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Tetracyclines are one of the most widely used class of veterinary and human antibiotics. The conventional treatment of wastewater based on activated sludge is not effective to remove antibiotics and their residues are still biologically active, which represents a problem in terms of bacterial resistance. The main objective of this work is to assess ability of stevensite and two biochars to adsorb three tetracycline antibiotics from water. Batch adsorption experiments were carried out to test the ability of these materials to adsorb tetracyclines. Then desorption experiments were performed to determine the adsorption strength on stevensite. In order to elucidate the adsorption mechanism of tetracyclines on stevensite, cation exchange analysis and spectroscopic analyses by IR and XRD were performed. The adsorption of tetracyclines on stevensite was tested on continuous system with water artificially contaminated. Finally, the designed filter was validated with tetracyclines spiked wastewater. The two biochars and stevensite were able to adsorb between 60 and 100% of the tetracyclines present in the batch system. Stevensite was the material with the highest tetracyclines removal capacity (around 100% at low concentrations of tetracyclines). Biochars showed less affinity for tetracyclines adsorption (70%). Tetracyclines desorption from stevensite reached values lower than 10% for low tetracyclines concentrations. The IR spectroscopy suggested that cation exchange is the main mechanism of tetracyclines adsorption on clay and also proved the role of amide and amine groups in this adsorption. The cation exchange mechanism was confirmed by displacement of Ca and Mg from stevensite. A continuous wastewater flow through a system composed by stevensite leaved this system with no tetracyclines, indicating water purification by tetracyclines adsorption in clay.

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Highlights Herbicide concentrations were evaluated in soil profiles for 2 years along with Brtracer ion and water content  Organic residues increased the soil's water-holding capacity and the herbicide adsorption by topsoil  Herbicide transport increased by soluble organic carbon, initial soil moisture and rainfall  Leaching, degradation and other processes could be involved in the chemicals' dissipation in soils  The data set obtained is needed to simulate pesticide environmental fate with leaching models

Soil element composition derives from parent material disaggregation during pedogenesis and weathering processes but also by anthropogenic inputs. Elements are present in soils in different chemical forms that affect their availability and mobility. The aim of the study was to evaluate the main derivation, natural or anthropogenic, of elements in the soils of the Vesuvius National Park (a natural environment strongly affected by human impacts). Besides, the effects of age of the lava from which soils derive, different vegetation covers, traffic fluxes along the two roads connecting the Vesuvius crater and altitudes of the sites on the pseudo-total element concentrations and on their contents in different fraction of soil were investigated. To reach the aims, BCR (Bureau Commun de Référence) sequential extraction was performed in order to determine the distribution of elements into: acid-soluble, reducible, oxidizable and residual fractions. The relationship between the main environmental media and distribution of elements was discussed using non-metric multidimensional scaling (NMDS). The findings showed that, with the exception of Cd, Cu, Pb and Zn that would seem to derive also from human activities, the other investigated elements (Al, As, B, Ba, Ca, Cd, Cr, Cu, Fe, K, La, Mg, Mn, Na, Ni, P, Pb, Si, Ti, V, W and Zn) mainly had a natural derivation. Among the investigated elements, only Cd could represent a potential high risk for the studied andosols. The highest element accumulations in the soils at low altitude could be attributable to an integrated effect of plant cover, vicinity of downtowns and traffic flux. The acid-soluble fraction of elements appeared more linked to lava age; the reducible and oxidizable ones to plant cover; the residual one to the chemical composition of the parent material that gave origin to the soils.

Soil microbiology could be affected by the presence of pesticide residues during intensive farming, potentially threatening the soil environment. The aim here was to assess the dissipation of the herbicides triasulfuron and prosulfocarb, applied as a combined commercial formulation, and the changes in soil microbial communities (through the profile of phospholipid fatty acids (PLFAs) extracted from the soil) during the dissipation time of the herbicides under field conditions. The dissipation of herbicides and the soil microbial structure were assessed under different agricultural practices, such as the repeated application of herbicides (twice), in unamended and amended soils with two organic amendments derived from green compost (GC1 and GC2) and with non-irrigation and irrigation regimes. The results obtained indicate slower dissipation for triasulfuron than for prosulfocarb. The 50% dissipation time (DT) decreased under all conditions for the second application of triasulfuron, although not for prosulfocarb. The DT values for both herbicides increased in the GC2 amended soil with the highest organic carbon (OC) content. The DT values decreased for prosulfocarb with irrigation, but not for triasulfuron, despite its higher water solubility. The herbicides did not have any significant effects on the relative population of Gram-negative and Gram-positive bacteria during the assay, but the relative abundance of Actinobacteria increased in all the soils with herbicides. At the end of the assay (215 days), the negative effects of herbicides on fungi abundance were significant (p < 0.05) for all the treatments. These microbiological changes were detected in non-irrigated and irrigated soils, and were more noticeable after the second application of herbicides. Actinobacteria could be responsible for the modification of herbicide degradation rates, which tend to be faster after the second application. This study makes a useful contribution to the evaluation of the soil environment and microbiological risks due to the long-term repeated application of herbicides under different agricultural management practices.

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Microorganisms strongly influence and are required to generate the selective substrate that provides nutrients and support for fungal growth, and ultimately to induce mushroom fructification under controlled environmental conditions. In this work, the fungal and bacterial microbiota living in the different substrates employed in a commercial crop (compost phase I, II and III, flush 1 and 2, and casing material on day 1, 6 and 8 after compost casing and during flush 1 and 2) have been characterized along the different stages of cultivation by metataxonomic analysis (16S rRNA and ITS2), analysis of phospholipid fatty acid content (PLFAs) and RT-qPCR. Additionally, laccase activity and the content of lignin and complex carbohydrates in compost and casing have been quantified. The bacterial diversity in compost and casing increased throughout the crop cycle boosted by the connection of both substrates. As reflected by the PLFAs, the total living bacterial biomass appears to be negatively correlated with the mycelium of the crop. Agaricus bisporus was the dominant fungal species in colonized substrates, displacing the pre-eminent Ascomycota, accompanied by a sustained increase in laccase activity, which is considered to be a major product of protein synthesis during the mycelial growth of champignon. From phase II onwards, the metabolic machinery of the fungal crop degrades lignin and carbohydrates in compost, while these components are hardly degraded in casing, which reflects the minor role of the casing for nourishing the crop. The techniques employed in this study provide a holistic and detailed characterization of the changing microbial composition in commercial champignon substrates. The knowledge generated will contribute to improve compost formulations (selection of base materials) and accelerate compost production, for instance, through biotechnological interventions in the form of tailored biostimulants and to design environmentally sustainable bio-based casing materials.