International Journal Of Environmental Research
Volume:8 Issue: 3, Summer 2014

The purpose of this work was to test the efficiency of the treatment of wastewater by infiltration under laboratory conditions, to remove bacterial and organic load and to convert it to available nutrient for crop plants. In order to achieve this objective, polyvinyl chloride (PVC) columns of 133 cm of height were used. The columns were filled with sand and/or pozzolana and loaded with municipal wastewaters. Various parameters were measured at the inlet and outlet of these columns: chemical oxygen demand (COD), biochemical oxygen demand (BOD), ammonium (NH4 +), nitrate (NO3 -), Total Kjeldahl Nitrogen (TKN), total phosphorus (pt), pH and Escherichia coli (E. coli). With an average charge in chemical oxygen demand (COD) of 601.5 mg/L O2 at the input, A better reduction by sand (S) followed by mixing sand-pozzolana (SP) and finally by pozzolana (P) were observed. Good bacterial removal was also achieved with S. Indeed, after 49 days of experiment, the output effluent treated by S showed only 2.4×104 CFU/100 mL of Escherichia coli, against 108 CFU/100 mL in the output effluent treated by P. Moreover the almost total conversions of the nitrogen to nitrate makes the water treated by sand filter suitable for irrigation, because it is rich in nutrients and enables the conservation of conventional water stocks thereby protecting human life and environmental quality.

We proposed to use artificial channels in laboratory assays to expose periphyton to substances released in rural environments in order to test the following hypotheses 1) a high concentration of humic substances decreases the biofilm biomass and alters its metabolism; 2) periphyton biomass and metabolism increase in response to nutrient addition in spite of the previous high nutrient concentration; 3) periphyton response to nutrient addition is smaller in the presence of humic acids. Nutrient loading associated with nonpoint pollution often occurs both during and after signiûcant precipitation events. Humic acids also increase their levels after rain. This may limit the availability of light and thus, the development of the autotrophic. However, the influence of these pollutants on periphyton in eutrophic environments may be either modest or too difficult to detect using traditional endpoints. We found that in short exposures: 1) humic substances do not decrease the biomass of periphyton nor alter its metabolism; 2) periphyton biomass and metabolism increase in response to the addition of fertilizer but not to the addition of a single nutrient; 3) periphyton response to nutrient addition is smaller in the presence of humic acids. These finding have implications for river ecosystems as they suggest that changes produced by nutrient inputs into the eutrophic stream could be fast and clearly affect periphyton algae and other related organisms such as grazers and decomposers. In addition, the presence of humic acids decreases these responses.

The seasonal diversity and distribution of microphytes and macrophytes in 40 artificial irrigation ponds constructed in a semi-arid region, and the most suitable conditions to maintain these enclaves as biodiversity spots were studied for the first time. A total of 104 species were detected. Bacillariophyta, cyanobacteria and chlorophyta dominated both pelagic and benthic microphytic communities, with dinophyta and euglenophyta also comprising a large part of the pelagic assemblages. Artificial ponds were built with lowdensity polyethylene (LDP) covered with stones and sand and were also constructed with other plastic materials, such as PVC or high-density polyethylene (HDP), with no natural cover. Regression tests were used to analyze the relationship between plant species diversity (Shannon index H’) and physic-chemical pond water parameters. The test showed that the species diversity from the ponds was significantly correlated with pond’s type. LDP ponds contained a significantly wider range of microphytes and macrophytes species, in summer than in winter, than HDP. These artificial irrigation ponds have led to the creation of new water habitats for plant diversity conservation within semi-arid areas.

Currently all the waste produced are collected and transferred to the only landfill of Tehran, Aradkooh (Kahrizak), that is located in the south of Tehran. This landfill has been in use for over 45 years that has received over 35 million tons of waste during its life. In the present investigation 40 soil samples were collected from Aradkooh landfill to know about the origin of metals. The samples were acid digested and element concentrations were measured by AAS. Association of metals with different soil phases was brought out and it is shown that a great portion of metal contents possess lithogenous source. The following pattern of geochemical distribution was found in soil samples collected from Aradkooh landfill. Percentile of lithogenous Portion: Fe&V(95%)>Cu(91%)>Cd&Cr(90%)>Mn(89%)>Zn 87%)>Co(81%)>Ni(76%)>Pb(75%)>Ca(51%) Percentile of Anthropogenic portion:- Ca(49%)>Pb(25%)>Ni(24%)>Co(19%)>Zn(13% >Mn(11%)>Cd&Cr(10%)>Cu(9%)>Fe&V(5%). Based on geochemical studies (bulk and portioning studies) standard concentrations for metals is proposed. Cluster analysis revealed that the intra relationship amongst all studied metals is present (except for organic content, Ca, Fe and Mn). It seems that there is rather a good agreement amongst various pollution indices if unique terminology is used. All the three indices (IPOLL, Igeo and EF) used in the present investigation show no pollution for Fe, Mn, Zn, Cu and Ni and moderate pollution for Ca. These indices are not consistent in assessment of other elements such as V, Cd, Cr, Co and Pb that could be due to use of different media in formulae (shale values, crust values and background levels).

The conceptualization of Total Economic Value (TEV) associated with protected natural areas necessarily requires an analytical reordering that ensures a simultaneous incorporation of natural, social and economic components. Based on this purpose, the present paper uses a multi-criteria decision modeling for the economic valuation of environmental goods and services (EGS) in the Viñales National Park (PNV) based on a combination of methods such as the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) and the Goal Programming (GP) with other traditional such as the income updating method. The proposed procedure allowed estimate an indicator of Total Economic Value (TEV) and its different components: Direct Use Value (DUV), Indirect Use Value (IUV), Option Value (OV), Existence Value (EV) and Bequest Value (BV). The obtained results represent a contribution from economic science to the definition of environmental policies, allocation and distribution of financial resources, as well as the design and implementation of management plans or other strategic projections.

Paper mills are characterized as polluting industries, these use pulping process for paper manufacturing, due to which toxic chemicals released into environment. Therefore, the biological oxygen demand (BOD), chemical oxygen demand (COD) of the emanating stream is high and dissolved oxygen (DO) is low. To resolve this predicament, two dominant bacteria Bacillus subtilis and Micrococcus luteus, and one fungi Phanerochaete crysosporium was isolated from pulp and paper mills effluent (PPME) soils. These microbes were individually and in consortium were inoculated in (PPME) without diluting and no addition of carbon or nitrogen sources. Experiment was conducted under shaking and stationary conditions for nine days. These microbes were found competent of reducing BOD up to 87.2 %, COD up to 94.7% and lignin content up to 97% after 9 d under shaking conditions and brought down pH of raw PPME to neutral and increased DO from 0.8 mg/L to 6.8 mg/L.

Due to the fact that a considerable part of Europe, including some regions of Poland, isconsidered to be deficient in selenium, it seems necessary to develop a selenium map for different regions of Poland, which will be used in future to prepare a prophylaxis programme against selenium deficiency in animals. The aim of the study was to determine selenium content in selected organs (liver and kidneys) of roe deer from different regions of Poland as an indirect method of assessing environmental abundance of this element. Material for the study was collected from 28 sites located in 15 provinces of Poland. Selenium concentrations in organs were determined using spectrofluorometric methods. Mean selenium concentration in roe deer from Poland was 0.088 μg/g wet weight (w.w.) in liver and 0.503 μg/g w.w. in kidneys. Organ selenium concentrations in the studied animals varied considerably according to geographical location. Most areas of Poland are deficient in environmental selenium, as evidenced by the low content of this element in the organs of roe deer.

this study was aimed to assess the causes of the structural decline in the renewal rate of a pristine oak forest close to Rome (central Italy) by analyzing long-term measurements of the water budget in open and fenced areas. Despite dry climate conditions in the area, long-term soil moisture measurements at 100 cm soil depth indicated that an enough large amount of water is available to oaks during the whole year. Moreover, while trees did not suffer from water deficit during summer, they may experience root asphyxia during rainy years. The analysis of the water budget clarified that, even during exceptionally-dry years, oak renewal was not limited by dry climate conditions. Instead, overgrazing due to the high demographic pressure determined by wild boars which eat almost exclusively oak acorns and deer which eat the leafs of young plants was one of the most important factors affecting oak renewal.

In this paper are present the results of measurements of magnetic induction at some locations in city Bor (the east Serbia) dating from the household electric devices and transformer stations suited near the residental areas. Stress is on the extremely low frequent electromagnetic radiation from transformer stations and other high voltage instalations in urban areas. Risk of the extremely low frequent electromagnetic radiation of frequency 50 Hz on human health, by measuring the magnetic induction, is considered. The measured data are compared with the corresponding ones in literature, as well as with the critical values suggested by the Serbian Ministery of Environment, Mining and Spatial Planning. It is shown that some of them produce a very strong electromagnetic field, so that people should stay far from them. The necessity to relocate the transformer stations to the safe distance from residental areas, as well as the regular control of the positions of the household electrical equipments in the residental places, are strongly recommended.

The Johor Strait is an estuarine system located on the coast of the state of Johor in Malaysia. The Western Part of Johor Strait is a shallow estuarine located between Causeway and Pulai River. A hydrodynamic model was calibrated based on the Environmental Fluid Dynamic Code (EFDC) from 4th to 17th of October, 2009. In this calibration, the EFDC hydrodynamic model was configured to simulate time series surface water elevation, velocity, and salinity. The model grid consisted of 2310 grid cells in the horizontal direction and four vertical layers. The model reasonably simulated the tidal range. The simulated velocity showed good agreement with observations data. The predicted salinity model Salinity compared the surface layer with observed data. Results of model showed that changes of salinity from surface to depth were uniform and this condition implied rapid vertical mixing of the water in the system. The calibration model can be used for water quality and sediment modeling and for studying water age modeling.

The present study was carried out to investigate three different adsorbents; dry cells of the bacterium Exiguobacterium sp. 27, polyaniline and a mixture of both in different ratios for removal of Ni(II) from aqueous solution. The results showed that the adsorption of Ni(II) using dry cells of Exiguobacterium sp. 27 was very fast and the equilibrium time was 15 min, while the equilibrium time for polyaniline was 120 min. Finally, for a mixture of dry cells of Exiguobacterium sp. 27 and polyaniline, the equilibrium time was 40 min. Adsorption isotherm and kinetics were studied. The reaction of Exiguobacterium sp. 27 when exposed to Ni(II) solution was found to be pseudo-second order reaction and the reaction obeyed the Langmuir equation. Whereas, the reaction of polyaniline with Ni(II) solution was pseudo-second order reaction and the reaction obeyed Freundlich equation. The experimental studies showed that mixture of Exiguobacterium sp. 27 and PANI had better metal uptake than both Exiguobacterium sp. 27 and PANI individually. This work provided an evidence for the possible application of nanoparticles of bacterial cells and/or polyaniline for Ni(II) biosorption from solution for a safe and clean environment.

The aim of this work was to study the ability of two biodegradable chelating agents, nitrilotriacetic acid (NTA) and ethylenediiminopropanedioic acid (EDDM) to complex metals, in the treatment of the pulp, prior to a totally chlorine free (TCF) bleaching process, and compare with the ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid (EDTA) performance. Firstly, speciation efficiency index (SEI) was calculated by computer simulations in order to evaluate the best pH conditions for metal chelating removal: pH range 6.5-7.0 for NTA and EDDM and pH range 5-5.5 for EDTA. After implementation of the bleaching Q-P1-Paa-P2 sequence, NTA and EDDM removed transition metals (Cu, Fe and Mn) from the pulp more selectively than EDTA. The treatment with either NTA or EDDM resulted in a final bleached pulp with residual lignin contents similar to the one obtained with EDTA. A higher peroxide consumption was recorded when EDDM was used, while equivalent peroxide consumptions were registered when NTA or EDTA were applied.

Bioleaching of spent refinery processing catalysts using adapted indigenous strains of Acidithiobacillus ferrooxidans to recover Ni and Mo, and the separation of Ni from bioleaching liquor using iron magnetic nanoparticles were optimized in this study. Bioleaching optimization was performed using central composite design (CCD) method to optimize temperature (32 to 38oC), initial pH 1.5 to 2), particle size (-30 to -190μm sieve fraction) and pulp density (0.1 to 0.5%). The maximum values for Mo and Ni extraction were determined to be 62.72 and 92.34%, respectively, at 34 ºC, -90.38μm sieve fraction, 0.22 % pulp density and initial pH of 1.8 under controlled pH condition. The results of bioleaching study suggest the shaking bioreactor as a suitable tool to optimize pulp density at low values for scale up purposes. The optimum pH value for Ni adsorption from synthetically made Ni solutions was found to be 8. The Ni adsorption increased with increasing temperature and the mass of the adsorbent. The percentage of Ni adsorption from a bioleaching liquor contained 30 ppm Ni and 5g/l magnetic nanoparticles was determined to be 97% after 1 hour at 34oC and pH 8. An integrated process for bioleaching of Ni and Mo from spent catalysts and adsorption of Ni using magnetic nanoparticles has been proposed in this study.

The popular press, as well as most academic literature, claims that innovation activities areinherently linked to higher company performance. Successful innovations usually increase the firm’s market scope or reduce costs, helping firms to obtain superior benefits. Therefore, most innovations are developed with those objectives in mind. Environmental orientation is defined as the managerial recognition of the significance of the impact a company has on the environment, and the need to minimize such impact. Nowadays, environmental motivation for innovation is becoming more and more common as firms are more aware of the consequences of their activities and attempt to be socially responsible. However, most literature on innovation is focused on R&D and on large mature firms, practically neglecting small and medium sized Enterprises – SMEs-, as does the literature on corporate social responsibility. In this paper, we focus on a sample of 1337 start-up SMEs less than 10 years old, from which we obtained information regarding their innovation activities. Our results show that in comparison to cost-oriented innovations, environmental orientation in the development of innovations increases performance.

The purpose of this study was to conduct a quantitative risk assessment for PAH exposure for consumers at a night market in Taiwan. The major methods assessed potential risk under different exposure scenarios based on BaP equivalent concentration (BaPeq) and incremental lifetime cancer risk (ILCR) models. We performed experimental sampling at a night market from 27 October through 22 November 2011 in central Taiwan to analyze time-dependent particle-bound PAHs during open and closed hours. Our study revealed that the ratio of fine particle-bound PAH (<2 μm) concentration to total PAH concentration was nearly 40%; further, the ratio of PAH concentration (<10 μm) to total PAH concentration averaged 84%. This implicates fine particle-bound PAHs caused by cooking in night markets as a matter of health concern. We showed that BaP concentrations at the night market during open hours exceeded suggested permissible levels. Most importantly, we demonstrated that there are 89.05%, 99.62% and <50% probabilities of achieving ILCR levels greater than 10-6 for age groups corresponding to children, adults, and adolescents, respectively; yet, among these there was a zero percent probability of a risk greater than 10-4 (i.e., ILCR=10-4). In contrast, when considering PAH exposure to workers, the cancer risk (95% confidence interval) was estimated at 3.8×10-5 (1.03×10-5–1.34×10-4). Our study suggests that the night market environment poses a potential health risk to its workers. These preliminary results can offer some important information to governments for understanding and controlling pollutants.

In this research feasibility study of using sewage sludge as an adsorbent for the removal of Acid Blue 25 dye was carried out. Sewage sludge was first dried in an oven at 105° C for 24 hours. Then the dried sludge was washed with HCl (98%) for two hours and then with distilled water to a pH of approximately neutral. Then, it was carbonated and activated in a Nitrogen-based electric furnace at 600C° for two hours. Molecular Structure of the adsorbent was determined through XRD technique. The results of XRD revealed that the adsorbent produced for this study was mainly composed of SiO2. The experiments were carried out at pH of 3, 5, 7, 9, and 11 and for exposure times of 0, 15, 30, 60 and 120 minutes in the process of dye removal. In all steps of the experiment, dye solutions with different initial concentrations of 100, 200, and 300 mg/L and the adsorbent dosage of 10 g/L were constantly used. Finally, pH of 3 and exposure time of 30 minutes were found as the optimum condition. The maximum dye removal (97%) was achieved at 100 mg/L of dye solution. Adsorbent specifications follow Langmuir and Freunlich isotherm model.

In this study we report the rock magnetic properties of surface soil samples and their spatial variability from the northernmost district of Kerala to understand pedogenic processes and soil erosion. The magnetic signal is mainly from fine grained pedogenic magnetite as other sources like anthropogenic and lithogenic magnetite, bacterial magnetite and greigite are absent. The surface soil samples were collected from four locations (Aribail, Kodlamogaru, Miyapadavu and Seethangoli). Magnetic properties (clf, cfd, cARM, IRM’s at different field strengths) determined on these samples exhibit significant variations for the four locations. Aribail samples contain a lower concentration of magnetic minerals whereas Miyapadavu samples exhibit higher values. The magnetic mineralogy is softer and the magnetic grain size finer in Miyapadavu samples whereas it is harder and coarser in Aribail samples. The magnetic properties of samples from other locations (Kodlamogaru and Seethangoli) exhibit wide variations. In general, the magnetic concentration increases, grain size decreases and mineralogy become softer as one traverses from NW to SE in the study area. Such variations in soil magnetic properties may be due to the geographical location of sampling sites and vulnerability to erosion, as other factors like parent rock, rainfall, temperature and vegetation are almost similar in all the four locations. Our study also indicates that higher production of pedogenic magnetite occurs in the monsoon season and the time lag between erosion of magnetite during heavy rains and production of ‘new magnetite’ is not very large. This data would also serve as primary database for future pollution studies.

The parameters used to determine the trophic state of a water body are: total phosphorus (TP), transparency (Secchi disk depth) and chlorophyll a. However, these parameters show strong seasonal fluctuations which may hinder the estimation of trophic state. Some authors have proposed that sediments be used as an additional tool to evaluate the trophic state of a water body. The aim of this study was to determine the depth distribution of sediment TP in relation with the lake trophic state. Nine sediment corers from water bodies located in Patagonian Region (Argentina) were studied. The nutrient concentrations in pore water and in sediments were analyzed. The results obtained showed that there is a relationship between the depth distribution of sediment TP and the trophic state for all studied environments. Two exceptions were noted to this general pattern (Lakes Caviahue and Lácar). Our findings indicate that both pore water and sediments could be considered as the best parameters to estimate the tropic state of a water body compared to the water column.

The objective of this study is synthesis and characterization of the chitosan-silica composite (CSC) and use them as an adsorbent material for peat water treatment. The resulting composite was characterized by Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy, scanning electron microscope (SEM), X ray diffraction (XRD), N2 adsorption-desorption isotherm and zeta potential. The sorption experiments were carried out in batch mode to optimize various parameters such as contact time, dose of CSC, pH and temperature. In addition, adsorption isotherms of humic acid onto the CSC were also evaluated with the Langmuir, Freundlich and Sips approximations. Kinetic data were tested using the pseudo-first-order, pseudo second-order kinetic models and intra-particle equations. The results from this work showed that the adsorption of humic acid was found to increase with increase in contact time and temperature while acidic pH was more favorable for the adsorption of humic acid from peat water. The optimum dosage of CSC was 5 g. Equilibrium data were best described by the Langmuir isotherm model, with maximum monolayer adsorption capacity of 120.2 mg/g at 25 oC and pH 4.12. The kinetics of the adsorption process was found to follow the pseudo-second-order kinetic model, with a rate constant in the range of 0.034 - 0.105 g/mg/min, while intra-particle-diffusion were the main rate determining step in the humic acid adsorption process. Thermodynamic parameters data indicated that the humic acid sorption process was non-spontaneous and endothermic under the experimental conditions, with the Gibbs free energy (“Go) in the range of 1.05-3.89 kJ/mol, enthalpy (“Ho) and entropy (“So) of 24.69 kJ/ mol and 69.62 J/mol, respectively and the activation energy was 23.23 kJ/mol. The CSC investigated in this study thus exhibited as a high potential adsorbent for the peat water treatment.

A study of the atmospheric particulate size distribution of total suspended particulate matter (TSPM) and associated heavy metals concentrations has been carried out for the urban part of Sarajevo city, Bosnia and Herzegovina. Urban particles (n=150) were collected using a high volume air sampler equipped with a 6-stage impactor. Apart from Fe which has been determined by flame atomic absorption spectrometry (FAAS), all measurements (Co, Cu, Mn) have been carried out by graphite furnace atomic absorption spectrometry (GFAAS). The average concentrations of particulate matter are 37%, 18%, 15%, 8%, 15% and 6% (averaged over all the observations) of total suspended particulate for PM< 0.49, PM0.95 – 0.49, PM1.5 -0.95, PM3.0 – 1.5, PM7.2 – 3.0 and PM> 7.2, respectively. Metal concentrations in size-fractionated urban particles ranged from 0.01-3.83 ng/m3 for Co, 6.30-179.20 ng/m3 for Cu, 5.00-208.70 ng/m3 for Mn and 0.35-6.82 g/m3 for Fe. Major concentrations of investigated metals are associated with the PM 7.2-3.0 μm. Overall, the decreasing trend of average trace element concentrations (24-h) in the particulates revealed the following order: Fe>Mn>Cu>Co.

In Pakistan besides pesticide contamination from agricultural field, the manufacturing industries are also contributing relatively high quantities of toxic pesticides into the environment. These pesticides may be toxic, mutagenic or carginogenic and may be bioaccumulated or biomagnified by the biota. Because of persistent nature of pesticides, its removal from environmental system become difficult. The effective operation of wastewater treatment plant plays an important role in minimizing the release of toxic compounds into the environment. Research on the removal of toxic organics using the biological treatment plants is limited. In this study the bacterial isolate, IES-PS-1, was used to assess its potential for Cypermethrin degradation in activated sludge process. The experimental findings indicate that by maintaining the optimum operating conditions in the reactor, the removal efficiency significantly improved and > 88 % degradation observed at 80 mg/L dose. However, the complete removal of Cypermethrin, determined by High Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC), occurred at 20mg/L during 48 hour treatment. In addition, a considerable reduction in the sludge volume and chemical oxygen demand (COD) was also observed, producing an acceptable effluent quality with stable residual solids. These findings would be valuable in operating the wastewater treatment system for toxic waste removal.

A crude biosurfactant mixture was produced in a 1.4 L tubular reactor by a mixed culture; after the thermal treatment of the whole culture an increase in emulsification activity and surface tension was observed, with a main effect on the first one. The emulsification index of the mixture obtained was of 60.4 %. The crude mixed biosurfactant was used to enhance hydrocarbon biodegradation of intemperized soil in a slurry reactor, for which two biodegradation assays were carried out. In the first reactor (R1), the crude mixed biosurfactant was added along with inoculum at initial stage, and the second reactor (R2) was inoculated 5 days after the initial biosurfactant addition. When the crude biosurfactant mixture was added as a pretreatment (R2), the extent and rate of hydrocarbon biodegradation was increased efficiently in the slurry phase reactor 1.3-folds in comparison to non-biosurfactant control. So, the initial hydrocarbon content (9,275 g/kg of dry soil) was reduced to 674 ± 34 mg kg-1 with about 92% of removal efficiency at the 10 days of treatment in the slurry reactor. On the other hand, the bioreactor that received the biosurfactant and the inoculum at the initial stage showed slower hydrocarbon consumption and as result hydrocarbon content was reduced by approximately 34%.

Cyanobacteria blooms are common in Baltic Sea and their intensity have been increased due to anthropogenic eutrophication. In this study we investigated the cyanotoxin levels in the water samples collected from four different locations in the Baltic Sea at three different seasons including summer 2011. Protein phosphatase 2A (PP2A) inhibition assays, Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays (ELISA) and liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (LC-MS) were employed to detect cyanotoxin variants. Microcystin- LR equivalents (MCE) were detected in a number of the water samples collected at site A (0.4 to 0.64 μg MCE/ L) and at site B (0.24 to 0.44 μg MCE/ L). Cyanotoxin concentrations, as measured by ELISA, ranged between 0.98 -7.45 μg MCE/L in samples collected at site A and between 0.12 to 0.68 μg MCE/L, in samples collected at site B. By using LC-MS one of the molecules present in the samples from site A was determined to be nodularin (0.213 to 0.524 μg/L) whereas samples from site B did not contain this toxin nor did they contain any of the most toxic microcystin species mentioned. The data obtained show good correlation with the MC concentration changes measured in samples and these concentrations were relatively higher during warmer months. In addition we also investigated the adsorption of toxins from water into the circulation of grazing cattle and the results show no measureable liver damage resulting from cyanotoxin poisoning.

In this study metal oxide nano powder namely NiO nanopowder was prepared. The produced metal oxide was characterized and used as potential adsorbent for the removal of Pb and Zn from aqueous solution. The rate of uptake of the Pb and Zn are rapid in the beginning and the time required for equilibrium adsorption is 120 min. The time of equilibrium as well as time required to achieve a definite fraction of equilibrium adsorption is independent of initial concentration. The results showed that the removal of Pb increased significantly as the pH increased from 2.0 to 6.0 and approach a plateau at pH range of 6.0–9.0., while the removal of Zn increased significantly as the pH increased from 2.0 to 9.0. The adsorption of pb onto NiO follows the Langmiur isotherm, while the adsorption of Zn onto NiO follows the Freundlish isotherm. The pseudo second order kinetic model provided good correlation for the adsorption of Pb onto NiO nanopowder while the pseudo first order kinetic model provided good correlation for the adsorption of Zn onto NiO nanopowder.

24-hour samples of PM1 (submicron particles, aerodynamic diameters ≤1 μm) and PM2.5(fine particles, aerodynamic diameters ≤ 2.5 μm) were collected at a quasi-rural area in Racibórz (1 January- 30 June 2011). The samples were analysed for carbon (organic and elemental), water-soluble ions (Na+, NH4 +, K+, Mg2+, Ca2+, Cl-, NO3 -, SO4 2-) and concentrations of 21 elements with a carbon analyser (Sunset Laboratory Ltd.), an ion chromatograph (Herisau Metrohm AG) and an Epsilon 5 spectrometer (PANalitycal), respectively. To perform the monthly mass closure calculations for PM1 and PM2.5, chemical components were categorized into the organic matter (OM), elemental carbon (EC), secondary inorganic aerosol (SIA), crustal matter (CM), Na/K/Cl (sum of Na+, K+ and Cl- concentrations), other elements (OE) and unidentified matter (UM). The results show that the particulate matter (PM) concentrations and its chemical composition are mainly influenced by the anthropogenic emissions (coal, waste and biomass combustion in home furnaces and energy production based on hard and brown coal combustion). On the other hand, the secondary organic and inorganic (to a lesser extent) aerosols constitute a considerable part of the PM mass. The findings indicate serious problems related to the possible reduction in the fine PM concentrations in southern Poland. Even though places such as Racibórz can be formally qualified as rural sites, such areas in southern Poland do not necessarily have low PM concentrations (lower than in cities) or chemical compositions of fine particles different from those in cities.

The “Driving force - Pressure - State - Impact – Response” modeling framework is adopted to consider the formation mechanisms of environmental risks and the requirements of ecological environment protection. Moreover, a systematical index system and evaluation model for the measurement of the coastal ecological security level is put forward in this paper to assess the state of coastal ecological environment security. The results show that the security level of the Tianjin coastal ecological environment exhibits an overall downward trend, with the coastal ecological environment security value (E) falling from 0.7491 in 2005 (in good condition) to 0.2773 in 2010 (in a poor state), and the value will continue to decline into a bad state in the next decade. The increasing use of coastal areas, growing population and increasing emissions of pollutants into the sea are the primary phenomena leading to environmental degradation of coastal ecosystems, which further leads to the degeneration of the ecological and environmental conditions of the coastal zone in Tianjin. The inshore marine ecosystem is always in the sub-healthy and unhealthy state, which has affected the balance of the marine ecosystem and led to poor biomes structure. At present, the marine ecosystem conservation actions, including pollution control, monitoring and surveillance system and emergency management mechanism, are not enough to offset the impacts on the marine ecosystem caused by driving force and pressure changes. It is necessary to establish a coordinated integration management system for the land and sea and an ecological compensation mechanism.

In this research a three dimensional model is explained which simulate the oil spill behavior in seas. This model is the developed version of previous two-dimensional study of Aghajanloo et al., 2013.Because of three-dimensional nature of the oil dispersion/movement in water, this is a more realistic model of oil spill transport and fate in marine environment. The model is based on Eulerian approach and the governing equations have been discretized by finite volume method. The main model is a combination of several major sub-models that predict the oil slick transport on the sea surface, oil losses due to natural weathering processes and oil dispersion in water column. The oil pollution distribution in water column have been modeled in a sigma-coordinate system and the effects of current, wave and wind forces and turbulent diffusion have been included. Also a hydrodynamic model is provided to simulate the tidal current which is based on two dimensional depth averaged equations of shallow water. A test case including analytical solution is chosen to ensure the model capability in oil spill simulation. The oil spill accident in the Persian Gulf has been simulated by the model.

The aim to achieve in this study is to recover the Cr(III) and process waters used in thewastewaters of chrome tanning operation by membrane process during leather production. In the treatment alternative contains, cartridge filter, nanofiltration (NF(NP10)), nanofiltration NF(XN45) and reverse osmosis RO(ACM2) membranes. The raw chrome wastewater from the cartridge filter was given to NF(NP10) membranes with 3 different pressures (12bar, 16bar, 18bar). In this alternative, the most appropriate pressure is determined as 20 bar and the COD, Cr(III) and SS values were detected as, in order, 65%, 49% and 87% for the removal efficiency. 2,7 times more concentration for Cr(III) was achieved in the NF (XN45) membrane, which was used after NF(NP10) membrane and COD, SS, SO4 -2, Na+ and conductivity parameters showed removal efficiencies as, 75%, 89%, 95%, 38% and 16%. The permeate from RO(ACM2) membrane was decreased to the discharge criteria’s; (Cr(III):2 mg/L, COD: 200 mg/L). As a result, the investment and the process cost of these membranes are more feasible.

Many studies on cold environments have been developed over the past two decades. High mountain freshwater presents high variability of nutrients and chemico-physical parameters, showing variations of pH, oxygen concentration, metals and temperature throughout the year. National Park of Sierra Nevada (Granada, Spain) (37°032 N 03°182 W), has almost 40 lakes that are reported to be both endemic and oligotrophic. However, very little information about their microbial diversity can be found in literature. In this work, a Response Surface Methodology (RSM) was used to find best nutritional conditions for the isolation of psychrophilic microalgae from La Caldera Lake. The results showed that best culture medium, was the Rodriguez-Lopez medium (RL); data were adjusted to a quadratic prediction model reporting a biomass concentration over 600 mg/L at 10 and 20ºC. In this paper, the diversity of culturable freshwater microalgae in the La Caldera Lake was observed by PCR using specific primers for eukaryotic 18S rRNA genes. Samples were taken in early July and late Agust, 2011. In July presence of strains belonging to the Eustigmatophyceae, Bacillariophyceae, Trebouxiophyceae, Chlorophyceae and Scenedesmaceae families were found. In August, only microalgae from the Eustigmatophyceae, Trebouxiophyceae, Chlorophyceae and Scenedesmaceae families were found. An individual culture of each isolated strain was carried out. Microalgae S21 had phylogenetic similitude with Chlorophyceae, and showed best growth being biomass concentration in RL 393.73 mg/L and 128.52 mg/L at 20ºC and 10ºC, respectively. Moreover, specific growth rates (μmax), 0.25/h and 0.13/h at 20ºC and 10ºC, respectively, were detected for strain S21.

L-asparaginase is a candidate enzyme for anti-neoplastic agent againstacute lymphoblasticleukemia and also extensively use in the food industry for prevention of acrylamide formation. L-asparaginase is widely distributed among microorganisms. In this study, marine bacteria were isolated from Persian Gulf and screened for L-asparaginase activity. Production of L-asparaginase was carried out by using M9 medium. Among L-asparaginase producing strains, 12 potent strains were differentiated based on nucleotide sequences of 16S rDNA. 12 potent strains included 2 strains of Pseudomonas spp., 8 strains of Bacillus spp, one strain of Zobellella spp. and one strain of Oceanimonas spp. identified and consequently the sequences published in the NCBI databases under the specific accession numbers. This is the first report on L-asparaginase activity of Zobellella spp. from this region. The highest (1.6 IU/ mL) and also the lowest (0.20 IU/ mL) productivity of L-asparaginase enzyme were recorded for Pseudomonas sp. PG_01 and Bacillus sp. PG_13 respectively. This study revealed marine bacteria are potential source of L-asparaginase enzyme. Pseudomonas sp.PG_01 with high productivity can be used for production of L-asparaginase. Therefore, Persian Gulf can be considered as a potential bioresource for L-asparaginase producing strains which may be effectively used in the large scale production by related gene cloning in purpose of medical application and food industry in the future.

The present study is to study linear free energy relationships (LFERs) for dechlorination rates in cement/Fe(II) slurries of eight chlorinated hydrocarbons including carbon tetrachloride, chloroform produced from carbon tetrachloride, 1,1,1-trichloroethane, trichloroethylene produced from 1,1,2,2-tetrachloroethane, tetrachloroethylene, trichloroethylene, 1,1-dichloroethylene, and vinyl chloride, with six descriptor variables in pursuit of finding a reasonable descriptor showing the highest coefficient of determination (R2). Seventeen descriptors by various computational methods were screened into six descriptors. In addition, this study correlated logarithms of rate constants (log k) with multiple descriptors. The results have shown that the bond dissociation energy, overall free energy change of the one-electron transfer step, and lowest unoccupied molecular orbital energies calculated by ab initio methods with 6-31G* parameters were strongly correlated with the log k values of eight compounds by Fe(II) in cement slurries. The combinations of descriptors that had the highest correlation coefficient in multiple regression were one-electron reduction potential and gasphase homolytic-dissociation energy (E1 and DR-X), which two variables are commonly based on that a dissociative one-electron transfer is the initial and rate-limiting step in the reaction.

Eco-innovation is an actual topic as it links two key issues, innovation and sustainability. The environmental respect and innovation are important drivers of competitiveness. Firms are willing to know what to do to improve their eco-innovative capacity. The objective of this paper is to empirically determine what common characteristics have the most environmental oriented innovative firms. We analyze data retrieve from the Spanish Technological Innovation Panel (PITEC) from 7682 Spanish firms using a two step approach. Results show the impact of certain variables in determining the environmental orientation of companies. More specifically, process and product orientation while innovating was reveled as crucial aspects in determining the environmental orientation of firms. Moreover, results showed the lower relative impact of the importance of market, institutional and technical information sources. Based on these results, we can determine which company’s behavior has to be promoted to get companies focused on environmental aspects. Important managerial and policy making implications are derived from the study.

In this study, three stations of the north Persian Gulf were analyzed in order to determine the effect of trophic levels on the concentration of harmful PAHs in fish and sediment. In all cases, similar distributions were observed in which benzo(a)pyrene largely predominated and benzo(b)fluoranthene and pyrene were the second major compounds in fish tissues. The predominant components of PAHs in sediment were acenaphthene, pyrene and benzo(ghi)perylene. Based on the molecular weight of PAHs, the concentrations of the compounds vary among species. Netuma bilineata, which is carnivorous, classified at a 0.49 to 3.8 trophic level and lives in association with sediment, accumulated the highest concentrations of high molecular weight PAHs, whereas L. abu, which is herbivorous and classified at a 0.2 to 2.6 trophic level, tended to accumulate low molecular weight PAHs. Comparison among the stations indicated that the fish and sediment from Tangestan estuary accumulated the highest levels of the compounds.

Wetlands in the Lower Reaches of Songhua River (LRSR), Northeast China, are rich in biodiversity and natural resources, which provide crucial staging and wintering habitats for various endangered species.However, in the past five decades, the size of this wetland area has decreased, and its quality has deteriorated because of increased natural and human activities. Wetland restoration is critical to improve these conditions. In this study, hydrological regulation and habitat suitability, the most important wetland functions, were selected and analyzed to identify suitable wetland restoration sites. By using these two function layers, together with the geographic information system (GIS) spatial analysis function and remote sensing (RS) image data, we identified and prioritized suitable sites for wetland restoration in the LRSR. Areas with high hydrological regulation and good or fair waterbirds’ habitat suitability can support wetland restoration. The potential sites were prioritized in terms of patch size and proximity to natural wetlands and water bodies. Finally, we obtained two priority classes (high and low) of wetland restoration in a spatial scale. The results from this study showed that the areas with high and low priority classes for wetland restoration are 82,628 and 247,039 ha, respectively, which account for 1.23% and 3.67% of the total study area. The high-priority class areas would be used for the wetland restoration.