Extraction of Co,Ni, Cu,Zn and Cd ions using 2-aminophenylaminopropylpolysiloxane

Insoluble porous solid functionalized ligand system bearing 2-aminophenylaminopropyl chelating ligand of the general formula P–(CH₂)₃NH–(C₆H₄)–NH₂ was prepared via the sol–gel process, where P represents [Si–O] _n polysiloxane network. First, the 2-aminophenylaminopropylsilane agent was prepared by substitution reaction between 3-chloropropyltrimethoxysilane and 1,2-phenylenediamine, followed by hydrolytic polycondensation between 2-aminophenylaminopropylsilane agent and tetraethylorthosilicate(TEOS). The immobilized 2-aminophenylaminopropylpolysiloxane P–(CH₂)₃NH–(C₆H₄)–NH₂(P–AphA) was characterized by ¹³C NMR, XPS, and FTIR. The results showed that 1,2-phenylenediamine groups were introduced onto polysiloxane network. The functionalized ligand system exhibits 90–100% metal uptake capacity for all metal ions except Cd²⁺. The elemental analysis data and the metal uptake capacities of the immobilized ligand system suggest that over than 90% ligand sites were involved in coordination with metal ions except that of cadmium forming 1:1 metal to ligand ratio complexes.     

Effects of meteorological conditions and topography on the bioaccumulation of PAHs and metal elements by native lichen (Xanthoria parietina)

The bioaccumulation of PAHs and metal elements in the indigenous lichens Xanthoria parietina was monitored during two years at a quarterly frequency, in 3 sites of contrasted anthropic influence. The impact of the meteorological factors (temperature, relative humidity, rainfall, wind speed) was first estimated through principal component analysis, and then by stepwise multilinear regressions to include wind directions. The pollutants levels reflected the proximity of atmospheric emissions, in particular from a large industrial harbor. High humidity and mild temperatures, and in a lower extent low wind speed and rainfall, also favored higher concentration levels. The contributions of these meteorological aspects became minor when including wind direction, especially when approaching major emission sources. The bioaccumulation integration time towards meteorological variations was on a seasonal basis (1–2 months) but the wind direction and thus local emissions also relied on a longer time scale (12 months). This showed that the contribution of meteorological conditions may be prevalent in remote places, while secondary in polluted areas, and should be definitely taken into account regarding long-term lichen biomonitoring and inter-annual comparisons. In the same time, a quadruple sampling in each site revealed a high homogeneity among supporting tree species and topography. The resulting uncertainty, including sampling, preparation and analysis was below 30% when comfortable analytical conditions were achieved. Finally, the occurrence of unexpected events such as a major forest fire, permitted to evaluate that this type of short, although intense, events did not have a strong influence on PAH and metals bioaccumulation by lichen.     

Fifty Shades of Green? Political differences between elites,members and supporters of Europe Ecologie Les Verts

In recent years, many political parties have created new forms of affiliation and have justified the blurring of membership boundaries with claims that sympathisers would be more representative of the electorate and less radical. Such claims are based on ‘popular wisdom’ inspired by John May’s ‘special law of curvilinearity’, which states that activists hold more extreme views than voters and elites. When this expectation has been tested, results have been at best inconclusive; but testing has so far never used a single survey to compare different groups. Using an online survey of Europe Ecologie Les Verts party members and their extended networks (affiliated supporters, lapsed members, sympathisers), relationships between ideological differences and degree of investment in party activities and decision-making are analysed. The results, contradicting May’s special law along all ideological dimensions other than intra-party democracy, can be explained if May’s narrowly instrumental assumptions about preference formation are rejected.     

Impact of peri-urban landscape on the organic and mineral contamination of pond waters and related risk assessment

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - Ponds are important for their ecological value and for the ecosystem services they provide to human societies, but they are strongly affected by human...     

Trajectory variability: Road geometry difficulty indicator

The analysis of the variability of vehicle trajectories can reveal important information about how situational constraints influence drivers’ behaviour (e.g., lateral position and/or speed). Variability in the lateral position using a driving simulator was examined. Forty-two participants had to drive on two road environments: a 3 km straight road with a crest vertical curve (CVC) with perceptual treatments and narrowed lane width with subsequent provision of a hard shoulder, by relocation of the road markings. The results showed that, on the one hand the lateral position variability was greater when driving on the test CVC, before meeting oncoming vehicle and on the narrowed lane width; and on the other hand it was limited according to the perceptual treatment used. The lateral position variability would be a difficulty indicator of road geometry which would inform road managers of the presence of a risk zone on their road network.     

Magnetic fields of induction heaters in the framework of directive 2004/40/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council.

The spectrum and the polarization of the magnetic flux density (B-field) of 6 induction heaters and 1 arc oven were measured by means of a PMM (Italy) spectrum analyser. The spectrum analysis showed that no substantial harmonics were observed while the polarization analysis revealed that the operator's exposure was non-homogeneous within a distance of 1.5 m from the heater. When the distance was larger, the body was homogeneously exposed. In general we can state that the B-field strongly varied between heaters and that exposure exceeded the occupational reference levels recommended by the International Commission on Non-Ionizing Radiation Protection (ICNIRP) (1998) and European Directive 2004/40/EC in 5 of the 7 heaters. Within the framework of the Directive some protection actions should be taken. Whereas mitigation of existing/old induction ovens is difficult, the design of new induction heaters and their housing should be based, among others, on electromagnetic reducing engineering concepts.     

An integrated environmental approach to investigate biomarker fluctuations in the blue mussel Mytilus edulis L. in the Vilaine estuary, France

Estuarine areas represent complex and highly changing environments at the interface between freshwater and marine aquatic ecosystems. Therefore, the aquatic organisms living in estuaries have to face highly variable environmental conditions. The aim of this work was to study the influence of environmental changes from either natural or anthropogenic origins on the physiological responses of Mytilus edulis. Mussels were collected in the Vilaine estuary during early summer because this season represents a critical period of active reproduction in mussels and of increased anthropogenic inputs from agricultural and boating activities into the estuary. The physiological status of the mussel M. edulis was evaluated through measurements of a suite of biomarkers related to: oxidative stress (catalase, malondialdehyde), detoxication (benzopyrene hydroxylase, carboxylesterase), neurotoxicity (acetylcholinesterase), reproductive cycle (vitelline, condition index, maturation stages), immunotoxicity (hemocyte concentration, granulocyte percentage, phagocytosis, reactive oxygen species production, oxidative burst), and general physiological stress (lysosomal stability). A selection of relevant organic contaminant (pesticides, (polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, polychlorobiphenyls) was measured as well as environmental parameters (water temperature, salinity, total suspended solids, turbidity, chlorophyll a, pheopigments) and mussel phycotoxin contamination. Two locations differently exposed to the plume of the Vilaine River were compared. Both temporal and inter-site variations of these biomarkers were studied. Our results show that reproduction cycle and environmental parameters such as temperature, organic ontaminants, and algal blooms could strongly influence the biomarker responses. These observations highlight the necessity to conduct integrated environmental approaches in order to better understand the causes of biomarker variations.     

Functional changes in culturable microbial communities during a co-composting process: Carbon source utilization and co-metabolism

Microbial communities in sewage sludge and green waste co-composting were investigated using culture-dependent methods and community level physiological profiles (CLPP) with Biolog Microplate. Different microbial groups characterized each stage of composting. Bacterial densities were high from beginning to end of composting, whereas actinomycete densities increased only after bio-oxidation phase i.e. after 40 days. Fungal populations become particularly high during the last stage of decomposition. Cluster analyses of metabolic profiles revealed a similar separation between two groups of composts at 67 days for bacteria and fungi. Principal component analysis (PCA) applied to bacterial and fungal CLPP data showed a chronological distribution of composts with two phases. The first one (before 67 days), where the composts were characterized by the rapid decomposition of non-humic biodegradable organic matter, was significantly correlated to the decrease of C, C/N, organic matter (OM), fulvic acid (FA), respiration, cellulase, protease, phenoloxidase, alkaline and acid phosphatases activities. The second phase corresponding to the formation of polycondensed humic-like substances was significantly correlated to humic acid (HA) content, pH and HA/FA. The influent substrates selected on both factorial maps showed that microbial communities could adapt their metabolic capacities to the particular environment. The first phase seems to be focused on easily degradable substrate utilization whereas the maturation phase appears as multiple metabolisms, which induce the release of metabolites and their polymerization leading to humification processes.     

Tolerance of Japanese knotweed <Emphasis Type="Italic">s</Emphasis>.<Emphasis Type="Italic">l</Emphasis>. to soil artificial polymetallic pollution: early metabolic responses and performance during vegetative multiplication

The expansion of invasive Japanese knotweed s.l. is of particular concern because of its aptitudes to rapidly colonize diverse environments, especially anthropized habitats generally characterized by their pollution with heavy metals. Whether the presence of heavy metals impacts the performance traits of this plant is a central question to better understand its invasive properties, though no controlled approach to assess these effects was yet reported. In this aim, we undertook greenhouse experiments where rhizome fragments of Japanese knotweed s.l. (Fallopia japonica and Fallopia × bohemica) were grown during 1 and 3 months, in a soil pot artificially polluted or not with heavy metals added in mixture (Cd, Cr, Pb, Zn). Our results showed that (i) the presence of heavy metals delayed rhizome regeneration and induced lowered plant part weights but did not affect plant height after 3 months; (ii) the effect of metals on the metabolic profiles of belowground part extracts was only detectable after 1 month and not after 3 months of growth, though it was possible to highlight the effect of metals independently of time and genotype for root extracts, and torosachrysone seemed to be the most induced compound; and (iii) the hybrid genotype tested was able to accumulate relatively high concentrations of metals, over or close to the highest reported ones for this plant for Cr, Cd and Zn, whereas Pb was not accumulated. These findings evidence that the presence of heavy metals in soil has a low impact on Fallopia sp. overall performance traits during rhizome regeneration, and has a rather stimulating effect on plant growth depending on pollution level.