A multi-disciplinary approach based on chemical characterization of foreshore sediments, ecotoxicity assessment and statistical analyses for environmental monitoring of marine-coastal areas.

The present work aims at providing a multi-disciplinary approach for environmental monitoring in marine-coastal areas. A monitoring campaign of 13 months (October 2022-October 2023) was carried out on sandy foreshore sediments (SFSs). The SFSs were analysed for potentially toxic elements (PTEs) and rare earth elements (REEs) content determination.

Reuse of polymeric waste for the treatment of marine water polluted by diesel.

Accidental diesel spills can occur in marine environments such as harbors, leading to adverse effects on the environmental compartment and humans. This study proposes the surgical mask as an affordable and sustainable adsorbent for the remediation of diesel-contaminated seawater to cope with the polymeric waste generated monthly in hospital facilities. This approach can also be helpful considering a possible future pandemic, alleviating the pressure on the waste management system by avoiding improper mask incineration and landfilling, as instead occurred during the previous COVID-19.

Assessment of environmental parameters effect on potentially toxic elements mobility in foreshore sediments to support marine-coastal contamination prediction.

Potentially toxic elements (PTEs) presence in marine sediments can significantly affect the environmental quality and negatively influence economy and recreational activities in related areas. Accordingly, contamination monitoring and control in the marine environment is a fundamental task. In this work, four PTEs behavior (i.

Phosphorus recovery as struvite and hydroxyapatite from the liquid fraction of municipal sewage sludge with limited magnesium addition.

Phosphorus (P) is an essential element to produce feed and fertilizers but also a nonrenewable resource. Both the predicted exhaustion of phosphatic rocks and the risk of eutrophication lead to an increasing necessity for P recovery methodologies to be applied in municipal wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs). One of the most promising solutions involves the precipitation of P-based minerals reusable as slow-release fertilizers.

Characterising contaminants distribution in marine-coastal sediments through multivariate and nonparametric statistical analyses: a complementary strategy supporting environmental monitoring and control.

This work investigates a statistical approach analysing data from monitoring activities on marine-coastal areas for environmental quality determination and surveillance. Analyses were performed on a database of the Environmental Protection and Prevention Agency of the Puglia Region. As, Cr, Ni, and Pb concentration values in marine sediments and biota from 2013 to 2015 and 2017 were processed to investigate different contaminant characteristics.

Sludge minimization in mainstream wastewater treatment: Mechanisms, strategies, technologies, and current development.

Excess sludge production in wastewater treatment plants has become an enormous environmental issue worldwide mainly due to the increased efforts towards wastewater purification. Researchers and plant operators are looking for technological solutions to reduce sludge production through the upgrading of existing technologies and configurations or by substituting them with alternative solutions. Several strategies have been identified to reduce sludge production, including the use of biological and physical-chemical methods (or a combination of them) and novel technologies, although many have not been sufficiently tested at full-scale.

Phosphorous removal and recovery from urban wastewater: Current practices and new directions.

Phosphate rocks are an irreplaceable resource to produce fertilizers, but their availability will not be enough to meet the increasing demands of agriculture for food production. At the same time, the accumulation of phosphorous discharged by municipal wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) is one of the main causes of eutrophication. In a perspective of circular economy, WWTPs play a key role in phosphorous management.

Feasibility study of saffron cultivation using a semi-saline water by managing planting date, a new statement.

In the current study the possibility of saffron (Crocus sativus L.) cultivating using semi-saline water was investigated at different planting dates. The salinity of irrigation water and soil were 2.

Haloculture: A system to mitigate the negative impacts of pandemics on the environment, society and economy, emphasizing COVID-19.

COVID-19 (coronavirus disease) is a global pandemic that started in China in 2019 and has negatively affected all economic sectors of the world, including agriculture. However, according to estimates in different countries, agriculture has suffered less than other sectors such as construction, industry and tourism, so agricultural development can be a good option to compensate for the economic damage caused to other sectors. The quality of available water and soil resources for agricultural development is not only limited, but is also decreasing incrementally, so the use of saline and unconventional soil and water resources is inevitable.

Novel Bioderived Composites from Wastes.

The recycling and reuse of solid wastes can be considered important challenges for civil and environmental applications in the frame of a more sustainable model of development and the consumption of new resources and energy [...

A Preliminary Evaluation of the Public Risk Perception Related to the COVID-19 Health Emergency in Italy.

Governments faced with the spread of COVID-19 pandemic are adopting strict and severe mitigation measures to influence people's behaviors. Public perception of health risk plays a key role in the adoption of these actions, in people's feelings, and in their daily habits. To support decision makers from international to local levels to face with future sanitary emergencies, this study aims at investigating Italian public perceptions of health risk.

Porous Waste Glass for Lead Removal in Packed Bed Columns and Reuse in Cement Conglomerates.

A porous waste glass (RWPG = recycled waste porous glass) was used in wastewater treatments for the removal of lead ions from single, binary, and ternary metal solutions (with cadmium and nickel ions). Experiments were performed in columns (30 cm³, 10 g) filled with 0.5⁻1 mm beads till complete glass exhaustion (breakthrough).

Sustainable bio-hydrothermal sequencing treatment for asbestos-cement wastes.

In this paper, the treatment of asbestos-cement waste (ACW) has been attempted by a dark fermentation (DF) pre-treatment followed by hydrothermal and anaerobic digestion (AD) treatments. During DF, glucose, employed as a biodegradable substrate, was mainly converted to H-rich biogas and organic acids (OAs). The latter caused the dissolution of the cement matrix and the partial structural collapse of chrysotile (white asbestos).

Ethylenediamine-N,N'-Disuccinic Acid (EDDS)-Enhanced Flushing Optimization for Contaminated Agricultural Soil Remediation and Assessment of Prospective Cu and Zn Transport.

This paper presents the results of an experimental study aimed at investigating the effect of operative parameters on the efficiency of a soil flushing process, conducted on real contaminated soil containing high amounts of Cu and Zn. Soil flushing tests were carried out with Ethylenediamine-,'-disuccinic acid (EDDS) as a flushing agent due to its high biodegradability and environmentally friendly characteristics. Process parameters such as Empty-Bed Contact Time (EBCT) and EDDS solution molarity were varied from 21-33 h and from 0.

Dark fermentation process as pretreatment for a sustainable denaturation of asbestos containing wastes.

A cement asbestos compound (CAC) sample was detoxified by a treatment train based on a dark fermentation (DF) process followed by a hydrothermal phase, which led to the complete degradation of the chrysotile fibers. During the biological pretreatment, the glucose was converted in biogas rich in H and volatile fatty acids (VFA). The latter caused the dissolution of all the Ca-based compounds and the solubilisation of 50% brucite-like layers of chrysotile fibers contained in the CAC suspended in the bioreactor (5 g/L).

Alkaline direct transesterification of different species of Stichococcus for bio-oil production.

The cost of bio-oil refining from microalgal biomass can be significantly reduced by combining extraction and transesterification. The characterisation and optimisation of the combined steps have been carried out on strains of Stichococcus bacillaris, focusing on catalyst type and concentration, reaction time and temperature, methanol/biomass ratio, pre-mixing time and water content in the biomass. The bio-oil yield has been referenced as production of fatty acid methyl esters (FAMEs).

Investigation on the removal of the major cocaine metabolite (benzoylecgonine) in water matrices by UV254/H2O2 process by using a flow microcapillary film array photoreactor as an efficient experimental tool.

A microcapillary film reactor (MCF) was adopted to evaluate and compare the removal efficiency of benzoylecgonine (BE), an emerging micropollutant deriving from illicit drug abuse (cocaine), in different aqueous matrices: milliQ water, synthetic and real wastewater and surface water. The removal processes investigated were the direct photolysis with UV radiation at 254 nm, and the advanced oxidation process (AOP) with the same UV radiation and hydrogen peroxide. As a result of the microfluidics approach developed through an innovative experimental apparatus, full conversion of BE was reached within a few seconds or minutes of residence time in the MCF depending on the process conditions adopted.

Kinetic characterization of the photosynthetic reaction centres in microalgae by means of fluorescence methodology.

The kinetic characterization of the photosynthetic activity in autotrophic microalgae plays a key role in the design of optimized photobioreactors. This paper presents a procedure to assess kinetic parameters of a three-state photosynthetic reaction centres model. Four kinetic parameters of the model were assessed by processing the time-series measurements of pulse-amplitude modulation fluorimetry.

Fe(III)-photocatalytic partial oxidation of benzyl alcohol to benzaldehyde under UV-solar simulated radiation.

A great deal of interest is recorded among researchers in the identification of new catalytic systems that make possible the selective oxidation of organic species in the presence of non-toxic solvents, primarily water, through the use of inexpensive catalysts. The possibility to selectively oxidize benzyl alcohol to benzaldehyde is studied in the present work by using ferric ions as homogeneous catalysts and oxygen as an oxidant under UV-solar simulated radiation. Due to the possibility that Fe(III) aquo-complex photolysis could generate undesired reactive OH radicals with the consequent occurrence of side reactions, most of the runs are carried out at pH = 0.

Photodegradation of naproxen and its photoproducts in aqueous solution at 254 nm: a kinetic investigation.

The kinetics of photodegradation of the non steroidal anti-inflammatory drug naproxen (+)-S-2-(6-methoxynaphthalen-2-yl)propanoic acid, an emerging organic pollutant, was studied in aqueous solutions under deaerated and aerated conditions. The photolysis experiments were carried out under monochromatic irradiation (λ = 254 nm) at pH = 7.0 and T = 25 °C.

Oxidation of 2,4-dichlorophenol and 3,4-dichlorophenol by means of Fe(III)-homogeneous photocatalysis and algal toxicity assessment of the treated solutions.

Chlorophenols are used worldwide as broad-spectrum biocides and fungicides. They have half-life times in water from 0.6 to 550 h and in sediments up to 1700 h and, due to their numerous origins, they can be found in wastewaters, groundwaters or soils.