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This paper present migration of some selected heavy metal (zinc, lead, copper, chromium and nickel) of roadside soil samples from along Ilesa-Akure highway with a view to assess the degree of contamination such soils contain and the likelihood that this contamination can be remobilized. Soil samples were collected from 5 locations (Ilesa, Ipetu-ijesa, JABU, Ilara-mokin and FUTA north gate) at depths of 0-5, 15-20, 35-40 and 55-60cm and analysed for the five selected heavy metals in the bulk sample and clay fraction. Their concentrations and distributions in four different road verge zones (5m, 30m, 60m and 110m) were determined. The 5m zone had the highest mean concentration of the five metals whereas the 110m zone exhibited the lowest mean concentration. Zinc and lead exhibited a significant decrease in the roadside soils with the increasing distance from the road while chromium and nickel showed significant increase, copper on the other hand showed no significant difference. Quantitative assessment of the heavy metal contamination using the I_geo and PI indexes showed that the selected heavy metals were in the order of Cu < Pb < Zn < Ni <Cr for both Indexes. Soil characteristics (which include pH, Cation exchange capacity {CEC}, organic matter and other basic geotechnical tests) responsible for the mobility and vertical distributions of these heavy metals from the road side soil were also assessed.

The main effects of ultrasonic sludge are solubilization and release of organic components and biodegradability enhance of sludge by disrupting the physical, chemical and biological properties sludge. The objective of the current study was to determine the effect of ultrasound on anaerobic digestion of oil refinery sludge subjected to different pretreatments. A 300-ml anaerobic reactor was filled with 250 of the waste activated sludge and placed on a hot plate magnet for 41 d. A vibrato bath (40 kHz, 100W) was used in 30 min, 60 min and three cycles of 15 min. Mixed liquor suspended solids (MLSS)was ranged between 28100±282 and 12000±642 mg/L. The data were collected in a log phase condition. TSS, VSS, TCOD and BOD₅ were measured following the standard methods. The combined reactor had the best performance in sludge digestion compared to anaerobic reactor with/ without ultrasonic pretreatment. Between two irradiation times (30, 60 min) and the same situation, 60 min ultrasonic pretreatment was found to be more effective. Ultrasonic pretreatment accelerated the digestion process. In this project, oil refinery sludge with industrial feature attained to log phase after 41 days.

In this study current status of the ambient air quality in the main cities of the Pearl River Delta region was investigated. Two special administrative regions (Macau and Hong Kong) and three major cities of Guangdong (Guangzhou, Dongguan and Foshan) were selected for analysis according to their geographical distribution, population, gross domestic product and industrial importance. The air quality of each city was diagnosed by using the monitoring data of 2014 and by applying the HYSPLIT model. The region is affected by transboundary pollution outside the delta area but the local emissions are the most important. The Asian Monsoon system also influences the air masses transport pattern.

Bacteria from the genus Acinetobacter are opportunistic pathogens and cause harm to humans. In this study a new bacterial strain designated as Acinetobacter sp. 33F was isolated from municipal solid waste (MSW) leachate. This bacterium is useful as it degrades and utilizes dibutyl phthalate (DBP) as sole carbon source.  Acinetobacter sp. 33F degraded 82.45% of the initial 2000 mg/L of DBP in minimal salt medium. It degraded 54.36 % of initial DBP in samples collected from phthalate esters contaminated site. Monod model explained the growth kinetics of Acinetobacter sp. 33F. The calculated values of µ_max, K_s and yield were 0.01616 h^-1, 382.92 mg/L and 0.43 respectively. Stoichiometry of DBP degradation suggested that 43 g of microbial biomass was produced for every 100 g DBP consumed. Acinetobacter sp. 33F also grows on Di-Ethyl Phthalate (DEP), Di-Octyl Phthalate (DOP), Benzyl Butyl Phthalate (BBP), Mono-Butyl Phthalate (MBP) and Di–isodecyl Phthalate (DIDP) as sole carbon source. Five genes responsible for phthalate esters (PAEs) degradation were amplified from the genome of Acinetobacter sp. 33F. Acinetobacter sp. 33F can be considered as an important tool for remediation of sites contaminated with phthalate esters.