Development of a Dispersive Liquid–Liquid Microextraction Procedure for Biodegradation Studies on Nonylphenol Propoxylates Under Aerobic Conditions

Volume: 31Start Page: 7End Page: 1

Konwencja Minamata – nowa era regulacji i odpowiedzialności na rzecz globalnego ograniczenia emisji rtęci

Minamata Convention on mercury is the answer to the threat of global emissions of mercury and its impact on human health and the environment. On 19th January 2013, at the fifth session of the International Negotiating Conference in Geneva (INC5), which comprised representatives of 140 governments belonging to the United Nations, the final version of the Convention aimed at reducing environmental pollution by mercury was determined. Formal acceptance of the Convention took place on October 10th 2013, during the Diplomatic Conference in Minamata, Japan. It was agreed, that mercury is a substance of worldwide interest due to its spread in the atmosphere over long distances, persistence in the environment after the result of human activity, the ability to bioaccumulation in ecosystems and significantly harmful effect on human health and the environment. This newly established, legally binding instrument provides comprehensive solutions to reduce emissions of mercury to the atmosphere, reduce the demand for mercury in products and industrial processes, reduce international trade of mercury, as well as the handling of wastes containing mercury, the use of methods of storage of mercury. It also regulates issues relating to the sites contaminated by this metal and the adoption of guidelines on the use of BAT /BEP in such cases. Existing measures limited to the geographical area of the European Union proved to be insufficient to solve the global mercury problem. The new rules, once implemented, will have a potential impact on the different industrial sectors, such as municipal waste with the largest sources of Hg (batteries) of hazardous dental waste (amalgams), industrial (pesticides, paints), non-ferrous metals. The aim of this article is to emphasize the importance and significance of the Convention which applies a coherent community strategy concerning mercury in the short and long term, which will also allow for further verification of the problem and the effectiveness of the policy.Konwencja Minamata w sprawie rtęci stanowi odpowiedź na globalne zagrożenie emisją rtęci oraz jej wpływu na zdrowie człowieka i środowisko. W dniu 19 stycznia 2013 roku na piątej sesji Międzynarodowego Komitetu Negocjacyjnego w Genewie (INC 5), w skład którego wchodzili reprezentanci 140 rządów państw należących do Organizacji Narodów Zjednoczonych, doszło do ustalenia ostatecznej wersji konwencji mającej na celu redukcję zanieczyszczenia środowiska rtęcią. Formalne przyjęcie Konwencji nastąpiło w dniu 10 października 2013 roku podczas Konferencji Dyplomatycznej w Minamata w Japonii. Potwierdzono tym samym, że rtęć jest substancją o ogólnoświatowym znaczeniu z uwagi na jej rozprzestrzenianie się w atmosferze na dalekie odległości, utrzymywanie się w środowisku po wprowadzeniu na skutek działalności człowieka, zdolności do bioakumulacji w ekosystemach oraz znacząco szkodliwy wpływ na zdrowie ludzi i środowisko. Ten nowo powstały, prawnie wiążący instrument zawiera kompleksowe rozwiązania na rzecz zmniejszenia emisji rtęci do atmosfery, ograniczenia zapotrzebowania na rtęć w produktach i procesach przemysłowych, ograniczenia międzynarodowego handlu rtęcią, jak również postępowania z odpadami zawierającymi rtęć, stosowania metod składowania rtęci oraz reguluje kwestie odnoszące się do terenów zanieczyszczonych tym metalem i przyjęcia wytycznych dotyczących stosowania BAT /BEP. Dotychczasowe środki ograniczone do obszaru geograficznego Unii Europejskiej okazały się niewystarczające do rozwiązania ogólnoświatowego problemu rtęci. Nowe regulacje, po ich wdrożeniu, będą miały potencjalny wpływ na różne sektory przemysłowe, takie jak: odpady komunalne z największymi źródłami Hg (baterie), niebezpiecznymi odpadami dentystycznymi (amalgamaty), przemysłowymi (środki ochrony roślin, farby), metali nieżelaznych. Celem artykułu jest zaakcentowanie doniosłości i znaczenia wprowadzonej Konwencją spójnej strategii wspólnotowej w zakresie rtęci w perspektywie krótko i długoterminowej, która umożliwi również dalszą weryfikację problemu i skuteczności polityki

Continuous Flow Methylene Blue Active Substances Method for the Determination of Anionic Surfactants in River Water and Biodegradation Test Samples

Anionic surfactants are commonly determined with the use of the methylene blue active substances (MBAS) standard method, which is time-consuming and labor-intensive. Therefore, new methods for determination of anionic surfactants are needed. In this study, the standard MBAS method for determination of anionic surfactants was modified and adjusted to work in a continuous flow system combined with spectrophotometric measurement. The developed method was found to be satisfactory in terms of sensitivity and precision, with a short time of analysis. The quantification limit for anionic surfactants was at 16 μg L(−1), with a relative standard deviation of 1.3 % for a model sample and 3.8 % for a river water sample. The results obtained for environmental samples were comparable to those obtained by using the standard MBAS method; however, the developed continuous flow method is faster, more sensitive and consumes smaller doses of chemical reagents

The Identity Trans(locations) of the protagonist of Virginia Despentes’ novels. Case study of Apocalypse bébé

Artykuł stanowi próbę prześledzenia twórczości współczesnej,trzeciofalowej, francuskiej powieściopisarki, VirginiiDespentes, ze szczególnym uwzględnieniemzachodzących w niej na przestrzeni ubiegłych dwudziestu latzmian. W pierwszej części przedstawiony zostaje zaryswczesnego etapu jej pisarstwa. Na pierwszy plan wysuwają sięspecyficzne dla kultury francuskiej końca ubiegłego stuleciakwestie kontekstualne: zwłaszcza zachodzących w relacjido rekonfiguracji francuskiego pola literackiego w połowie latdziewięćdziesiątych przemian w strategii (samo)reprezentacjipodmiotów wykluczonych z uwagi na ich rasowo-płciowo-klasowe usytuowanie, oraz wyłonienia się nurtu literaturyopatrzonej mianem „trashowej”.Druga część stawia sobie za cel wydobycie queerowego aspektuostatniego projektu Despentes. Przeprowadzona w oparciuo geopoetologiczne instrumentarium analiza utworu Apocalypsebébé dostarcza informacji na temat czasoprzestrzennychuwarunkowań (nie)normatywnych tożsamości głównychbohaterów. Autorska konstrukcja miejskiego chronotopu Paryżai Barcelony zestawiona zostaje z propozycjami badaczy kulturyspod znaku krytycznych teorii queer, prowadząc do tezyo specyficznym ,,zwrocie utopijnym” zachodzącym w ostatniejpowieści tej pisarki.The article is an attempt to investigate the contemporary creativityof the French, third wave feminist, and novel writer Virginie Despentes with a focuson changes taking place in her work over the last twenty years. The first part showsthe scope of the early phase of her artistic activity, which, on the main level, deals withspecific issues in the French culture of the last decade of the past century, especiallythose taking place in relation to the reconfiguration of the French literary fieldin the middle of the 1990s. Of particular importance are changes in approachesof those who were excluded or marginalized because of their race/gender/classposition (most often femininists), including issues of self-representation andthe appearance of the trash literature trend.The second part of the article takes as its goal enhancing the queer aspectof Despentes’ last project. It analyses Apocalypse bébé on the basis of geopoeticalinstrumentarium and presents information concerning the spatio-temporal dimensionsof the (non)normative identities of the main characters. The authors constructionof the urban chronotope of Paris and Barcelona is considered from a criticalqueer theory perspective, leading to the thesis of a specific utopian turn taking placein Despentes’ last novel

Bacterial properties changing under Triton X-100 presence in the diesel oil biodegradation systems : from surface and cellular changes to mono- and dioxygenases activities

Triton X-100, as one of the most popular surfactants used in bioremediation techniques, has been reported as an effective agent enhancing the biodegradation of hydrocarbons. However efficient, the surfactant’s role in different processes that together enable the satisfying biodegradation should be thoroughly analysed and verified. In this research, we present the interactions of Triton X-100 with the bacterial surfaces (hydrophobicity and zeta potential), its influence on the enzymatic properties (considering mono- and dioxygenases) and profiles of fatty acids, which then all together were compared with the biodegradation rates. The addition of various concentrations of Triton X-100 to diesel oil system revealed different cell surface hydrophobicity (CSH) of the tested strains. The results demonstrated that for Pseudomonas stutzeri strain 9, higher diesel oil biodegradation was correlated with hydrophilic properties of the tested strain and lower Triton X-100 biodegradation. Furthermore, an increase of the branched fatty acids was observed for this strain

Significance of the presence of antibiotics on the microbial consortium in wastewater - The case of nitrofurantoin and furazolidone.

Antibiotics in wastewater leads to migration of pollutants and disrupts natural processes of mineralization of organic matter. In order to understand the mechanism of this, research was undertaken on the influence of nitrofurantoin (NFT) and furazolidone (FZD), on the behaviour of a consortium of microorganisms present in a model wastewater in a bioreactor. Our study confirmed biodegradation of the antibiotics by the microbial consortium, with the degradation efficiency within 10 days of 65% for FZD, but only 20% for NFT. The kinetic study proved that the presence of analysed antibiotics had no adverse effect on the microbes, but the consortium behaviour differ significantly with the NFT reducing the consumption of organic carbon in wastewater and increasing the production of extracellular biopolymeric and volatile organic compounds, and the FZD reducing assimilation of other carbon sources to a less extent, at the expense of cellular focus on biodegradation of this antibiotic

Migration and the Environment: Some Reflections on Current Legal Issues and Possible Ways Forward

The rationale behind the volume on Migration and the Environment: Some Reflections on Current Legal Issues and Possible Ways Forward is to provide a comprehensive and critical review of the major outcomes, implications and achievements on the relevant questions of international law on international migration and the environment. The ultimate objective of the volume is to foster the debate among experts, scholars and policy makers. To this end, the collected papers analyze from different perspectives the link between migration and the environment and the phenomenon of environment-related migration, discuss the extent to which people whose movements are induced by environmental factors are protected under the existing international legal framework, investigate the main legal issues and normative gaps and analyze the solutions at stak

Biodiversity of soil bacteria exposed to sub-lethal concentrations of phosphonium-based ionic liquids: Effects of toxicity and biodegradation

Little is known about the effect of ionic liquids (ILs) on the structure of soil microbial communities and resulting biodiversity. Therefore, we studied the influence of six trihexyl(tetradecyl)phosphonium ILs (with either bromide or various organic anions) at sublethal concentrations on the structure of microbial community present in an urban park soil in 100-day microcosm experiments. The biodiversity decreased in all samples (Shannon's index decreased from 1.75 down to 0.74 and OTU's number decreased from 1399 down to 965) with the largest decrease observed in the microcosms spiked with ILs where biodegradation extent was higher than 80%. (i.e. [P66614][Br] and [P66614][2,4,4]). Despite this general decrease in biodiversity, which can be explained by ecotoxic effect of the ILs, the microbial community in the microcosms was enriched with Gram-negative hydrocarbon-degrading genera e.g. Sphingomonas. It is hypothesized that, in addition to toxicity, the observed decrease in biodiversity and change in the microbial community structure may be explained by the primary biodegradation of the ILs or their metabolites by the mentioned genera, which outcompeted other microorganisms unable to degrade ILs or their metabolites. Thus, the introduction of phosphonium-based ILs into soils at sub-lethal concentrations may result not only in a decrease in biodiversity due to toxic effects, but also in enrichment with ILs-degrading bacteria