Monitoring the clean-up operation of agricultural fields flooded with red mud in Hungary.

In the course of the clean-up operation after the red mud inundation in 2010, red mud was removed from the soil surface in places where the layer was more than 5 cm deep. Before its removal, the red mud seeped into the soil. In 2012, soil samples were taken from depths of 0 to 20 and 20 to 40 cm on some of the affected areas.

Results of the clean-up operation to reduce pollution on flooded agricultural fields after the red mud spill in Hungary.

In Hungary, the dam of a red mud reservoir breached shortly after noon on October 4, 2010. Approximately 0.7-1 million m(3) highly alkaline red mud with very low dry matter content flowed into the Torna Creek and the surrounding area, covering 1017 ha of agricultural land.

Natural and enhanced biodegradation of propylene glycol in airport soil.

Aircraft de-icing fluids (ADF) are a source of water and soil pollution in airport sites. Propylene glycol (PG) is a main component in several commercial formulations of ADFs. Even though PG is biodegradable in soil, seasonal overloads may result in occasional groundwater contamination.

Laboratory-scale evaluation of a combined soil amendment for the enhanced biodegradation of propylene glycol-based aircraft de-icing fluids.

A combined soil amendment was tested in microcosm experiments with an aim to enhance the aerobic biodegradation of propylene glycol (PG)-based aircraft de-icing fluids during and following the infiltration of contaminated snowmelt. A key objective under field conditions is to increase degradation of organic pollutants in the surface soil where higher microbial activity and plant rhizosphere effects may contribute to a more efficient biodegradation of PG, compared to subsoil ground layers, where electron acceptors and nutrients are often depleted. Microcosm experiments were set up in Petri dishes using 50 g of soil mixed with appropriate additives.

Factors affecting heavy metal uptake in plant selection for phytoremediation.

The heavy metal uptake of ten plant species was studied under different soil and climatic conditions. Effects of soil pH, temperature, plant species and phenophase on the heavy metal content of stems and leaves were determined in pot experiments. Plants and soil samples were collected from a lead/zinc mine ore (Gyöngyösoroszi, Hungary) and characterised by high contents of Pb, Zn, As, Cd, Cu.