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An industrial soil collected from a recycling factory was contaminated by DEHP and spilled diesel. The soils were divided into two batches for off-site ex situ bioremediation by SMC. This industrial soil was contaminated with 5.4-6.9 g/kg total petroleum hydrocarbons (TPH), 14.5--19.0 g/kg oil and grease and 95-99 mg/kg DEHP. The removal by 3% SMC amendment applied twice accounted for 56-64%, 31--33% and 51--54% disappearance of the TPH, oil and grease and DEHP contaminants, respectively. Beside chemical analysis, six bacteria and six fungi were inoculated into the sterilized soil samples for ecotoxicity tests. The original soil samples containing residual oil and DEHP contents were found to be more toxic than the SMC-treated soil. Thus SMC simultaneously degrades organic pollutants and reduces toxicity in less than a month. / An underground water sample contaminated with dibutyl phthalate (DBP, 127.5+/-20.7 mu1/1) and DEHP (67.0+/-7.7 mu1/1) was tested. One percent SMC could remove 94.2+/-3.6% and 100% for DBP and DEHP, respectively, within 1 h at room temperature. DBP and DEHP were degraded completely by SMCE except 0.2% SMCE for DBP after 24-h treatment. SMC had higher removal efficiencies than SMCE, because SMC had an integrated system of biosorption and biodegradation to remove DBP and DEHP. The sorption kinetics of DBP and DEHP by SMC could be described by the Freundlich monolayer model. Even after eight cycles of the sorption-desorption of DEHP SMC maintained the 100% removal efficiency. Thus SMC is a good biosorbent for DEHP. / Besides, DEHP-contaminated sediment was collected from Kai Tak Approach Channel, Kowloon. This sediment contained 44.4-128.0 mg/kg DEHP and heavy metals 21.3-23.4 mg/kg Cd, 24.9-43.5 mg/kg Ni, 128.5-198.5 mg/kg Pb, 144.6-329.2 mg/kg Zn and 164.5-230.0 mg/kg Cu, and bore an unpleasant sewer smell. SMC and SMCE as strong oxidizing agents could decrease the S content of sediment significantly as well as calcium nitrate, and consequently lowered the evolution of nuisance gas hydrogen sulfide. With the treatment of the optimized combination of 2.25% SMCE and 0.25% nitrate, the malodor could be removed completely and the contents of H2S and NH3 in the air were decreased significantly. For the degradation of organic pollutants, the target pollutant DEHP showed a sharp decrease in the first week in the time effect experiment after the treatment with the combination of 2.25% SMCE and 0.25% nitrate, while the decrease of DEHP slowed down in the second week. The results may be attributed to the immediate degradation of DEHP by enzymes in SMCE. When raw sediment and nitrate-treated sediment were bioremediated with SMCE, larger fluctuation in DEHP removal was observed with the nitrate-treated sediment. It supports that nitrate and SMCE would act in optimum at a certain combination. The effect on mobilization of sediment heavy metals by SMC or SMCE was also examined. Although some laboratory results suggested reduction of copper and lead, other results using different environmental samples of the sediment did not reproduce the results. Further investigation is needed. / Plasticizers are additives used in the manufacture of plastics, and high residual plasticizer levels are encountered in the environment. Bis(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate (DEHP), being the most common plasticizer, is a suspected human carcinogen and an endocrine disruptor. Therefore, DEHP-contaminated soil, sediment and water samples were collected, and the bioremediation capacities of the spent compost of mushroom Pleurotus pulmonarius (SMC) were determined. / This study reveals the potential in applying SMC of P. pulmonarius in bioremediation of DEHP from the soil, sediment and water environments. More investigation and field studies would be appropriate for developing spent P. pulmonarius compost in environmental cleanup. / Using artificially spiked garden soil with DEHP and ultra-low sulphur diesel, the removal efficiencies of SMC were 41.7+/-9.8% and 36.1+/-8.4% for TP11 and DEHP, respectively. SMCE which contained the water-soluble nutrients, SMC enzymes and micro-organisms had about half removal efficiency of SMC on the same pollutant. The enriched SMC microorganisms also showed biodegradation of DEHP and diesel, so did the filtrate containing enzymes and nutrients of SMC. Thus SMC acted in multiple ways in bioremediation of DEHP: biostimulation and bioaugmentation. Besides, the immobilized lignolytic enzymes of the mushroom P. pulmonarius played a major role in biodegradation. / Gao, Ting. / "October 2009." / Adviser: S.W. Chiu. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 72-01, Section: B, page: . / Thesis (Ph.D.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 2010. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 204-237). / Electronic reproduction. Hong Kong : Chinese University of Hong Kong, [2012] System requirements: Adobe Acrobat Reader. Available via World Wide Web. / Electronic reproduction. Ann Arbor, MI : ProQuest Information and Learning Company, [200-] System requirements: Adobe Acrobat Reader. Available via World Wide Web. / Abstract also in Chinese.

Bacterial strain Pseudomonas sp. ADP is capable of degrading atrazine via an enzymatic pathway in six sequential steps to yield carbon dioxide and ammonia. Atrazine is a persistent herbicide that frequently contaminates soil, drinking water, and ground water throughout areas of heavy use in the United States. A biological remediation approach using Pseudomonas sp. APD is considered as an effective, cost-efficient, and environmentally conscious method of decreasing atrazine concentration in areas of high contamination. Each enzyme in the degradation pathway is encoded by a corresponding gene, AtzA-AtzF, and is located on a self-transmissible 108-kb plasmid. Due to their prevalence in nature, and their unique genetic and physical characteristics, biofilms are of great interest in the field of bioremediation. Biofilms exhibit high tolerance for harsh environmental stressors/conditions, prodigious potential for recalcitrant compound entrapment via an extracellular polymeric matrix, quorum sensing, and increased horizontal gene transfer compared to their planktonic counterparts. Despite frequent genetic and chemical analyses performed on atrazine-degrading genes on planktonic cells of strain Pseudomonas sp. APD, the genetics and degradation potential of Pseudomonas sp. ADP biofilms is relatively unexplored. Real-time quantitative PCR was used to differentiate the expression of six genes involved in the process of atrazine degradation. Relative expression experiments revealed no statistically significant difference in the expression of atrazine-degrading genes in Pseudomonas sp. ADP cells grown as biofilms relative to Pseudomonas sp. ADP cells grown as planktonic cells. In biofilms alone, the expression of genes AtzDEF was differentiated via temperature of biofilm growth in cells grown at 25, 30, and 37 degrees. Analytical techniques, including GC-MS and HPLC, were used to elucidate atrazine remediation potential of Pseudomonas sp. ADP biofilms and our previously collected genetic data. Stable decreases in atrazine degradation following a first-order kinetic model have been demonstrated for planktonic cells compared to a complex degradation pattern, including transient increases, observed for corresponding biofilm-mediated cells. This is attributed to the unique structure of the biofilm and the potential of atrazine to be entrapped in the substances of the extracellular polymeric matrix and subsequently released into the effluent. Overall, the biodegradation efficiency was higher for Pseudomonas sp. ADP biofilm-mediated cells compared to their planktonic counterparts. A novel methodology of using confocal microscopy and in situ reverse transcription was proposed for optimization to visualize the expression of atrazine-degrading genes in fixed Pseudomonas sp. ADP biofilms. The sugar composition of Pseudomonas sp. ADP was evaluated using fluorescent lectin binding analysis and was determined to exhibit a prominent level of diversity and dependent upon growth medium. The results from these experiments will play a role in application of biofilms grown in bioreactors for atrazine remediation throughout areas of persistent and high contamination throughout the US. The new step in methodology development of an in situ visual gene expression technique can be extended to bioremediation of alternate recalcitrant compounds. The results may also be aid progress in alternate biofilm-related studies in medicine & human health, metallurgy, and engineering.

Les contaminations des sols par les éléments traces métalliques constituent la deuxième contamination la plus importante au niveau mondial avec plus de 5 millions de sites contaminés répertoriés. Cette contamination est devenue globale et diffuse au sein des écosystèmes et présente des risques non négligeables pour l'environnement, l'économie agricole et la santé publique. Cd, Cu et Pb sont parmi les métaux les plus représentés et/ou les plus à risque de cette contamination. Les comportements difficilement prévisibles des métaux au sein de la matrice sol complexifient les stratégies de remédiation. Les méthodes biologiques représentent une alternative économique, écologique et efficace. Le potentiel des champignons est de plus en plus étudié dans ce domaine.Notre travail propose de mesurer la tolérance et les capacités de biosorption de 28 isolats fongiques issus de sols contaminés et de sélectionner les isolats les plus efficaces pour des essais en microcosmes de sols contaminés. Ainsi, 3 isolats ont été sélectionnés. Absidia cylindrospora tolère 1000 mg.L-1 de Cd en milieu gélosé et biosorbe plus de 50% de Cd et Pb en milieu liquide après 3 jours d'exposition. Coprinellus micaceus biosorbe 100% de Pb en milieu liquide. Enfin, Chaetomium atrobrunneum biosorbe plus de 50% de ces 3 métaux en milieu liquide, après 3 jours d'exposition.Les essais en microcosmes de sols révèlent que les capacités de colonisation de la matrice par l'isolat fongique sont essentielles afin d'avoir une influence significative sur la fraction potentiellement mobile des métaux. Ainsi, A. cylindrospora montre le meilleur potentiel des isolats testés en bioaugmentation. Au bout de 20 jours de traitement, cette espèce est capable de diminuer la fraction potentiellement disponible de Cd de 5% et de Cu de 7%. Des essais complémentaires semblent nécessaires afin d'améliorer le processus (traitement plus long avec un apport de biomasse fongique plus important) et de mieux comprendre les transferts d'ETM au sein du sol en présence de champignons. / Soil contaminations by trace metals are the second most frequent contamination in the world, counting more than 5 million polluted sites. This contamination represents a risk for the environment, the economy, the agriculture and the public health. Cd, Cu, and Pb are among the most frequent and/or toxic elements of this contamination. The hardly predictable behavior of trace metals in the soil matrix turn the remediation methods into a complex issue. Biological methods could be an economic, eco-friendly, and efficient alternative. The potential of the Fungi is more and more studied in this field.Our work aim is to evaluate the tolerance and the biosorption abilities of 28 fungi isolated from polluted soils, and to select the most efficient ones to perform microcosm's experiments of polluted soils. Thus, 3 fungal isolates have been selected. Absidia cylindrospora tolerates 1000 mg.L-1 in agar medium and biosorbs more than 50% of Cd and Pb after 3 days in liquid medium. Coprinellus micaceus biosorbs 100% of Pb in liquid medium. Finally, Chaetomium atrobrunneum biosorbs more than 50% of each metals after 3 days of exposure in liquid medium.The microcosm's experiments reveal that the colonization abilities of the isolates is crucial to enhance the influence of the fungal development on the potentially mobile metal fraction. Thus, A. cylindrospora shows the best potential among the tested isolates in bioaugmented microcosms in order to decrease the potentially mobile fraction of the metals. After 20 days, this isolate decrease the potentially mobile fraction of Cd and Cu respectively by 5 and 7%. Complementary experiments are needed to improve the process (longer experiment, higher fungal biomass) and to better understand the transfers of the metals in presence of fungal organisms.

Graduation date: 2005

Trichloroethene (TCE) is the most frequently detected organic contaminant in groundwater, is classified as a probable human carcinogen, and exhibits toxicological effects on the human endocrine, immune, developmental, and reproductive systems. While significant research efforts have been devoted to the development of strategies for remediating TCE-contaminated groundwater, their advancement is currently hindered by limitations in current methodologies for measuring in situ reductive dechlorination rates, especially for sorbing solutes. This dissertation describes the development, evaluation, and demonstration of a method for measuring in situ reductive dechlorination rates that utilizes single-well, "push-pull" test technology. Initial field tests indicated that trichlorofluoroethene (TCFE) could be used as a surrogate for TCE in push-pull tests since (a) TCE and TCFE were transported similarly and (b) TCFE underwent reductive dechlorination by a pathway analogous to that of TCE while retaining the fluorine label. Because TCFE and TCE experienced sorption at the selected field site, a novel data analysis technique called "forced mass balance" (FMB) was developed to obtain in situ transformation rates of sorbing solutes from push-pull test data. The FMB technique was evaluated by quantifying errors in rates derived by applying FMB to push-pull test data generated by a numerical model. Results from simulated tests indicated that an example in situ rate for the reductive dechlorination of TCFE, which was obtained by applying FMB to field data, was underestimated relative to the true in situ rate by 10%. The utility of the rate-determination method presented in this dissertation was demonstrated by using it to evaluate the effectiveness of a chemical amendment, namely fumarate, at enhancing in situ reductive dechlorination rates in TCE-contaminated groundwater. Reductive dechlorination rates increased following three consecutive additions of fumarate in all five of the tested wells. The development of the rate-determination method described in this dissertation advances the state of bioremediation technology because methods for measuring in situ transformation rates are needed to both assess the potential for natural attenuation and to quantify the effects of bioremediation techniques in the field. / Graduation date: 2003

A pilot scale demonstration of a biological permeable barrier was conducted in a pentachlorophenol-contaminated aquifer at a wood preserving facility. A permeable reactor was constructed to fit within a large diameter well. Arranged in series, a cylindrical reactor 24" x 36" (0.61 x 0.91m) (diameter x height) was partitioned to provide three biological treatment zones. Pentachlorophenol (PCP) biodegradation was evaluated under several environmental conditions using a mixed microbial consortium supported on ceramic saddles. Imitation vanilla flavoring (IVF), a mixture of propylene glycol, guaiacol, ethyl vanillin and sodium benzoate, served as the electron donor. In the absence of exogenous substrate, PCP was not degraded in the inoculated permeable barrier. Substrate addition under oxidizing conditions also failed to initiate PCP removal. Anaerobic conditions however, promoted in-situ PCP degradation. PCP reductive dechlorination resulted in the transient production of 3,4,5-trichlorophenol through sequential ortho dechlorinations. Continued carbon reduction at the meta and para positions resulted in 3,4-dichlorophenol and 3,5-dichlorophenol production. Complete removal of all intermediate degradation products was observed. Reactor operation was characterized through two independent laboratory and field companion studies. Experiments were conducted to evaluate (1) the effect of supplemental electron donor concentration (IVF) and (2) the effect of sulfate, a competitive electron acceptor on PCP reductive dechlorination. Results from laboratory and field conditions were consistent. (1) In the presence of an exogenous electron donor, PCP degradation was independent of supplemental donor concentration (10, 25, 50, 100 mg COD/L). However, a comparatively slower rate of PCP degradation was observed in the absence of electron donor. (2) The presence of sulfate was not inhibitory to PCP degradation. However, compared to systems evaluated in the absence of sulfate, slower rates of PCP transformation were observed. Passive operation and low energy requirements, coupled with potential contaminant mineralization suggest that the biological permeable barrier is a highly effective tool for subsurface restoration. / Graduation date: 2000

Graduation date: 1995

Thesis (M.Eng.)--Memorial University of Newfoundland, 2005. / Restricted until October 2006. Bibliography: leaves 159-169.

This thesis describes a laboratory investigation of in-situ treatment of synthetic leachate representative of that generated by a municipal solid waste (MSW) landfill. The overall objective is to evaluate alternative designs and operating procedures for effective leachate collection in conjunction with efforts to accelerate waste stabilization (i.e. leachate recirculation). In the investigation five 15 cm (6) diameter PVC columns were packed with pea gravel and concrete of different sizes; geotextiles were also placed between the packed sections as filter-separators and promoters of bacterial growth. Synthetic leachate was continuously input to the top of the columns and circulated at rates representative of operating field conditions. For each column, effluent was discharged to a nitrification reactor before recirculation. The tests were conducted under anaerobic and unsaturated conditions in the columns. Results indicate about a 97% decrease in COD from the synthetic leachate concentration entering the top of the column, and about 98 % conversion of the ammonia to nitrogen gas. COD depletion and methane production were not significantly inhibited by the denitrification process. Optimum Hydraulic Retention Time (HRT) for the nitrification-denitrification system makes it economically viable for its development at a landfill site. Gas production shows low CO2 values, decreasing the potential of clogging in the Leachate Collection System (LCS) and extending the Landfill Gas (LFG) networks life service by generating a less corrosive environment. The use of concrete as an alternative to the most commonly used natural gravel as leachate collection drains may not be a good option. During the experiment, the leachate that permeated the columns packed with crushed concrete, presented a higher pH than the leachate that permeated the natural stone. At the conclusion of the experiment noticeable weathering was observed when the columns where dismantled. Further studies are recommended until more conclusive evidence as to concrete performance is found. The overall results obtained from the experiment show that in situ passive treatment at landfills is viable.