An overview of technologies suitable for handling Indonesian agricultural soils contaminated with persistent organic pollutants

Since Indonesia have signed and ratified Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs) in 2009, the country must make efforts to manage POPs appropriately. A number of pollution evident of POPs has occurred in Indonesia, either air, soil or water. Agricultural soils are not excluded from POPs pollution as the result of halogenated pesticide uses or other unidentified sources. Contamination of POPs to humans have been detected, as well as indicated potential exposure of POPs to humans. Based-catalyzed decomposition is a method that can be used to decompose or decontaminate POPs. Limestone can be processed to produce calcium-based catalyst that can apply for POPs decomposition. Indonesia is a country rich in limestone natural resources to produce calcium. However, calcium is inferior to sodium or potassium in reactivity for the dehalogenation of POPs. Thus, more evaluation is needed in order for synthesizing proper and economical calcium-based catalyst to alleviate POPs pollution in Indonesia.

Status of short-chain chlorinated paraffins in matrices and research gap priorities in Africa: a review

Chlorinated paraffins (CPs) have been applied as additives in a wide range of consumer products, including polyvinyl chloride (PVC) products, mining conveyor belts, paints, sealants, adhesives and as flame retardants. Consequently, CPs have been found in many matrices. Of all the CP groups, short-chain chlorinated paraffins (SCCPs) have raised an alarming concern globally due to their toxicity, persistence and long-range transportation in the environment. As a result, SCCPs were listed in the Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs) in May 2017. Additionally, a limit for the presence of SCCPs in other CP mixtures was set at 1% by weight. CPs can be released into the environment throughout their life cycle; therefore, it becomes crucial to assess their effects in different matrices. Although about 199 studies on SCCP concentration in different matrices have been published in other continents; however, there are scarce/or limited studies on SCCP concentration in Africa, particularly on consumer products, landfill leachates and sediment samples. So far, published studies on SCCP concentration in the continent include SCCPs in egg samples, e-waste recycling area and indoor dust in Ghana and South Africa, despite absence of any production of SCCPs in Africa. However, there still remains a huge research gap in the continent of Africa on SCCPs. Consequently, there is a need to develop robust SCCP inventories in Africa since the Stockholm Convention has already developed guidance document in this respect. This review, therefore, examines the state of knowledge pertaining to the levels and trends of these contaminants in Africa and further provides research gaps that need to be considered in order to better understand the global scale of the contaminant.

The Benthic Trophic Corner Stone Compartment in POPs Transfer from Abiotic Environment to Higher Trophic Levels—Trichoptera and Ephemeroptera Pre-Alert Indicator Role

Persistent organic pollutants (POPs) have been at the forefront of environmental contamination research even before their ban in 2001 at the Stockholm Convention. Their relation to different compartments of the environment (biotic and abiotic) has been thoroughly investigated. This article aims to identify whether the benthos could represent a reliable indicator of environmental contamination with POPs and to highlight its potential transfer role between abiotic and upper trophic compartments—benthos feeders. In this regard, we determined that the Ephemeroptera samples have higher concentrations (p < 0.05) of ΣPCB, ΣHCH, and ΣDDT than sediment samples while Trichoptera samples have higher concentrations (p < 0.05) only in the case of ΣPCB and ΣDDT. This, along with the fact that the frequency of detection for POPs is similar between the sample types (sediments, Trichoptera, and Ephemeroptera), makes the benthos samples valuable indicators of contamination with sediment samples working as complementary information about how recent the contamination is.

THE CURRENT STATE OF THE ISSUE OF PERSISTENT ORGANIC POLLUTANTS IN UKRAINE AND APPROACHES FOR ITS RESOLUTION

Persistent organic pollutants (POPs) relate to a group of toxicants, which is separated due to an extremely hazardous impact on human health and is regulated by a special international agreement — the Stockholm Convention on POPs. Each Party of the Convention should develop and consistently renew the National Implementation Plan to implement requirements under this Convention. Ukraine developed the National Implementation Plan in 2007, and the experts started works on its renewal in 2020. The article contains results of expert analysis of changes in volumes and forms of accumulation of waste, consisting of containing or contaminated with POPs, in particular, unusable and prohibited plant protection chemicals (PPC). There are outcomes of expert analysis of changes in use of electrical equipment that contained synthetic dielectric liquids based on polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs). Based on analysis, activities are proposed to the National Implementation Plan for development of effective infrastructure for thermal destruction of POP-containing waste. In addition to storage sites of POPs-containing waste, so-called “nintentional production” is an essential source of POPs entering environment. For categories of sources that under the Stockholm Convention can potentially polluted environment with POPs volumes of annual emission into the air, water, and soil for six basic pollutants have been calculated. Modern extensive monitoring system for POPs should be established to clear up a real state with environmental pollution by POPs in the country. Results of such monitoring together with strong regulatory support may motivate enterprises to an introduction of “best available techniques”. Bibl. 7, Tab. 3.

RESOLUTION OF ISSUES OF REGULATION OF WASTE CONTAINING PERSISTENT ORGANIC POLLUTANTS IN THE REPUBLIC OF KAZAKHSTAN

The article presents an analysis of the legislative framework of the Republic of Kazakhstan for regulating the management of POPs-containing waste, examines the experience of regulating POPs-pesticides, POPs-containing equipment and waste, disposal and destruction of PCB waste, and reviews the plan for fulfilling the obligations of the Stockholm Convention on POPs.

Purification and characterization of a novel p,p’-DDT dehalogenase from Aeromonas sp. strain MY1

Although dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane (DDT) occupies a prominent position for its recalcitrance in the environment which led to its ban by the Stockholm Convention. This pesticide is still unregulated used in low and middle-income countries, which contributes to the global burden of this hazardous contaminant. In the recent time, biological approach has been proven to be effective and environmentally safer for the decontamination of the residual DDT. In this research, we reported a gel-purified p,p’-DDT dehalogenase from Aeromonas sp. strain MY1, revealing a single band with a molecular weight of approximately 37 kDa. The dehalogenase was unique for its capability to release chloride ions from p, p’-DDT substrate with optimum dechlorination activity at pH 8.0 and 35°C. The enzyme followed Michaelis-Menten’s kinetics and measurement of its initial velocities with various p,p’-DDT concentrations showed a Km of 27.05 μmol L-1 and Vmax of 476.19 μmol L-1 min-1. However, the enzyme lost its dechlorination activity in the presence of Ag2+ and Hg2+ This dehalogenase could pave a way for the effective decontamination of p,p’- DDT contaminated environment, suggesting its potentials for p,p’-DDT bio-cleansing applications.