Ioannis Massas - Academia.edu (original) (raw)

Papers by Ioannis Massas

Environmental Science and Pollution Research

Archives of Agronomy and Soil Science

Soil Systems

The ability of fertilizer phosphates to desorb arsenates from soils is not yet adequately studied... more The ability of fertilizer phosphates to desorb arsenates from soils is not yet adequately studied especially in cases of mining lands severely contaminated with arsenic (As). In this study two soils with different physicochemical properties and heavily contaminated with As equilibrated with solutions containing various rates of phosphates either in the form of triple superphosphate fertilizer (TSP) or as NH4H2PO4 using NaNO3 as background electrolyte. A treatment with TSP in water was also applied to mimic agronomic practices. In general, increased P rates resulted in higher As release and to lower P sorption. Depending on the P rate, desorbed As ranged between 8 and 64.4 mg/kg for soil 1 and between 16.5 and 35.3 mg/kg for soil 2, corresponding to more than 50% of the potentially available As, as defined by the sum of the two first fractions of Wenzel sequential extraction scheme. Arsenic desorption patterns substantially differ between the two soils, mainly affected by active carb...

$Research paper thumbnail of Organic materials may greatly enhance Ni and Pb progressive immobilization into the oxidisable soil fraction, acting as providers of sorption sites and microbial substrates$

Science of The Total Environment

Land Degradation & Development

HortScience

Green roofs could be a way to increase vegetation in the center of old Mediterranean cities. The ... more Green roofs could be a way to increase vegetation in the center of old Mediterranean cities. The need for conservation of local character and biodiversity requires the use of native plant species, whereas the deficiency of water, particularly in semiarid regions, requires the use of species with reduced irrigation needs. Moreover, the aged buildings lead to the use of lightweight green roof constructions. Therefore, research was undertaken to investigate the possibility of using three Mediterranean aromatic xerophytes, Artemisia absinthium L., Helichrysum italicum Roth., and H. orientale L., at an extensive green roof in Athens, Greece. Simultaneously, the possibility of using locally produced grape marc compost was investigated. Substrate type and depth and irrigation frequency effects on growth of these species were studied. Rooted cuttings were planted mid-May in plastic containers with a green roof infrastructure fitted (moisture retention and protection of the insulation mat, d...

Water

Soil salinization is directly related to the quantity and quality of food production, and often, ... more Soil salinization is directly related to the quantity and quality of food production, and often, to increased energy demands for high-quality irrigation water. Reliable monitoring of soil salinity based on a less laborious method than the soil saturated paste (SP) extract methodology is required. In the present study, an attempt is made to relate the electrical conductivity (EC) of the soil saturated paste (SP) extract (ECe) with the EC determined in the 1:1 and 1:5 soil over water mass ratios, (soil:water) extracts (EC1:1 and EC1:5). ECe, EC1:1, and EC1:5 values were obtained for 198 soil samples from five different locations in Greece. The results have shown that strong linear relationships exist between the ECe and the EC1:1 and EC1:5 values (R2 > 0.93), and that the slopes of these linear relationships decreased from coarse to fine soil types. For 123 soil samples, the concentrations of Κ+, Νa+, Ca2+, Mg2+, and Cl− were also determined in the extracts of the three applied met...

Environmental science and pollution research international, 2018

Emissions from civil airports are similar to those observed in industrial and urban areas. While ... more Emissions from civil airports are similar to those observed in industrial and urban areas. While air pollution and noise levels are regularly monitored and assessed, information on the status of heavy metals in soils close to airport facilities is limited. In this study, we monitored and assessed heavy metal distribution in soils close to Athens International Airport (AIA) in Attica, Greece. Following a grid sampling scenario, topsoil samples were collected from 86 sites at the periphery of AIA and total and available forms of Cu, Zn, Fe, Mn, Ni, Cr, Pb, and Ba concentrations were determined in aqua regia and DTPA soil extracts, respectively. Median concentration values for both metal forms are not considered as particularly high. However, 90th percentile concentration values for some metals are high, indicating soil enrichment. Evaluation of enrichment factor (EF) and availability ratio (AR) values and EFs spatial distribution have led to consistent conclusions of secondary and ong...

International journal of phytoremediation, Jan 3, 2018

Considering that quality water supplies are diminishing and climate disorder affects water cycle,... more Considering that quality water supplies are diminishing and climate disorder affects water cycle, wastewaters should be decontaminated for reuse either by the same establishment or in agriculture for the growth of industrial plants. In that context, much research work has been focused on the development of low cost biosorbents. In this study, the effect of composting on the adsorption capacity of olive tree pruning waste (OTPW) biomass for methylene blue (MB) removal from aqueous solutions was examined. Composting procedure may improve the sorption properties of the raw organic materials, is economical and easy to apply. MB adsorption on both OTPW and composted olive tree pruning waste (COTPW) biomasses was found to be fast. The maximum monolayer adsorption capacity obtained from Langmuir isotherm was estimated to be 129.87 and 250.00 mg/g for OTPW and COTPW, respectively, indicating that composting procedure greatly improved the adsorptive properties of OTPW. The raise of temperatu...

Journal of Soils and Sediments

$Research paper thumbnail of Agricultural geochemistry in viticulture: An example of Cu accumulation and geochemical fractionation in Mediterranean calcareous soils (Nemea region, Greece)$

Communications in Soil Science and Plant Analysis, Feb 19, 2013

ABSTRACT The effects of time and a labile carbon (C) source on the fates of zinc (Zn) and copper ... more ABSTRACT The effects of time and a labile carbon (C) source on the fates of zinc (Zn) and copper (Cu) were investigated in a slightly acidic soil in a two-factor experiment. Glucose was used as the C source to examine the effect of the expected flush of microbial activity on Zn and Cu extractability during the experimental period. The soil was amended with 500 mg kg−1 soil of Zn and Cu in the form of nitrate salts and with 4 g kg−1 glucose where appropriate, producing M (heavy metals, no glucose) and MG (heavy metals, with glucose) treatments. The treated soil samples were incubated for 3 h, 1 day (24 h), 3 days (72 h), 10 days (240 h), 30 days (720 h), and 60 days (1440 h) at 20 °C at constant moisture (≈50% of the soil's water-holding capacity). At the end of each incubation period, destructive sampling was followed by a Tessier sequential extraction procedure that yielded five metal fractions for both Zn and Cu, defined as exchangeable, acid-soluble, reducible, oxidizable, and residual. The exchangeable fraction of Zn and Cu (considered to be an availability measure) showed decreasing trends over time, while the opposite was observed for the other fractions. The presence of glucose resulted in significantly lower exchangeable fractions in the “polluted soil” for both metals up to 720 h, pointing to lower Zn and Cu availability. Redistribution from less-available forms back to exchangeable forms occurred during the second month of incubation, suggesting a sharp decline in microbial activity and a consequent remobilization and potentially increased Zn and Cu bioavailability. However, glucose did not affect Zn and Cu availability in the control soil; this indicated that its effect is mainly observed following recent pollution events. Field applications of glucose at 4 g kg−1 soil is impractical in practice; future experimentation to estimate a minimum effective application rate or an alternative form of labile C, probably derived from recycling renewable labile organic materials, is warranted.

Chemistry and Ecology, 2015

... 4. References Andersen A, Hovmand MF and Johnson I (1978) Heavy metal deposition in the Copen... more ... 4. References Andersen A, Hovmand MF and Johnson I (1978) Heavy metal deposition in the Copenhagen area. Environ Pollut 17: 133-151. Bityukova L, Shogenova A and Birke M (2000) Urban Geochemistry: A study of element distributions in the soils of Tallin (Estonia). ...

Journal of Agricultural Science and Technology

Phosphorus fractionation and sorption, both separately and jointly, were studied in two cultivate... more Phosphorus fractionation and sorption, both separately and jointly, were studied in two cultivated Inceptisols in Northern Greece. Hedley’s extraction was used to separate soil phosphorus (P) into inorganic Pi (geochemical) and organic Po (biological) fractions. Direct extractable P by Olsen (Olsen-P), by Mehlich III (M3-P) and by ammonium oxalate (Pox) was also determined. Phosphorus sorption was carried out with 1:10 soil/solution ratio and sorption parameters were derived from the Langmuir model to the experimental data. Most of the total P occurred in inorganic P forms (74% of Pt), while organic P comprised only 26% of the Pt. Among the various inorganic P forms relatively large amount of residual P (111 mg kg-1) was observed, while occluded P in calcium phosphate minerals (d.HCl-Pi) and in Fe, Al-oxides (c.HCl-Pi) existed in equal amounts (83.1 and 83.7 mg kg-1 respectively). The phosphorus sorption parameters showed positive relationships with clay content, cation exchange cap...

Carbon nanotubes have aroused widespread attention as a new type of sorbents that possess great p... more Carbon nanotubes have aroused widespread attention as a new type of sorbents that possess great potential for removing many kinds of inorganic and organic pollutants from large volumes of wastewater. Multi-walled carbon nanotubes and oxidized multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) by NaClO solution was used as sorbents to study the sorption characteristics of nickel from aqueous solutions. The effect of solution conditions such as pH, metal ions concentrations was investigated using batch technique at room temperatures. The results indicated that both multi-walled carbon nanotubes and oxidized multi-walled carbon nanotubes can effectively sorb Ni2+ and oxidized multi-walled carbon nanotubes had better Ni2+ sorption performance. Furthermore, the sorption of nickel was significantly influenced by the pH value and increased with increasing pH. Equilibrium data for as produced and oxidized MWCNTs was well described by Freundlich isotherm. Thus the results showed that Ni2+ sorption depen...