Concerning Organometallic Compounds in Environment: Occurrence, Fate, and Impact

Organometallic compounds can be found in our surrounding environmental compartments either because of human extensive activities or their existence as natural products in the environment. Since organometallic species of trace metals were found often more worrying than their parent compounds, intensive research on their properties, pathways of transformation in different environmental compartment as well as their fate and interactions between different environmental compartments (under different external and internal conditions), and not finally their end-up and disposal, has become a requirement from many public health and environmental protection agencies

Numerical Modeling of Chemical Compounds’ Fate and Kinetics in Living Organisms: An Inverse Numerical Method for Rate Estimation from Concentration

Emerging chemical compounds are ubiquitous in all environmental compartments and may pose a risk to biota ecosystems. The quantification and prediction of environmental partitioning of these chemicals in various environmental compartment systems (water, sediments, soil, air, biota) is an important step in the comprehensive assessment of their sources, fates, and not finally of their uptake potential by various living organisms of ecosystems

Global Change Drivers Impact on Soil Microbiota: Challenges for Maintaining Soil Ecosystem Services

Global change refers to anthropogenic and climate pattern modification. The consequences of these changes are outstanding on aboveground biodiversity. Soil microbiota are key actors in soil processes, contributing significantly to numerous ecosystem services provided by soil. They are involved in the processes of nutrient cycling, organic matter decomposition, or pollutants degradation. Microorganisms are also able to synthesize volatile organic compounds that are secondary metabolites with multiple ecological roles and mechanisms of action—generally contributing to plant development. Changes in soil microbiota community could modify either negatively or positively their contribution in soil-provided ecosystem services through their involvement in soil functions that they mediate

CYPERMETHRIN NON-TARGET IMPACT ON SOIL MICROBIAL COMMUNITIES: LABORATORY ARTIFICIAL INCUBATION EXPERIMENT

Intensive and excessive use of pesticides is a real pollution issue in agricultural lands. There is little knowledge on how these could change soil microbiota health status which are strongly involved in important soil functions. The objective of the present study was to assess under laboratory conditions if use of a common pyrethroid pesticide, cypermethrin, will change soil microbiota structure and abundance. Cypermethrin exposure dose and removal in time were accounted also. Its amount was quantified on GC-ECD while information about microbiota, expressed as PLFA, were acquired on GC-FID. Incubation period after artificial contaminations between 7 – 288 gkg-1 was set at 45 days, time during samples were picked up from incubation containers for chemical analysis. Experiment revealed that during the first ten days of exposure experiment, cypermethrin amount in soil decreased almost with half. It was removed with 68.8 – 43.3 %, depending positively by the exposure dose, thus it increased once that exposure dose decreased. The calculated half-life values under our experimental conditions vary between 4.59 - 10.54 days, depending by exposure dose. Compared with control soil gram-negative bacteria community was enhanced under cypermethrin exposure up to day 45 around 5.4 – 20.3 %, although the control has shown a slightly decreases from day 10 and 45 day. Fungal population decreased also between exposure time, as well exposure dose. After 10 days of incubation they weren’t be present in samples. Similar was obtained after measurement of anaerobe bacteria. Considering our obtained experimental data, we could consider that cypermethrin have the potential to change the soil equilibrium once that it changes both the structure as well the abundance of soil microbiota

RHIZOSPHERE MICROBIOTA PROFILE CHANGES WITH DIFFERENT GENETIC TYPES OF TOMATO SPECIES

Use of improved seeds (hybrids, transgenic, etc.) in agriculture is a common practice in our days. Resulted plants could improve crop yield or to develop in less adequate geoclimatic conditions, responding those to challenges raised by global change. However, at now there are limited information on potential impact of such plants on soil properties and microbiota. Considering that microbiota are key mediators of soil functions and ecosystem processes it is important to fulfil such gaps. The objective of this study was to identify if different genetic varieties of Cherry tomato (Solanum lycopersicum), grown in same conditions, could influence root exudates (mainly carbohydrates) and rhizosphere microbiota profile. Randomized complete block rhizo-box experiment was performed with identic soil under similar growing conditions of genetic varieties Cherry tomatoes. PLFA and carbohydrates were analysed on GC-FID. In soil where tomatoes were grown the total PLFA amount was approximately two times higher compared with that detected from control (669.1 nmolg-1), which means that tomato root rhizosphere and exudates could influence soil microbiota. The average value of total PLFA for heirloom varieties was 1575.5 nmolg-1 while for hybrid varieties was 1269.4 nmolg-1. ANOVA test revealed significant differences between genetic type varieties of Cherry tomato (Solanum lycopersicum) rhizosphere microbiota community structure. Gram-positive, gram-negative bacteria and fungi abundance decreased in hybrid Cherry tomato varieties rhizosphere soils. Decreases in microbial and fungi community abundance may be related with decrease in carbohydrates content following with grown of different genetic hybrid varieties of Cherry tomato where some species exudates are reduced in essential carbohydrates content

Automatic Germination Evaluation and Qualitative Analysis of Essential Oil of Mentha × piperita L. under the Influence of High Frequency Pulsatile Electromagnetic and Ultrasound Pulsatile Fields

The study illustrates the influence of high frequency pulsatile electromagnetic fields and ultrasound pulsatile fields on Mentha × piperita L. seed germination and the quality of its essential oil. The physiological role of the above mentioned experimental factors was considered to be a catalyticall base point, improving germination percent, SVI (seedling vigor index), GVI (germination velocity index). All the biometric aspects of the germination process (seed area, seed perimeter, seed development on x and y radius, radicele length, hypocotyl length) where determined using open free software, consolidating the general idea that scientific communities can improve and perfect open source projects. High frequency pulsatile electromagnetic fields (91.75%) and ultrasound pulsatile fields (64.75%) experimental variants gave higher germination percent compared to control (47.00%). Following the main terpenes determination, the same experimental variants obtained high accumulations of menthol, eugenol, thymol, eucalyptol, linalool and other components. These aspects can be scientifically sustained by the seedling vigor index marks obtained at high frequency pulsatile electromagnetic fields (1985.47) and ultrasound pulsatile fields (1480.09), creating the general premises for better development stages in the nursery sector. Raised accumulation of main therapeutical terpenes in Mentha × piperita L. must be supervised in further studies, when microscopically imagery of glandular trichomes and their density may lead to more profound conclusions

Gas Chromatographic: Mass Spectrometric Mining the Volatilomes Associated to Rhizobiota Exposed to Commonly Used Pharmaceuticals

Rhizobiota are involved in plant protection through plant development facilitation and plant defense against stress factors. Pressures of global change either as abiotic or biotic stress factor could modify rhizobiota abundance, community structure, or functioning. Such change could result in anomalies of plant development. Human and veterinary medicines are widely used pharmaceuticals. Their active ingredients are not fully adsorbed and metabolized by living organisms and are therefore excreted unmodified. As current technologies of wastewater treatment plants are not designed to remove these contaminants, pharmaceuticals may be discharged into the environment and reach the soil in multiple ways. At present, there are no standard procedures or methodologies that could be easily applied and cover pharmaceuticals impact on soil microbiota. Besides that, available molecular and genetic approach through which soil microdiversity abundance, structure, and functions are evaluated involves high and expensive technology, which is not easily available to laboratories widespread. In this chapter, we propose an effortless way to address this issue by using gas chromatography–mass spectrometry (GC–MS) approaches to assess soil microbiota responses to commonly used pharmaceuticals. The chapter will refer to gas chromatographic techniques applied in assessment of soil microbiota diversity structure, abundance, and health status

Simultaneous Removal of Heavy Metals (Cu, Cd, Cr, Ni, Zn and Pb) from Aqueous Solutions Using Thermally Treated Romanian Zeolitic Volcanic Tuff

Increased concentrations of heavy metals in the environment are of public health concern, their removal from waters receiving considerable interest. The aim of this paper was to study the simultaneous adsorption of heavy metals (Cu, Cd, Cr, Ni, Zn and Pb) from aqueous solutions using the zeolitic volcanic tuffs as adsorbents. The effect of thermal treatment temperature, particle size and initial metal concentrations on the metal ions sorption was investigated. The selectivity of used zeolite for the adsorption of studied heavy metals followed the order: Pb > Cr > Cu > Zn > Cd > Ni. The removal efficiency of the heavy metals was strongly influenced by the particle sizes, the samples with smaller particle size (0–0.05 mm) being more efficient in heavy metals removal than those with larger particle size (1–3 mm). Generally, no relevant changes were observed in heavy metals removal efficiency for the treatment temperatures of 200 °C and 350 °C. Moreover, at a higher temperature (550 °C), a decrease in the removal efficiencies was observed. The Cd, Zn, Cu, Cr, Zn and Ni sorption was best described by Langmuir model according to the high values of correlation coefficient. The pseudo-first-order kinetic model presented the best correlation of the experimental data

EFFECTS OF PHARMACEUTICALS PRESENCE IN AGROECOSYSTEM ON VOLATILE AROMA CONTENT IN TOMATO FRUIT

The aim of this work was to assess the potential impact of two commonly used pharmaceuticals (azithromycin and ibuprofen) on tomato quality. The experiments were carried out upon controlled exposure box experiments at different amount of azithromycin (0.5 – 5 mg×kg-1) and ibuprofen (50 – 500 µg×kg-1). The results showed that tomato fruits have a higher uptake rate for ibuprofen (6.3 – 11.2 %) compared to the azithromycin that was between 2.2 – 3.2 %. However, pharmaceutical active compounds uptake amount was lower in tomato fruits compared to those detected in grown medium. Both, ibuprofen and azithromycin impact the sensory quality of tomato due to changes in volatile aroma content, especially of those derived of fatty acids (C6 and C5)