Archives of Environmental Protection

The impacts of long-term polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and heavy metal pollution on soil microbial communities functioning were studied in soils taken from an old coke plant. The concentrations of PAHs in the tested soils ranged from 171 to 2137 mg kg-1. From the group of tested heavy metals, concentrations of lead were found to be the highest, ranging from 57 to 3478 mg kg-1, while zinc concentrations varied from 247 to 704 mg kg-1 and nickel from 10 to 666 mg kg-1. High dehydrogenase, acid and alkaline phosphatase activities were observed in the most contaminated soil. This may indicate bacterial adaptation to long-term heavy metal and hydrocarbon contamination. However, the Community Level Physiological Profiles (CLPPs) analysis showed that the microbial functional diversity was reduced and influenced to a higher extent by some metals (Pb, Ni), moisture and conductivity than by PAHs.

In the present study, the enrichment and isolation of textile effluent decolorizing bacteria were carried out in wheat bran (WB) medium. The isolated bacterium Providencia rettgeri strain HSL1 was then tested for decolorization of textile effluent in consortium with a dyestuff degrading fungus Aspergillus ochraceus NCIM 1146. Decolorization study suggests that A. ochraceus NCIM 1146 and P. rettgeri strain HSL1 alone re moves only 6 and 32% of textile effluent American Dye Manufacturing Institute respectively in 30 h at 30 ±0.2°C of microaerophilic incubation, while the fungal-bacterial consortium does 92% ADMI removal within the same time period. The fungal-bacterial consortium exhibited enhanced decolorization rate due to the induction in activities of catalytic enzymes laccase (196%), lignin peroxidase (77%), azoreductase (80%) and NADH-DCIP reductase (84%). The HPLC analysis confirmed the biodegradation of textile effluent into various metabolites. Detoxification studies of textile effluent before and after treatment with fungal-bacterial consortium revealed reduced toxicity of degradation metabolites. The efficient degradation and detoxification by fungal-bacterial consortium pre-grown in agricultural based medium thus suggest a promising approach in designing low-cost treatment technologies for textile effluent.

New York Bay is one of the most important transition regions of ships trading to east America. The region plays an important role in the commerce of the New York metropolitan area. The area is surrounded with the coasts that have various levels of environmental sensitivity. The area accommodates high diversity of native ecosystems and species that are rather vulnerable in case of oil spill. Thus getting well informed about the likelihood, or fate, of oil spills around this region is of great importance so that proactive measures can be taken. The purpose of this study is to investigate the oil spill and predict the future accidents likely to be encountered around the Bay of New York. Two trajectory models have been conducted for the study. ADIOS (Automated Data Inquiry for Oil Spills), has been conducted for natural degradation calculations, and, GNOME (General NOAA Operational Modeling Environment), has been conducted for surface spread simulation. The results gained through these efforts are hoped to be useful for many organizations dealing with oil spill response operations and contribute to an effective and efficient coordination among the relevant institutions.

Silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) are widely used in numerous industries and areas of daily life, mainly as antimicrobial agents. The particles size is very important, but still not suffi ciently recognized parameter infl uencing the toxicity of nanosilver. The aim of this study was to investigate the cytotoxic effects of AgNPs with different particle size (~ 10, 40 and 100 nm). The study was conducted on both reproductive and pulmonary cells (CHO-9, 15P-1 and RAW264.7). We tested the effects of AgNPs on cell viability, cell membrane integrity, mitochondrial metabolic activity, lipid peroxidation, total oxidative and antioxidative status of cells and oxidative DNA damage. All kinds of AgNPs showed strong cytotoxic activity at low concentrations (2÷13 μg/ml), and caused an overproduction of reactive oxygen species (ROS) at concentrations lower than cytotoxic ones. The ROS being formed in the cells induced oxidative damage of DNA in alkaline comet assay. The most toxic was AgNPs<10 nm. The results indicate that the silver nanoparticles, especially less than 10 nm, may be harmful to the organisms. Therefore, risk should be considered when using nanosilver preparations and provide appropriate protective measures when they are applied.

22 representative antibiotics, including 8 quinolones (QNs), 9 sulfonamides (SAs), and 5 macrolides (MCs) were selected to investigate their occurrence and removal efficiencies in a Wastewater Treatment Plant (WWTP) and their distribution in the receiving water of the Chaobai River in Beijing, China. Water quality monitoring was performed in an integrated way at different selected points in the WWTP to explore the potential mechanism of antibiotics removal during wastewater treatment. Water quality of the Chaobai River was also analyzed to examine environmental distribution in a river ecosystem. The results showed that within all the 22 compounds examined, 10 antibiotics were quantified in wastewater influent, 10 in effluent, and 7 in river. Sulfadiazine (SDZ, 396 ng/L) and Sulfamethazine (SMZ, 382 ng/L) were the dominating antibiotics in the influent. Both the conventional treatment and advanced Biological Aerated Filter (BAF) system was important for the removal of antibiotics from the wastewater. And the concentrations of selected antibiotics were ranged from 0-41.8 ng/L in the effluent-receiving river. Despite the fact that the concentrations were reduced more than 50% compared to effluent concentrations, WWTP discharge was still regarded as a dominant point-source input of antibiotics into the Chaobai River.

The objective of this study was to investigate the possibility of using natural and bacteria-modified Erzurum clayey soil with Methylobacterium extorquens as an alternative to high cost commercial adsorbent materials for the removal of copper from aqueous solution. The copper concentrations in the samples of the polluted river water and CuCl2 solutions treated by the natural and bacteria-modified Erzurum clayey soil (ECS) have been determined by spectrophotometric method. Firstly, the surface of ECS was modified with M. extorquens and surface functionality was increased. Then, the adsorption of Cu (II) from solution phases was studied with respect to varying metal concentration, pH, and temperature and agitation time. The maximum adsorption of Cu (II) for natural and bacteria-modified Erzurum clayey soil was observed at pH: 5.0. At different copper concentrations, copper adsorption analysis was performed on 1 g using clay soil or modified clay soil. Maximum adsorption of Cu (II) was obtained as 45.7 and 48.1 mg g-1 at initial concentration (50 mg/50 mL) and optimal conditions by natural and bacteria-modified clay soil, respectively. The copper concentration was decreased in the substantial amount of the leachates solutions of natural and bacteria-modified clay soil. Langmuir and Freundlich isotherms were used to describe the adsorption behavior of Cu (II) ions. The results showed that modified clay soil had a high level of adsorption capacity for copper ion. The various thermodynamic parameters such as ΔG°, ΔH° and ΔS° were analyzed to observe the nature of adsorption. The structural properties of the natural and bacteria-modified-ECS have been characterized by SEM, FTIR and XRD techniques. Consequently, it was concluded that the bacteria-modified clay soil could be successfully used for the removal of the copper ions from the aqueous solutions.