Results of the Water Quality Study Within the Luga­-Balt-­2 International Project

The authors noted the transboundary nature of anthropogenic impact on the environment, including that on water bodies, which needs to be studied in an international format. (Research purpose) To determine the water state of the Urpolanjoki River in the Mikkeli area in Finland and the Luga River in Russia in order to prepare proposals for improvement. (Materials and methods) Water quality was specified by 11 parameters by sampling and analyzing them in the laboratory. Additionally, 1South-Eastern Finland University of Applied Sciences carried out online monitoring using the YSI 6920-V2 continuous water probe. The authors used standard methods of processing statistical, field data. (Results and discussion) The authors revealed good, stable during the entire monitoring period, water quality in the Urpolanjoki River. The authors showed that the water quality in the Luga River deteriorates downstream, in particular, due to the agricultural and livestock farms’ activities near the river basin. Thus, the Kjeldahl nitrogen and total phosphorus content at the upstream point is 10.8 milligrams and 119 micrograms per liter, respectively, and at the downstream point, it is only 1.6 milligrams and 28 micrograms, respectively. (Conclusions) It was determined that the analyzed indicators correspond to the category of good quality: the level of water oxygen saturation fluctuated within 88.76-117.83 per cent during the monitoring period; the color was 30 milligrams per liter on the platinum-cobalt scale, which means a low humus content in the water; the presence of solids in the water ranged from 1.1 to 2.4 milligrams per liter; the total phosphorus content in water is below 9.2 micrograms per liter, that is, within the normal limits. During the monitoring of the Luga River, a clear influence of nearby agricultural enterprises and settlements was detected.

PHOTOMETRIC DETERMINATION OF TOTAL PHOSPHORUS IN CERTAIN FOOD PRODUCTS

A method for determining the total phosphorus content in foods containing food additives of pyrophosphates and polyphosphates (E 450, E339, E452) is proposed. The reaction of formation of a reduced form of phosphormolybdenum heteropolyacid was used. As a reducing agent, a solution of hydrazine sulfate was used as a reagent that provides high sensitivity of determination . The objects of analysis were: chicken meat Roll "Snezana", processed Cheese "Cheeseburger", Instant coffee "Nescafe Gold Crema," containing food additives of pyrophosphates and polyphosphates (E 450,E339, E452). The correctness of the obtained results was confirmed by the method of additives.

Effects of Soil Conditioners on Absorption of phosphorus by waxy corn and Phosphorus Transformation in High Phosphorus Soils

In this experiment, the effects of different types of conditioners and their application on the absorption and transformation of phosphorus in high phosphorus soils in facilities were investigated to improve the environmental problems of protected farmland caused by phosphorus accumulation. Waxy corn was used as a test crop, and five conditioners such as humic acid, biochar, bentonite, alum, and dephosphorized gypsum were used as test materials for potting experiments. The experiment set 10 treatments, namely T1(Blank control), T2(Humic acid), T3(Biochar), T4(Bentonite), T5(Alum), T6 (Dephosphorized gypsum), T7(Biochar-bentonite-alum), T8(Humic acid-biochar-alum),T9(Humic acidbiochar- bentonite-alum),T10(Humic acid-bentonite-biochar-alum-dephosphorized gypsum). Based on the analysis of the results of the three crops, except that the first crop was not significant, the biomass and phosphorus absorption of waxy corn of T2 was the highest in the second crop, and T10 was the most effective treatment in the third crop. The soil available phosphorus content of T8 was the lowest in the second crop and that of T10 was the lowest in the third crop, which were 12.01% and 12.75% lower than the control. The soil water-soluble phosphorus content of T4 was the lowest in the second crop, which was 41.84% lower than the control, and that of T8 was the lowest in the third crop, which was 26.62% lower than the control. According to the results of the three crops, the ratio of the total phosphorus content of the inorganic phosphorus in the third crop of each treatment was increasing compared with the first crop. The soil phosphorus was transformed from organic phosphorus to inorganic phosphorus. The ratio of total phosphorus content of organic phosphorus of T6, T9, T10 was larger than other treatments, which slowed down the conversion of phosphorus to available form. The ratio of Ca8-P in the inorganic phosphorus was the highest, reaching about 50% to 60%. From the results and analysis, T2 and T10 were beneficial to the absorption of soil phosphorus by waxy corn, T8 and T10 were beneficial to slow down the conversion of phosphorus to the effective state, reduce the potential risk of phosphorus environment, improve the phosphorus accumulation environmental issues in greenhouse farmland.

Agro-Environmental Benefit and Risk of Manure- and Bone Meal-Derived Pyrogenic Carbonaceous Materials as Soil Amendments: Availability of PAHs, PTEs, and P

The worldwide boom of biochar and pyrogenic carbonaceous material application as a potential soil additive has brought about not only agricultural benefits such as enhanced crop yield, nutrients supply (P), and soil organic carbon increase, but also, on the other hand, environmental risk of organic (polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs)) and potentially toxic element (PTE) penetration into arable soils. Therefore, our study assessed pyrogenic carbonaceous materials (PCM) produced from the P-rich feedstocks—chicken manure (CM) and bone meal (BM)—as promising and safe alternatives for inorganic P fertilizers. Pyrogenic materials produced in the process of slow pyrolysis at residence time 2 h, 400 and 500 °C, were characterized by determination of pH, electrical conductivity (EC), elemental analysis of total C, H, N, S scanning electron microscopy (SEM), total content of P, selected potentially toxic elements (PTEs), and available forms of PTEs and P by diethylenetriaminepentaacetic acid (DTPA) and calcium-acetate-lactate (CAL) extractions. CMPCM4, CMPCM5, BMPCM4, and BMPCM5 were characterized by determination of total 16 US-EPA (U.S. Environmental Protection Agency) PAHs by toluene extraction protocol and available concentrations by Tenax resin approach. Additionally, CMPCM4, CMPCM4, BMPCM4, and BMPCM5 were tested in earthworm avoidance test with Eisenia foetita and short-term rye-seedling germination test. Obtained results showed decreasing of total carbon in the order of BM > BMPCM4 > BMPCM5 and increasing in the order of CM < CMPCM4 < CMPCM5. Total phosphorus content increased from 56.8 ± 1.7 g kg−1 (BM) to 85.2 ± 4.2 g kg−1 (BMPCM4) to 110.5 ± 7.0 g kg−1 (BMPCM5). In the case of chicken manure-derived pyrogenic materials, total phosphorus content increased in the order of CM (22.9 ± 2.0 g kg−1) < CMPCM4 (37.0 ± 4.5 g kg−1) < CMPCM5 (40.0 ± 3.4 g kg−1). Availability of selected PTEs and P decreased in pyrogenic materials compared to feedstock. Total concentration of ∑16-US-EPA PAHs in BMPCM4 and BMPCM5 was 3.92 mg kg−1; CMPCM4, 7.33 mg kg−1; and CMPCM, 6.69 mg kg−1. The Tenax-available ∑16-PAHs showed concentrations of 0.53 mg kg−1 for BMPCM4, 0.26 mg kg−1 for BMPCM5, 1.13 mg kg−1 for CMPCM4, and 0.35 mg kg−1 for CMPCM5. Total P concentrations determined in rye aboveground tissues showed the highest accumulation ability in the case of CMPCM5 compared to other samples. Pyrogenic carbonaceous materials produced from chicken manure and bone meal at 400 and 500 °C have the potential to be P slow release fertilizers and may be ecologically safe.