Water, Air, and Soil Pollution

Protection of water resources implies the responsible consumption, and the return of this resource with the best physicochemical conditions. In organizations, water is consumed both directly in their facilities and indirectly in the products or services acquired for their operation, requiring a water accounting based on the life cycle perspective. This study aims to assess the comprehensive water footprint of the main campus of the Technological University of Pereira (Colombia), based on the ISO 14046:2014 standard, and analyze the influence of wastewater treatment...

This study aimed to evaluate the implementation of an advanced oxidation system based on UV radiation and UV/H2 O2 for degradation of TCS and IBU in synthetic effluent. The assays occurred in a 2-L reactor, protected from external light and equipped with a UV lamp ( λ  = 254 nm). The effect of contaminant concentration, fractions of chemical species present, and mineralization were evaluated. In the UV/ H2 O2 system, different concentrations of H2 O2 were studied for oxidation of the contaminants. The kinetic experiments took place between 75 and 270 min of UV irradiation...

The work aims to synthesize and characterize vegetal charcoal (or biochar) from Syzygium cumini (AC-SC), evaluating the adsorption capacity for dexamethasone drug (DEX) removal, using the kinetic and equilibrium adsorption. The samples were characterized by N2 porosimetry, X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy with energy-dispersive spectroscopy, zeta potential, and zero charge point. Adsorption equilibrium was carried out applying the Langmuir, Freundlich, Redlich-Peterson, Sips, and Toth models, and kinetic adsorption applied the pseudo-first order, pseudo-second order, Elovich, Avrami, and Weber-Morris models...

The content of various chemical elements such as metals, metalloids, and nonmetals in the environment is associated with natural and anthropogenic sources. It is necessary to normalize the content of metals, metalloids, and nonmetals as potentially toxic elements (PTE) in the Haplic Chernozem. The soils of the Southern Russia are of high quality and fertility. However, this type of soil, like Haplic Chernozem, is subject to contamination with a wide range of PTE. The aim of the work was to rank metals, metalloids, and nonmetals by ecotoxicity in Haplic Chernozem...

The remediation of Pb, Cd, and Zn contaminated soil by ex situ EDTA washing was investigated in two pot experiments. We tested the influence of (i) 0, 0.5, 1.0, and 1.5%wt zero-valent iron (ZVI) and (ii) a combination of 5%wt vermicompost, 2%wt biochar, and 1%wt ZVI on the metal availability in EDTA-washed soil using different soil extracts (Aqua regia, NH4 NO3 ) and plant concentrations. We found that EDTA soil washing significantly reduced the total concentration of Pb, Cd, and Zn and significantly reduced the Cd and Zn plant uptake...

In this study, leaf and soil samples were used as bio-monitors for different alkali and heavy metals at six different locations in Kyiv city. Using x-y plots of the inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectroscopy (ICP-OES) data measured the discrepancy level in elemental composition between the different investigated areas; the correlation between the concentrations in tree leaves and the samples from the surrounding soils were investigated. While the concentration of essential mineral elements and metals was found to be similar in several leaf and soil samples, in other samples, their concentration spread up to more than one order of magnitude...

Currently, hundreds of different nanomaterials with a broad application in products that make daily lives a little bit easier, in every aspect, are being produced on an industrial scale at thousands of tons per year. However, several scientists, researchers, politics, and ordinary citizens have stated their concern regarding the life cycle, collateral effects, and final disposal of these cutting-edge materials. This review summarizes, describes, and discusses all manuscripts published in the Journal Citation Reports during the last 10 years, which studied the toxicity or the effects of nanomaterials on human and environmental health...

Sulfonamides (SAs) including sulfamethoxypyridazine (SMP) are regarded as a new type of persistent pollutant at present due to their abuse. In this work, the direct photodegradation behavior of 11 SAs under simulated sunlight was first investigated, and the results indicated that the direct photolysis of SMP is the slowest among these SAs. Then the oxidation degradation of SMP in UV/Co(II)/peroxymonosulfate (PMS) system was systematically explored. Up to 95.2% removal of 0.071 mM SMP was observed after 20 min of reaction under the optimal condition with a molar ratio of 1:150:5 between SMP, PMS, and Co(II)...

Nearly 80% of the population in the Colombo district fulfill their major requirement from the Kelani river. Recent studies are interoperating: most groundwater and surface water in Sri Lanka are contaminated with waterborne pathogens and antibiotics. In the present study, nine antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) were screened which were belonging to two common groups of antibiotic: penicillin - OPR D , bla TEM , bla OXA , amp a , and amp b - and tetracycline - tet A , tet M , tet B , and tet S . The results of the study reveled that the surface and groundwater of the entire lower part of the Kelani river basin were contaminated with TC and FC (98%)...

In the present work, natural rubber (NR) biodegradation, by means of a microbial consortium, naturally selected in a tyre dump soil, has been evaluated. To this purpose, prepared soil microcosms were incubated for 236 days, at room temperature, and natural light/dark cycles. The effect of primary C-source and fresh soil addition, soil aeration, and humidity maintenance has been monitored by means of microbiological and respirometric analysis, dry weight loss determinations, and SEM micrographs. During the incubation, in biodegradation microcosms (BD), containing NR samples, the produced CO2 was significantly higher than that of biotic controls (BC)...

This study identifies the basin scale factors and potential remedies to restore the severely polluted Hindon River in India, by comparing with another basin with high population density: the River Thames in the UK. Biochemical oxygen demand (BOD) and dissolved oxygen (DO) in the Thames River are usually around 8 mg/l and 7.5 mg/l respectively, while phosphorus and ammonium range between 0.1-0.6 mg/l and 0.1-0.4 mg/l respectively. The Thames has seen great improvements in water quality over the past decades, due to high levels of sewage treatment and regulation of industrial effluents which have improved water quality conditions...

Controlling the bioaerosol present in indoor environments has been evidenced to be extremely necessary. An alternative is to develop filter media for air conditioners that have biocidal properties. This study aimed to verify the biocidal effect of a high-efficiency particulate air (HEPA) filter medium modified with the deposition of nanoparticles on its surface. For this purpose, Ag, TiO2 , and Ag/TiO2 nanoparticles were used and the antimicrobial activities of these nanomaterials against Escherichia coli , Staphylococcus aureus , and Candida albicans microorganisms were evaluated, as well as the biocidal efficacy of the modified HEPA filter with these nanomaterials in a real environment...

The Air Quality Health Index (AQHI) is an aggregate indicator of air pollution used to communicate to Canadians the health impact of short-term exposure to current air pollutant levels. Understanding the stochastic behaviour of the AQHI can aid public health officials in predicting air pollution levels, determining the likelihood and duration of air quality advisories, and planning for increased strain on the health care system during periods of higher air pollution. Previous research has applied discrete-time Markov chains to investigate stochastic behaviour of air pollution indices but only in a handful of regions and none with the same climatic characteristics as Canadian regions...

The change in atmospheric pollution from a public lockdown in Greece introduced to curb the spread of the COVID-19 is examined based on ground-based and satellite observations. The results showed that in most cases, the change in atmospheric pollution is not statistically significant. It is probably an artifact of the meteorological conditions that contributed significantly to the long-range transport of air pollutants over Greece during the shutdown period.

This comprehensive study addressed the occurrence, seasonal changes, removal efficiencies, and environmental risk assessments of three macrolide antibiotics in five wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) with conventional and different additional treatment processes. A 1-year monitoring study was conducted, and influents and effluents were collected from Guangzhou (GZ), Shenzhen (SZ), Tai Po (TP), Shatin (ST), and Stonecutters Island (SI) WWTPs. Solid phase extraction and HPLC-MS/MS were used for the pretreatment and determination...

The lockdown to prevent the coronavirus spread resulted in an immediate reduction in gas concentration worldwide. This fact shows the importance of nitrogen dioxide as a pollutant gas directly associated with human activities. For indoor exposure, NO2 has been associated with effects on the respiratory system. In outdoor environments, ozone reaches a maximum after NO2 peaks, and acid rain arises with NO2 oxidation to forms nitric acid. Therefore, monitoring the NO2 concentration in atmospheric air can help prevent respiratory diseases and lower the concentration of other atmospheric pollutants...

Clean water is a precious resource, and policies/programmes are implemented worldwide to protect and/or improve water quality. Faecal pollution can be a key contributor to water quality decline causing eutrophication through nutrient enrichment and pathogenic contamination. The robust sourcing of faecal pollutants is important to be able to target the appropriate sector and to engage managers. Biomarker technology has the potential for source confirmation, by using, for example the biomarker suite of steroids...

Our goal was to reconstruct soil recovery from Acid Rain based upon removal of stemflow at beech ( Fagus sylvatica ) stands of known historic and recent soil status. Fourteen beech stands in the Vienna Woods were selected in 1984 and again in 2012 to study changes in soil and foliar chemistry over time. A part of those stands had been strip cut, and to assess reversibility of soil acidification, we analyzed soils around beech stumps from different years of felling, representing the years when acidic stemflow ceased to affect the soil...

The goal of the study was to assess the sorption properties of calcined eggshells (CEs) as a P reactive media filter. The CEs were calcined in a temperature of 900 °C. A double stage test was performed: batch studies (kinetic and equilibrium) and small-scale column experiment. The estimation of optimal mass ratio of CEs for perspective usage was the additional benefit of column experiment. The short kinetic tests showed that 5 min of contact time with solution of initial concentration of 6.020 mgP-PO4  L-1 is enough to reduce the P-PO4 in 100%...

The latest research focused on the analysis of algal growth and the dynamics of their growth use the laser diffraction technique, enabling determination of the volume fraction of suspended particles with specific diameters in aqueous solution as well as their fractal dimensions. This study focuses on the possibility of using a laser granulometer to assess the growth dynamics of algae growing in treated wastewater in a hydroponic system, supported by artificial lighting with the use of light-emitting diodes (LEDs)...