Hydrocarbon degrading microbial communities in bench scale aerobic biobarriers for gasoline contaminated groundwater treatment.

BTEX compounds (benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene and xylenes) and methyl tert-butyl ether (MTBE) are some of the main constituents of gasoline and can be accidentally released in the environment. In this work the effect of bioaugmentation on the microbial communities in a bench scale aerobic biobarrier for gasoline contaminated water treatment was studied by 16S rRNA gene sequencing. Catabolic genes (tmoA and xylM) were quantified by qPCR, in order to estimate the biodegradation potential, and the abundance of total bacteria was estimated by the quantification of the number of copies of the 16S rRNA gene.

Use of stabilized bottom ash for bound layers of road pavements.

This paper reports about the lab scale results obtained by using stabilized bottom ash (SBA) from an Italian municipal solid waste incinerator as aggregates in cement-bound mixes and asphalt concretes for road pavements. The investigation focused on SBA content. From the road construction point of view, performance related to compaction, volumetric and mechanical properties were assessed.