Currently, there are three industrial plants that recover oil from the lower Athabasca oil sands area, and there are plans in the future for several additional mines. The extraction procedures produce large volumes of slurry wastes contaminated with naphthenic acids (NAs). Because of a "zero discharge" policy the oil sands companies do not release any extraction wastes from their leases. The process-affected waters and fluid tailings contaminated with NAs are contained on-site primarily in large settling ponds. These fluid wastes from the tailing ponds can be acutely and chronically toxic to aquatic organisms, and NAs have been associated with this toxicity. The huge tailings containment area must ultimately be reclaimed, and this is of major concern to the oil sands industry. Some reclamation options have been investigated by both pioneering industries (Syncrude Energy Inc. and Suncor Inc.) with mixed results. The bioremediation techniques have limited success to date in biodegrading NAs to levels below 19 mg/L. Some tailing pond waters have been stored for more than 10 years, and it appears that the remaining high molecular weight NAs are refractory to the natural biodegradation process in the ponds. Some plausible options to further degrade the NAs in the tailings pond water include: bioaugmentation with bacteria selected to degrade the more refractory classes of NAs; the use of attachment materials such as clays to concentrate both the NA and the NA-degrading bacteria in their surfaces and/or pores; synergistic association between algae and bacteria consortia to promote efficient aerobic degradation; and biostimulation with nutrients to promote the growth and activity of the microorganisms.
Brazilian off-season maize production is characterized by low yield due to several factors, such as climate variability and inadequate management practices, specifically weed management. Thus, the goal of this study was to determinate the critical period of weed competition in off-season maize (Zea mays L.) crop using thermal units or growing degree days (GDD) approach to characterize crop growth and development. The study was carried out in experimental area of the University of São Paulo, Brazil, with weed control (C), as well as seven coexistence periods, 2, 4, 6, 8, and 12 leaves, flowering, and all crop cycle; fourteen treatments were done. Climate data were obtained from a weather station located close to the experimental area. To determine the critical period for weed control (CPWC) logistic models were fitted to yield data obtained in both W and C, as a function of GDD. For an arbitrary maximum yield loss fixed in 2.5%, the CPWC was found between 301 and 484 GDD (7-8 leaves). Also, when the arbitrary loss yield was fixed in 5 and 10%, the period before interference (PBI) was higher than the critical weed-free period (CWFP), suggesting that the weeds control can be done with only one application, between 144 and 410 GDD and 131 and 444 GDD (3-8 leaves), respectively. The GDD approach to characterize crop growth and development was successfully used to determine the critical period of weeds control in maize sown off-season. Further works will be necessary to better characterize the interaction and complexity of maize sown off-season with weeds. However, these results are encouraging because the possibility of the results to be extrapolated and because the potential of the method on providing important results to researchers, specifically crop modelers.
Carboxylic acids are transient metabolites during the mineralization of petroleum hydrocarbons. Crude oils, however, vary in their proportion of the hydrocarbon components. Depending on structure, some carboxylic acid metabolites resist further biodegradation and persist in aquatic systems. During the extraction of oil sands bitumen, recalcitrant carboxylic acid mixtures, collectively referred to as naphthenic acids (NAs), are released into the wastewaters. These waters also contain unrecovered bitumen from the oil sands. The unextracted bitumen is often overlooked as a possible source of the petroleum acids. The present article discusses the literature data on the biotransformation of hydrocarbons in bitumen from oil sands to the corresponding petroleum carboxylic acids. Some insight is given on the mechanism of the biodegradation process. The susceptibility to biodegradation is affected by differences in alicyclic carboxylic acids such as carbon chain length, chain branching, and the oddness or evenness of carbon chain containing the carboxylic group, positions where alkyl groups are substituted on the cyclic ring, geometrical isomerism, and number of cyclic rings.
To determine the quality of sachet water samples in the Cape Coast municipality of Ghana, random sampling procedures were used to collect 180 samples from 29 brands produced in the municipality from 1999 to 2004. For any particular year, each tested brand was sampled three times at intervals of not less than 2 weeks (usually monthly) between the months of March to June. Forty-five percent (45%) of the brands subjected to bacteriological examination contained coliform bacteria for one sampling period or another during the period of investigation. The coliform contamination seemed to be more prevalent with some particular brands. Three out of seven brands examined in 2004 also recorded the presence of E. coli. Exceedances were recorded for WHO drinking water quality guidelines for pH (6.25-7.93) in 2002 and for conductivity (67-306 microS cm(-1)) in 2002 and 2004. Total hardness values for all sachet water brands were less than 100 mg/l CaCO(3) and therefore below the WHO limit for potable water. None of the samples seems to pose any health dangers as far as the major cations; sodium (17.4-19.1 mg/l), potassium (5.7-6.2 mg/l), calcium (8.0-24.0 mg/l) and magnesium (19.9-50 mg/l) are concern. Apart from nitrite, for which some exceedances were recorded and phosphate which does not have an established WHO guideline, the measured major anions (i.e., chloride: 1.57-37.7 mg/l, sulfate: 0.33-44.33 mg/l and nitrates: 0.005-0.70 mg/l) were within the WHO drinking water guideline. No exceedances were also recorded for iron and lead. In general, the high quality claimed for sachet waters could not be confirmed based on the measured physico-chemical and bacteriological properties. The variable quality and in some cases, poor water quality observed, likely reflects the fact that the sachets are not always bagged under scrutinized sanitary conditions.
The first results ever obtained on polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAHs) concentrations in the Fosu lagoon surface sediments are presented together with corresponding heavy metal (Fe, Mn, Cd, Zn and Ni) concentrations. Samples collected on a monthly basis from November 2003-April 2004 (Heavy metals) and December 2003-January 2004 (PAHs) at 8 locations, representing different anthropogenic sources of contamination to the lagoon, were analyzed. Concentrations of Cd and Ni in the lagoon sediment suggest greater contamination to the lagoon from industrial activities in the vicinity of the lagoon; 50% of the sediment samples exceeded some established sediment Cd guidelines for the protection of aquatic lives. Then, 15 PAHs were detected among the sediments from the different locations and the compositional pattern in decreasing order was 3-ring > 5-ring > 4-ring > 6-ring > 2-ring PAH compounds. Sigma PAH concentrations in the sediment samples ranged from 254 to 558 mg/kg, with a mean of 359.4 mg/kg. Two distinct areas were identified to be a major source of anthropogenic load of both heavy metals and PAH; the mechanical shop in the northeastern sector of the lagoon is the main location for the input of Cd and it's associated PAH compounds (e.g., acenapthylene, acenaphthene, naphthalene and benzo[a]fluoranthene) and to a lesser extent Ni. Both combustion and petroleum sources may account for PAH loads from this area. The residential area in the northern sector is responsible for high loads of Mn and its associated PAH compounds (e.g., phenanthrene, benzo[a]pyrene and anthracene). These chemicals seem to enter the lagoon mainly by the combustion of especially wood or coal.
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