Variations of arsenic species content in edible Boletus badius growing at polluted sites over four years

The content of arsenic (As) in mushrooms can vary depending on the concentration level of this metalloid in the soil/substrate. The present study evaluated the content of arsenic in Boletus badius fruiting bodies collected from polluted and non-polluted sites in relation to the content of this element in overgrown substrate. It was found that mushrooms from the arsenic-polluted sites contained mean concentrations from 49 to 450 mg As kg^?1 dry matter (d.m.), with the greatest content found for specimens growing in close proximity of sludge deposits (490±20 mg As kg^?1d.m.). The mean content of total arsenic in mushrooms from clean sites ranged from 0.03 to 0.37 mg kg^?1 It was found that B. badius could tolerate arsenic in soil substrate at concentrations of up to 2500 mg kg^?1, at least. In different years of investigation, shifts in particular arsenic forms, as well as a general increase in the accumulation of organic arsenic content, were observed. The results of this study clearly indicate that B. badius should not be collected for culinary purposes from any sites that may be affected by pollution.     

Derivation of motor vehicle tailpipe particle emission factors suitable for modelling urban fleet emissions and air quality assessments

Background, aim and scope  

Urban motor vehicle fleets are a major source of particulate matter pollution, especially of ultrafine particles (diameters < 0.1 μm), and exposure to particulate matter has known serious health effects. A considerable body of literature is available on vehicle particle emission factors derived using a wide range of different measurement methods for different particle sizes, conducted in different parts of the world. Therefore, the choice as to which are the most suitable particle emission factors to use in transport modelling and health impact assessments presented as a very difficult task. The aim of this study was to derive a comprehensive set of tailpipe particle emission factors for different vehicle and road type combinations, covering the full size range of particles emitted, which are suitable for modelling urban fleet emissions.     

Source apportionment of ultrafine and fine particle concentrations in Brisbane, Australia

Purpose

To investigate the significance of sources around measurement sites, assist the development of control strategies for the important sources and mitigate the adverse effects of air pollution due to particle size.

Methods

In this study, sampling was conducted at two sites located in urban/industrial and residential areas situated at roadsides along the Brisbane Urban Corridor. Ultrafine and fine particle measurements obtained at the two sites in June?CJuly 2002 were analysed by positive matrix factorization.

Results

Six sources were present, including local traffic, two traffic sources, biomass burning and two currently unidentified sources. Secondary particles had a significant impact at site 1, while nitrates, peak traffic hours and main roads located close to the source also affected the results for both sites.

Conclusions

This significant traffic corridor exemplifies the type of sources present in heavily trafficked locations and future attempts to control pollution in this type of environment could focus on the sources that were identified.     

Changes in Genetic Structure of Posidonia oceanica at Monterosso al Mare (Ligurian Sea) and Its Resilience Over a Decade (1998–2009)

Genetic differences in the Posidonia oceanica meadow of Monterosso al Mare (NW Mediterranean, Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) "Cinque Terre") were compared in three stations, at an increasing distance from a source of impact (beach nourishment) in the recent decade. Random amplified polymorphic DNA analysis showed a higher genetic variability (>20?%) in the area directly subjected to the stress, increasing with time. Clone integration, confirmed by phenotypic analysis, showed increases both in shoot density and leaf length connected to genetic differences observed in DNA fingerprints of new shoots. Analysis of molecular variance (AMOVA) showed 45?% individual differences within populations and 54?% among the populations. The fixation index (F (ST)?=?0.54), of the genetic differentiation, showed a marked difference between the populations at different temporal scales. Over a decade AMOVA indicated genetic variations from 28?% (1998) to 54?% (2009). These results make it clear that in the P. oceanica population examined the environment had, in ten years, selected those clones which were more resistant to the anthropogenic impact, despite being subjected to the effects of the resuspension of fine sediments. These findings could help to explain both the survival of the regressed Mediterranean P. oceanica meadows in areas subjected to moderate impacts and the extreme variability in success of revegetation experiments. Management of the ecological disturbance here described indicates also the timescale in population response to stress and its increased resilience in MPAs.     

Quantitative modelling to estimate the transfer of pharmaceuticals through the food production system

Use of pharmaceuticals in animal production may cause an indirect route of contamination of food products of animal origin. This study aimed to assess, through mathematical modelling, the transfer of pharmaceuticals from contaminated soil, through plant uptake, into the dairy food production chain. The scenarios, model parameters, and values refer to contaminants in emission slurry production, storage time, immission into soil, plant uptake, bioaccumulation in the animal's body, and transfer to meat and milk. Modelling results confirm the possibility of contamination of dairy cow's meat and milk due the ingestion of contaminated feed by the cattle. The estimated concentration of pharmaceutical residues obtained for meat ranged from 0 to 6 ng kg^?1 for oxytetracycline, from 0.011 to 0.181 μg kg^?1 for sulfamethoxazole, and from 4.70 to 11.86 μg kg^?1 for ketoconazole. The estimated concentrations for milk were: zero for oxytetracycline, lower than 40 ng L^?1 for sulfamethoxazole, and from 0.98 to 2.48 μg L^?1 for ketoconazole. Results obtained for the three selected pharmaceuticals indicate a minor risk for human health. This study showed that supply chain modelling could be an effective tool in assessing the indirect contamination of feedstuff and animal products by residues of pharmaceuticals. The model can easily be adjusted to other contaminants and supply chain and, in this way, present a valuable tool to underpin decision making.     

Accelerated carbonation of wood combustion ash for CO<Subscript>2</Subscript> removal from gaseous streams and storage in solid form

In this work, ash generated by the combustion of wood in a central heating plant was used to remove and permanently store by accelerated carbonation CO₂ contained in a gas mixture simulating biogas. The process was studied as an alternative treatment to the ones currently available on the market for biogas upgrading. The process was investigated at laboratory scale by setting up a facility for directly contacting the wood ash and the synthetic biogas in a fixed bed reactor. The process was able to completely remove CO₂ during its initial phase. After about 30 h, CO₂ started to appear again in the outlet stream and its concentration rapidly increased. The specific CO₂ uptake achieved in solid carbonate form was of about 200 g/kg of dry wood ash. This value is an order of magnitude higher than the ones found for waste incineration bottom ash carrying out similar experiments. The difference was ascribed to the physicochemical properties of the ash, characterized by a fine particle size (d₅₀ <?0.2 mm) and high content of reactive phases with CO₂ (e.g., Ca hydroxides). The leaching behavior of the wood ash was examined before and after the accelerated carbonation process showing that the release of several elements was lower after the treatment; Ba leaching in particular decreased by over two orders of magnitude. However, the release of the critical elements for the management of this type of residues (especially Cr and sulfates) appeared not to be significantly affected, while V leaching increased.     

Chapter two: methodologies for characterisation of combustion sources and for quantification of their emissions

Emissions from the combustion of biomass and fossil fuels result in generation of a large number of particle and gaseous products in outdoor and/or indoor air, which create health and environmental risks. Of particular importance are the very small particles that are emitted in large quantities from all the combustion sources, and that could be potentially more significant in terms of their impact on health and the environment than larger particles. It is important to quantify particle emissions from combustion sources for regulatory and control purposes in relation to air quality. This paper is a review of particle characteristics that are used as source signatures, their general advantages and limitations, as well as a review of source signatures of the most common combustion pollution sources including road transport, industrial facilities, small household combustion devices, environmental tobacco smoke, and vegetation burning. The current methods for measuring particle physical characteristics (mass and number concentrations) and principles of methodologies for measuring emission factors are discussed in the paper as well. Finally, the paper presents the recommendations for the future techniques for measurements of combustion products.     

Does temperature modify short-term effects of ozone on total mortality in 60 large eastern US communities? An assessment using the NMMAPS data

Many studies have indicated that ozone is associated with morbidity and mortality. A few studies have reported that the association is heterogeneous across seasons and geographic regions. However, little information is available on whether both temperature and geographic factors simultaneously modify the ozone effect. This study used a Poisson regression model to explore whether temperature modifies the effect of ozone on mortality in the 60 large eastern US communities during April to October, 1987-2000. Results show that temperature modified ozone-mortality associations and that such modification varied across geographic regions. In the northeast region, a 10-ppb increment in ozone was associated with an increase of 2.22% (95% posterior interval [PI]: 1.19%, 3.13%), 3.06% (95% PI: 2.21%, 3.76%) and 6.22% (95% PI: 4.77%, 7.56%) in mortality at low, moderate and high temperature level, respectively, while in the southeast region a 10-ppb increment in ozone was associated with an increase of 1.13% (95% PI:-1.12%, 3.18%), 1.50% (95% PI: 0.22%, 2.81%) and 1.29% (95% PI:-0.33%, 2.96%) in mortality, respectively. We concluded that temperature synergistically modified the ozone-mortality association in the northeast region, but such a pattern was not apparent in the southeast region. Thus, both temperature and geographic factors should be considered in the assessment of ozone effects.     

Environmental assessment of RAMseS multipurpose electric vehicle compared to a conventional combustion engine vehicle

The RAMseS project, financed by the European Commission under the 6th framework Program, has the purpose of developing a solar powered agricultural vehicle in order to replace the conventional vehicles based on internal combustion engines (ICE). In the present study, we report a comparison of life-cycle emission between two systems; a conventional ICE vehicle (ICEV) and the RAMseS electrical vehicle (EV). The study has been conducted by designing a specific model and using the SimaPro software. The results show that the RAMseS system is considerably more environmentally friendly than conventional ICE based system and that, specifically, it can avoid the emission of about 23 ton of CO_2equ per year. Regarding all other pollutants, we found that the RAMseS system is 2.6 times more efficient than the ICEV. The main contribution to emissions of the RAMseS system is due to the batteries which contribute for a 73% of the total. Therefore, further improvement can be obtained with the use of more advanced battery systems, not based on lead.