The aim of our research was to investigate if oat is capable of extracting cadmium to such extent that it is usable in decontaminating polluted soils. We grew oat in a hydroponic culture during 28 days in a controlled environment and a total of 30 plants were used. The nutrient solutions were contaminated with cadmium of ten different concentrations after seven days. After harvesting the plants, the roots were separated from the shoots, placed in separate containers and then turned to ashes. The cadmium content was measured three times per sample in an atomic absorption spectrometer. Our results indicate that the ability of oat to extract cadmium from a solution is linearly dependent of the cadmium concentration of the solution. We also noted that the resistivity to cadmium of oat is limited. When the concentration of accessible cadmium ions exceeded 0,06mM, a significant difference of the shoot growth appeared. The results we obtained from shoots and roots show cadmium amounts much higher in the roots than the shoots. Despite this difference there were sufficient amounts of cadmium in the shoots to call oat a hyper accumulator. This means that oat fulfills one of the criteria of a phytoextractor.

The carbon metabolism in costal sediments is of major importance for the global carbon cycle. Costal sediments are also subjected to physical forcing generating water fluxes above and through the sediments, but how the physical affect the carbon metabolism is currently poorly known. In this study, the effect of advective pore water flow on degradation of organic matter in permeable sandy sediment was investigated in a laboratory study during wintertime. Sediments were collected from both brackish water (Askö) and from a fresh water stream (Getå Stream). In two chamber experiments, with and without advective pore water flow, the degradation of organic matter was measured through carbon dioxide analysis from water and headspace. In Askö sediments mineralization rates ranged from 3.019 - 5.115 mmol C m-2 d-1 and 3.139 mmol C m-2 d-1 with and without advective pore water flow, respectively. Those results correspond with results from earlier studies of carbon mineralization rates in sediment in the North Sea and the Baltic Sea. There were no significant differences between the two groups in the Askö sediment. In Getå Stream sediments mineralization rates ranged between 4.059 mmol C m-2 d-1 and 6.806 mmol C m-2 d-1 with and without advective flow, respectively. The mineralization rates for Getå Stream correspond with earlier studies of carbon mineralization rates in a stream in New Hampshire.

The Earth’s surface contains of 71% oceans and a large part of the global carbon cycle takes place in the oceans. In the aquatic environment, the sediment-water interface plays an important role for the mineralisation of organic material. One factor that can affect the mineralisation is resuspension. Resuspension cause mixing of surface sediments and bottom water and result in a redistribution of the sediment when it settles again. Resuspension also increases the transport of oxygen into the sediment, reduces the diffusive boundary layer surrounding particles, and enhance the nutrient uptake. Resuspension can be induced by both wave action and bottom currents and is a common physical process in both shallow coastal areas and in the deep ocean. Human impacts, such as dredging and trawling, can also cause resuspension. The effect of resuspension on mineralisation of organic material was studied in two experiments ex situ during December to April 2004/2005. The aim for Experiment 1 was to investigate how the intensity of the resuspension event affects the degradation rate. The aim for Experiment 2 was to investigate how different concentrations of resuspended sediment affect the degradation rate of organic matter. Sediment samples were collected in December and late March at a marine field station, Askö, Sweden. Sediment and bottom water were transferred to and incubated in sealed bottles. For Experiment 1, resuspension was created in bottles with a specially designed rotary table, creating different intensity of water movements. In Experiment 2, bottles with different concentrations of sediment were put on an ordinary rotary table. The mineralisation rates were in both experiments monitored by daily sampling of sediment-water slurry, and analysed for total inorganic carbon by a gas chromatography with a thermal detector, GC-TCD. Results from Experiment 1 did not show any clear patterns regarding inorganic carbon formation. Experiment 2 did show clear patterns for two of six replicates of mineralisation of organic material. For these replicates the mineralisation rate were low according to previous studies. However, the sediment concentration seems to not affect the mineralisation rate. For both experiments, valuable information on how to better design experiments to investigate the importance of resuspension and the effect of mineralisation of organic material was yielded. Hence, further studies are needed to continue the investigation of the importance of resuspension for the mineralisation rate of organic material, and its impacts on the nutrient fluxes in the oceans.

Treatment wetlands been showed efficient for reducing pollutant in waste water. In Lajeado – RS, Brazil the landfill has poor leachate water treatment. It is necessary to supplement the treatment plant because they need to reduce BOD, COD and nitrate of the water going to recipient. A subsurface flow wetland (SSF) can be a good choice.  In order to be able to design an efficient SSF it is important to understand how the grain sizes of a substrate affect the reducing of pollutants in waste water. This study focus on two substrate, sand with grain size of 0 - 3 mm and gravel with the grain size of 10 - 20 mm. To see the grain size reduces BOD, COD and nitrate best, the experiment used eight pilot scales SSF for leachate water treatment, four filled with sand and four filled with gravel. Two different flows, four with batch and four used continuous flow; two of each was planted with Thypa angustifolia L. Samples were taken from each wetland every week during a four week period. The results showed that the wetlands with the fine- grained substrate; sand gave the better reduction of BOD, COD and TKN (total kjeldahl kväve). It also showed great reduction in color. Important to notice in this study is the lack of time; more samples are required to be able to establish a pattern.

Phytoremediation as a way to control and lessen nutrient concentrations in landfill leachate is a cheap and environmentally sustainable method. Accumulated nutrients in the plants can then be removed by harvesting and anaerobically digesting the biomass. This study presents two aquatic plants (L. minor (L.) and P. stratiotes (L.)) and one microalgae species (C. vulgaris (L.)), their capacities for growth and nutrient removal in leachate from Häradsudden landfill, Sweden, are investigated. The biogas potential of the two plants is determined via anaerobic digestion in a batch run, followed by a lab-scale reactor run for L. minor only. Results show that growth in leachate directly from the landfill is not possible for the selected species, but at a leachate dilution of 50% or more. Nutrients are removed in leachates with plants to a higher extent than in leachates without, yet the actual amounts do not differ notably between plant species. L. minor proves a better choice than P. stratiotes despite this as growth is superior for L. minor under the experimental conditions of this study. Considering biogas production, L. minor gives more methane than P. stratiotes according to the results from the batch run. The former is however not suitable for large-scale anaerobic digestion unless as an additional feedstock due to practical cultivation issues.

This current study is a lab-scale investigation focused on the treatment of stormwater runoff generated in wood-storage areas. The main target constituents of the proposed treatment were: metals (Cu, Cd, Co, V, Pb, Zn, Ni, Cr, Fe, As), COD, TOC, Phenols, and color. The method implemented for this project follows the main concept of using low-cost and environmentally friendly technologies and had as main steps the use of a by-product of wood-based industries - wood fly ashes as sorbents - followed by oxidation with H2O2 (Hydrogen Peroxide). The results obtained during this investigation were vey promising since satisfactory removal % was achieved. Removal rates of 98.5%, 86%, 89.6%, 79.6% were achieved for color, chemical oxygen demand (COD), total organic carbon (TOC) and phenols respectively. Furthermore a decrease in metals concentrations was also observed with the exception of chromium. The study showed that for 300 ml storm water, optimum conditions were with 7g wood fly ash, 5 hours time reaction, pH≈11.46 and 150 μl of a 30% H2O2 solution in a room temperature. To conclude it can be stated that the use of a by-product from wood industry to treat contaminated water from the same sector, following the concept of a closed-loop system, is promising and possible. However further studies need to be conducted in order to evaluate such system in scaled-up conditions.

<p>The aim of our research was to investigate if oat is capable of extracting cadmium to such extent that it is usable in decontaminating polluted soils. We grew oat in a hydroponic culture during 28 days in a controlled environment and a total of 30 plants were used. The nutrient solutions were contaminated with cadmium of ten different concentrations after seven days. After harvesting the plants, the roots were separated from the shoots, placed in separate containers and then turned to ashes. The cadmium content was measured three times per sample in an atomic absorption spectrometer.</p><p>Our results indicate that the ability of oat to extract cadmium from a solution is linearly dependent of the cadmium concentration of the solution. We also noted that the resistivity to cadmium of oat is limited. When the concentration of accessible cadmium ions exceeded 0,06mM, a significant difference of the shoot growth appeared. The results we obtained from shoots and roots show cadmium amounts much higher in the roots than the shoots. Despite this difference there were sufficient amounts of cadmium in the shoots to call oat a hyper accumulator. This means that oat fulfills one of the criteria of a phytoextractor.</p>

<p>There are several incentives for using bottom ash from municipal solid waste incineration (MSWI bottom ash) as a construction material, such as for road construction. These incentives include decreased disposal of material on landfills and a reduced amount of raw material extracted for road building purposes. However, one of the main obstacles to utilising the material is uncertainties regarding its environmental properties. The overall objective of this thesis is to describe the potential environmental impacts of utilising MSWI bottom ash in constructions and to improve the tools for environmental assessments.</p><p>An environmental systems analysis (ESA) approach based on a life cycle perspective was outlined and used in a case study, with the aim of describing the differences in resource use and emissions that can be expected if crushed rock in the sub-base of a road in the Stockholm region in Sweden were to be substituted by MSWI bottom ash. The whole life cycle of the road was taken into account and the alternative disposal of the bottom ash was included. It was found that the studied alternatives would cause different types of potential environmental impact; whereas the conventional alternative with only crushed rock in the road’s sub-base would lead to larger use of energy and natural resources, the alternative with MSWI bottom ash in the sub-base would lead to larger contaminant leaching. It was concluded that a life cycle approach is needed in order to include both resource use and emissions in the comparison between the two alternative scenarios. The leaching of metals turned out to be the most important environmental aspect for the comparison and in particular the difference in copper (Cu) leaching was shown to be large.</p><p>However, a large amount of Cu may not pose an environmental threat if the Cu is strongly bound to dissolved organic carbon (DOC). In order to improve the basis for toxicity estimates and environmental risk assessments, and thereby provide better input values for ESAs, the speciation of Cu to DOC in MSWI bottom ash leachate was studied. It was found that Cu to a large extent was bound to DOC, which is consistent with previous research. The results also suggest that the hydrophilic fraction of the MSWI bottom ash DOC is important for Cu complexation and that the pH-dependence for Cu complexation to MSWI bottom ash DOC is smaller than for natural DOC. This implies that models calibrated for natural DOC may give inconsistent simulations of Cu-DOC complexation in MSWI bottom ash leachate.</p>

<p>The existence of trihalomethanes (THMs) in a drinking water plant of Nicaragua has been investigated in order to see whether the concentration exceeded the maximum contaminant level recommended by the environmental protection agency of the United States (USEPA) and the Nicaragua guidelines. The influence of pH, temperature, chlorine dose and contact time on the formation of THMs were studied. The contents of organic matter measured by surrogate parameters such as total organic carbon, dissolved organic carbon, ultraviolet absorbance and specific ultraviolet absorbance were also determined in order to show which type of organic matter is most reactive with chlorine to form THMs. Models developed by other researchers to predict the formation of trihalomethanes were tested to see whether they can be used to estimate the trihalomethane concentration. In addition, empirical models were development to predict the THM concentration of the drinking water plant analysed. The raw water was treated by conventional and enhanced coagulation and these processes were compared with regard to the removal of natural organic matter (NOM). The significance of the results was assessed using statistic procedures.</p><p>The average concentration of THMs found at the facility is below the USEPA and Nicaragua guideline values. Nevertheless the maximum contaminant level set by USEPA is sometimes exceeded in the rainy season when the raw water is rich in humic substances. Comparison between the water treated by conventional and enhanced coagulation shows that enhanced coagulation considerably diminished the trihalomethane formation and the value after enhanced coagulation never exceeded the guidelines. This is because enhanced coagulation considerably decreases the organic matter due to the high coagulant dose applied. The study of the trihalomethane formation when varying pH, time, temperature and chlorine dose using water treated by conventional and enhanced coagulation showed that higher doses of chlorine, higher pH, higher temperature and a longer time increases the formation of THMs. However, combinations of two and three factors are the opposite. The predicted THM formation equations cannot be used for the water at this facility, since the results shown that the measured THM differs significantly from the THM concentration predicted. Two empirical models were developed from the data for enhanced coagulation, using linear and non-linear regression. These models were tested using the database obtained with conventional coagulation. The non-linear model was shown to be able to predict the formation of THMs in the Boaco drinking water plant.</p>

The disposal of combustible wastes by incineration is a controversial issue that is strongly debated by both scientists and environmental activists due to the resulting emissions of noxious compounds, including (inter alia) polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins (PCDDs), dibenzofurans (PCDFs), heavy metals and acid gases like sulfur dioxide. Currently available air pollution control devices are capable of effectively cleaning flue gases, and PCDD/F emissions to air from modern municipal solid waste (MSW) incinerators are low. However, the PCDD and PCDF end up in ash fractions that, in Sweden, are usually deposited in landfills. The European Union has recently set a maximum permitted total concentration of 15 µg TEQ/kg for PCDD/F species in waste. Fly ash from municipal solid waste (MSW) incineration containing PCDD/Fs at concentrations above this limit will have to be remediated to avoid disposing of them in landfills; an expensive and environmentally unfriendly option. Therefore, effective, reliable and cost-effective methods for degrading PCDD/F in fly ash are required, and a better understanding of the behavior of PCDDs and PCDFs during thermal treatment will be needed to develop them. In the studies this thesis is based upon both the formation and degradation of PCDDs and PCDFs in ashes from MSW incineration were studied. The main findings of the investigations regarding PCCD/F formation were: - The concentrations of PCDD and PCDF in fly ash increased with reductions in the temperature in the post-combustion zone. - The homologue profile in the ash changed when the temperature in the post-combustion zone changed. - The final amounts of PCDD and PCDF present were affected by their rates of both formation and degradation, and the mechanisms involved differ between PCDDs and PCDFs. The main findings from the degradation studies were: - The chemical composition of ash has a major impact on the degradation potential of PCDD and PCDF. - The presence of oxygen during thermal treatment can enhance the degradation of PCDD and PCDF. - Thermal treatment is a viable option for degrading PCDD and PCDF in ashes from MSW. - Shifts in chlorination degree occur during thermal treatment. - Rapid heat transfer into the ash is a key factor for ensuring fast degradation of PCDD and PCDF. - Degradation of other chlorinated organic compounds, e.g. PCB and HCB, also occurs during thermal treatment of ash. - Reductions in levels of PCDD and PCDF were not solely due to their desorption to the gas phase. - Differences between the behavior of 2378-substituted congeners of PCDD and PCDF and the other congeners during thermal treatment were observed. - Differences in isomer patterns of both PCDD and PCDF were observed between the ash and gas phases after thermal treatment at both 300 and 500 oC. Overall, the results show that the formation and degradation mechanisms of PCDDs differ substantially from those of PCDFs. Thus these groups of compounds should be separately considered in attempts to identify ways to reduce their concentrations.