Social consequences associated with the use of various optimization methods in the protection of air quality

The fundamental tactics employed by the EU against air contamination, which are intended to maintain concentrations at a level that does not exceed the permissible values, usually entail considerable expense. To reduce this to a minimum, the procedure of economic optimization of air quality can be applied. When performed for a heavily polluted industrial city, it shows that it is possible to maintain concentrations below the threshold of air quality standards with relatively moderate expenditure. These evaluations also reveal that variations in population density distribution call into question the conventional wisdom that uniform air quality standards provide the best protection against air contamination for a whole region. On the contrary, an optimization that forces a drop in concentration to be evenly spread over the population, without reference to air quality standards, may lead to more efficient protection of human health and make no difference to overall expenditure.     

Health Risk Assessment of Occupational Exposure to a Magnetic Field From Magnetic Resonance Imaging Devices

Health care staff who operate magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) devices are exposed to a static magnetic field of significant spatial heterogenity always produced by MRI magnets during the whole shift. They can also be exposed to pulses of a time-varying magnetic field (gradient field) present only during patients’ examinations. The level of the workers’ exposure depends both on the type of the magnet and on the ergonomic design of each MRI device.

The paper presents methods used for measuring and assessing workers’ exposure. It also discusses the results of inspection measurements carried out next to approximately 20 MRI devices of approximately 0.2–2.0 T. The presented characteristic and overview of the variability of workers’ exposure to a variety of MRI devices supports the need for data on monitoring occupational exposure to MRI. International exposure assessment standards and guidelines (International Commission on Non-Ionizing Radiation Protection [ICNIRP], Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers [IEEE], American Conference of Governmental and Industrial Hygienists [ACGIH], European Commission directive), and those established in Poland are also compared.     

Measuring coupling forces woodcutters exert on saws in real working conditions

Prolonged exposure to hand-arm vibration (HAV) generated by chainsaws can cause HAV syndrome, i.e., disorders in the upper extremities of forestry workers. Progress of HAV syndrome depends on the intensity of mechanical vibration transmitted throughout the body, which is directly proportional to coupling forces applied by the woodcutter to a vibrating tool. This study aimed to establish a method of measuring coupling forces exerted by chainsaw workers in real working conditions. Coupling forces exerted by workers with their right and left hands were measured with a hydro-electronic force meter. Wood hardness, the type of chainsaw and the kind of forest operation, i.e., felling, cross-cutting or limbing, were considered.     

Energy-efficient removal of carbamazepine in solution by electrocoagulation-electrofenton using a novel P-rGO cathode

In this study,carbamazepine(CBZ) decay in solution has been studied by coupling electrocoagulation with electro-Fenton(EC-EF) with a novel P-rGO/carbon felt(CF) cathode,aiming to accelerate the in-situ generation of ·OH,instead of adding Fe²⁺ and H₂ O₂.Firstly,the fabricated P-rGO and its derived cathode were characterized by XRD,SEM,AFM,XPS and electrochemical test(EIS,CV and LSV).Secondly,it was confirmed that the performance in removal efficiency and electric ...     

Sulfadimethoxine and sulfaguanidine: their sorption potential on natural soils

Sulfonamides (SAs) are one of the oldest groups of veterinary chemotherapeutic agents. As these compounds are not completely metabolized in animals, a high proportion of the native form is excreted in feces and urine. They are therefore released either directly to the environment in aquacultures and by grazing animals, or indirectly during the application of manure or slurry. Once released into the environment, SAs become distributed among various environmental compartments and may be transported to surface or ground waters. The physicochemical properties of SAs, dosage and nature of the matrix are the factors mainly responsible for their distribution in the natural environment. Although these rather polar compounds have been in use for over half a century, knowledge of their fate and behavior in soil ecosystems is still limited. Therefore, in this work we have determined the sorption potential of sulfadimethoxine and sulfaguanidine on various natural soils. The influence on sorption of external factors, such as ionic strength and pH, were also determined. The sorption coefficients (K_d) obtained for the sulfonamides investigated were quite low (from 0.20 to 381.17 mL g⁻¹ for sulfadimethoxine and from 0.39 to 35.09 mL g⁻¹ for sulfaguanidine), which indicated that these substances are highly mobile and have the potential to run off into surface waters and/or infiltrate ground water. Moreover, the sorption of these pharmaceuticals was found to be influenced by OC, soil solution pH and ionic strength, with higher K_d values for soils of higher OC and lower K_d values with increasing pH and ionic strength.     

Elemental concentrations in aerosols at the Belgian coast versus seasons and air mass trajectories

Marine aerosols have extensively been monitored in the framework of a research project to investigate the inorganic and organic nutrient fluxes of the atmospheric nitrogen input into the North Sea. As a part of this project bulk analysis was also performed by energy dispersive X-ray fluorescence (EDXRF) on a total of 366 samples in order to provide detailed elemental composition. Samples have been clustered per campaign and differences were related to backward trajectories. Elements as Cl, Si, and S appeared to be the best tracers for coastal aerosols. Therefore they have been chosen to represent each campaign and to map the seasonal variations. It is clear that Cl is an excellent tracer for oceanic trajectories, while a less clear correlation between the soil dust components and the air mass trajectories is found.     

Biodegradable Polymer Composites as Coating Materials for Granular Fertilizers

The composites consisting of poly(vinyl alcohol), horn meal, rapeseed cake, glycerol and phosphogypsum were proposed for the encapsulation of mineral fertilizers. Poly(vinyl alcohol) was used as a binder. The other components making ca. 70% of the mass of the composites were waste materials or by-products. They contain phosphorus, nitrogen, calcium, potassium and sulphur, which are useful nutrients for plants. The effect of the amount of glycerol and of the composition of the mixture of the fillers on the mechanical, sorption properties, water vapour permeability, solubility in water, dimensional stability of the composite films was studied. The addition of phosphogypsum and increase of the concentration of glycerol in the composites lead to the decrease of the tensile strength, water vapour permeability and to the increase of elongation at break and of the solubility of the composite films in water. The composites prepared were used for encapsulation of fertilizers. It was established that encapsulation resulted in the increase of the time of release of the fertilizers. In addition, encapsulation improved mechanical properties of the fertilizers. The fertilizer granules were coated with composite films and tested in the cultivation of tomato sprouts. They showed considerable positive effect on the development of the roots of the plants.     

Investigation of the usage of centrifuging waste of mineral wool melt (CMWW), contaminated with phenol and formaldehyde,in manufacturing of ceramic products

Large amounts of centrifuging waste of mineral wool melt (CMWW) are created during the production of mineral wool. CMWW is technogenic aluminum silicate raw material, formed from the particles of undefibred melt (60–70%) and mineral wool fibers (30–40%). 0.3–0.6% of organic binder with phenol and formaldehyde in its composition exists in this material. Objective of the research is to investigate the possibility to use CMWW as an additive for the production of ceramic products, by neutralising phenol and formaldehyde existing in CMWW. Formation masses were prepared by incorporating 10%, 20% and 30% of CMWW additive and burned at various temperatures. It was identified that the amount of 10–30% of CMWW additive influences the following physical and mechanical properties of the ceramic body: lowers drying and firing shrinkage, density, increases compressive strength and water absorption. Investigations carried out show that CMWW waste can be used for the production of ceramic products of various purposes.