Industrial and other anthropogenic activities lead to increase in persistent organic pollutants (POPs) natural water bodies. POPs are harmful not only the aquatic ecosystem but also human health. Researchers around globe have been working develop efficient, cost-effective, environmentally-friendly methods for treatment of contaminated waters. The chapter basically focuses on removal by catalyti...

Environmental pollutants have received considerable attention due to their serious effects on human health. There are physical, chemical, and biological means to remediate pollution; among them, bioremediation has become increasingly popular. The nitrogen-fixing rhizobia are widely distributed in the soil and root ecosystems and can increase legume growth and production by supplying nitrogen, r...

This contribution regards three fundamental aspects of the urban pollution, sources, diffusion and chemical composition with relative speciation, pointing out the anthropogenic activities and their relationship with the environmental sustainability. The chemical parameters ruled by laws (conventional pollutants) are evidenced together with other species not ruled (no conventional pollutants) bu...

the main cause for concern about global warming and climate change. Primary air pollutants include carbon monoxide (CO), carbon dioxide, water vapour and un-burnt fuel, hydrocarbons, including volatile and non-volatile organic compounds, oxides of nitrogen, sulphur dioxide (traces), and particulate matter. Pollutants, such as small particles arise not only from the exhaust but also from the roa...

Core(TiO(2))/shell(SiO(2)) nanoparticles, with a void layer between the TiO(2) core and the silica layer, act as phase-selectivity photocatalysts for the photodecomposition of organic pollutants (gas phase) without any damage to their organic supports (solid phase).

The paper presents a novel methodology (RICH, Ranking and Identification of Chemical Hazards) for ranking and identification of xenobiotic organic compounds of environmental concern in stormwater discharged to surface water. The RICH method is illustrated as a funnel fitted with different filters that sort out problematic and hazardous compounds based on inherent physico-chemical and biological...

Priority pollutants constitute only a part of the large chemical pollution puzzle where the number of potentially hazardous chemicals that reaches the environment is very wide and new substances are constantly being developed and released. Among them, a diverse group of unregulated pollutants, many times called "emerging" contaminants, including pharmaceuticals and personal care products (PPCPs...

Many international efforts have been spent to eliminate and/or reduce the emissions and discharges of a wide range of pollutants that have persisted in the environment as well as living organisms [1]. These pollutants are known as a persistent organic pollutants (POPs). Contamination from POPs is a pervasive global problem that urgently demands a global solution [2]. These chemicals include org...

As the harmful effects of low-level exposure to hazardous organic air pollutants become more evident, there is constant pressure to improve the detection limits of indoor and ambient air monitoring methods, for example, by collecting larger air volumes and by optimising the sensitivity of the analytical detector. However, at the other end of the scale, rapid industrialisation in the developing ...

Supercritical water oxidation provides a powerful means to transform toxic organic materials into simple, relatively inert oxides. Over the past decade, our understanding of the fundamental chemistry of this process has increased markedly. Many fascinating research papers are appearing from laboratories around the world, on the use of the technique for the decomposition of a variety of organic ...