM) were added as coagulant and flocculant, respectively. The effect of operating factors, such as the dosages of the coagulant and flocculant, initial pH of the wastewater, and dosage and size of the magnetic seeds, on copper and turbidity removal was systematically investigated. In addition, settling speed, floc-size distribution, and volume of sludge were measured with and without the addition of magnetic seeds to compare the efficiency of magnetic seeding to that of traditional flocculation. The results indicated that the highest settling speed, the largest floc size, and the smallest volume of sludge were obtained simultaneously when the dosage and size of magnetic seeds were 2.0 g/L and 300–400 mesh, respectively. High removal efficiencies of 98.53 and 94.72 % for copper and turbidity, respectively, were also achieved under this condition; values that are 4.11 and 0.61 % higher, respectively, than those found in traditional flocculation. The high performance might be attributed to efficient collision of particles and slightly moderate vortex centrifugal force of inertia among the magnetic seeds, which could produce larger magnetic flocs with lower moisture.

The water quality improvement of landfill leachate after sequencing batch reactor (SBR) activated sludge process were evaluated by chemical oxygen demand (COD), dissolved organic matter (DOM) fractions, and three-dimensional excitation-emission matrix (EEM), from which the new understanding was obtained. The results indicated that less than 14 % COD was removed by SBR. The EEM of leachate and SBR effluent showed that HPO-A and TPI-A were appeared in the peak C, while the HPI, HPO-N, and TPI-N could not be found due to dilution. Although humic acid appeared in peak C, not all the organic materials in peak C are humic acid. And because landfill leachate is a kind of complicated wastewater, therefore, only EEM cannot efficiently reflect the water quality.

Converting lipid-extracted microalgal wastes to methane (CH₄) via anaerobic digestion (AD) has the potential to make microalgae-based biodiesel platform more sustainable. However, it is apparent that remaining n-hexane (C₆H₁₄) from lipid extraction could inhibit metabolic pathway of methanogens. To test an inhibitory influence of residual n-hexane, this study conducted a series of batch AD by mixing lipid-extracted Chlorella vulgaris with a wide range of n-hexane concentration (∼10 g chemical oxygen demand (COD)/L). Experimental results show that the inhibition of n-hexane on CH₄ yield was negligible up to 2 g COD/L and inhibition to methanogenesis became significant when it was higher than 4 g COD/L based on quantitative mass balance. Inhibition threshold was about 4 g COD/L of n-hexane. Analytical result of microbial community profile revealed that dominance of alkane-degrading sulfate-reducing bacteria (SRB) and syntrophic bacteria increased, while that of methanogens sharply dropped as n-hexane concentration increased. These findings offer a useful guideline of threshold n-hexane concentration and microbial community shift for the AD of lipid-extracted microalgal wastes.