Strong sesquiterpene emissions from Amazonian soils.

The Amazon rainforest is the world's largest source of reactive volatile isoprenoids to the atmosphere. It is generally assumed that these emissions are products of photosynthetically driven secondary metabolism and released from the rainforest canopy from where they influence the oxidative capacity of the atmosphere. However, recent measurements indicate that further sources of volatiles are present. Here we show that soil microorganisms are a strong, unaccounted source of highly reactive and previously unreported sesquiterpenes (C15H24; SQT). The emission rate and chemical speciation of soil SQTs were determined as a function of soil moisture, oxygen, and rRNA transcript abundance in the laboratory. Based on these results, a model was developed to predict soil-atmosphere SQT fluxes. It was found SQT emissions from a Terra Firme soil in the dry season were in comparable magnitude to current global model canopy emissions, establishing an important ecological connection between soil microbes and atmospherically relevant SQTs.

Can aquatic worms enhance methane production from waste activated sludge?

Although literature suggests that aquatic worms can help to enhance the methane production from excess activated sludge, clear evidence for this is missing. Therefore, anaerobic digestion tests were performed at 20 and at 30°C with sludge from a high-loaded membrane bioreactor, the aquatic worm Lumbriculus variegatus, feces from these worms and with mixtures of these substrates. A significant synergistic effect of the worms or their feces on methane production from the high-loaded sludge or on its digestion rate was not observed. However, a positive effect on low-loaded activated sludge, which generally has a lower anaerobic biodegradability, cannot be excluded. The results furthermore showed that the high-loaded sludge provides an excellent feed for L. variegatus, which is promising for concepts where worm biomass is considered a resource for technical grade products such as coatings and glues.

Operation of an aquatic worm reactor suitable for sludge reduction at large scale.

Treatment of domestic waste water results in the production of waste sludge, which requires costly further processing. A biological method to reduce the amount of waste sludge and its volume is treatment in an aquatic worm reactor. The potential of such a worm reactor with the oligochaete Lumbriculus variegatus has been shown at small scale. For scaling up purposes, a new configuration of the reactor was designed, in which the worms were positioned horizontally in the carrier material. This was tested in a continuous experiment of 8 weeks where it treated all the waste sludge from a lab-scale activated sludge process. The results showed a higher worm growth rate compared to previous experiments with the old configuration, whilst nutrient release was similar. The new configuration has a low footprint and allows for easy aeration and faeces collection, thereby making it suitable for full scale application.

OH reactivity measurements within a boreal forest: evidence for unknown reactive emissions.

Boreal forests emit large amounts of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) which react with the hydroxyl radical (OH) to influence regional ozone levels and form secondary organic aerosol. Using OH reactivity measurements within a boreal forest in Finland, we investigated the budget of reactive VOCs. OH reactivity was measured using the comparative reactivity method, whereas 30 individual VOCs were measured using proton transfer reaction mass spectrometry, thermal-desorption gas chromatography mass spectrometry, and liquid chromatography mass spectrometry, in August 2008. The measured OH reactivity ranged from below detection limit (3.5 s(-1)), to approximately 60 s(-1) in a single pollution event. The average OH reactivity was approximately 9 s(-1) and no diel variation was observed in the profiles. The measured OH sinks (approximately 30 species) accounted for only 50% of the total measured OH reactivity, implying unknown reactive VOCs within the forest. The five highest measured OH sinks were: monoterpenes (1 s(-1)), CO (0.7 s(-1)), isoprene (0.5 s(-1)), propanal and acetone (0.3 s(-1)), and methane (0.3 s(-1)). We suggest that models be constrained by direct OH reactivity measurements to accurately assess the impact of boreal forest emissions on regional atmospheric chemistry and climate.

Influence of residential wood combustion on local air quality.

The importance of wood combustion to local air quality was estimated by measuring different air pollutants and conducting chemical mass balance modelling. PM10, PM2.5, PAHs and VOC concentrations in ambient air were measured in a typical Finnish residential area. Measurements were conducted in January-March 2006. For some compounds, wood combustion was clearly the main local source at this site. The effect of wood combustion was more clearly seen for organic compounds than for fine particle mass. For fine particles, background concentrations dominated. However, very high, short-lived concentration peaks were detected, when the wind direction and other weather conditions were favourable. For organic compounds, the effect of wood combustion was seen in diurnal and in two-week average concentrations. PAH-concentrations were often several times higher at the residential area than in the background. Benzene concentrations showed similar diurnal pattern as the use of wood and benzene/toluene ratios indicated that wood combustion is the most important source. A chemical mass balance model was used for studying the effect of wood combustion on the measured concentrations of VOCs. Model results showed that the main local sources for VOCs at Kurkimäki are wood combustion and traffic. Wood combustion was clearly the most important source for many compounds (e.g., benzene).