PCDD/Fs in ambient air in north-east Italy: The role of a MSWI inside an industrial area

The stack gases of a municipal solid waste incinerator (MSWI), and ambient air were sampled in four locations around the plant for the analysis of polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins and polychlorinated dibenzofurans (PCDDs/Fs). The sampling area was close to an industrial area near Trieste, in north-east Italy. The purpose of the study was to estimate the impact of the MSWI emissions and to distinguish the contribution of these emissions from other potential emission sources in the industrial area.PCDD/F atmospheric concentrations were similar to those generally detected in urban–rural areas with one location about 2–3 times more contaminated than the others. Since the most contaminated location was inside the industrial area but upwind of the MSWI, principal component analysis (PCA) was used to establish whether other sources were the cause. This analysis clearly showed that a local steel plant’s emission was the main source of PCDDs/Fs in ambient air. This study highlights the usefulness of multivariate data analysis such as PCA to identify, among different potential emission sources, the one really responsible for the contamination.     

Darcian preferential water flow and solute transport through bimodal porous systems: Experiments and modelling

Soils often exhibit a variety of small-scale heterogeneities such as inter-aggregate pores and voids which partition flow into separate regions. In this paper a methodological approach is discussed for characterizing the hydrological behaviour of a heterogeneous clayey–sandy soil in the presence of structural inter-aggregate pores. For the clay soil examined, it was demonstrated that, coupling the transfer function approach for analyzing BTCs and water retention data obtained with different methods from laboratory studies captures the bimodal geometry of the porous system along with the related existence of fast and slow flow paths. To be effectively and reliably applied this approach requires that the predominant effects of the soil hydrological behaviour near saturation be supported by accurate experimental data of both breakthrough curves (BTCs) and hydraulic functions for high water content values. This would allow the separation of flow phases and hence accurate identification of the processes and related parameters.     

Distribution of Cd and As in organs and tissues of four marine mammal species stranded along the Italian coasts

Concentrations of Cd and As were determined in organs and tissues (muscle, heart, kidney, lung and liver) of four cetacean species (Stenella coeruleoalba, Truncatus truncatus, Grampus griseus and Ziphius cavirostris) stranded along the Italian coasts during the period 2000-2009. Significant differences were found between Cd concentrations in the different analysed tissues. Particularly, the kidney shows the highest concentrations of Cd in all analysed specimens, followed by the liver. No systematic or statistically significant difference in As concentrations was found in the analysed tissues. Considerable differences of Cd and As values in samples from different geographical areas (Sicily Channel, Adriatic Sea and Tyrrhenian Sea) were found, with the highest values measured in samples from the Sicily Channel. This basically suggests that anthropogenic and natural sources significantly affect Cd and As content in cetaceans.     

In vivo microspectroscopy monitoring of chromium effects on the photosynthetic and photoreceptive apparatus of Eudorina unicocca and Chlorella kessleri

In microorganisms and plants, chromium (Cr) is not essential for any metabolic process, and can ultimately prove highly deleterious. Due to its widespread industrial use, chromium has become a serious pollutant in diverse environmental settings. The presence of Cr leads to the selection of specific algal populations able to tolerate high levels of Cr compounds. The varying Cr-resistance mechanisms displayed by microorganisms include biosorption, diminished accumulation, precipitation, reduction of Cr(6+) to Cr(3+), and chromate efflux. In this paper we describe the effects of Cr(6+) (the most toxic species) on the photosynthetic and photoreceptive apparatus of two fresh water microalgae, Eudorina unicocca and Chlorella kessleri. We measured the effect of this heavy metal by means of in vivo absorption microspectroscopy of both the thylakoid compartments and the eyespot. The decomposition of the overall absorption spectra in pigment constituents indicates that Cr(6+) effects are very different in the two algae. In E. unicocca the metal induced a complete pheophinitization of the chlorophylls and a modification of the carotenoids present in the eyespot after only 120 h of exposition at a concentration equal or greater than 40 microM, which is the limit for total Cr discharge established by US EPA regulations. In C. kessleri, chromium concentrations a hundred times higher than this limit had no effect on the photosynthetic machinery. The different tolerance level of the two algae is suggested to be due to the different properties of the mucilaginous envelope and cell wall covering, respectively, the colonies of Eudorina and the single cells of Chlorella, which binds chromium cations to a different extent.     

Heavy metal (As,Cd, Hg,Pb, Cu,Zn, Se) concentrations in muscle and bone of four commercial fish caught in the central Adriatic Sea,Italy

Heavy metal (As, Cd, Cu, Pb, Zn, Hg and Se) concentrations in the muscle and bone of four fish species (Mullus barbatus, Merluccius merluccius, Micromesistius poutassou, and Scomber scombrus) from the central Adriatic Sea were measured and the relationships between fish size (length and weight) and metal concentrations in the tissues were investigated. Samples were analyzed by inductively coupled plasma-atomic emission spectrophotometry with automatic dual viewing. In the muscle, results of linear regression analysis showed that, except for mercury, significant relationships between metal concentrations and fish size were negative. Only mercury levels were positively correlated with Atlantic mackerel size (p?<?0.05). No significant variations of heavy metal concentrations were observed in muscles of the examined species, but a significant difference (p?<?0.01) was found for As, Cd, Pb, and Se concentrations in bone. All the investigated metals showed higher values in the muscle than in bone, except for lead and zinc. Regarding cadmium, lead, and mercury maximum levels, set for the edible portion by European legislation, several samples exceeded these values, confirming the heavy metal presence in species caught near the Jabuka Pit.     

Preliminary evaluation of insecticide resistance in a strain of Musca domestica (Diptera: Muscidae) from an intensive chicken farm of Northern Italy

The house fly, Musca domestica L., a relevant sanitary pest, is mainly controlled by insecticides. However, an inappropriate use of chemicals may induce resistance, treatment efficacy decline and environmental damages. We evaluated toxicity of some organophosphates, pyrethroids, spinosad and neonicotinoids by topical applications on adults of a M. domestica strain (OcRo) collected from an intensive chicken farm in Northern Italy, in comparison to a susceptible strain (s-DBF). The OcRo strain exhibited higher levels of resistance (RR??) to four pesticides in comparison to s-DBF. Spinosad and imidacloprid had very low RR??, thus were still efficient in OcRo control. We also tested resistance to pesticides in OcRo after topical applications of synergistic compounds. Hydrolases were involved in phosphorganic detoxification and cytochrome P450 monoxygenases in that of pyrethroids. These results indicate that OcRo strain is now multiresistant to organophosphates and pyrethroids, and this should be considered for an environmentally safe pest management.     

Insecticidal activity and fungitoxicity of plant extracts and components of horseradish (Armoracia rusticana) and garlic (Allium sativum)

To avoid environmental pollution and health problems caused by the use of traditional synthetic pesticides, there is a trend to search for naturally occurring toxicants from plants. Among the compounds discussed for anti-fungal and insecticidal activity, the natural extracts from garlic and horseradish have attracted considerable attention. The objective of this study is to determine the insecticidal and anti-fungal activity of Armoracia rusticana and Allium sativum L. extracts against larvae of Aedes albopictus (Skuse) and some pathogenic fungi. For the insecticidal test, horseradish and garlic extracts were prepared from fresh plants (cultivated in Emilia Romagna region) in a solution of ethanol 80 % and the two different solutions were used at different concentrations (for the determination of the lethal dose) against the fourth instar mosquito's larvae. The fungicidal test was carried out by the agar plates technique using garlic and horseradish extracts in a 10 % ethanol solution against the following organisms: Sclerotium rolfsii Sacc., Trichoderma longibrachiatum, Botrytis cinerea Pers., Fusarium oxysporum Schlecht. and Fusarium culmorum (Wm. G. Sm.) Sacc. The first results demonstrated that the horseradish ethanol extracts present only a fungistatic activity against Sclerotium rolfsii Sacc., Fusarium oxysporum Schlecht. and F. culmorum (Wm.G. Sm) Sacc. while garlic extracts at the same concentration provided a good fungicidal activity above all against Botrytis cinerea Pers. and S. rolfsii. A. rusticana and A. sativum preparations showed also an interesting and significant insecticidal activity against larvae of A. albopictus, even if horseradish presented a higher efficacy (LC?? value of 2.34 g/L), approximately two times higher than garlic one (LC?? value of 4.48 g/L).     

Understanding the security management practices of humanitarian organizations

Humanitarian organisations operate in increasingly hostile environments. Although authoritative statistics are scarce, anecdotal evidence suggests that aid workers face life-threatening risks that are exacerbated by the growing number of humanitarian organisations operating in the field, the diversity of their mandates, the lack of common professional security standards, and limited success in inter-agency security coordination. Despite broad acceptance of the need for better security management and coordination, many humanitarian organisations remain ambivalent about devoting increased resources to security management and security coordination. A critical lack of basic empirical knowledge of the field security environment hampers efforts to enhance security management practices. The absence of a systematic means of sharing incident data undermines the capacity of the humanitarian community to address proactively security threats. In discussions about humanitarian staff safety and security, the least common denominator remains cumulative anecdotal evidence provided by the many security personnel working for humanitarian organisations in the feld.     

Minor crops for export: A case study of boscalid,pyraclostrobin, lufenuron and lambda-cyhalothrin residue levels on green beans and spring onions in Egypt

Dissipation rates of boscalid [2-chloro-N-(4′ -chlorobiphenyl-2-yl)nicotinamide], pyraclostrobin [methyl 2-[1-(4-chlorophenyl) pyrazol-3-yloxymethyl]-N-methoxycarbanilate], lufenuron [(RS)-1-[2,5-dichloro-4-(1,1,2,3,3,3-hexafluoropropoxy)phenyl]-3-(2,6-difluorobenzoyl)urea] and λ-cyhalothrin [(R)-cyano(3-phenoxyphenyl)methyl (1S,3S)-rel-3-[(1Z)-2-chloro-3,3,3-trifluoro-1-propenyl]-2,2-dimethylcyclopropanecarboxylate] in green beans and spring onions under Egyptian field conditions were studied. Field trials were carried out in 2008 in a Blue Nile farm, located at 70 kilometer (km) from Cairo (Egypt). The pesticides were sprayed at the recommended rate and samples were collected at pre-determined intervals. After treatment (T₀) the pesticide residues in green beans were 7 times lower than in spring onions. This is due to a different structure of vegetable plant in the two crops. In spring onions, half-life (t_1/2) of pyraclostrobin and lufenuron was 3.1 days and 9.8 days respectively. At day 14th (T₁₄) after treatment boscalid residues were below the Maximum Residue Limit (MRL) (0.34 versus 0.5 mg/kg), pyraclostrobin and λ -cyhalothrin residues were not detectable (ND), while lufenuron residues were above the MRL (0.06 versus 0.02 mg/kg). In green beans, at T₀, levels of boscalid, lufenuron and λ -cyhalothrin were below the MRL (0.28 versus 2 mg/kg; ND versus 0.02 mg/kg; 0.06 versus 0.2 mg/kg, respectively) while, after 7 days treatment (T₇) pyraclostrobin residues were above the MRL (0.03 versus 0.02 mg/kg). However, after 14 days the residue level could go below the MRL (0.02 mg/kg), as observed in spring onions.