The relationships between pH, dissolved oxygen (DO) and chlorophyll a in aquaculture and non-aquaculture waters are assessed in this paper. The research includes the evaluation of field and experimental studies at the Panjiakou Reservoir (between Aug and Oct 2009) and the review of international data covering two decades. The results indicated that typical eutrophic non-aquaculture water had mean concentrations of chlorophyll a of higher than 10 μg L−1, and significant positive correlations were found between pH, DO and chlorophyll a. When the mean concentration of chlorophyll a was less than 10 μg L−1, no correlation was found between DO and chlorophyll a for waters with a high exchange rate or heavily organically polluted natural waters. Diurnal variations were found for both pH and DO. A corresponding significant positive correlation was found between both water quality parameters. In general, when the mean concentration of chlorophyll a was less than 10 μg L−1 within aquaculture waters of low exchange rate, only a weak or no correlation at all was found between pH, DO and chlorophyll a during summer and autumn. On the other hand, a significant positive correlation between pH and chlorophyll a and a significant positive correlation or no correlation between DO and chlorophyll a were found for aquaculture waters with a high exchange rate during summer and autumn. Strong diurnal variations for both pH and DO were identified. A significant positive linear correlation between pH and DO was found for field enclosure experiments.

An ongoing project monitors saline dust transportation and accumulation in the Western Junggar Basin to determine the rate and chemical composition of dust inputs to soils and their impact on snow/ice melt and vegetation degradation of the surrounding areas. The 1-year record from ten dust trap sites in the Ebinur region of northwest China reveals that yearly deposition rates fluctuate strongly between different sampling sites. The mass accumulation rates (fluxes) of the dust, including water-soluble solutes and trace element, range from 79 to 381 g m−2 year−1. With increasing distance from the dry lake bed, dust deposition gradually decreases. The salinity of the dust ranges from about 43 to 185 g kg−1 and the mass-soluble salt fluxes range from 4 to 61 g m−2 year−1. The types of water-soluble salt are different at different sampling sites. In all samples, the major types of water-soluble salts in the dust are sulfates and chlorides. Sulfate and chloride are the major anions while sodium and calcium are the main cations, and nitrate was not found in any dust samples. Potentially toxic trace elements such as Cd, Cr, Pb, Mn, As, Cu, and Ni are present in all samples, with high levels of Cr, Pb, Mn, Cu, and Ni. The dust is a chemical dust in that it consists of dense fine sulfates, chlorides and potentially toxic elements, and causes serious air pollution, resulting in soil salinization and vegetation degradation and accelerating snow/ice melt.

The presented study deals with the interpretation of soil quality monitoring data using hierarchical cluster analysis (HCA) and principal components analysis (PCA). Both statistical methods contributed to the correct data classification and projection of the surface (0–20 cm) and subsurface (20–40 cm) soil layers of 36 sampling sites in the region of Burgas, Bulgaria. Clustering of the variables led to formation of four significant clusters corresponding to possible sources defining the soil quality like agricultural activity, industrial impact, fertilizing, etc. Two major clusters were found to explain the sampling site locations according to soil composition—one cluster for coastal and mountain sites and another—for typical rural and industrial sites. Analogous results were obtained by the use of PCA. The advantage of the latter was the opportunity to offer more quantitative interpretation of the role of identified soil quality sources by the level of explained total variance. The score plots and the dendrogram of the sampling sites indicated a relative spatial homogeneity according to geographical location and soil layer depth. The high-risk areas and pollution profiles were detected and visualized using surface maps based on Kriging algorithm.

A modeling study on fertilizer by-products fate and transport was performed in an unconfined shallow aquifer equipped with a grid of 13 piezometers. The field site was located in a former agricultural field overlying a river paleochannel near Ferrara (Northern Italy), cultivated with cereals rotation until 2004 and then converted to park. Piezometers were installed in June 2007 and were monitored until June 2009 via pressure transducer data loggers to evaluate the temporal and spatial variation of groundwater heads, while an onsite meteorological station provided data for recharge rate calculations via unsaturated zone modeling. The groundwater composition in June 2007 exhibited elevated nitrate (NO3 −) and chloride (Cl−) concentrations due to fertilizer leaching from the top soil. The spatial distribution of NO3 − and Cl− was heterogeneous and the concentration decreased during the monitoring period, with NO3 − attenuation (below 10 mg/l) after 650 days. A transient groundwater flow and contaminant transport model was calibrated versus observed heads and NO3 − and Cl− concentrations. Cl− was used as environmental tracer to quantify groundwater flow velocity and it was simulated as a conservative species. NO3 − was treated as a reactive species and denitrification was simulated with a first order degradation rate constant. Model calibration gave a low denitrification rate (2.5e−3 mg-NO3 −/l/d) likely because of prevailing oxic conditions and low concentration of dissolved organic carbon. Scenario modeling was implemented with steady state and variable flow time discretization to identify the mechanism of NO3 − attenuation. It was shown that transient piezometric conditions did not exert a strong control on NO3 − clean up time, while transient recharge rate did, because it is the main source of unpolluted water in the domain.

The purpose of this study was to survey the distribution patterns of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and formaldehyde in the various indoor environments using cluster analysis. We investigated VOCs and formaldehyde in subway stations, underground shopping areas, medical centers, maternity recuperation centers, public childcare centers, large stores, funeral homes, and indoor parking lots from June 2005 to May 2006 (9 p.m. to 6 a.m.). The concentration of total volatile compounds (TVOCs) in maternity recuperations was 2,605.7 μg/m3, which was higher than that stated in the guideline and other chosen facilities. TVOCs in public childcare centers were 1,951.6 μg/m3, which also exceeded the guideline. Moreover, the concentration of TVOCs in every facility exceeded the guideline of the Ministry of Environment, Korea. In the case of formaldehyde, the mean concentration of 336.5 μg/m3 found only in public childcare centers exceeded the 120 μg/m3 stated in the guideline. Finally, by applying cluster analysis, three patterns of the indoor air pollutions were distinguished. In the results of the analysis, concentrations of TVOCs and formaldehyde of cluster 3 were higher than clusters 1 and 2, which were 2,561.4 and 184.9 μg/m3, respectively.

A fixed-bed photocatalytic reactor equipped with a cylindrical parabolic light concentrator was studied to remove organic dyes from water using natural volcanic ashes particles and nanostructured titania supported on volcanic ashes as photocatalytic materials. The influences of flow rate, photocatalyst and photocatalytic material adsorption capacity were studied. A fixed-bed photocatalytic reactor was designed and built in the laboratory; a methylene blue aqueous solution, used as model compound for dye contaminated water, was fed into the reactor. Methylene blue destruction efficiencies were monitored spectrophotometrically. Combined effects of dye adsorption and photodecomposition on photocatalyst were studied and compared by infrared spectroscopy.

Photolysis, sonolysis, and photosonolysis of common groundwater contaminants, namely 1,1,1-trichloroethane, trichloroethylene, and tetrachloroethylene, were investigated using a flow-through photosono reactor system. Simulated groundwater containing the chlorinated volatile organic compounds (VOCs) was exposed to ultraviolet light (UV), ultrasonication (US), and UV and US concurrently (UVUS), without a photo catalyst. VOC removal efficiencies of the UV, US, and UVUS treatment processes were computed from the VOC concentrations in influent and effluent of the reactor. The process using UVUS exhibited larger degradation efficiencies than that with UV and US separately in most cases; however, statistical analysis showed that the UVUS treatment efficiency is likely to be additive of the UV and US treatment efficiencies. The results also showed that the increase of the detention time from 26 to 60 min had no significant effect on the VOC removal efficiencies in these processes.

A major input in intensive organic agriculture is nutrient-rich liquid fertilizers. Guano and other fowl manure are frequently digested in water extracts, and the supernatant is supplied as fertilizer. The resultant manure biowaste (MBW) is commonly disposed of to the environment, posing potential pollution and health risks. The study aims were to determine two types of fowl MBWs for their chemical properties before and after lime treatment and to test their reuse potential as soil amendment. Guano and layer manure were digested, and the residues’ chemical properties were analyzed before and after lime treatment. MBWs were then air-dried and used as a soil amendment in a parsley-growing experiment. The lime-treated MBW composition met the European standards for high-quality biowaste compost. Both digested and lime-treated MBWs had residual nitrogen, 3% and 1% in guano and layer manure, respectively. Parsley grown in soil amended with layer MBW had 100% survival, high yield, and good crop quality compared with controls. Plants grown with soil amended with guano biowaste exhibited lower yield and only 50% survival. These findings indicate that the current practice of disposing guano biowaste to the environment may pollute soil and water bodies, while the land spread of lime-treated layer MBW is safe and may improve soil fertility.

The relationship between ambient concentrations of fine particulate matter and detrimental health effects remains a highly controversial issue. Increased incidence of mortality and morbidity due to cardiopulmonary complications has been associated with elevated levels of urban air particles with an aerodynamic of <2.5 μm (PM2.5). The main aim of this paper was to present the assessment of the temporal and spatial variations of the PM2.5 fraction and its contents in arsenic, cadmium, nickel and lead in order to identify possible emission sources of these pollutants. Daily ambient aerosol samples (PM2.5) were taken in the province of Castellón from 2008 to 2009. Particle concentration levels were determined by gravimetry, and the As, Cd, Ni and Pb levels in the samples were determined by inductively coupled plasma mass spectroscopy. The season variation of these pollutants differs according to the emission source and the factors involved in dispersion. In the weekly trend, there were no significant differences in levels among sampling sites in relation to the day activity (working vs. non-working) due to chemical pollutants that are found in fine particulate fractions residing in the atmosphere longer than coarse particles, resulting in a more homogeneous concentration of pollutants over time. In order to identify similar behaviour between chemical pollutants and PM2.5, an assessment of the correlation between them was carried out. This behaviour study shows whether the source of contaminants is the same. A statistical analysis of the levels of PM2.5 and the presence of As, Cd, Ni and Pb in the different sampling sites was performed in order to evaluate the influence of the sampling point on the concentrations of these pollutants.

Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) were analyzed in 70 soils distributed in mountain areas such as Montseny (300–1,700 m), Pyrenees (1,500–2,900 m), Alps (1,100–2,500 m), and Tatras (1,400–1,960 m). Average total PAH concentrations, excluding retene and perylene, were about 400 ng/g in the Pyrenees and 1,300–1,600 ng/g in the other mountain ranges. No correlations between PAH concentrations and total organic carbon were observed. Retene was the major PAH in the Pyrenean soils of lower altitude. No altitudinal dependence was found between soil PAH concentrations and elevation for the whole dataset. However, in the Tatra soils a statistically significant correlation with altitude was observed involving higher concentrations at higher altitude. This correlation was due to the statistically significant altitudinal dependence of the more volatile PAHs. Another observed altitudinal trend concerned the benz[a]anthracene/(benz[a]anthracene + chrysene + triphenylene) and the benzo[a]pyrene/(benzo[a]pyrene + benzo[e]pyrene) ratios that exhibited a decrease in the more chemically labile compounds, benz[a]anthracene and benzo[a]pyrene, respectively, in the soils located at higher altitude. This observation is consistent with the expected higher photooxidation at higher mountain altitude.