A Model for Evaluating the Feasibility of an Extraction Procedure for Heavy Metal Removal from Contaminated Soils

A model was developed that allowed for the evaluation of a soil metal cleaning technique in a rapid and cost effective manner. Metal flow (Pb, Cu, Zn, and Cd) during a counter-current soil-acid extraction procedure, consisting of a decarbonation, solubilisation, and washing step, was determined. Required input data are total soil metal content and metal equilibrium distribution coefficients, derived from batch equilibration experiments. The model was calibrated and validated against experimentally obtained results. Model predictions adequately described metal behaviour and removal in each of the extraction steps. Based on the results, optimum operating conditions for the steps involved in the extraction procedure were determined and the feasibility of the counter-current extraction procedure for heavy metal removal from a contaminated soil evaluated.     

Effects of Vegetation, Season and Temperature on the Removal of Pollutants in Experimental Floating Treatment Wetlands

The research and interest towards the use of constructed floating wetlands for (waste)water treatment is emerging as more treatment opportunities are marked out, and the technique is applied more often. To evaluate the effect of a floating macrophyte mat and the influence of temperature and season on physico-chemical changes and removal, two constructed floating wetlands (CFWs), including a floating macrophyte mat, and a control, without emergent vegetation, were built. Raw domestic wastewater from a wastewater treatment plant was added on day 0. Removal of total nitrogen, NH₄–N, NO₃–N, P, chemical oxygen demand (COD), total organic carbon and heavy metals (Cu, Fe, Mn, Ni, Pb and Zn) was studied during 17 batch-fed testing periods with a retention time of 11 days (February–March 2007 and August 2007–September 2008). In general, the CFWs performed better than the control. Average removal efficiencies for NH₄–N, total nitrogen, P and COD were respectively 35%, 42%, 22% and 53% for the CFWs, and 3%, 15%, 6% and 33% for the control. The pH was significantly lower in the CFWs (7.08?±?0.21) than in the control (7.48?±?0.26) after 11 days. The removal efficiencies of NH₄–N, total nitrogen and COD were significantly higher in the CFWs as the presence of the floating macrophyte mat influenced positively their removal. Total nitrogen, NH₄–N and P removal was significantly influenced by temperature with the highest removal between 5°C and 15°C. At lower and higher temperatures, removal relapsed. In general, temperature seemed to be the steering factor rather than season. The presence of the floating macrophyte mat restrained the increase of the water temperature when air temperature was >15°C. Although the mat hampered oxygen diffusion from the air towards the water column, the redox potential measured in the rootmat was higher than the value obtained in the control at the same depth, indicating that the release of oxygen from the roots could stimulate oxygen consuming reactions within the root mat, and root oxygen release was higher than oxygen diffusion from the air.     

Field assessment of synthetic attractants and traps for the Old World screw-worm fly, Chrysomya bezziana

The performance of newly developed trapping systems for the Old World screw-worm fly, Chrysomya bezziana has been determined in field trials on cattle farms in Malaysia. The efficacy of non-sticky traps and new attractants to trap C. bezziana and non-target flies was compared with the standard sticky trap and Swormlure. The optimal trap was a modified LuciTrap(?) with a new attractant mixture, Bezzilure-2. The LuciTrap/Bezzilure-2 caught on average 3.1 times more C. bezziana than the sticky trap with Swormlure (P<0.05) and provided selectivity for C. bezziana against Chrysomya megacephala and Chrysomya rufifacies with factors of 5.9 and 6.4, respectively. The LuciTrap also discriminates with factors of 90 and 3.6 against Hemipyrellia sp. and sarcophagid flesh flies respectively, compared to the sticky trap. The LuciTrap/Bezzilure-2 system is recommended for screwworm fly surveillance as it is more attractive and selective towards C. bezziana and provides flies of better quality for identification than the sticky trap.     

Tertiary treatment of the liquid fraction of pig manure with Phragmites australis

Since 2003, the pig industry in Flanders (Belgium) is obliged to process a portion of the nutrient overproduction. In general, pig manure processing occurs as follows: i) separation into liquid and solid fractions, ii) conversion of the solid fraction to an exportable product (e.g. composting) and iii) reduction of nutrient contents in the liquid fraction before discharge into surface water or spreading on arable land. The aim of this study was to evaluate the potential of constructed wetlands (CWs) planted with Phragmites australis to reduce nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P) and chemical oxygen demand (COD) in the liquid fraction to levels below discharge criteria. In addition, the removal efficiency of heavy metals (Cu, Zn) present at elevated levels in the liquid fraction was evaluated. A greenhouse experiment was conducted with subsurface flow (SSF) reed beds (2 × 0.125 × 0.11 m) filled with sand, loam, clayey sand or expanded clay (argex). The liquid manure load was set at 1 mm per day. Removal efficiencies varied between 64–75% for COD, 73–83% for N and 71–92% for P, depending on the matrix material used. However, effluent levels still remained significantly above the Flemish legal discharge criteria of 2 mgl^?1, 15 mgl^?1 and 125 mgl^?1 for P, N and COD respectively.     

Sequential Extraction of Lead from Grain Size Fractionated River Sediments Using the Optimized BCR Procedure

Fluvial bed sediments are widely used for characterizing anthropogenic contaminant signals in urban watersheds. This study presents the first preliminary examination of sequentially extracted Pb from grain size fractionated bed sediments using the optimized (standardized) BCR procedure. Baseline sediment samples and samples from the vicinity of three storm-sewer outlets in Nuuanu Stream, Honolulu, Hawaii, were examined. The weighted average Pb liberated from four sequentially extracted phases was 144?±?26 mg/kg (±SD). These Pb concentrations are high compared to 3 mg/kg leached by a 0.5 M HCl solution, and 13 mg/kg from a 4-acid total digestion of baseline sediments. Over a 1.8 km section of stream channel, land use variations and traffic density differences had little impact on the magnitude of Pb in specific phases for each of the six grain size fractions examined. Regardless of grain size or spatial location, Pb in the reducible phase exceeded that in oxidizable, residual and acid extractable phases. Weighted reducible Pb concentrations for three sewer outlet sites ranged from 69 to 92 mg/kg, and this phase typically accounted for 70–80% of all labile Pb. The <63 μm grain size class did not exhibit the highest Pb concentration, instead this was found in either the 125–250 μm or 500–1,000 μm fractions. Examining bed sediment phase associations of Pb over a smaller length dimension (i.e., 40 m) centered around one sewer outlet, indicated higher concentrations at the outlet (180 mg/kg) compared to upstream (132 mg/kg) or downstream (150 mg/kg). The differences were primarily associated with higher Pb concentrations in the reducible and oxidizable phases of the coarse sand fractions (500–2,000 μm) at the outlet. Overall, all data point to a significant anthropogenic signal for Pb in bed sediments in the urbanized section of Nuuanu Stream.     

Heavy Metal Transport from Dredged Sediment Derived Surface Soils in a Laboratory Rainfall Simulation Experiment

Heavy metals in dredged sedimentdisposal sites may be transported through runoff andpercolation. In the present study metal fluxes byrunoff and percolation were determined under simulatedrainfall at a slope of 19% and a rainfall intensityof approximately 40 mm h^-1. These circumstancescorrespond to half the mean annual erosivity of rainunder Belgian weather conditions. Surface runoff andpercolating water samples were analysed for suspendedsolids, total dissolved carbon and Cd, Cr, Cu, Ni, Pb and Zn.Runoff rate and sediment yields were highest for asilt loam sediment, characterised by a low clay andorganic matter content. Metal concentrations in runoffand percolating water varied widely between thesediments studied and were related to the total metalcontent in the sediment. In runoff and percolatingwater from the contaminated sediments, metalconcentrations strongly exceeded the Netherlands Areference values for ground water quality. Very highmetal fluxes were observed for the recently oxidiseddredged sediment. Metal transport per unit surfacearea through percolating water was from two to morethan twenty times greater than that in surface runoff.     

Laboratory rearing of Loligo opalescens, the market squid of California

The squid Loligo opalescens (Cephalopoda, Mollusca) was reared in artificial sea water in a closed system consisting of two 1300-l circular tanks. When the squids reached mantle lengths of 20 to 30 mm, they were transferred to a 10 000-l closed system raceway. From hatching, mantle length increased exponentially at a mean rate of 1.69% per day throughout the experiment. The largest and longest-lived squid attained a maximal size of 77 mm mantle length in 8 months. Only live food organisms, which consisted of copepods, other crustaceans and fishes, were accepted by the squids. Mortality, attributed to starvation and fin damage, was greatest during the first 20 days and again between days 45 and 70.     

Could shelling in the First World War have increased copper concentrations in the soil around Ypres?

In the First World War, the region around Ypres (West‐Flanders, Belgium) was a battlefield where millions of copper‐containing shells were fired. To investigate the consequences of this shelling, we analysed statistically data on the copper (Cu) content in the topsoil (0–0.5 m) of the province of West‐Flanders, an area of 3144 km². The measurements had been made on the fine earth (< 2 mm) fraction of 2786 samples. A preliminary screening of the data revealed larger concentrations of Cu in a region of approximately 625 km² around Ypres. These concentrations were estimated by ordinary block kriging on the logarithms of the Cu concentration with separate variograms for the battlefield area and the rest of the province and mapped. The median concentration in the battlefield area was 18.0 mg Cu kg^?1 compared with 12.0 mg Cu kg^?1 elsewhere. We conclude that the current Cu enrichment in the soil around Ypres is the legacy of the millions of shells that were fired in the First World War.     

Comparing the effects of paper pulp and lime additions to acid tropical soils using batch experiments

Paper mill residuals may beneficially be used to improve the fertility of tropical acid soils. The effects of paper pulp on soil pH, exchangeable Al and soil solution composition of three acid tropical soils were compared with the effects of equivalent rates of lime in two batch experiments. Paper pulp was more effective than lime in increasing soil pH. However, both amendments were equally effective in decreasing exchangeable Al. Paper pulp and lime similarly influenced the composition of the soil solution by increasing soil solution pH, dissolved organic carbon, inorganic carbon, NO₃, SO₄, Ca and Mg. The supply of nitrate by the soil, however, was reduced in paper pulp treatments compared to lime treatments. Nitrate had a major role in controlling nutrient concentrations in the soil solution. Reduced NO₃ concentrations in paper pulp treated soils compared to limed soils could therefore result in lower nutrient availability and limited losses by leaching.