Industrial and wildfire aerosol pollution over world heritage Lake Baikal

Lake Baikal is the biggest reservoir of fresh water with unique flora and fauna; presently it is negatively affected by climate change, water warming, industrial emissions, shipping, touristic activities, and Siberian forest fires. The assessment of air pollution - related Baikal's ecosystem damage is an unsolved problem. Ship, based expedition exploring the Baikal atmospheric aerosol loading, was performed over the lake area in July 2018. We combine the aerosol near - water and vertical distributions over the Lake Baikal basin with meteorological observations and air mass transportation simulations. Lidar sounding of aerosol fields in the troposphere assesses the atmospheric background in the pristine areas and the pollution during fire-affected periods. Aerosol optical properties (scattering and spectral absorption) converted to the particle number size, black carbon (BC) mass, and Absorption Angstrom Exponent (AAE) provide the inside into aerosol characterization. Transport of industrial emissions from Krasnoyarsk and Irkutsk regions, and wildfire plumes from Republic of Yakutia relates the pollution sources to the increased concentrations of fine particle numbers, PM₁₀ and BC mass over Southern and Northern/Central Baikal, respectively. The highest PM₁₀ and BC are associated to the harbor and touristic areas of intensive shipping and residential biomass burning. Deposition estimates applied to aerosol data exhibit the pollution fluxes to water surface over the whole Baikal area. AAE marks the impact of coal combustion, residential biomass burning, and wildfires indicating the high pollution level of the Lake Baikal ecological system .     

State of the art in the analysis of brominated flame retardants in biota and sediment: insights from the characterisation of two new certified reference materials

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - The Joint Research Centre (JRC) of the European Commission has recently released two new Certified Reference Materials (CRMs) for the analysis of...     

Hazardous and essential trace elements profile in the different soft tissues of Lithophaga lithophaga (Linnaeus, 1758) from Southern Adriatic Sea (Italy)

A characterization study of 7 hazardous (Hg, Pb, Cd, As, Cr, U, and Ni) and 11 essential (Co, Mo, Se, Cu, Zn, V, Ca, Al, Sr, Mn, and Fe) trace elements in date mussels (Lithophaga lithophaga,Linnaeus, 1758) was carried out by inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometer. Date mussels (231 individuals), caught in the Gulf of Manfredonia (Southern Italy), were divided into 4 size-related groups. The different tissues (muscle, stomach, hepatopancreas and rest of soft tissues) were separated and analyzed to study the capability of absorption of this species. No particular differences were reported on the basis of the shell size; the soft tissues play an important role on the accumulation levels of hazardous and essential trace elements. These marine animals may be considered a good bioindicator of marine environmental pollution for their longevity and habitat permanence peculiarities.     

Modelling spatial patterns of correlations between concentrations of heavy metals in mosses and atmospheric deposition in 2010 across Europe

Background

This paper aims to investigate the correlations between the concentrations of nine heavy metals in moss and atmospheric deposition within ecological land classes covering Europe. Additionally, it is examined to what extent the statistical relations are affected by the land use around the moss sampling sites. Based on moss data collected in 2010/2011 throughout Europe and data on total atmospheric deposition modelled by two chemical transport models (EMEP MSC-E, LOTOS-EUROS), correlation coefficients between concentrations of heavy metals in moss and in modelled atmospheric deposition were specified for spatial subsamples defined by ecological land classes of Europe (ELCE) as a spatial reference system. Linear discriminant analysis (LDA) and logistic regression (LR) were then used to separate moss sampling sites regarding their contribution to the strength of correlation considering the areal percentage of urban, agricultural and forestry land use around the sampling location. After verification LDA models by LR, LDA models were used to transform spatial information on the land use to maps of potential correlation levels, applicable for future network planning in the European Moss Survey.

Results

Correlations between concentrations of heavy metals in moss and in modelled atmospheric deposition were found to be specific for elements and ELCE units. Land use around the sampling sites mainly influences the correlation level. Small radiuses around the sampling sites examined (5 km) are more relevant for Cd, Cu, Ni, and Zn, while the areal percentage of urban and agricultural land use within large radiuses (75–100 km) is more relevant for As, Cr, Hg, Pb, and V. Most valid LDA models pattern with error rates of <?40% were found for As, Cr, Cu, Hg, Pb, and V. Land use-dependent predictions of spatial patterns split up Europe into investigation areas revealing potentially high (=?above-average) or low (=?below-average) correlation coefficients.

Conclusions

LDA is an eligible method identifying and ranking boundary conditions of correlations between atmospheric deposition and respective concentrations of heavy metals in moss and related mapping considering the influence of the land use around moss sampling sites.

     

The toxic effect of CuO of different dispersion degrees on the structure and ultrastructure of spring barley cells (Hordeum sativum distichum)

Environmental Geochemistry and Health - Nowadays, nanotechnology is one of the most dynamically developing and most promising technologies. However, the safety issues of using metal nanoparticles,...     

Transformation of copper oxide and copper oxide nanoparticles in the soil and their accumulation by Hordeum sativum

Environmental Geochemistry and Health - In recent years, the study of the influence of nanoparticles (NPs) on the environment has attracted much interest as nanotechnology is becoming the key...     

Distribution of potentially harmful elements in soils around a large coal-fired power plant

An understanding of the spatial distribution and contribution of a power plant to local soil contamination is important for the planning of soil use and prioritizing remedial actions for public safety. Consequently, the aim of this study was to map the spatial distribution of potentially hazardous elements (PHEs; Cu, Pb, Zn, Ni, Cr, Fe, Mn, Cd, As, and Se) in soils around a large (796 MW) coal-fired power plant in Brazil. For the purpose, 33 soil samples were collected in the area within a radius of approximately 17.5 km from the plant and subsequently analyzed for PHEs. The frequency and direction of winds were also obtained from a meteorological station in the region. The sampling area was divided into four quadrants (northwest: N-NW; northeast: N-NE; southeast: S-SE; southwest: S-SW), and there were significant negative correlations between the distance and the concentrations of Se in the S-SE quadrant and As in the S-SW and S-SE quadrants. There were positive correlations between distance from the plant and the concentration of Mn in the N-NE quadrant and the concentration of Cd in the S-SW quadrant. The dominant direction of the winds was N-NE. The indexes used in this study showed low-to-moderate enrichment factor, but detailed analysis of the dominant quadrant of the winds showed a correlation with higher concentrations in the soils closer to the power plant for at least seven of the PHEs analyzed, especially with regard to As. Therefore, we conclude that the distribution of the metalloid As can be used as a marker of the spatial distribution of contamination from the thermoelectric plant, but the dynamics of the other elements suggests that the presence of other sources of contamination may also compromise the quality of local soils.

     

Thermal valorisation of automobile shredder residue: injection in blast furnace

Wastes with residual heating value, according to the trend of the world legislation, could be thermally reused. The present study is conducted to verify the possibility of thermal valorisation of a waste, denominated fluff, by injection in blast furnace. The fluff, arising from the automobile shredder operations, is a waste characterised by a high organic matrix and is potentially dangerous due to the heavy metals, oils filter and halogenated plastics content. The first step of the work is the chemical, physical and toxicological characterisation of this material. Then the fluff injection in a blast furnace tuyere is theoretically analysed with a mathematical model. Finally, experimental trials are conducted in a pilot plant, simulating the most important part of the blast furnace: the raceway, in order to analyse process and industrial aspects. In view of an industrial application a first economical evaluation is carried out on the basis of model and experimental results.     

Results of the European Commission Marina II study: part II--effects of discharges of naturally occurring radioactive material

Enhanced levels of naturally occurring radioactive materials (NORM) are produced through various industrial operations and may lead to discharges to the marine environment. A recent study, called MARINA II, carried out for the European Commission considered discharges of radionuclides from the NORM industries to north European marine waters and their consequences. There are two main sources that were considered in the study. The use of phosphogypsum during the production of phosphoric acid by the fertiliser industry and the pumping of oil and gas from the continental shelf in the North Sea which produces large quantities of water contaminated with enhanced levels of naturally occurring radionuclides. Discharges of alpha emitting radionuclides from these two industries have contributed significantly to the total input of alpha emitters to north European waters over the period 1981-2000 (data were not available prior to 1981). Discharges due to the use of phosphogypsum have declined since the early 1990s and are now very low. Discharges from the oil and gas industries stabilised in the second half of the 1990s and are now the major contributor to alpha discharges to the region. As most European countries do not report discharges of radioactivity with the water produced during extraction, there is considerable uncertainty in the discharges used in the study. The impact of the discharges has been estimated both in terms of the effect on non-human biota and the radiological impact for people. In the 1980s the radiation dose rates to marine biota in the region around a phosphate plant on the north-west coast of England were as high due to the discharges from the phosphate plant as those near to the Sellafield reprocessing plant due to its discharges. In recent years the additional dose to marine biota in this region due to the past NORM discharges is of the same order of magnitude as the natural background. The collective dose rate was estimated to determine the radiological impact on people. The peak collective dose rate from the NORM industries occurred in 1984 and was just over 600 manSv y(-1). The collective dose rate fell with time as discharges from the phosphate industry reduced and was estimated as under 200 manSv y(-1) in 2000.     

Comparison of the Activity of Alcohol-Based Handrubs Against Human Noroviruses Using the Fingerpad Method and Quantitative Real-Time PCR

Noroviruses (NoV) are the most common cause of acute nonbacterial gastroenteritis in the United States, and human hands play an important role in their transmission. Little is known about the efficacy of hand hygiene agents against these highly infectious pathogens. We investigated the activity of seven commercially available hand hygiene products against human noroviruses by in vivo fingerpad tests. The in vivo activity of alcohol-based handrubs ranged from 0.10 to 3.74 log reduction and was not solely dependent on alcohol concentration. A handrub (VF481) based on 70% ethanol and a blend of other skin care ingredients reduced Norwalk virus (NV) by 3.74 log in 15 s and provided significantly greater NV reduction than all the other products tested (P < 0.001). Furthermore, VF481 was the most effective product tested against the NoV genogroup II strains Snow Mountain virus (GII.2) and a GII.4 strain. These results demonstrate that alcohol by itself is not effective against NoV, but effective formulation of alcohol-based handrubs can achieve significant reduction of norovirus RNA on fingers.