Confronting the clinical relevance of biocide induced antibiotic resistance (BIOHYPO)

Biocides have been in use for hundreds of years for antisepsis, disinfection and preservation. Despite this widespread and ever increasing use most bacterial and fungal species remain susceptible to biocides. The dramatic increase and spread of resistance to antibiotics linked to reports of co- and cross-resistance between antibiotics and biocides raised speculations on potential hazard of biocide use. The overarching question which BIOHYPO is aimed to address is: has the use of biocides contributed to the development and spread of clinically significant antibiotic resistance in human pathogens? Core of BIOHYPO are a high throughput screening approach on collections of thousands of well characterized microorganisms and an interactive web based data analysis platform. Phenotypic screening for reduced susceptibility to biocides, detection of novel resistance genes and mobile elements, and screening for their molecular epidemiology and metagenomics will be accompanied by methodological innovation for testing, risk evaluation and registration of biocides. Altogether BIOHYPO aims to provide solid data and analysis to direct future issuing of guidelines for safe environmental, medical and industrial use of biocides.EU, Funded under :FP7-KBBE-2008-2

Pre-evaluation for the chemical substitution in a textile mill in Turkey

Kirlilik önleme çalışmalarında temel yaklaşımlardan birisi, kirletici özellikteki maddelerin daha az kirletici olanlar ile değiştirilmesidir. Bu çerçevede, biyolojik olarak kolay parçalanan maddelerin zor parçalananlara oranla uzun vadede daha az ekolojik problemlere neden olacağından hareketle, üretimde kullanılan kimyasal maddelerin biyodegradasyon özellikleri göz önüne alınması gereken önemli bilgilerden birisidir. Tekstil kimyasallarının toksik ve biyodegradasyon özellikleri konusunda yayınlanmış sınırlı sayıda çalışma bulunmaktadır. Kimyasalların biyodegradasyon potansiyellerini belirleme aşamasında, söz konusu kimyasala uygun yöntem seçilmesi önem arz etmektedir. Bu çalışmada, problemli kimyasalların ve alternatiflerinin biyodegradasyon potansiyellerini belirlemek amacıyla, OECD 302b (Zahn-Wellens) test metodu seçilmiştir. Testler, Türkiye’deki bir tekstil fabrikasında uygulanmakta olan reçetelerde kullanılan 2 adet kompleks yapıcı kimyasal madde (A ve B) ve kullanılma potansiyeli olan 1 adet kompleks yapıcı kimyasal maddenin (B*) biyodegradasyon potansiyellerini hem tek başlarına bulunmaları halinde var olan değerlerini doğrulamak, hem de birlikte kullanılmaları durumunda etkileşimlerini tespit etmek ve böylece, kimyasal değişikliğine karar verme aşamasında kullanmak amacıyla uygulanmıştır. Bu amaca yönelik olarak, kompleks oluşturan maddelerin farklı kombinasyonları ile kesikli reaktör deneyleri gerçekleştirilmiştir. Deneysel bulgular faktör analizi yöntemi ile istatistiksel analize tabi tutularak biyodegradasyon (bağlı değişken olarak) ve kompleks yapıcı madde konsantrasyonu (bağımsız değişken) arasındaki ilişki belirlenmiştir. Bu analizler, STATGRAPHIC istatistiksel yazılım programı kullanılarak yapılmıştır. Mümkün olabilecek kimyasal değişimine yönelik ön değerlendirme yapma amacıyla, doğrusal çoklu regresyon yöntemi ile matematiksel model oluşturulmuştur. Anahtar Kelimeler: Biyodegradasyon, doğrusal çoklu regresyon modeli, kimyasal değişimi, kirlilik önleme, kompleks yapıcı madde, tekstil endüstrisi.Substitution of less-pollutant chemicals for more-pollutant ones is a main focus for pollution prevention. In this respect, knowledge of the biodegradability of chemicals is one of the most important factors to be considered.  In this study, to measure the biodegradability potential of the problematic chemicals (complexing agents A and B) used in a Turkish Textile Mill and their alternatives (complexing agent B*), OECD 302b (Zahn-Wellens) tests were conducted. Experiments were performed at different combinations of complexing agents using unacclimatized activated sludge bacteria as seed. The biodegradability tests results obtained for the combination of complexing agents A and B revealed that the biodegradability of complexing agent B (46-67%, depending on its concentration) is higher than that of complexing agent A (15-21%, depending on its concentration), when they are present alone. When they are together, the biodegradability varies between 36 and 45% depending on their existence levels.  From these findings, the negative effect of having complexing agent A besides complexing agent B was apparent. The experimental results were also analyzed statistically by using factor analysis in order to clarify the relationship among the biodegradability and complexing agents. The following linear multiple regression model of the type was considered:  Y = B1X1 + B2X2 + B12X12 + B11X11 + B22X22 Where; Y: Biodegradability of mixture of complexing agents A and B or A and B* (%); B1: Coefficient for the effect of complexing agent A; B2: Coefficient for the effect of complexing agent B or B*; B12: Coefficient for combined effects of complexing agents A & B or A & B*; B11: Coefficient for quadratic effect of complexing agent A; B22: Coefficient for quadratic effect of complexing agent B or B*; X1: Complexing agent A (mL/L); X2: Complexing agent B or B* (mL/L); X12 : Interaction term of X1 and X2 ; X11 : Quadratic term of complexing agent A; X22: Quadratic term of complexing agent B or B*. The form of the model obtained for the combination of complexing agents A and B is as follows; Y = -19.2502 X1 + 24.6749 X2 - 3.59036 X12 + 16.3031 X11 - 2.20622 X22 The biodegradability test results for combination of complexing agents A and B* revealed that the biodegradability of complexing agent B* is higher than that of B with a biodegradability varying between 79 and 89%, depending on the concentration. When together with the complexing agent A, the biodegradability varies between 58 and 69%. The model obtained is as follows; Y = -20.0037 X1 + 34.1467 X2 - 3.05722 X12 + 16.707 X11 - 3.20648 X22 The effects of complexing agent B and B* on the biodegradability is found to be both in the positive direction. That is, complexing agents B and B* strongly enhance the biodegradability characteristic of the mixes.  When the complexing agents A and B, or A and B* (i.e. the term of X12) are present together, the total effect is inhibitory. According to the results of the models, there is an increase in the coefficient magnitude for the term X2 while using the complexing agent B* as compared to using the complexing agent B. This means that individual effect of complexing agent B* is higher than the individual effect of complexing agent B on biodegradability. According to the mix cases, the models show that there is also a small increase observed on term of X12 while using the complexing agent B*. The mix of complexing agent A and B has negative effects on biodegradability as understood from the negative sign of the coefficient. For the case of the complexing agent A and B* mix, this effect is again negative but it has a less magnitude value than mix of complexing agent A and B. By all things considered, complexing agent B* has better biodegradability characteristic than B. This behavior of B* is proven either by biodegradability tests of individual and mix concentrations and mathematical models set up by all experimental results. So, based on the results obtained in this study, if the mill considered to start using of this new chemical B* in the production line, a possible enhancement on biodegradability in wastewater would be achieved by the mill. Keywords: Biodegradability, linear multiple regression model, chemical substitution, pollution prevention, complexing agent, textile industry

Tekstil sektöründe Avrupa Birliği IPPC direktifi ile uyum çalışmaları: BAT uygulamaları

TÜBİTAK ÇAYDAG15.01.2008Bu çalışma, Türkiye'de bir tekstil işletmesi için IPPC (Entegre Kirlilik Önleme ve Kontrolü) Direktifi kapsamında "Mevcut En İyi Teknikler"in ilk uygulaması ve değerlendirmesidir. IPPC Direktifi'nin hayata geçirilmesinde rehber olacak bir "en iyi uygulama örneği" tekstil sektörü için geliştirilmiş ve bu kapsamda işletme için "Mevcut En İyi Teknik" ihtiyaçları belirlenmiştir. Sürdürülebilir hammadde ve atık yönetimi için, ilk olarak, üretim süreçlerinin BREF ("Mevcut En İyi Teknikler" Referans) Dokümanı ile detaylı karşılaştırılması yapılmıştır. Su yoğun bir sektör olması sebebiyle, proseslerde geri kullanımı mümkün olabilecek atıksular belirlenip atıksu karakterizasyon çalışmaları yürütülmüştür. Proses atıksularında ve tesisten çıkan toplam atıksuda geri kazanım olanaklarının araştırılması için atıksu yönetim stratejisi oluşturulmuştur. Bu stratejiyle uyumlu olarak, üretim süreçlerinin BREF Tekstil Dokümanı ile detaylı karşılaştırılması yapılmış, gerek atıksuların geri kullanım amaçlı arıtılabilirliği gerekse su kullanımının ve atıksu üretiminin azaltımı üzerine çalışılmıştır. Uygulanabilir BAT önerileri fabrika yetkilileri ile birlikte çalışarak belirlenmiştir. Atıksu yönetimi çalışmalarının yanı sıra, enerji tüketiminin azaltılması, kimyasal değişikliği ve çevresel risk analizi çalışmaları da yürütülmüştür.This study was undertaken as the first application and evaluation of Best Available Techniques (BAT) within the context of the IPPC (Integrated Pollution Prevention and Control) Directive to a textile mill in Turkey. A “best practice example”, which will form a guideline for the implementation of the IPPC Directive, is to be developed for the textile sector; and within this context BAT requirements for the mill were determined. In order to achieve a sustainable resource and waste management; firstly, a detailed screening of the production processes with respect to BREF (BAT Reference) Textile Document was made. Being a water intensive sector, wastewater characterization study was conducted to identify the possible candidate wastewaters to be reused. A wastewater management strategy was adopted to investigate the possible reuse opportunities in the process wastewaters along with the composite mill effluent. In line with this strategy, production processes were analyzed in depth in accordance with the BREF Document not only to treat the generated wastewaters for their possible reuse but also to reduce the amount of water consumption and wastewater generation. Applicable BAT options were determined in cooperation with the mill staff. Besides studies related to wastewater management, minimization of energy consumption, chemical substitution and environmental risk analysis studies were also conducted

Water Reuse Strategies: Iron and Steel Industry Case Study

Water reuse by industry is a vital part of reducing the pressure on our water. With appropriate water management that requires a comprehensive understanding of process design; industrial water can be reused for a wide range of purposes. Iron and steel manufacturing is one of the oldest industrial sectors using water in nearly every step of the process chain at large quantities. In the present study, a comprehensive effort has been allocated in a large integrated iron and steel plant in Turkey, with the goal of developing the best available options for water and wastewater management practices. Considering the need for well grasping the processes and water use in the facility, detailed water block diagrams of each process were developed and the characteristics of each flow were studied. Based on detailed mass balances, specific water consumption for each process unit was determined and alternative techniques/technologies for the most effective water and wastewater management practices were developed

Water quality, pollution and conservation

This chapter presents the main water pollutants and their impacts on the environment as well as the water quality parameters (physical, chemical and biological) that are used in water resources assessment and management. The water quality of river, streams, lakes and groundwater is reviewed. Remediation and preventive measures are also examined. Water conservation practices and its effective use are analyzed for system users and system operators

Effect of Ni (II) and Cr (VI) on activated sludge kinetics

Ph.D. - Doctoral Progra