Efficiency of compost in the removal of heavy metals from the industrial wastewater

Authorities have been applying very strict regulations for the treatment of industrial wastewater recently because of the threatening level of the environmental pollution faced. Industrial wastewater containing heavy metals is a threat to the public health because of the accumulation of the heavy metals in the aquatic life which is transferred to human bodies through the food chain. Therefore, recently, researchers have been oriented toward the practical use of adsorbents for the treatment of wastewater polluted by heavy metals. The aim of this research was to determine the retention capacity of compost for copper, zinc, nickel and chromium. For this purpose, experiments in batch-mixing reactors with initial metal concentrations ranging from 100 to 1,000 mg/l were carried. It was also observed that compost could repeatedly be used in metal sorption processes. The experiments conducted indicated that compost has high retention capacities for copper, zinc and nickel, but not for chromium. Thus, compost has been approved as a potential sorbent for copper, zinc and nickel and may find place in industrial applications. Thus, solid waste which is another source of significant environmental pollution will be reduced by being converted into a beneficial product compost.     

Exploring the use of alternative groundwater models to understand the hydrogeological flow processes in an alluvial context (Tiber River, Rome, Italy)

The first step of the application of a groundwater model to a specific site is the identification of the conceptual model. In this paper, a methodology to compare different conceptual models is proposed. Such a method consists in the parallel run of simple groundwater models, based on different conceptual models and in the evaluation of each model fitting. The case study proposed to illustrate this approach belongs to the alluvial series of the Tiber River (Rome, Italy).     

Detection of Toxoplasma gondii in Turkish River and Drinking Water Samples by Different PCR and LAMP Methods

In this study, we investigated the occurence of Toxoplasma gondii and checked the sequencing in 56 samples collected from in the Ordu province, Middle Black Sea, Turkey. The samples were collected from drinking and river water and DNA was extracted from all samples. After DNA isolation, the 18S rRNA target gene and B1 gene of T. gondii were amplified by conventional PCR, nested PCR, and loop‐mediated isothermal amplification (LAMP) assay, respectively. Twenty out of 56 samples (35.7%) were Toxoplasma positive by LAMP. The conventional PCR and nested PCR confirmed that 12 and 16 out of 56 samples (21.42 and 28.57%) were positive for Toxoplasma, respectively. All drinking water samples were negative by all three methods. Thirteen Toxoplasma nested PCR products were successfully sequenced. This study achieved detection and sequencing of Toxoplasma from water supplies in the Middle Black sea area in Turkey.     

Pinus brutia as a biogeochemical medium to detect iron and zinc in soil analysis, chromite deposits of the area Mersin, Turkey

Soil and pine (Pinus brutia) samples were collected from 64 sites over chromite and ultramafic rocks near Musal?, and over clastic sediments of the Silifke-Anamur areas of Mersin, Turkey. Both sample media were analyzed for their Zn and Fe contents. The results showed similar concentration of both elements in the ash of needles and twigs, with each exhibiting lower concentration than the soils. Zinc was more concentrated in pines from the Silifke-Anamur area than at Musal?, but Fe concentrations were similar in both area. A positive correlation was observed between Zn and Fe in pine and soils (r=0.90 and 0.79, respectively). It is concluded that P. brutia can be used as a biogeochemical sample medium to detect concealed deposits of Zn and Fe.     

Democracy,electoral systems and emissions: explaining when and why democratization promotes mitigation

Does democratization help countries mitigate climate change? On the one hand, by increasing the value placed on quality of life, creating more opportunity for environmental actors to influence policymaking and holding elected politicians accountable, an increase in democratic institution and process should promote emissions reduction. On the other hand, the desire to safeguard individual freedom presumably brings with it an aversion to intervene in lifestyle and market decisions, thereby raising the risk of climate inaction. This outcome is further encouraged by the political need to balance (conflicting) environmental and energy interests.

This article evaluates the thesis that democratization promotes mitigation in light of national emissions levels from 1990 to 2012. Using data from the Freedom House, Polity IV and V-Dem indices, World Bank World Development Indicators and the World Resources Institute Climate Data Explorer it conducts a large-N investigation of the emissions levels of 147 countries. Although several quantitative studies have found that domestic political regimes affect emissions levels, this article goes beyond existing research by building a more sophisticated – multilevel- research design to determine whether democracy: (a) continues to be an important driver of emissions when country-level clustering is accounted for and (b) has uniform effects across countries. The results indicate that, even after controlling for country-level clustering and holding constant the other confounding factors, democracy is indeed a significant driver. More strikingly, they reveal that while democracies tend to have lower emissions than non-democracies, democratization spells within the same country do not have the same kind of inhibitory effects as they do between countries. This article also finds tentative evidence that the type of electoral system plays a critical role in shaping the effect of democratization on individual countries.

Key policy insights

• Democracies tend to perform better in terms of emission levels than non-democracies.

• Democratization has non-uniform effects across different countries, with the type of electoral system playing a key role in determining the effect that democratization has on national emissions.

• Further research is needed to develop our understanding of how the political context influences emissions, especially with regard to the influence of pro and anti-decarbonisation actors.

     

Degradation of an Azo Dye with Homogeneous and Heterogeneous Catalysts by Sonophotolysis

This study illustrates the degradation of an azo dye, Reactive Yellow 81 (RY81), by the combined irradiation of UV‐C and ultrasound in the presence of homogeneous (Fe²⁺) and heterogeneous (TiO₂, ZnO) catalysts. The efficiency of homogeneous and heterogeneous oxidation systems was evaluated in regard of the decolorization and mineralization of RY81. Decolorization followed pseudo‐first‐order kinetics with homogeneous and heterogeneous catalysts. Complete color removal was accomplished by homogeneous sonocatalytic and sonophotocatalytic oxidation processes with apparent rate constants of 0.96 × 10^?3 and 46.77 × 10^?3 s^?1, respectively, in the presence of Fe²⁺. However, partial color removal was obtained by heterogeneous sonocatalytic, photocatalytic, and sonophotocatalytic oxidation processes with apparent rate constants of 2.32 × 10^?3, 3.60 × 10^?3, and 3.67 × 10^?3 s^?1, respectively, in the presence of ZnO. TiO₂ had the worst catalytic effect of all of the oxidation processes. The addition of hydrogen peroxide increased the rate constants of the heterogeneous oxidation processes and decreased the rate constants of the homogeneous oxidation processes. RY81 mineralization was 62.8% for the US/UV/Fe²⁺ homogeneous oxidation process, which was the best oxidation process, whereas it was 43.5% for the US/UV/ZnO/H₂O₂ heterogeneous oxidation process within 2 h reaction time.