Sustainability assessment in the Brazilian Amazon: the municipalities of the state of Amapá

Environment, Development and Sustainability - Although sustainability assessment is widely discussed at Brazil, in Brazilian Amazon its use is still little applied, considering this territory is...     

The ability of biological and organic synthetic materials to accumulate atmospheric particulates containing copper, lead, nickel and strontium

This work was aimed at finding materials that could be used as alternatives to lichens as air quality monitors since the high natural variability and the large amount of lichen collected are two drawbacks of the use of these organisms. Lichen Flavoparmelia caperata(L.) Hale was exposed in three different forms (transplant, detached from the substratum and as a biomass-ground and homogeneized) and compared to the planetree bark (Platanus hybrida Brot.), exposed as a biomass, and two organic synthetic materials (Chelex(R) 100 resin and cellulose acetate). Materials were exposed for two months in the winter, spring and summer, at three Portuguese coastal cities. The results showed that the airborne accumulations of Cu, Ni, Pb and Sr were partially dependent on the meteorological conditions but mainly dependent on the nature of the exposed material. The standard deviations of the synthetic materials or homogenized biomass were the same or greater than lichen transplants or detached. The accumulation by biological materials, of the four studied elements, was comparable to the lichen transplant accumulation. The replacement of the traditional transplants by the biomass was not considered advantageous, since their preparation is time-consuming. Therefore lichens remain the most suitable in biomonitoring studies. The exposure of detached lichen allows the accurate measurement of the exposed area/volume so it can be useful to relate atmospheric deposition rates with the lichen metal content. The synthetic materials accumulated Cu and Ni and should only be used as an alternative to traditional transplants when these are the elements of interest.     

Potential use of composts and vermicomposts as low-cost adsorbents for dye removal: an overlooked application

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - The use of composts and vermicomposts as adsorbents is an important topic of study in the field of environmental remediation. These materials are rich...     

Recycling extruded polystyrene by dissolution with suitable solvents

The amount of extruded polystyrene (XPS) waste has increased in recent years due to the increase of its use in the thermal insulation of buildings, transport vehicles, and refrigerators, among others. Dissolution with suitable solvents to achieve a volume reduction of more than 100 times without degradation of polymer chains is one of the cheapest and most efficient methods of recycling XPS. Several environmentally friendly solvents have been tested as dissolution agents for XPS volume reduction; the action of these solvents does not produce any degradation of polymer chains. The solubility of the polymer in such solvents at different temperatures was investigated. The solvent can be easily recycled by distillation, obtaining a high-quality recycled polymer. Chemical Feedstock Recycling & Other Innovative Recycling Techniques 6     

Optimisation of MSW collection routes for minimum fuel consumption using 3D GIS modelling

Collection of municipal solid waste (MSW) may account for more than 70% of the total waste management budget, most of which is for fuel costs. It is therefore crucial to optimise the routing network used for waste collection and transportation. This paper proposes the use of geographical information systems (GIS) 3D route modelling software for waste collection and transportation, which adds one more degree of freedom to the system and allows driving routes to be optimised for minimum fuel consumption. The model takes into account the effects of road inclination and vehicle weight. It is applied to two different cases: routing waste collection vehicles in the city of Praia, the capital of Cape Verde, and routing the transport of waste from different municipalities of Santiago Island to an incineration plant. For the Praia city region, the 3D model that minimised fuel consumption yielded cost savings of 8% as compared with an approach that simply calculated the shortest 3D route. Remarkably, this was true despite the fact that the GIS-recommended fuel reduction route was actually 1.8% longer than the shortest possible travel distance. For the Santiago Island case, the difference was even more significant: a 12% fuel reduction for a similar total travel distance. These figures indicate the importance of considering both the relief of the terrain and fuel consumption in selecting a suitable cost function to optimise vehicle routing.     

Leaf morphoanatomy of species tolerant to excess iron and evaluation of their phytoextraction potential

Setaria parviflora (Poir.) Kerguélen and Paspalum urvillei Steudel are grasses that grow naturally in a soil with high iron contents. This study aimed to characterize morphoanatomically and histochemically the iron phytotoxicity on leaves and evaluate the phytoextraction potential of these grasses. Saplings were cultivated in hydroponic solution with and without excess Fe-EDTA. Regarding measurements taken on leaves, reduction was observed among treatments of Fe-EDTA on height values of abaxial epidermis and bundle sheath in both species. As for iron histolocalization, stronger reaction was observed in leaves of S. parviflora, in comparison with P. urvillei. Anatomical damage, such as protoplast retraction, irregular xylem, changes in cell volume, and cell collapse, and visual symptoms, like leaf bronzing, chlorosis, and necrosis, were similar in both species when exposed to excess iron; however, P. urvillei showed more severe damage. This species accumulated more iron in shoots than S. parviflora and therefore is more favorable for use in phytoextraction. The root system of both species accumulated higher iron concentrations in relation to shoots.     

Spatial distribution and partitioning of polychlorinated biphenyl and organochlorine pesticide in water and sediment from Sarno River and Estuary,Southern Italy

The Sarno River is nicknamed “the most polluted river in Europe”. The main goal of this study is to enhance our knowledge on the Sarno River water and sediment quality and on its environmental impact on the gulf of Naples (Tyrrhenian Sea, Central Mediterranean Sea) in order to become a useful assessment tool for the regional administrations. For these reasons, 32 selected polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and aldrin, α-BHC, β-BHC, δ-BHC, γ-BHC (lindane), 4,4′-DDD, 4,4′-DDE, 4,4′-DDT, dieldrin, endosulfan I, endosulfan II, endosulfan sulphate, endrin, endrin aldehyde, heptachlor, heptachlor epoxide (isomer B) and methoxychlor were determined in the water dissolved phase (DP), suspended particulate matter (SPM) and sediments. Total concentrations of PCBs ranged from 1.4 to 24.9 ng L^?1 in water (sum of DP and SPM) and from 1.01 to 42.54 ng g^?1 in sediment samples. The concentrations of total organochlorine pesticides (OCPs) obtained in water (sum of DP and SPM) ranged from 0.54 to 7.32 ng L^?1 and from 0.08 to 5.99 ng g^?1 in sediment samples. Contaminant discharges of PCBs and OCPs into the sea were calculated in about 1,247 g day^?1 (948 g day^?1 of PCBs and 326 g day^?1 of OCPs), showing that this river should account as one of the main contribution sources of PCBs and OCPs to the Tyrrhenian Sea.     

Survey of the occurrence of pharmaceuticals in Spanish finished drinking waters

Fifty samples of finished drinking waters (FDWs) from Spain covering 12 million inhabitants were tested for 53 pharmaceuticals pertaining to 12 different Anatomical Therapeutic Chemical (ATC) classification system codes. The studied compounds are a combination of most commonly consumed pharmaceuticals with other barely reported in the literature. Five compounds, azithromycin, clarithromycin, erythromycin, sulfamethoxazole, and ibuprofen were tentatively identified by liquid chromatography coupled to tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) in some samples (2 to 15 %), but only ibuprofen and azithromycin could be confirmed when analyzed by liquid chromatography–high-resolution mass spectrometry (LC-HRMS) with a quadrupole-Orbitrap instrument. Concentration levels of ibuprofen in the positive samples ranged from 12 to 17 ng/L (n?=?6) while for azithromycin values from 5 to 9.5 ng/L (n?=?3) were found. Ibuprofen fragmentation behaviour in different mass spectrometry instrument configurations (triple quadrupole, quadrupole-ion trap, and quadrupole-Orbitrap) was evaluated.     

Increasingly warm summers in the Euro–Mediterranean zone: mean temperatures and extremes

The recent increase in European temperatures led to a strong enhancement in the occurrence of extremely warm events, with relevant consequences for environment and everyday life. Here, we investigate the evolution of very intense warm and cold events in a south-western European zone during 1961–2007 at a seasonal level. Special attention is given to summertime when warming is the most pronounced. Using a previously developed theoretical model, we discuss how the average properties and long-term trends observed in probability density functions of daily temperatures can explain changes in the frequency of severe, isolated events. In this perspective, the recent intensification of extremely warm events, especially experienced by the Mediterranean zone, is proved to be well consistent with a pure shift of seasonal mean temperatures. On the other hand, any change in the second and higher distributional moments of daily temperatures is ruled out by the data, whereas the average values of these properties, that is, variability and asymmetry, do play a role by shaping the temporal behavior of very intense events.