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Fate of micropollutants during vermicomposting
Grasserová, Alena ; Cajthaml, Tomáš (advisor) ; Macek, Tomáš (referee) ; Lhotský, Ondřej (referee)
Vermicomposting is recently becoming a rather popular environmentally friendly technique for stabilizing biowaste, including sewage sludge. There is an effort to utilize the sewage sludge as fertilizer on agricultural land. But apart from nutrients, the sludge also contains harmful pollutants, which subsequently after its deposition on fields can be taken up by plants and organisms contaminating the food chains. Micropollutants, the substances that can be found throughout the environment in trace concentrations, are one of the pollutants occurring in sludge. It is for example pharmaceuticals and personal care products, per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, or pesticides. Their negative effects are known - they can be for instance endocrine disruption, antibiotic resistance, or the development of cancer. Although the deposition of sewage sludge on fields as a fertilizer is one of the main introduction routes of micropollutants to the environment, the content of micropollutants before deposition is not monitored nor regulated. This dissertation focuses on the fate of micropollutants during vermicomposting, especially in sewage sludge substrates. The vermicomposting method was applied to stabilize coffee spent grounds and sewage sludge obtained from distinct wastewater treatment plants mixed with...
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Methods of sewage sludge treatment for agricultural applications with respect to micropollutants
Vítková, M. ; Komárek, M. ; Wickramasinghe, N. ; Pohořelý, Michael ; Moško, Jaroslav ; Hušek, Matěj ; Cajthaml, Tomáš ; Grasserová, Alena ; Čechmánková, J. ; Vácha, R. ; Zimová, M.
The aim of the methodology is to describe the possibilities of sewage sludge treatment by composting and pyrolysis for the application in agriculture, with particular respect to the so-called micropollutants, but also to conventional pollutants, and to assess the risks of treated sludge for the soil environment and the uptake of (micro)pollutants by cultivated crops. The methodology is based on the results from laboratory and field experiments of a three-year project and on a critical approach to sludge as a potentially hazardous waste on the one hand and a recyclable source of nutrients on the other.
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Hygienization of dewatered sewage sludge using vermicomposting process under field conditions
Fojtová, Zuzana ; Innemanová, Petra (advisor) ; Grasserová, Alena (referee)
Sewage sludge is a waste material that is a valuable source of organic matter and nutrients and is used as a fertiliser on agricultural land in many countries around the world. However, the application of sewage sludge carries risks associated with the presence of pathogenic micro- organisms and other undesirable substances in this material and in many countries sewage sludge must meet limits for land application. Vermicomposting of these materials can be one effective way of reducing pathogens in sewage sludge. In this thesis, I investigated the effectiveness of sanitizing sewage sludge in the vermicomposting process under field conditions. The experiment was conducted in an earthen vermicomposter with a total working volume of 10.5 m3 near the village of Hrbov, near Lhenice in the South Bohemia region. Hygienization efficiency was measured using a test with an introduced microorganism (E. coli). The test was modified for the vermicomposting process. In the experiment, a mixture of sewage sludge mixed with birch chips in a ratio of 1:1.5 (sludge: chips) was (i) vermicomposted for six months, (ii) composted only, and (iii) composted for one month and then vermicomposted. In addition to the evaluation of the hygienisation efficiency of the different options, the stability and possible phytotoxicity...
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Vermicomposting of wine production waste
Clark, Oskar William ; Innemanová, Petra (advisor) ; Grasserová, Alena (referee)
Vermicomposting is a method of biological waste management, with the potential for valuable returns in the form of biofertilisers and savings of time and effort. These qualities make vermicomposting ideal for the processing of winery waste materials. Vermicomposting has advantages over traditional composting in terms of the speed of transformation of the input materiál, but also in terms of producing a safe fertiliser. Waste materials from the wine industry, which primarily include grape marc and winery wastewater, have several properties that can contribute to phytotoxic effects in soil. This thesis provides an overview of the management of waste materials from the wine industry, the differences between white and red wine production, and the suitability of vermicomposting for application in small- and large-scale winery waste management. The experimental part of this thesis examines the time requirement of vermicomposting to transform grape marc into a material that does not possess properties that inhibit plant growth. Experimental measurements of the relationship between vermicompost age and germination inhibition show that vermicomposting increases the pH of the substrate and stabilizes it over time. The experiment also showed that vermicompost has a statistically significant stimulatory...
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Phytoextraction of Benzodiazepines from Water Solutions
Grasserová, Alena ; Smrček, Stanislav (advisor) ; Soudek, Petr (referee)
Abstract, key words The aim of this thesis was to perform a phytoextraction experiment with benzodiazepines chlordiazepoxide, diazepam, alprazolam and bromazepam on corn plant (Zea mays). After 14 days of growing of sterile cultivation, new medium (Murashige and Skoog) contaminated with benzodiazepine was added. The starting concentration of benzodiazepine was 10 mg · l-1. After every 24 hours, a sample of medium was collected. The actual concentration of benzodiazepine was measured on HPLC with UV detection. Extractable residues were also analysed to find out whether the benzodiazepine is being translocated to the upper parts of the plant. The same HPLC conditions were used for these samples. The greatest phytoextraction efficiency (the amount of drug extracted by 1 gram of biomass in 24 hours) was observed for chlordiazepoxide, followed by bromazepam, alprazolam and diazepam respectively. The extractable residues analysis confirmed the translocation to the upper parts of the plant for every of the benzodiazepines tested. That indicates a threat for the animals through the food chain contamination. Key words: phytoremediation, phytoextraction, benzodiazepines, extractable residuals, HPLC.
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Phytoextraction of Selected Psychoactive Drugs
Grasserová, Alena ; Smrček, Stanislav (advisor) ; Petrová, Šárka (referee)
Abstract, key words Fluvoxamine is one of the most used psychoactive drugs nowadays. In human body at least nine metabolites are formed and only 4 % is excreted unmetabolised by urine. This substance can be harmful for the environment at very low concentrations already. The aim of this Bachelor thesis is to find out whether we can use phytoremediation to remove the fluvoxamine from the environment. Phytoextraction of the fluvoxamine was tested on in vitro cultivated Zea mays and Pisum sativum plants. Murashige-Skoog medium contaminated with the fluvoxamine was added to cultivations. Samples were collected every 24 hours and the concentration of the drug was determined by HPLC with UV detection at 235 nm. The average concentration decrease was 54,6 % for Zea mays and 37,6 % for Pisum sativum within 72 hours. In the case of Pisum sativum, the decrease of fluvoxamine showed a linear pattern. Key words: phytoremediation, phytoextraction, psychoactive drugs, fluvoxamine, HPLC.
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