Biological effects and photodegradation by TiO(2) of terpenes present in industrial wastewater.

The aim of this work was to study the biological effects of four monoterpenes, i.e. α-pinene, ß-pinene, 3-carene and D-limonene present in the wastewater of a citrus transformation factory. The study was carried out by exposing V79 Chinese hamster cells to single terpene or to the mixture of four terpenes at concentrations corresponding to those in the wastewater evaluated by head space solid phase micro extraction and gas chromatography (HS-SPME-GC) analyses. Treatments with single or combined terpenes similarly affected cell vitality, but only the combined treatments induced the 6-thioguanine resistant mutants. Moreover the photocatalytic degradation of the four terpenes was successfully achieved with the photocatalyst TiO(2) Degussa P25 in both the actual effluent and in synthetic solutions.

Distribution of volatile organic compounds in Sicilian groundwaters analysed by head space-solid phase micro extraction coupled with gas chromatography mass spectrometry (SPME/GC/MS).

This work presents the results of an assessment of the existence and concentration of 13 volatile organic compounds (VOCs) in groundwaters from 14 hydrological basins in Sicily (25,710km (2)). On the basis of hydrological, hydrogeochemical and geological studies, 324 sampling points were selected. All groundwater sampled were collected twice, from October to December 2004 and from February to May 2005, and were analysed to determine the concentration and spatial distribution of the VOCs in the aquifers. The need to analyze a large number of samples in a short space of time so as to obtain quantitative analyses in trace concentration levels spurred us to create a new analytical method, both simple and sensitive, based on HS-SPME/GC/MS. The concentrations of VOCs measured in industrial and intensive agricultural unconfined aquifers were greater than those found in other aquifers. Tetrachloroethylene, chloroform, trichloroethylene and 1,2-dichloropropane were the most frequently detected VOCs. However, they exceeded the guideline values proposed by the EU in only three aquifers located near to industrial and intense agricultural areas.