Archives of Environmental Protection

Due to the increased environmental awareness, green chemistry becomes an important element of environmental protection. Unfortunately, it generate specific environmental costs, which are related to the use of toxic chemical reagents and waste generation. The most frequently determined analytes include inorganic and organic anions and cations. The methods used so far for their analysis in water, sewage and various other types of samples are increasingly being replaced by ion chromatography methods. This paper presents the most important advantages and limitations of ion chromatography in the context of “green analytical chemistry.” The progress of ion chromatography in gradient and isocratic elution, capillary and multidimensional ion chromatography, as well as miniaturization and methods of sample preparation for analysis, which allow to classify this technique as green analytical chemistry, are described

In environmental matrices there are mixtures of parent drug and its metabolites. The majority of research is focused on the biological activity and toxic effect of diclofenac (DCF), there is little research on the biological activity of DCF metabolites and their mixtures. The study focused on the assessment of the biological impact of DCF, its metabolites 4’-hydroxydiclofenac (4’-OHDCF) and 5-hydroxydiclofenac (5-OHDCF) and their mixtures on E. coli strains. The biological effects of tested chemicals were evaluated using the following: E. coli K-12 cells viability assay, the inhibition of bacteria culture growth, ROS (reactive oxygene species) generation and glutathione (GSH) content estimation. Moreover, we examined the influence of the mixture of DCF with caffeic acid (CA) on E. coli cells viability. Our results showed the strongest impact of the mixtures of DCF with 4’-OHDCF and 5-OHDCF on E. coli SM biosensor strains in comparison to parent chemicals. Similar results were obtained in viability test, where we noticed the highest reduction in E. coli cell viability after bacteria incubation with the mixtures of DCF with 4’-OHDCF and 5-OHDCF. Similarly, these mixtures strongly inhibited the growth of E. coli culture. We also found synergistic effect of caffeic acid in combination with DCF on E. coli cells viability. After bacteria treatment with the mixture of DCF and its metabolites we also noted the strongest amount of ROS generation and GSH depletion in E. coli culture. It suggests that oxidative stress is the most important mechanism underlying the activity of DCF and its metabolites.

This study aimed to determine the influence of the electric current density on the rate of nitrogen compounds removal (r_N) and the specific rate of denitrification (r_D) in a rotating electrochemical disk contractor (RECDC) and a rotating electro-biological disk contactor (REBDC). In REBDC and RECDC, the cathode consisted of disks with immobilized biomass and disk, from which biofilm was periodically removed, respectively. An aluminum anode was mounted in contactor chambers. The study was conducted using synthetic wastewater with characteristics similar to wastewater from soilless cultivation of tomatoes. The first stage of the study determined r_N and r_D in the RECDC. The second stage determined r_N and r_D in the REBDC. Four hydraulic retention times (HRT) were tested: 4 h, 8 h, 12 h, and 24 h, with electric current densities of 0.63 A/m², 1.25 A/m², 2.50 A/m², 5.00 A/m², and 10.00 A/m². In RECDC, a linear dependency was observed between r_N and current density in the examined HRTs, whereas in REBDC, a logarithmic dependency was confirmed between r_N and current density. In both contactors, an exponential dependency was observed between r_D and current density. The specific rate of denitrification decreased when the current density and HRT were increased. The study showed that, in both contactors, the rate of total nitrogen removal increased when the current density was increased and the HRT was decreased.

Operations conducted by petroleum industry generate an entire range of drilling waste. The chemical composition of drilling waste and its toxicity depend primarily on the geological and technological conditions of drilling, the type of drilled rock deposits and on the type and composition of the drilling mud used. In the course of drilling operations, drilling fluids are in constant contact with bacteria, fungi and other organisms infecting the mud. Pioneer species, capable of surviving and using the resources of this specific environment, are selected. For this reason, the effectiveness of microbiota survival on different types of spent drilling muds and in different dilutions with brown soil was measured. Spent drilling muds samples came from drilling operations in various regions of Poland, e.g. Subcarpathia, the Polish Lowland and Pomerania regions. Oxygen consumption after 96 h was around 20 μg·g^‒1 dry mass in soil or soil/drilling water-based mud mixture. Soil mixes contained 10 wt% synthetic base, mud had a higher oxygen consumption – 38 μg · g^‒1 dry mass. Oxygen consumption decreases sharply as the content of the spent synthetic base mud fraction increases. A higher concentration of spent SBM (35 wt%) reduced the aerobic metabolism by slightly more than 50%. A high concentration of reduced carbon decreased the respiratory quotient (RQ) value to 0.7. All the researched drilling waste shows microbiological activity. At the full concentration of drilling fluids and non-dilution options, the chemical composition (salinity, inhibitors, etc.) strongly inhibits microbiota development and consequently, respiration

The article presents the research into hygienizing process of chicken manure using calcium peroxide (CaO₂) as an environmentally friendly biological deactivation agent. The influence of the addition of CaO₂ to chicken manure on the bioavailability of phosphorus was also analyzed. The process of biological deactivation using CaO₂, CaO and Ca(OH)₂ agents was analyzed applying the disk diffusion method. To optimize the effect of the hygienizing parameters, (CaO₂ concentration, pH, temperature and time) on the reduction of Enterobacteriaceae count the Taguchi method was applied. The content of bioavailable phosphorus was measured with the Egner-Riehm method and determined with spectrophotometry. The reduction in bacterial count followed an increase in the concentration of CaO₂ in a sample. The optimal experimental conditions (CaO₂=10.5 wt.%, pH=9.5, T=40°C, t=180 h) enabled a significant decrease in the Enterobacteriaceae count, from 10⁷ cfu/g to 10² cfu/g. Analysis of the samples with Egner-Riehm method showed that the phosphorus content decreased with the addition of biocide CaO₂: from 26.6 mg/l (for 3.5 wt.%) to 3.5 mg/l (for 10.5 wt.%). These values were slightly higher than the content of phosphorus deactivated with Ca(OH)₂ i.e., from 11.25 mg/l (for 3.5 wt.%) to 4.49 mg/l (for 10.5 wt.%). The application of CaO₂ for hygienizing chicken manure enables effective reduction of Enterobacteriaceae count to an acceptable level (below 1000 cfu/g). In comparison with the traditional techniques of hygienization, the application of CaO₂ has a positive effect on the recovery of bioavailable phosphorus.