2012) Dehydrated hazelnut husk carbon: a novel sorbent for removal of Ni(II) ions from aqueous solution, Desalination and Water Treatment, 50:1-3, 2-13, A B S T R A C TThe present study has been performed to examine the adsorption ability of novel sorbent dehydrated hazelnut husk carbon (DHHC) towards Ni(II) ions from aqueous solution using the batch adsorption technique. The effective factors such as initial pH of the aqueous solution, contact time, initial Ni(II) concentration, adsorbent dosage, and temperature were investigated. The studies were also conducted to understand the effect of some co-existing ions which may be present in aqueous solutions. DHHC showed good adsorption potential for Ni(II) ions. The optimum initial pH value was selected as 5.0. The experimental data fitted well to the Langmuir adsorption isotherm model. Among the kinetic models tested for the adsorption of Ni(II), the pseudo-second-order model showed a good fit of the kinetic data. The thermodynamic parameters including the Gibbs free energy (DG), enthalpy (DH), and entropy (DS) changes indicated that the adsorption of Ni(II) ions onto DHHC was feasible, spontaneous, and exothermic in the temperature range of 25-55˚C. The results of this study showed the effectiveness and feasibility of DHHC for the removal of Ni(II) ions from aqueous solution.

The main aim of this study was an investigation of the influence of selected soil and plant properties on the bioaccessibility of trace elements and hence their potential impacts on human health in urban environments. Two artificial digestion models were used to determine trace element levels passing from soil and plants to man for bioavailability study. Soil and plant samples were collected from various regions of the province of Sakarya, Turkey. Digestive process is started by addition of soil and plant samples to an artificial digestion model based on human physiology. Bioavailability % values are obtained from the ratio of the amount of element passing to human digestion to element content of soil and plants. According to bioavailability % results, element levels passing from soil samples to human digestion were B = Cr = Cu = Fe = Pb = Li < Al < Ni < Co < Ba < Mn < Sr < Cd < Na < Zn < Tl, while element levels passing from plant samples to human digestion were Cu = Fe = Ni = Pb = Tl = Na = Li < Co < Al < Sr < Ba < Mn < Cd < Cr < Zn < B. It was checked whether the results obtained reached harmful levels to human health by examining the literature.

Sequential selective extraction techniques are commonly used to fractionate the solid-phase forms of metals in soils. This procedure provides measurements of extractable metals from media, such as acetic acid (0.11 M), hydroxyl ammonium chloride (0.1 M), hydrogen peroxide (8.8 M) plus ammonium acetate (1 M), and aqua regia stages of the sequential extraction procedure. In this work, the extractable Pb, Cu, Mn, Sr, Ni, V, Fe, Zn, and Cr were evaluated in street dust samples from Sakarya, Turkey, between May and October 2009 using the three-step sequential extraction procedure described by the Community Bureau of Reference (BCR, now the Standards, Measurements, and Testing Programme) of the European Union. The sampling sites were divided into 10 categories; a total of 50 street dusts were analyzed. The determination of multielements in the samples was performed by inductively coupled plasma-optical emission spectrometry. Validation of the proposed method was performed using BCR 701 certified reference material. The results showed good agreement between the obtained and the certified values for the metals analyzed.