Pre-treatment is a significant step in the production of second-generation biofuels from waste lignocellulosic materials. Obtaining biofuels as a result of fermentation processes requires appropriate pre-treatment conditions ensuring the highest possible degree of saccharification of the feed material. An influence of the following process parameters were investigated for alkaline pre-treatment of Salix viminalis L.: catalyst concentration (NaOH), temperature, pre-treatment time and granulation. For this purpose, experiments were carried out in accordance to the Box-Behnken design for four factors. In the saccharification process of the pre-treated biomass, cellulolytic enzymes immobilized on diatomaceous earth were used. Based on the obtained results, a mathematical model for the optimal conditions of alkaline pre-treatment prediction is proposed. The optimal conditions of alkaline pre-treatment are established as follows: granulation 0.75 mm, catalyst concentration 7%, pre-treatment time 6 h and temperature 65 °C if the saccharification efficiency and cost analysis are considered. An influence of the optimized pre-treatment on both the chemical composition and structural changes for six various lignocellulosic materials (energetic willow, energetic poplar, beech, triticale, meadow grass, corncobs) was investigated. SEM images of raw and pre-treated biomass samples are included in order to follow the changes in the biomass structure during hydrolysis.

Flubendazole (FLU) and fenbendazole (FEN) belong to benzimidazoles—pharmaceuticals widely used in veterinary and human medicine for the treatment of intestinal parasites as well as for the treatment of systemic worm infections. In recent years, usage of these drugs increased, which resulted in a larger contamination of the environment and possible negative effects on biota. Hence, in our research, we investigated an aquatic ecotoxicity of these pharmaceuticals towards: marine bacteria (Vibrio fischeri), green algae (Scenedesmus vacuolatus), duckweed (Lemna minor) and crustacean (Daphnia magna). Ecotoxicity tests were combined with chemical analysis in order to investigate the actual exposure concentration of the compounds used in the experiment as well as to stability and adsorption studies. As a result, study evaluating sensitivity of different aquatic organisms to these compounds and new ecotoxicological data is presented. The strongest negative impact of FLU and FEN was observed to D. magna.

This paper concerns the comparison of the efficiency of two-stage hydrolysis processes, i.e., alkaline pre-treatment and acid hydrolysis, as well as alkaline pre-treatment followed by enzymatic hydrolysis, carried out in order to obtain reducing sugars from triticale straw. For each of the analyzed systems, the optimization of the processing conditions was carried out with respect to the glucose yield. For the alkaline pre-treatment, an optimal catalyst concentration was selected for constant values of temperature and pre-treatment time. For enzymatic hydrolysis, optimal process time and concentration of the enzyme preparation were determined. For the acidic hydrolysis, performed with 85% phosphoric acid, the optimum temperature and hydrolysis time were determined. In the hydrolysates obtained after the two-stage treatment, the concentration of reducing sugars was determined using HPLC. The obtained hydrolysates were subjected to ethanol fermentation. The concentrations of fermentation inhibitors are given and their effects on the alcoholic fermentation efficiency are discussed.

Recent years have seen the increased utilization of ionic liquids (ILs) in the development and optimization of analytical methods. Their unique and eco-friendly properties and the ability to modify their structure allows them to be useful both at the sample preparation stage and at the separation stage of the analytes. The use of ILs for the analysis of pharmaceuticals seems particularly interesting because of their systematic delivery to the environment. Nowadays, they are commonly detected in many countries at very low concentration levels. However, due to their specific physiological activity, pharmaceuticals are responsible for bioaccumulation and toxic effects in aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems as well as possibly upsetting the body’s equilibrium, leading to the dangerous phenomenon of drug resistance. This review will provide a comprehensive summary of the use of ILs in various sample preparation procedures and separation methods for the determination of pharmaceuticals in environmental and biological matrices based on liquid-based chromatography (LC, SFC, TLC), gas chromatography (GC) and electromigration techniques (e.g., capillary electrophoresis (CE)). Moreover, the advantages and disadvantages of ILs, which can appear during extraction and separation, will be presented and attention will be given to the criteria to be followed during the selection of ILs for specific applications.

Fermentative hydrogen production via dark fermentation with the application of lignocellulosic biomass requires a multistep pre-treatment procedure, due to the complexed structure of the raw material. Hence, the comparison of the hydrogen productivity potential of different lignocellulosic materials (LCMs) in relation to the lignocellulosic biomass composition is often considered as an interesting field of research. In this study, several types of biomass, representing woods, cereals and grass were processed by means of mechanical pre-treatment and alkaline and enzymatic hydrolysis. Hydrolysates were used in fermentative hydrogen production via dark fermentation process with Enterobacter aerogenes (model organism). The differences in the hydrogen productivity regarding different materials hydrolysates were analyzed using chemometric methods with respect to a wide dataset collected throughout this study. Hydrogen formation, as expected, was positively correlated with glucose concentration and total reducing sugars amount (Y_TRS) in enzymatic hydrolysates of LCMs, and negatively correlated with concentrations of enzymatic inhibitors i.e., HMF, furfural and total phenolic compounds in alkaline-hydrolysates LCMs, respectively. Interestingly, high hydrogen productivity was positively correlated with lignin content in raw LCMs and smaller mass loss of LCM after pre-treatment step. Besides results of chemometric analysis, the presented data analysis seems to confirm that the structure and chemical composition of lignin and hemicellulose present in the lignocellulosic material is more important to design the process of its bioconversion than the proportion between the cellulose, hemicellulose and lignin content in this material. For analyzed LCMs we found remarkable higher potential of hydrogen production via bioconversion process of woods i.e., beech (24.01 mL H₂/g biomass), energetic poplar (23.41 mL H₂/g biomass) or energetic willow (25.44 mL H₂/g biomass) than for cereals i.e., triticale (17.82 mL H₂/g biomass) and corn (14.37 mL H₂/g biomass) or for meadow grass (7.22 mL H₂/g biomass).

Industrial poultry breeding is associated with the need to increase productivity while maintaining low meat prices. Little is known about its impact on the environment of soil pollution by pharmaceuticals. Breeders routinely use veterinary pharmaceuticals for therapeutic and preventive purposes. The aim of this work was to determine the influence of mass breeding of hens on the soil contamination with 26 pharmaceuticals and caffeine. During two seasons—winter and summer 2019—15 soil samples were collected. Liquid extraction was used to isolate analytes from samples. Extracts were analyzed using ultra-high performance liquid chromatography coupled with tandem mass spectrometry detection (UPLC-MS/MS). The results showed the seasonal changes in pharmaceutical presence in analyzed soil samples. Ten pharmaceuticals (metoclopramide, sulphanilamide, salicic acid, metoprolol, sulphamethazine, nimesulide, carbamazepine, trimethoprim, propranolol, and paracetamol) and caffeine were determined in soil samples collected in March, and five pharmaceuticals (metoclopramide, sulphanilamide, sulphamethazine, carbamazepine, sulfanilamid) in soil samples collected in July. The highest concentrations were observed for sulphanilamide, in a range from 746.57 ± 15.61 ng/g d.w to 3518.22 ± 146.05 ng/g d.w. The level of bacterial resistance to antibiotics did not differ between samples coming from intensive breeding farm surroundings and the reference area, based on antibiotic resistance of 85 random bacterial isolates.