Insight into selected emerging micropollutant interactions with wastewater colloidal organic carbon: implications for water treatment and analysis

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - This study reports how adding a membrane filter (0.45-μm cellulose nitrate filter) between a glass fibre filter and the solid phase extraction...     

Utilization of Natural Oils for Decomposition of Polyurethanes

The model polyurethane foam and model compact polyurethane material were prepared and then decomposed by means of natural oils. Castor oil and fish oil based polyol were used in this study. Optimal conditions for the polyurethane decomposition were found. Temperature 250 °C was necessary for efficient polyurethane decomposition by castor oil whereas 200 °C is sufficient in the case of fish oil based polyol. Prepared products have hydroxyl number in the range of 95–168 mg KOH g⁻¹. During the polyurethane decomposition no cleavage of double bonds in the fatty acid chains of castor oil and fish oil based polyol was observed.     

Environmental human silver exposure

Environmental exposure to silver (Ag) was assessed in occupationally non-exposed adult human population by analyzing Ag in the hair (H?·?Ag) and whole blood (WB?·?Ag). H?·?Ag was analyzed in 311 (123 men, M; 188 women, W); while WB?·?Ag was determined in 235 of these individuals (90 M, 145 W). Women had more H?·?Ag than men (M 0.05 vs. W 0.076), whereas WB?·?Ag concentrations in men and women were not significantly different. A natural distribution of the median derivatives was utilized to generate the dataset to fit the logistic sigmoid curve to assess the current human body burden of environmental Ag population exposure for M and W separately. The H?·?Ag (µg?g^?1) below 0.0105 for M and 0.0145 for W, reflects low level of environmental Ag exposure. The adaptive physiological saturation phase followed where H?·?Ag rose rapidly, first for M and then for W in parallel with biological assay. Both parallel saturation curves converged and plateaued at 0.215 for M and 0.965 for W (µg?g^?1). The current level of human environmental Ag exposure is low, but cases of high Ag exposure occurred sporadically. In conjunction with the medical histories overt clinical neural toxicity may be expected for H?·?Ag at 4?µg?g^?1and higher. There were no significant correlation between the H?·?Ag and WB?·?Ag.     

Degradation of methyl-phenanthrene isomers during bioremediation of soil contaminated by residual fuel oil

Phenanthrene and methyl-phenanthrenes are major aromatic pollutants originating in particular from fuel oil. Phenanthrene is usually degraded faster than methyl-phenanthrenes under geological and environmental conditions. Here, we report a preferential and accelerated biodegradation of methyl-phenanthrenes versus phenanthrene in soil contaminated by fuel oil. The polluted soil was mixed with sawdust and sand to form a homogenized biopile. The biopile was continuously sprayed with microbial consortia isolated from crude oil?Ccontaminated soil and treated by biosurfactants and nutritive substances for biostimulation. During a 6-month bioremediation experiment, a steady increase in the relative abundance of phenanthrene compared to methyl-phenathrenes was observed by gas chromatography?Cmass spectrometry. The increase was the highest for trimethyl-phenanthrenes, with a phenanthrene/trimethyl-phenanthrenes ratio increasing from 0.42 to 2.45. By contrast, the control, non-stimulated samples showed a ratio decrease from 0.85 to 0.11. Moreover, the results showed that the level of degradability depends on the number of methyl groups.     

Short-term responses of soil chemistry, needle macronutrients and tree growth to clinker dust and fertiliser in a stand of Scots pine

Waste management of clinker dust by spreading it on forest soil was studied in a 25-year-old Scots pine stand on acidic sandy soil. Clinker dust (0.5 kg m?2), fertiliser (N, P, K, Mg, 0.05 kg m?2; N 190 kg ha?1) and untreated soil were applied on 120-m2 plots in four replicates. The fertiliser was included to confirm the nutrient limitation in the stand. Clinker dust increased the soil pH by 1.2 units relative to the pH of 4.6 in the untreated soil by the second year. Soil K and Mg concentrations were larger in the dust and fertiliser treatments. Nutrient diagnostics indicated that needles of untreated trees were deficient in N and K. Fertiliser treatment indicated that the growth of trees was limited by N, since the fertiliser tended to increase needle K, N, N/P, needle dry mass and diameters of stem and shoots. By an auxiliary dataset, no effects of the dust and fertiliser on possible excess of the micronutrient Mn were observed. Clinker dust increased needle K concentration, but due to the N limitation, there was no increase in the growth of stems, branches, shoots and needles. It was concluded that in plots of 120 m2 application of clinker dust at a rate of 0.5 kg m?2 was safe for the 21-year-old Scots pine stand in this trial on an acid nutrient-poor sandy soil during 4 years after the treatment.     

Perceived mastery climate,felt trust,and knowledge sharing

Interpersonal trust is associated with a range of adaptive outcomes, including knowledge sharing. However, to date, our knowledge of antecedents and consequences of employees feeling trusted by supervisors in organizations remains limited. On the basis of a multisource, multiwave field study among 956 employees from 5 Norwegian organizations, we examined the predictive roles of perceived mastery climate and employee felt trust for employees' knowledge sharing. Drawing on the achievement goal theory, we develop and test a model to demonstrate that when employees perceive a mastery climate, they are more likely to feel trusted by their supervisors at both the individual and group levels. Moreover, the relationship between employees' perceptions of a mastery climate and supervisor‐rated knowledge sharing is mediated by perceptions of being trusted by the supervisor. Theoretical contributions and practical implications of our findings are discussed.     

Biochemical biomarkers in environmental studies—lessons learnt from enzymes catalase,glutathione <Emphasis Type="Italic">S</Emphasis>-transferase and cholinesterase in two crustacean species

Background, aim and scope  

For reliable environmental risk assessment of pollutants, knowledge on the effects at different levels of biological organisation is needed. During the early days of biomarker research in environmental studies approximately two decades ago, biochemical biomarkers were considered as the most promising tool for such purposes. Among these, three enzymes have often been studied: catalase (CAT), glutathione S-transferase (GST) and cholinesterase (ChE). However, despite their intensive research, their measurements in invertebrates have not been commonly applied in environmental risk assessment (ERA) or for regulatory purposes.     

Think globally,act locally: neighbourhood pollution and the future of the earth

Each year governments and industry around the globe spend billions of dollars in search of treatments and cures for diseases that shorten lives, which often means gadgets, implants, radiation and pills. These “cures”, do not get to the root of the problem. Perhaps it is time for us to adjust our thinking to be more proactive instead of reactive in public health. Perhaps we need to consider confronting environmental pollution of air, soil and water at a local level. As the Physicians for Social Responsibility point out, we should be “preventing what we cannot cure”. One such preventive measure is ensuring that our communities, including our poor inner-city neighbourhoods, enjoy a clean environment. We challenge local and national policy-makers to respond to the global call and to take action to address environmental toxins; to take local action to ameliorate the pollution of the air, water and soil in so many of our nation’s neighbourhoods. A person’s neighbourhood, and the proximity of dangerous environmental contaminants within it, is a powerful predictor of how long s/he will live. While situations like the poisoning of the water in Flint, Michigan have gotten some attention, they are generally treated as the exception rather than a reflection of real environmental hazards that exist in the west. Moreover we wonder why more endemic issues of neighbourhood environmental contamination that shorten human lives are not a priority for local action or that it is not linked to disproportionate production of greenhouse gases that cause climate change/warming/chaos.