Electronic (EK) remediation of a contaminated soil at several Pb concentrations and applied voltages

The in situ remediation of a lead‐contaminated silt loam by electrokinetic (EK) soil flushing was studied. Two initial soil Pb concentrations (150 and 1000 mg/kg of Pb) and applied voltages (30 and 60 V) were investigated. The EK soil flushing process was less efficient for the 150 mg/kg of Pb soils despite these tests being operated for longer durations, having larger EO flows and energy inputs, and lower soil pHs. The decrease in effectiveness was attributed to a larger average metal‐soil binding energy for the lower contaminated soil. Increasing the voltage increased the EO flow, current, energy input (kW‐hr/kg of soil), and provided a more evolved low pH front, resulting in more soil being remediated. There appeared to be a correlation between the amount of EO flow and the desorption and transport of soil‐bound lead. Because complete soil remediation did not occur in any of the tests, the final energy input per kilogram of soil could not be calculated.     

Assessment of Health Protectiveness of the Risk-Based Soil Remediation Standards of the Midwestern States

In the last decade, risk-based remediation following a framework similar to risk-based correction action (RBCA) has gained acceptance across the country and generic/Tier 1 Risk-Based Action Limits (RBALs) for hundreds of chemicals have been tabulated. However, there have been only a few studies that focused on understanding the causes of discrepancy among cleanup standards and policies of the hazardous waste programs among the states. This study aims to fill this critical need by examining the basis of generic (i.e., Tier 1) residential RBALs developed by the states, which are within the regulatory domain of U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's Region 5. Specifically, we seek to investigate the approaches/methodologies and the policy/technical rationale used in establishing RBALs, along with degree of inconsistency, and the causes and implications of inconsistencies. In addition, we developed RBALs for a case study site using both deterministic and probabilistic risk assessment approaches and compared these against RBALs developed by the states to infer about public health-protectiveness of the state-specific RBALs. We found three- and four-order-of magnitude difference among state RBALs for PAHs and VOCs, respectively. The degree of clean up deemed appropriate under Tier 1 evaluation by the midwestern states significantly differ from one another, which has both public health and economic implications.     

Effects of taurine supplementation on productive performance,nutrient digestibility and gene expression of nutrient transporters in quails reared under heat stress

This study was conducted to examine the effects of dietary taurine supplementation on productive performance, nutrient digestibility, antioxidant status, and the gene expression of ileal nutrient transporters in laying quails reared under heat stress (HS). One hundred and eighty laying Japanese quails (Coturnix coturnix japonica) were fed a basal diet or basal diet supplemented with either 2.5 or 5 g of taurine per kg of diet, and reared at either 22 ± 2 °C for 24 h/d (thermoneutral, TN) or 34 ± 2 °C for 8 h/d (HS) for 12 weeks. The quails reared under HS consumed less feed, produced less egg, and had lower dry matter, organic matter and crude protein apparent digestibilities compared with the quails reared under the TN condition (P = 0.001). However, increasing taurine concentrations in the diet improved feed intake and egg production (P = 0.001), but also the apparent digestibilities (P ≤ 0.027) in quails reared under HS. The greater doses (5 g/kg) of taurine resulted in more responses. The quails reared under HS had greater serum and liver MDA concentrations (P = 0.0001) which decreased with dietary taurine supplementations, particularly greater doses. The gene expressions of ileal PEPT1, EAAT3, CAT1, CAT2, SGLT1, SGLT5, GLUT2, and GLUT5 decreased under HS conditions (P = 0.001). However, supplementing taurine, in a dose-dependent fashion, to the diet of quails reared under HS resulted in increases in the gene expressions of the transporters (P < 0.05) except for CAT1. The results of the present work showed that taurine supplementation, particularly with greater doses (5 g/kg), to the diet of laying quails kept under HS acts as alleviating negative effects of HS, resulting in improvements in productive performance and nutrient digestion, and also upregulation of ileal nutrient transporters.     

Biosorption of Chromium(VI) and Lead(II): Role of Spirulina platensis in the Treatment of Industrial Effluent

Biosorption is the process of removal of any chemical molecules by the treatment of biological material. Industrialization resulted in the discharge of various toxic heavy metals into water bodies, which poses serious health hazards to humans and animals. In the present study, live Spirulina platensis was used as a biosorbent for the removal of the heavy metals chromium (Cr(VI)) and lead (Pb(II)) from the aqueous samples. S. platensis were cultured in the presence of different concentrations of heavy metals. The growth of the algal cells was found to be decreased by 59% and 36% in media containing 50 ppm Cr(VI) and Pb(II), respectively. To assess the biosorption of heavy metals, at different time intervals, the spent culture media were used to detect Cr(VI) by atomic absorption spectroscopy method and Pb(II) by 4-(2-pyridylazo)resorcinol indicator method. Results suggested that there was a significant uptake of Cr(VI) and Pb(II) from the medium by S. platensis, with corresponding decrease of metals in the medium. When metal salt solutions or industrial effluent samples were passed through the column containing immobilized live S. platensis in calcium alginate beads, the concentration of Cr(VI) was found to be reduced drastically. The present study indicates the application of S. platensis for the bioremediation of heavy metals from the samples obtained from industrial effluents.     

Phytotoxicity of Citric Acid and Tween® 80 for Potential Use as Soil Amendments in Enhanced Phytoremediation

Enhanced phytoremediation adding biodegradable amendments like low molecular weight organic acids and surfactants is an interesting area of current research to overcome the limitation that represents low bioavailability of pollutants in soils. However, prior to their use in assisted phytoremediation, it is necessary to test if amendments per se exert any toxic effect to plants and to optimize their application mode. In this context, the present study assessed the effects of citric acid and Tween® 80 (polyethylene glycol sorbitan monooleate) on the development of alfalfa (Medicago sativa) plants, as influenced by their concentration and frequency of application, in order to evaluate the feasibility for their future use in enhanced phytoremediation of multi-contaminated soils. The results showed that citric acid negatively affected plant germination, while it did not have any significant effect on biomass or chlorophyll content. In turn, Tween® 80 did not affect plant germination and showed a trend to increase biomass, as well as it did not have any significant effect on chlorophyll levels. M. sativa appeared to tolerate citric acid and Tween® 80 at the tested concentrations, applied weekly. Consequently, citric acid and Tween® 80 could potentially be utilized to assist phytoremediation of contaminated soils vegetated with M. sativa.     

In-Situ Remediation of TCE in Clayey Soils

The remediation of solvent contaminated low permeable soils poses a significant problem for many facilities. A consortium of industrial partners (Monsanto, DuPont and General Electric), the USEPA and the DOE jointly developed a technology that integrates electrokinetics with in-situ treatment of chlorinated organics to address this problem. The process, called Lasagna^TM, utilizes a DC electric field to move pore water and contaminants uniformly through the soil mass to treatment zones emplaced within the contaminated area. The emplacement is performed using common piling technologies and results in little or no wastes. The treatment materials emplaced are typically iron, coke and kaolin. After two in-field demonstrations, a full-scale Lasagna remediation system was implemented at the DOE facility in Paducah, KY for the remediation of TCE contaminated clay soils. The system was installed and operated over a two-year period. The process was shut down in December 2001 after meeting the cleanup target of 5.6 mg/kg specified by the Record of Decision (ROD) for the site. The final results show an average TCE concentration of 0.38 mg/kg.     

Simultaneous speciation of chromium by spectrophotometry and multicomponent analysis

Abstract

A simple, fast and sensitive spectrophotometric method for the simultaneous determination of Cr(III) and Cr(VI) in effluents and contaminated waters using a UV-visible spectrophotometer, which operates with an advanced software for multicomponent analysis, is proposed. The method consists in the complexation of Cr (III) with EDTA and reaction of Cr(VI) with diphenylcarbazide (DPC). Variables, such as pH and colour stability time, were studied. The effect of concomitant ions on the simultaneous Cr(III) and Cr(VI) determination was also investigated. The sums of the chromium species concentrations obtained by the proposed method were compared with the total chromium concentrations found by electrothermal atomic absorption spectrometry. Recoveries of the chromium species between 75 and 136% were obtained for spiked samples. The linear working range for Cr(III) was 0.5-30 mg L^?1, while for Cr(VI) was 0.005-0.30 mg L^?1. The detection limits were 0.3 mg L^?1 for Cr(III) and 0.003 mg L^?1 for Cr(VI) while the quantification limits were 1.0 mg L^?1 for Cr(III) and 0.01 mg L^?1 for Cr(VI).     

Agromyces sp.CS16去除水体中重金属镉、镍、铜、锌离子的研究北大核心

【目的】本研究从深圳福田红树林表层土壤中分离出一株潜在放线菌新种Agromyces sp.CS16,研究其对水体中重金属的去除能力以及特征,并初步探究其在去除水体重金属中的实际应用,为利用微生物修复水体重金属污染提供技术支持。【方法】测定菌株CS16对Cd^(2+)、Ni^(2+)、Cu^(2+)、Zn^(2+)的去除能力;测定CS16对Cd^(2+)、Ni^(2+)、Cu^(2+)、Zn^(2+)在胞外吸附和胞内吸收的占比;通过全基因组测序分析CS16基因组中与重金属耐受相关的基因;采用海藻酸钠和聚乙烯醇将CS16包埋,并测定包埋后CS16对重金属的去除能力。【结果】放线菌Agromyces sp.CS16在Cd^(2+)浓度为10μg/mL时对其的去除量最大,为32.95 mg/g,此时对溶液中Cd^(2+)的去除率也最高,达到83.71%;菌株CS16在Ni^(2+)浓度为75μg/mL时去除量最大,为25.09 mg/g,在Ni^(2+)浓度为25μg/mL时去除率最高,为70.27%;CS16在Cu^(2+)浓度为150μg/mL时去除量最大,为30.69 mg/g,在Cu^(2+)浓度为30μg/m L时去除率最高,为80.11%;CS16在Zn^(2+)浓度为125μg/mL时去除量最大,为39.29 mg/g,在Zn^(2+)浓度为25μg/mL时去除率最高,为88.91%。菌株CS16全基因组预测总共有3744个基因,其中有37个基因推测与Cd^(2+)、Ni^(2+)、Cu^(2+)、Zn^(2+)的抗性相关。CS16主要通过将重金属吸附在细胞外表面来去除水体中的重金属,在被海藻酸钠(sodium alginate,SA)与聚乙烯醇(polyvinyl alcohol,PVA)材料包埋后,CS16对Cd^(2+)的去除能力下降,但对Ni^(2+)、Cu^(2+)、Zn^(2+)的去除能力显著提高。【结论】放线菌Agromyces sp.CS16是一株分离自红树林表层沉积物的新菌,本研究测定了CS16对Cd^(2+)、Ni^(2+)、Cu^(2+)、Zn^(2+)的去除能力,从细胞层面和基因层面初步探索了其对Cd^(2+)、Ni^(2+)、Cu^(2+)、Zn^(2+)的去除机理,并成功用海藻酸钠和聚乙烯醇将其包埋,为探究微生物去除水体重金属离子的机制和之后应用CS16修复水体重金属污染提供了理论基础。     

Oxalate Extraction of Pb and Zn from Polluted Soils: Solubility Limitations

Oxalate (Ox) was used to extract Pb and Zn from industrially contaminated soils. Although Ox effectively releases metals bound by hydrous oxide soil components, it forms insoluble salts with some heavy metals unlike conventional extractants (e.g., EDTA). The insolubility of PbOx(s) (K_sp=2.74 × 10^?11) precluded the use of Ox as a single-step extractant even for soils mildly contaminated with Pb. The usefulness of Ox as a Zn extractant, however, depends on the level of soil contamination. A Zn solubility model, based on published equilibrium constants, was developed to assess Ox suitability as a function of system conditions. Precipitation of ZnOx(s) hindered Zn recovery under acidic conditions where formation of soluble oxalato complexes was small. For pH<3, the presence of 1?M Ox actually reduced Zn release compared to simple acid washing. Although Ox displaces oxide-bound metals and thus is potentially useful in soil washing, solubility limitations must be defined for effective remediation of metal-laden soils.     

Dietary chromium intake

Chromium content of 22 daily diets, designed by nutritionists to be well-balanced, ranged from 8.4 to 23.7 μg/1000 cal with a mean ±SEM chromium content of 13.4±1.1 μg/1000 cal. Most dairy products are low in chromium and provide <0.6μg/serving. Meats, poultry, and fish are also low in chromium, providing 2 μg of chromium or less per serving. Chromium contents of grain products, fruits, and vegetables vary widely, with some foods providing >20 μg/serving. In summary, chromium content of individual foods varies, and is dependent upon chromium introduced in the growing, transport, processing, and fortification of the food. Even well-balanced diets may contain suboptimal levels of dietary chromium.