Cultures of the flagellate Isochrysis galbana were used to carry out the ecotoxicological evaluation of four PAHs [(naphthalene, phenanthrene, pyrene (Pyr) and fluoranthene (Flu)] by monitoring growth rate and the fluorescence variables F ₀, F m, F v and F v/F m, determined with a fast repetition rate fluorometer. The results presented in this investigation showed that F v was a suitable endpoint in acute ecotoxicological tests with marine phytoplankton. The derived effective concentrations followed the known narcotic mechanism of toxicity and showed sensitivity levels comparable to marine invertebrate embryo-larval bioassays. Pyr and Flu showed the lowest EC₁₀, which ranged between 168-279 and 189-697 nM, respectively.

Three organic wastes (banana skin (BS), brewery spent grain (BSG), and spent mushroom compost (SMC)) were used for bioremediation of soil spiked with used engine oil to determine the potential of these organic wastes in enhancing biodegradation of used oil in soil. The rates of biodegradation of the oil were studied for a period of 84 days under laboratory conditions. Hydrocarbon-utilizing bacterial counts were high in all the organic waste-amended soil ranging between 10.2 × 10⁶ and 80.5 × 10⁶ CFU/g compared to unamended control soil throughout the 84 days of study. Oil-contaminated soil amended with BSG showed the highest reduction in total petroleum hydrocarbon with net loss of 26.76% in 84 days compared to other treatments. First-order kinetic model revealed that BSG was the best of the three organic wastes used with biodegradation rate constant of 0.3163 day⁻¹ and half-life of 2.19 days. The results obtained demonstrated the potential of organic wastes for oil bioremediation in the order BSG > BS > SMC.

In this work, we evaluated the effect of harmful ecotoxins, 4,5,6-trichloroguaicol (4,5,6-TCG) and tetrachloroguaiacol (TeCG), on the oxidation of the fluorescent probe dihydrorhodamine 123, the content of free phenols and the level of the total, oxidized and reduced glutathione in the leaves of reed canary grass (Phalaris arudinacea). Furthermore, the effect on the activity of guaiacol peroxidase and glutathione S-transferase was investigated. Both 4,5,6-TCG and TeCG increased the activity of guaiacol peroxidase and glutathione S-transferase, they also elevated the content of free phenols and the level of the total glutathione. A stronger effect was exerted by tetrachloroguaiacol, which strongly increased the level of the total glutathione and the content of free phenols on the 3rd and 6th day of the experiment. The activity of glutathione S-transferase was more intensively induced by trichloroguaiacol. Both 4,5,6-TCG and TeCG oxidized dihydrorodamine 123 and the effect was stronger in the presence of magnesium ions.

This paper investigated the influence of low-intensity ultrasound in biological nitrification and denitrification. The results showed that the nitrification activity of activated sludge could not be promoted significantly by ultrasound in 5-40 min with intensities ranging from 0.1 to 1.2 W cm⁻². It suggested the fact that nitrifying bacteria were insensitive to ultrasound, possibly related with their specific structures of cell membrane and ways of metabolism. Whereas, biological denitrification was enhanced quite remarkably by ultrasound and the optimal results were achieved at the ultrasonic intensity of 0.2 W cm⁻² and the irradiation time of 10 min. Compared with the control without ultrasonic irradiation, it took 5 h for the enhancement of denitrification rates induced by the optimum ultrasound to reach its peak level (16%). Therefore, ultrasound with intensity of 0.2 W cm⁻² could be employed in the biological denitrification system for 10 min every 5 h to obtain the optimal effect theoretically.

Biodegradation kinetics of 3-chlorophenol (3-CP) were studied in two identical lab scale sequencing batch reactors (SBR) fed with the compound as the sole energy and carbon source and operated at different filling time (1 h for SBR1 and 2 h for SBR2). High removal efficiency was always obtained in both SBRs in the range of feed concentration of 300-960 mg L⁻¹. Increased feed load to 1,200 mg L⁻¹ 3-CP could also be removed in SBR1 despite the presence of inhibition, whereas determined failure of SBR2. Long filling time and high biomass concentration were shown to have beneficial effect on process kinetics since they allowed to avoid substrate concentration peaks at the end of the fill phase. However, longer filling time (in the present case higher than 1 h) did not allow to select and enrich robust microbial population. The Haldane equation well fitted the kinetic test data measured in the presence of inhibition, i.e., at 960 and 1,200 mg L⁻¹ 3-CP in SBR1.

The main objective of this study was to find out a cost-effective treatment methodology for the treatment of palm oil effluent (POE) obtained from a food processing industry. An electro-Fenton pretreatment and biological oxidation has been suggested for the removal of recalcitrant contaminants present in POE. An initial COD of about 6,700 mg/L of POE was subjected to electrolytic degradation for 2 h and subsequently by biological oxidation. The biological oxidation was carried out using Aspergillus niger and Pseudomonas putida in anaerobic condition. Electro-Fenton process removed 48.35% of the COD. Biological oxidation subsequently decreased the COD to 86.12% and BOD to 85.23%. In the combined process, a high reduction in TOC and TN were achieved. Experimental conditions have been optimized and performances of these techniques have been discussed. The treated water can be reused for general and agricultural purposes.

Applying an integrated approach using the Comet, micronucleus (MN), and random amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD) assays, occurrence of erythrocytic nuclear abnormalities (ENAs) and the liver activity of antioxidants enzymes (catalase and glutathione-S-transferase (GST)) was carried out to evaluate the effects of acute (6, 24, and 96 h) and subchronic (15 days) exposures to aluminum on fish Prochilodus lineatus. The Comet assay showed that fish erythrocytes exhibited significantly higher DNA damage after 6 and 96 h of Al exposure. MN frequencies were very low and did not increase significantly after Al exposures, while ENAs frequency increased significantly after all exposure periods. RAPD profiles obtained with DNA from fish fins collected before the toxicity tests were compared to the profiles with DNA from gills and liver of the same fish sampled after Al exposures. Alterations in RAPD profiles, including appearance and disappearance of bands, after 6 h, 24 h, and 15 days of Al exposure were detected. Fish exposed to Al for 6 and 24 h also showed significant increases in GST and catalase activities. These results indicated that Al exposure was genotoxic to P. lineatus, inducing DNA damage in peripheral erythrocytes. The induction of antioxidant enzymes might be an indication that Al causes oxidative damage to DNA, while the very low frequency of MN suggests that Al does not produce clastogenic or aneugenic effects. Genotoxic effects after 15 days of Al exposure was revealed only by RAPD, showing that this assay represents a sensitive method to detect genotoxic damage, occasionally not detected by other genotoxic tests used in toxicological genetics studies.

Decolorization of six synthetic dyes and two raw textile effluents (A and B) by eight basidiomycetous fungi was investigated. Among eight basidiomycetous fungi, fungal isolate RCK-1 decolorized textile effluent A maximally (42%), while fungal isolate RCK-3 was found to decolorize more of Congo Red (69%), Xylidine Ponceau 2R (100%), Poly R-478 (96%), Indigo Carmine (99%), Lissamine Green B (90%), Toluidine Blue (57%) and textile effluent B (54%), than the rest of fungi. Percentage decolorization of all synthetic dyes and textile effluents by the new fungal isolates RCK-1 and RCK-3 was higher compared to the most widely studied simultaneous lignin degrader, Phanerochaete chrysosporium and selective lignin degrader, Pycnoporus cinnabarinus, when tested in liquid cultures. A statistically significant positive correlation between laccase production and decolorization of dyes and effluents was obtained as compared to other ligninolytic enzymes (lignin peroxidase and manganese peroxidase) production. This showed the importance of the differential contribution of the different ligninolytic enzymes towards the decolorization of the synthetic dyes and textile effluents. The substantially higher ligninolytic enzyme production by the fungal isolates RCK-1 and RCK-3 also suggested their potential use for textile effluent treatment and other possible biotechnological applications.

The release of heavy metals in aquatic systems due to the discharge of industrial wastewaters is a matter of environmental concern. Heat-inactivated cells of a flocculent strain of Saccharomyces cerevisiae were used in the bioremediation, in a batch mode, of a real electroplating effluent containing Cu, Ni, and Cr. In this approach, no previous reduction of Cr(VI) to Cr(III) was required. Cr(VI) was selectively removed (98%) by yeast biomass at pH 2.3. At this pH, Cr(VI) is mainly in the form of HCrO ₄ ⁻ and yeast surface is surrounded by H⁺ ions, which enhance the Cr(VI) interaction with biomass binding sites by electrostatic forces. Subsequently, pH of the effluent was raised up to 6.0; this pH maximizes the efficiency of cations removal since at this pH the main binding groups of yeast cells are totally or partially deprotonated. The passage of effluent through a series of sequential batches, at pH 6.0, allowed, after the third batch, the removal of Cu(II), Ni (II), Cr total, and Cr(VI) in the effluent to values below the legal limit of discharge. The strategy proposed in the present work can be used in plants for the treatment of heavy metals rich industrial effluents containing simultaneously Cr(VI) and Cr(III).

This study has investigated how to simultaneously remove both heavy metals (Cu, Mn, and Zn) and natural organic matters (NOM; humic acid and fulvic acid) from river water using potassium ferrate (K₂FeO₄), a multipurpose chemical acting as oxidant, disinfectant, and coagulant. In water sample including each 0.1 mM heavy metal, its removal efficiency ranged 28-99% for Cu, 22-73% for Mn, and 18-100% for Zn at the ferrate(VI) doses of 0.03-0.7 mM (as Fe). The removal efficiency of each heavy metal increased with increasing pH, whereas an overall temperature did not make any special effect on the reaction between the heavy metal and ferrate(VI). A high efficiency was achieved on the simultaneous treatment of heavy metals (0.1 mM) and NOM (10 mg/l) at the ferrate(VI) doses of 0.03-0.7 mM (as Fe): 87-100% (Cu), 31-81% (Mn), 11-100% (Zn), and 33-86% (NOM). In the single heavy metal solution, the optimum ferrate dose for treating 0.1 mM Cu or Mn was 0.1 mM (as Fe), while that for treating 0.1 mM Zn was 0.3 mM (as Fe). In the mixture of three heavy metals and NOM, on the other hand, 0.5 mM (as Fe) ferrate(VI) was determined as an optimum dose for removing both 0.1 mM heavy metals (Cu, Mn, and Zn) and 10 mg/l NOM. Prior to the addition of ferrate(VI) into the solution of heavy metals and NOM (HA or FA), complexes were formed by the reaction between divalent cations of heavy metals and negatively charged functional groups of NOM, enhancing the removal of both heavy metals and NOM by ferrate(VI).