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Amounted areas (in square kilometres) were evaluated from a GIS-based/geostatistical regionalisation procedure for each HCH isomer
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A large-scale groundwater contamination characterises the Pleistocene groundwater system of the former industrial and abandoned mining region Bitterfeld/Wolfen, Eastern Germany. For more than a century, local chemical production and extensive lignite mining caused a complex contaminant release from local production areas and related dump sites. Tod...
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The coastal zone of northern Yucatan Peninsula (YP) is mainly constituted by Tertiary limestones, covered by Pleistocen limestones, where there exist swamps and estuary systems, locally called “rÃasâ€, with mouths connecting them to the sea and hence being a way for an important amount of groundwater to discharge, like in RÃa Lagartos and Cele...
Citations
... Therefore, risk management depends on managing the pathways by which pollutants reach the wider environment and key receptors such as humans. A key, and hitherto unmanaged, pathway in Hajek has been via drainage water leaving the waste area carrying dissolved and suspended contaminants [2]. Dealing with this contaminated water, to "break" the pathway, using conventional water treatment plants has been seen by the public company owning the area as both resource-and energy-intensive. ...
The paper presents the results of an LCA analysis of the “Wetland+®” technology compared to conventional wastewater treatment technology. Wastewater contaminated with pesticide production residues from lindane was treated. The analysis is based on data from a full-scale Wetland+® installation located in Hajek, the Czech Republic. Conventional wastewater treatment technology was selected as a comparator. For the comparative system, data for the LCA came from design calculations assuming the location of such a system in the same place and function as the Wetland+® technology implemented. The LCA analysis was carried out using system boundaries covering the stages of construction and operation of the systems. The results indicate that with the Wetland+® technology, a system’s overall environment burdens are >11 times less than that of conventional wastewater treatment technology.
... In contrast, the concentrations of HCHs gradually increased with increasing soil depth between 5 and 14 m and decreased further at 14-24 m, although these changes were insignificant (p > 0.05). Surface backfill of construction waste occurred at the site, which could have contributed to the downward migration of soil HCHs through hardened surface cracks (Wycisk et al., 2013). Moreover, it is possible that reconstruction and demolition of equipment may have promoted the accumulation of soil HCHs, mainly in the 0-5 m soil layer. ...
The use of hexachlorocyclohexanes (HCHs) in pesticides has been prohibited for decades in China. Since then, there have been urbanization and transformation of the functional areas of many sites, which were formerly involved in the HCH industry. However, it is possible that, unless properly managed, these sites may still contain HCH residues in the soil and thus pose a threat to the surrounding environment and the quality of groundwater. This study aimed to characterize soil residues in a typical site that was historically involved in HCH production in southern China, by analyzing the α-HCH, β-HCH, and γ-HCH contents of the soil. The results suggested that HCHs persist in the environment and can have long-term effects. It was found that α-HCH and β-HCH were present in many samples in concentrations that were comparable or higher than those specified by China’s Class 1 screening values. The distribution of residues was significantly correlated with the historical HCH production activities in the areas. The characteristic ratios of α-HCH/γ-HCH and β-HCH/(α + γ)-HCH at different soil depths were 1.4–3.7 and 0.21–1.04, respectively, which indicated the presence of significant localized residues of HCHs. The presence of HCHs in the soil suggested a downward migration, with concentrations rapidly decreasing in the upper layer soil (0–5 m), but a gradual increase in the deeper soil (5–14 m). HCHs were detected at depths exceeding 24 m, indicating heavy penetration. The proportions of γ-HCH and β-HCH changed with increasing soil depth, which was related to their relatively volatile and stable molecular structures, respectively. The results strongly suggested that there is widespread contamination of both soil and groundwater by HCHs even after decades. The likelihood of residual HCHs in the soil should therefore be taken into full consideration during urban planning to limit risks to human and environmental health.
... (5) En los últimos años se ha promovido la búsqueda de estrategias para la descontaminación de aguas centradas en plaguicidas organoclorados. (6)(7)(8) Los métodos de descontaminación utilizados van desde procesos avanzados de oxidación, (9) a el uso de carbones activados para el tratamiento de aguas contaminadas mediante adsorción. (10)(11)(12)(13) A pesar de estos esfuerzos todavía resulta necesario incrementar la eficiencia de los métodos empleados, lo que ha propiciado la búsqueda de nuevas alternativas como la formación de complejos de inclusión molecular con ciclodextrinas. ...
Introducción.
La modelación matemática de las interacciones contaminante-agentes descontaminantes es una herramienta de uso reciente para facilitar el manejo del recurso hídrico en el medio ambiente. El presente trabajo estudia la interacción entre 2 plaguicidas de elevada estabilidad ambiental que causan severas afectaciones a la salud: la clordecona (CLD) y el β-hexaclorociclohexano (β-HCH) y sus respectivos análogos marcados con radioyodo (ICLD y I-β-HCH), con ciclodextrinas naturales (α-, β- y γ-CD).
Métodos.
La metodología de Hipersuperficie de Múltiples Mínimos, cálculos cuánticos basados en la Teoría del Funcional de la Densidad (DFT) y un estudio topológico de la densidad electrónica se emplearon para caracterizar el espacio de interacción de los contaminantes y sus radiotrazadores con los confórmeros simétricos de las 3 CD. El error de superposición de bases existente en los cálculos DFT se mitigó usando una modificación al método de contrapeso desarrollada en este trabajo. La formación de los nanoagregados para el caso de los complejos β-HCH@CD se comprobó experimentalmente.
Resultados.
Los complejos formados se clasificaron a partir del grado de oclusión del contaminante en la cavidad de la CD como: oclusión total, oclusión parcial e interacción externa (no oclusión). Los complejos más estables se obtuvieron cuando la γ-CD es la molécula anfitriona, lo que se confirmó experimentalmente a partir de resultados espectroscópicos y análisis de microscopía electrónica. Se demostró teóricamente la posibilidad de usar la ICLD y el I-β-HCH como radiotrazadores análogos a los plaguicidas estudiados. Conclusiones: Estos resultados demostraron la utilidad de estos complejos en la separación de estos contaminantes de las aguas.
... This HCH POP-waste was mostly dumped uncontrolled at many sites in the former producing countries around the world [1,6,7] and were partly released into rivers [8]. Some of the large HCH-contaminated sites have been investigated for example in Brazil [9,10], China [11,12], France [13], Germany [14][15][16][17], India [18][19][20], and Spain [21][22][23]. Therefore in the case of HCH, the major POP contaminated site load and risk is related to the production and related disposal of HCH waste isomers at and around production sites [1]. ...
... This was more than 20 times the regulatory limit of 0.003 mg b-HCH/kg for milk, according to European law (European Commission Regulation No 149/2008). Additionally, HCH released from such waste deposits can leach into ground water and surface water [17] and result in contamination of fish. This has been documented in the Elbe river downstream of the former production sites in Bitterfeld [17]. ...
... Additionally, HCH released from such waste deposits can leach into ground water and surface water [17] and result in contamination of fish. This has been documented in the Elbe river downstream of the former production sites in Bitterfeld [17]. The release of POPs from landfills and other deposits can strongly increase due to flooding events [48][49][50], resulting in increased HCH (or other POPs) levels in surface water and in fish, as observed in the Elbe river after a flooding event in 2002 downstream of the former HCH production sites in Bitterfeld and Hamburg [17]. ...
Hexachlorocyclohexane (HCH) waste isomers from lindane production are the largest single POPs legacy, with an estimated 4.8 to 7.4 million tonnes of disposed waste. The largest part of this waste – 1.8 to 3 million tonnes – was disposed in Europe, where most producers were located. This paper provides a short overview of projects supported by the European Union (EU) to address this waste legacy and to implement the Stockholm Convention for this group of POPs with associated protection of soil, ecosystems and human health. We report here particularly on the results of a project financed by the EU called the “HCH in EU project”, which aimed to develop a systematic inventory of sites where HCH was handled and potentially resulted in contamination. The compiled information provide guidance for competent authorities to further assess their national HCH inventory and to further develop a strategy to address this large POP legacy in future. The systematic inventory revealed that there were at least 299 sites where HCH was handled. These sites include 54 former production sites, 76 pesticide processing plants that used lindane, 59 uncontrolled HCH waste isomer deposits, 29 landfills with HCH waste, 34 former or current storage sites for stocks of obsolete pesticides including technical HCH or lindane, and 16 HCH treatment or disposal sites. Additionally, at 31 of the sites lindane/technical HCH was used in applications with significant risk of soil pollution, such as wood treatment. The number of sites in this latter category is likely higher and will need further assessment. In addition to this inventory, the “HCH in EU project” produced detailed country reports, a guidance document for how to find potentially HCH-impacted sites, and a strategy document for implementing the sustainable management of these sites EU-wide, with proposed actions at the EU, country, and site level. Furthermore, the project has facilitated information exchange and – together with other related EU projects – has led to sharing information and best practices among member states and to establishing a network of authorities and other stakeholders working on the lindane/HCH waste legacy. This collaboration will facilitate a more systematic and better coordinated process to further assess, secure, and remediate the large HCH waste legacy and reduce and control lindane/HCH releases in the EU and possibly beyond. Such a coordinated effort and exchange of information for inventorying and managing contaminated sites might also be useful for other POPs such as PFOS/PFOA or dioxins.
... Flooding of landfills can increase the release of pollutants by six orders of magnitude (Laner et al., 2008), often contributing the largest proportion of pollutants during flood events when adjacent to rivers. After the flooding of the Elbe River in Germany in 2002, the HCH concentrations in fish increased by more than 20-fold downstream of former lindane production sites after having decreased for decades (Wycisk et al., 2013). Also, large informal e-waste sites like Agbogbloshie in Ghana, which is considered one of the ten most contaminated sites on (2017) reported from the Galveston Bay (Bacosa et al., 2020) and Houston area (Stone et al., 2019), Texas, USA, demonstrated the ecological burdens following the flooding caused by severe storms. ...
While it is well recognized that the frequency and intensity of flood events are increasing worldwide, the environmental, economic, and societal consequences of remobilization and distribution of pollutants during flood events are not widely recognized. Loss of life, damage to infrastructure, and monetary cleanup costs associated with floods are important direct effects. However, there is a lack of attention towards the indirect effects of pollutants that are remobilized and redistributed during such catastrophic flood events, particularly considering the known toxic effects of substances present in flood-prone areas. The global examination of floods caused by a range of extreme events (e.g., heavy rainfall, tsunamis, extra- and tropical storms) and subsequent distribution of sediment-bound pollutants are needed to improve interdisciplinary investigations. Such examinations will aid in the remediation and management action plans necessary to tackle issues of environmental pollution from flooding. River basin-wide and coastal lowland action plans need to balance the opposing goals of flood retention, catchment conservation, and economical use of water.
... One of the main problems associated to lindane is the waste generated by its inefficient production process: for each tonne of lindane between 8 and 12 t of other HCH isomers that constitute waste are generated (Bodenstein, 1972;Fernández et al., 2013). In addition to this, it has a long life and is easily moved over long distances, so it is incorporated into the food chain (Wycisk et al., 2013;Muñoz-Morales et al., 2017). Due to the environmental problems generated by their spills, in the Stockholm Convention of August 2010, lindane was included in the Persistent Organic Pollutant (POP) list (Vijgen et al., 2011). ...
This work presents a case study using electrical resistivity tomography at a site mainly affected by the presence of residual lindane coming from a close landfill constructed by an old pesticide manufacturer. In addition, the landfill also collected chlorinated contaminants derived from the same industry. Lindane itself is a highly toxic contaminant that in small concentrations constitutes a high risk to health, which together with the other compounds, makes it a site with very hazardous characteristics. The geological distribution, formed by a complex detrital deposited over a marls substrate, is known from the existing network of monitoring wells. A geophysical prospecting survey consisting of seven electrical tomography profiles was carried out in the site. The lateral and vertical geometry of the contaminant plume was established, and the preferential flow directions were inferred by means of the resistivity sections obtained. Combining this information with analytical data from water samples , an empirical relationship between the conductivity value and the dissolved chloride content was developed, and the distribution of the concentration of chlorinated contaminants in the surface aquifer by isochloride sections was obtained. The results obtained are a very useful tool as a preliminary stage to remediation trials.
... In the last years, the search for strategies for water decontamination centered on organochlorine pesticide removal was prompted (Onogbosele and Scrimshaw 2014; Vallack et al. 1998;Wycisk et al. 2013). The decontamination methods used range from advanced oxidation process (Cruz-Gonzalez et al. 2018) and biodegradation treatments (Johri et al. 2000;Johri et al. 1998;Phillips et al. 2005), to the use of activated carbon for the treatment of polluted water by adsorption (Durimel et al. 2013;Durimel et al. 2015;Enriquez-Victorero et al. 2014;Gamboa-Carballo et al. 2016a). ...
The chlordecone (CLD) and the β-hexachlorocyclohexane (β-HCH) are persistent organic pollutants with a great environmental stability that cause severe affectations to health. The concentration of these pesticides in the environment is low, which represent a problem for their determination, even for the modern analytical methods. The labeling of these compounds with an iodine radioisotope for their use as radiotracers is a potential solution to this problem. The present work studies the interaction of 1-iodochlordecone (I-CLD) and β-1-iodo-pentachlorocyclohexane (I-β-HCH) with cyclodextrins (CDs), during the formation of molecular inclusion complexes pesticide@CDs. The methodology of multiple minima hypersurfaces, quantic calculations based on density functional theory and a topologic study of electronic density were used to corroborate the stability of I-CLD@CDs and I-β-HCH@CDs complexes. Three main types of guest-host complexes in relation to the occlusion grade were observed: with total occlusion, with partial occlusion and external interaction without occlusion. The more stable complexes are obtained when the γ-CD is the host molecule. The formed complexes with radiolabelled pollutants are analogous with the ones reported in previous works. These results confirm the utility of these complexes for the removal of organochlorine pesticides from polluted water and, also, demonstrate the possibility of using the I-CLD and the I-β-HCH as possible radiotracers for these pollutants in further studies with environmental proposes.
... After this step, about 10 kg of HCH wastes were obtained per kg of purified lindane. The solid HCH wastes (consisting of a white powder of HCH isomers) were inappropriately dumped during decades in the production sites nearby, resulting in environmental contamination with global dimension [5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14]. ...
... Due to its toxicity, the production and use of lindane have been banned in most countries, including Europe and the United States [24,25], but many landfills and the surroundings of the lindane production sites remain polluted nowadays, with soil and groundwater contaminated by these compounds [5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14]. The low tolerance limits allowed for HCHs in water and soils have prompted a growing interest of the scientific community to develop simple, cost-effective, and fast methods for the degradation of these pollutants. ...
... • A contaminated area in Bitterfield (Germany) was described by Wycisk et al. [13], including an old landfill used for the discharge of HCHs and other chlorinated pesticides. The concentration of β-HCH in the soil of the old landfill was higher than the concentration α-HCH, as shown in Table 3. ...
The production of lindane (gamma isomer of hexachlorocyclohexane, γ-HCH) in the second half of the twentieth century was an inefficient process that generated vast amounts of residues of other HCH isomers, without any pesticide activity. These residues were often dumped in an uncontrolled way or unsecured landfills in points near the production sites, causing hot spots of soil and groundwater contamination on all continents. Given the persistence and hydrophobicity of these pollutants, the problem generated decades ago is still a challenge to be solved. Several technologies, based on physical, chemical, and biological treatments, have been proposed for the remediation of HCH-contaminated soils. This chapter reviews the particularities of this kind of contamination and critically examines the bases and results of the technologies applied, paying special attention to the physicochemical remediation processes.
... Other HCH isomers were detected in negligible amounts. Based on the bibliographic works related to this issue, it can be assumed that when a particulate matter of HCH is not detected, the concentration of β-HCH in the soil is usually higher than that one of α-HCH (Ricking and Schwarzbauer, 2008, Wycisk et al., 2013, Srivastava, Srivastava et al., 2019, whereas, when the presence of white granules of particulate HCHs is noticed, the average concentration of α-HCH is higher than that one of β-HCH. Therefore, the percentages obtained for these isomers (α-HCH = 77%, β-HCH = 23%) in the analyzed sediments agrees with the presence of HCH particulate matter detected (Fig. SM 1). ...
The intensive use of organochlorine pesticides, such as lindane (γ-HCH), and the inadequate management of their wastes, is a huge environmental problem. The lindane production during the last century has generated huge volumes of solid wastes of other HCH isomers, causing hot points of soil and groundwater contamination. The soil treated in this work was obtained from a landfill located in the nearby of an old lindane factory, containing α-HCH and β-HCH as main contaminants. This study addresses for the first time the application of different chemical oxidation treatments, viz. Fenton process (H2O2 + Fe), persulfate (PS) activated by temperature (20 and 40 °C), by alkali (NaOH) and by the combination of alkali and temperature (NaOH, 40 °C) for the remediation of HCH-polluted soils (CHCHs = 155 mg kg⁻¹). The intrinsic characteristics of the soil (high carbonate content) led to high consumption of H2O2 (XH2O2 ≈ 100% at 24 h) and complete iron precipitation, making unappropriated the application of the Fenton process. The efficiency of thermal PS was limited by the low solubility of HCH isomers in the aqueous phase, the high refractoriness of these compounds towards oxidation, and the presence of the contaminants in the form of particulate matter. After 25 days of treatment, a conversion of chlorinated organic compounds (COCs) of 50% was achieved (VL/Wsoil = 2, CPS = 40 g L⁻¹, 40 °C), whereas the application of PS activated by alkali and temperature (40 °C) led to promising results. At pH above 12, HCHs were dehydrochlorinated to trichlorobenzenes, which were further oxidized by hydroxyl radicals. The hydrolysis rate of β-HCH was the limiting step of the process, and it was favored by increasing the reaction temperature. At 40 °C, a conversion of COCs above 95% was achieved (VL/Wsoil = 2, CPS = 40 g L⁻¹, CNaOH = 13.5 g L⁻¹, 14 days) with low oxidant consumption (XPS = 30%).
... Besides the background HCH contamination, there are several HCH waste hot-spots (caused by a complex mixture of the HCH isomers) found in almost all parts of the world, in Europe (e.g. Spain (Aurrekoetxea Agirre et al., 2011;Fern andez et al., 2013), France (Orton et al., 2013), Italy (Battisti et al., 2017;Porta et al., 2013;Thiombane et al., 2018), Germany (Wycisk et al., 2013), Moldova (Tirsina et al., 2017), Slovakia (Sisto et al., 2015), Poland (Łozowicka et al., 2016), Czech Republic (Holt et al., 2017)), in Africa (e.g. Egypt (Abd Al-Rahman, 2012), Ghana (Forkuoh et al., 2018), Nigeria (Mazlan et al., 2017), South Africa (Buah-Kwofie et al., 2018), Senegal (Donald et al., 2016)), Asia (India (Chakraborty et al., 2019(Chakraborty et al., , 2017Kumar et al., 2016;Singare, 2016), Iran (Dahmardeh Behrooz et al., 2012), China (Song et al., 2013;Yi et al., 2013;Zhang et al., 2012Zhang et al., , 2016, Kyrgyzstan (Toichuev et al., 2018), Malaysia (Saadati et al., 2012), Korea (Kim et al., 2013), Japan (Konishi and Kakimoto, 2016;Watanabe et al., 2013), Kazakhstan (Nurzhanova et al., 2013), Azerbaijan (Aliyeva et al., 2013), Russia (Tsygankov et al., 2015), Pakistan (Aamir et al., 2016), Mongolia (Mamontova et al., 2016)), and in the Americas (Mexico (Trejo-Acevedo et al., 2012), Brazil (Macedo et al., 2015;Torres et al., 2013), Guadalupe (Laquitaine et al., 2016), United States (Fry and Power, 2017), Beaufort Sea (Alaska (Pu cko et al., 2013)) and Oceania (Mueller et al., 2008), the Antarctic and Artic (Cincinelli et al., 2011) (Table 1, Fig. 1). ...
Lindane (γ-hexachlorocyclohexane) and its isomers (HCH) are some of the most common and most easily detected organochlorine pesticides in the environment. The widespread distribution of lindane is due to its use as an insecticide, accompanied by its persistence and bioaccumulation, whereas HCH were disposed of as waste in unmanaged landfills. Unfortunately, certain HCH (especially the most reactive ones: γ- and α-HCH) are harmful to the central nervous system and to reproductive and endocrine systems, therefore development of suitable remediation methods is needed to remove them from contaminated soil and water. This paper provides a short history of the use of lindane and a description of the properties of HCH, as well as their determination methods. The main focus of the paper, however, is a review of oxidative and reductive treatment methods. Although these methods of HCH remediation are popular, there are no review papers summarising their principles, history, advantages and disadvantages. Furthermore, recent advances in the chemical treatment of HCH are discussed and risks concerning these processes are given.
