Cancer and occupational exposure to pesticides: a bibliometric study of the past 10 years

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - Occupational exposure to pesticides has been identified as a major trigger of the development of cancer. Pesticides can cause intoxication in the...     

Adsorption of Malachite Green from Aqueous Solution Using Hydroxyethyl Starch Hydrogel Improved by Graphene Oxide

Journal of Polymers and the Environment - This study is the first report of the preparation of hydroxyethyl starch (HES) hydrogels rapidly crosslinked with divinyl sulfone in a single step and...     

Measurement of sustainability performance in Brazilian organizations

In recent years, sustainability issues are gaining greater prominence among organizations and their stakeholders around the world. This paper aims to verify the sustainability performance of Brazilian organizations in performance measures and to propose sustainable guidelines with the intention of directing future efforts to the transition to sustainable development. The research utilized a triangulated approach by collecting qualitative and quantitative data acquired through multiple collection methods of a theoretical literature review, documentary analysis of corporate reports, questionnaire survey and semi-structured interviews with industry professionals and academic researchers. The results show that internal organizational factors are the main inductors of the sustainable environment in organizations, and sustainability must be tied to strategic planning, starting from upper management to lower levels. It is essential to use sustainable performance measurement systems in order to respond to external and internal levers and serve as benchmarking for future corporate operations and strategies. In addition, it is the responsibility of organizations to focus their efforts on environmental protection, reduction of energy, corporate reputation, quality management, customer satisfaction and investor relations, as they are considered to be more important and have a relationship of dependence on organizational sustainability. The findings will be of value to professionals and academics who want to start measuring and for continuously improving the sustainability performance of their organizations according to the technical, economic, environmental, social and governance dimensions. This research work also helps to understand the perceptions and expectations of stakeholders.     

Evaluating surrogates of genetic diversity for conservation planning

Protected-area systems should conserve intraspecific genetic diversity. Because genetic data require resources to obtain, several approaches have been proposed for generating plans for protected-area systems (prioritizations) when genetic data are not available. Yet such surrogate-based approaches remain poorly tested. We evaluated the effectiveness of potential surrogate-based approaches based on microsatellite genetic data collected across the Iberian Peninsula for 7 amphibian and 3 reptilian species. Long-term environmental suitability did not effectively represent sites containing high genetic diversity (allelic richness). Prioritizations based on long-term environmental suitability had similar performance to random prioritizations. Geographic distances and resistance distances based on contemporary environmental suitability were not always effective surrogates for identification of combinations of sites that contain individuals with different genetic compositions. Our results demonstrate that population genetic data based on commonly used neutral markers can inform prioritizations, and we could not find an adequate substitute. Conservation planners need to weigh the potential benefits of genetic data against their acquisition costs.     

First Step for an Ecological Risk Assessment to Evaluate the Impact of Diffuse Pollution in Lake Vela (Portugal)

Lake Vela, located in the Portuguese littoral-centre, is a temperate shallow lake exhibiting a high trophic status. This aquatic ecosystem has been potentially exposed to contamination generated by agricultural and livestock activities held in their drainage basin, which seriously compromise their health. This work summarizes some background information and presents the problem formulation step of the ERA. Therefore, it evaluates the characteristics of the stressor(s), describes the ecological system and receptors and suggests a conceptual model, which predicts the potential exposure pathways, relating suspected sources to the defined endpoints. This introductory step also described an analysis plan on the entire study, which includes a delineation of the assessment design, data needs, measures, and methods for conducting the analysis phase of the risk assessment process.     

Characterization of the Leachate in an Urban Landfill by Physicochemical Analysis and Solid Phase Microextraction-GC/MS

The aim of this study is to evaluate extensively the characterization and identification of major pollutant parameters by paying attention to the organic chemical pollution for unregulated dumping site leachate in Eskişehir/Turkey. The study that is first and only one research has been very important data related with before new sanitary landfill site in Eskişehir city. For this purpose, in this study leachate samples were collected in-situ at monthly interval for a period of 8 months. Firstly, thirty three physicochemical parameters were monitored. Secondly, SPME technique was used for identification of organic pollutants. Meteorological data were also recorded for the same sampling period to correlate meteorological data and physicochemical parameters. Mean values are used in the correlation analysis. Correlation is shown only for the relationship between air temperature and NO₃ ⁻. No correlation has been found between rain and leachate quality parameters since the amount of rain was very low during the sampling period. However, analysis results were generally decreased in winter season when each parameter and each sampling point are examined separately. According to correlation between every parameter, especially solid content and dissolved oxygen concentration of leachate is affecting to other parameters. Also, sodium and potassium are changing proportionally with same parameters (suspended solids, fixed solids, dissolved oxygen) and high correlation between chloride and heavy metal concentration is showing. The results were statistically evaluated by use of SPSS 10.0 program. Second part of the study, the leachate was extracted by Solid Phase Microextraction (SPME) technique and then analyzed. Of the methodologies tested in this study, the best one selected was based on 100 μ m polydimethylsiloxane coated fiber (PDMS), headspace with heating (Δ HS) sampling mode and an extraction time of 15 min. at a temperature of 50 ^o C. Thirty three organic compounds in leachate were identified by GC/MS.     

Biological activities of the essential oil from the leaves of Lantana montevidensis (Spreng) Briq. in mice

Environment, Development and Sustainability - This work aimed to analyze the chemical composition and evaluate the anti-inflammatory and antinociceptive properties of the essential oil obtained...     

Phthalides as promising insecticides against Tuta absoluta (Lepidoptera: Gelechiidae)

In this study, the insecticide potential of eight phthalides derived from furan-2(5H)-one was evaluated against Tuta absoluta (Meyrick) (Lepidoptera: Gelechiidae) larvae. The potency of the most active phthalides and the susceptibility of six different T. absoluta populations to these compounds were determined. The toxicity of these molecules to two non-target species (Solenopsis saevissima Smith and Tetragonisca angustula Latreille) was also evaluated. Two phthalides (3 and 4) presented insecticide potential against T. absoluta. Phthalide 4 was as toxic as piperine (positive control) and both phthalides exhibited rapid action (LT₅₀ < 2 hours). The variation in the susceptibility of T. absoluta populations to the phthalides 3 and 4 was low. Neither phthalide presented physiological selectivity for non-target species.

Therefore, the phthalides 3 and 4 are promising molecules, or at least, a starting point for a chemical optimization program leading to formulations for the management of the tomato leafminer. The application of such products should be conducted according to the principles of ecological selectivity.     

Effects of glyphosate on the non-target leaf beetle Cerotoma arcuata (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae) in field and laboratory conditions

This study aimed to assess the glyphosate application effects on the Cerotoma arcuata Oliver (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae) population in glyphosate-resistant soybean crops. Field studies were conducted with glyphosate and the insecticide endosulfan to observe the effects of these pesticides on C. arcuata, on its damages in the crop and on the populations of natural enemies in glyphosate-resistant soybean crops. Moreover, the lethal and behavioral sublethal response of C. arcuata to glyphosate and endosulfan was conducted in the laboratory. The results of the field and laboratory experiments showed that glyphosate caused moderate toxicity and high irritability in C. arcuata and that endosulfan caused high toxicity and irritability. Therefore, the direct effect of glyphosate on C. arcuata was negative and does not explain the population increases of this pest in glyphosate-resistant soybean. However, the glyphosate also decreased the density of predators. Thus, the negative effect of glyphosate on the predators may be related to population increases of C. arcuata in glyphosate-resistant soybean crops, however, more studies are needed to better evidence this relationship. This study suggests that glyphosate can impact other non-target organisms, such as herbivorous insects and natural enemies and that the use of this herbicide will need to be carefully stewarded to prevent potential disturbances in beneficial insect communities in agricultural systems.     

Seasonal dynamics of freshwater pathogens as measured by microarray at Lake Sapanca,a drinking water source in the north-eastern part of Turkey

Monitoring drinking water quality is an important public health issue. Two objectives from the 4 years, six nations, EU Project μAqua were to develop hierarchically specific probes to detect and quantify pathogens in drinking water using a PCR-free microarray platform and to design a standardised water sampling program from different sources in Europe to obtain sufficient material for downstream analysis. Our phylochip contains barcodes (probes) that specifically identify freshwater pathogens that are human health risks in a taxonomic hierarchical fashion such that if species is present, the entire taxonomic hierarchy (genus, family, order, phylum, kingdom) leading to it must also be present, which avoids false positives. Molecular tools are more rapid, accurate and reliable than traditional methods, which means faster mitigation strategies with less harm to humans and the community. We present microarray results for the presence of freshwater pathogens from a Turkish lake used drinking water and inferred cyanobacterial cell equivalents from samples concentrated from 40 into 1 L in 45 min using hollow fibre filters. In two companion studies from the same samples, cyanobacterial toxins were analysed using chemical methods and those dates with highest toxin values also had highest cell equivalents as inferred from this microarray study.