Toxic and essential elements in blood from delivering women in selected areas of São Paulo State, Brazil

This study was designed to evaluate the degree of environmental contamination and possible exposure of pregnant women to toxic elements in seven selected areas of S?o Paulo State, Brazil. The overall median concentration of Mo in maternal blood was 0.53 μg L?1, highly significant differences found between sites (p < 0.0001). Cd was found to be low overall - 0.09 μg L?1 (0.01-0.58 μg L?1) - with mothers from the Coastal and Rural 1 sites having the highest levels (p < 0.016).Median Hg concentration was 0.60 μg L?1 (0.06 μg L?1-4.35 μg L?1); median Pb level was 16.2 μg L?1 (3.5-57.7 μg L?1) and no differences between sites were observed for both metals. Median Mn level was 16.7 μg L?1 (7.0-39.7 μg L?1), being highest in Urban 2 site (p < 0.016). Concentrations of maternal Co were found to range between 0.06 μg L?1 and 1.1 μg L?1 (median 0.25 μg L?1) and As level was 0.60 μg L?1 (0.10-3.8 μg L?1) overall, with no statistical significance between sites for Co and As. Median Se concentrations were found to be 64 μg L?1 (36-233 μg L?1), with the highest median levels found in Urban 3 site; site differences were statistically significant (p < 0.0001). Correlation for each element (between paired maternal and cord blood) was measured only in Rural site 1; significant correlation was shown for Hg, Pb, Mn and Co (p < 0.05). These findings may be interpreted as indicating low environmental contamination in S?o Paulo State, Brazil. These findings could also indicate that pregnant women have little or no contact with pollutants, possibly due to awareness campaigns carried out by public health practitioners.     

Exploratory analysis in the evaluation of stress due to aluminum presence in Physalis angulata L. and multielement determination by microwave-induced plasma optical emission spectrometry (MIP OES)

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - The present work aimed to analyze the mineral nutrition of Physalis angulata L. under stress by aluminum in the nutrient solution. The treatments...     

Enhanced biological nitrogen and phosphorus removal from sewage driven by fermented glycerol: comparative assessment between sequencing batch- and continuously fed-structured fixed bed reactor

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - The nutrient biological removal from sewage, especially from anaerobic reactor effluents, still represents a major challenge in conventional sewage...     

Diversity of free-living marine nematodes (Enoplida) from Baja California assessed by integrative taxonomy

We used morphological and molecular approaches to evaluate the diversity of free-living marine nematodes (order Enoplida) at four coastal sites in the Gulf of California and three on the Pacific coast of Baja California, Mexico. We identified 22 morphological species belonging to six families, of which Thoracostomopsidae and Oncholaimidae were the most diverse. The genus Mesacanthion (Thoracostomopsidae) was the most widespread and diverse. Five allopatric species, genetically and morphologically differentiated, were found in two localities in the Gulf of California (M. sp1 and M. sp2) and three in the Pacific coast (M. sp3, M. sp4 and M. sp5). Overall, we produced 19 and 20 sequences for the 18S and 28S genes, respectively. Neither gene displayed intraspecific polymorphisms, which allowed us to establish that some morphological variation was likely either ontogenetic or due to phenotypic plasticity. Although 18S and 28S phylogenies were topologically congruent (incongruence length difference test, P > 0.05), divergences between species were much higher in the 28S gene. Moreover, this gene possessed a stronger phylogenetic signal to resolve relationships involving Rhabdodemania and Bathylaimus. On the other hand, the close relationship of Pareurystomina (Enchilidiidae) with oncholaimids warrants further study. The 28S sequences (D2D3 domain) may be better suited for DNA barcoding of marine nematodes than those from the 18S rDNA, particularly for differentiating closely related or cryptic species. Finally, our results underline the relevance of adopting an integrative approach encompassing morphological and molecular analyses to improve the assessment of marine nematode diversity and advance their taxonomy.     

Parent–offspring dietary segregation of Cory’s shearwaters breeding in contrasting environments

In pelagic seabirds, who often explore distant food resources, information is usually scarce on the level of trophic segregation between parents and their offspring. To investigate this issue, we used GPS tracking, stable isotopes and dietary information of Cory’s shearwaters Calonectris diomedea breeding in contrasting environments. Foraging trips at Selvagem Grande (an oceanic island) mainly targeted the distant African coast, while at Berlenga island (located on the continental shelf), shearwaters foraged mainly over nearby shelf waters. The degree of isotopic segregation between adults and chicks, based on δ¹³C, differed markedly between the two sites, indicating that adult birds at Selvagem fed their chicks with a mixture of shelf and offshore pelagic prey but assimilated more prey captured on coastal shelf waters. Isotopic differences between age classes at Berlenga were much smaller and may have resulted from limited dietary segregation or from age-related metabolic differences. The diet of shearwaters was also very different between the two colonies, with offshore pelagic prey only being detected at Selvagem Grande. Our findings suggest that spatial foraging constraints influence resource partitioning between pelagic seabirds and their offspring and can lead to a parent–offspring dietary segregation.     

Assessing human exposure to aluminium,chromium and vanadium through outdoor dust ingestion in the Bassin Minier de Provence,France

The Western part of the “Bassin Minier de Provence”, a former coal mining area, is still occupied by old polluting industries such as a coal-fired power plant and an alumina factory. The identified pollution sources that raise more concern in the population are the emission of gases and dusts, as well as the storage of raw and transformed materials. In 2011, a preliminary survey was carried out in the area as the first step to an exposure and health risk-assessment study. This first survey intends to assess human exposure through ingestion and health risk associated with potentially harmful elements (PHEs) in ground-level dusts collected in recreational areas used by children. Dust samples were taken at 19 sites distributed across the study area, depending on the location of public parks, public gardens, playgrounds and schools. Pseudo-total concentrations of 53 elements were determined by ICP-MS. Bioaccessible concentrations were estimated using the unified bioaccessibility method. This study presents the results obtained for Al, V and Cr, which seem to be related with industry and show similar distribution patterns. PHEs presumably related to traffic or other urban pollution sources are not discussed in this study. The highest total concentrations occur in dusts near the alumina plant that have significant amounts of Al mineral phases (gibbsite and alumina). However, in these dusts only small fractions of the elements under study are in bioaccessible forms. The highest bioaccessible fractions occur in dusts collected near the coal-fired power plant. Further investigation is required to assess potential pathways of exposure and health risk in this area.     

Ground water contamination with 238U, 234U, 235U, 226Ra and 210Pb from past uranium mining: cove wash,Arizona

The objectives of the study are to present a critical review of the ²³⁸U, ²³⁴U, ²³⁵U, ²²⁶Ra and ²¹⁰Pb levels in water samples from the EPA studies (U.S. EPA in Abandoned uranium mines and the Navajo Nation: Red Valley chapter screening assessment report. Region 9 Superfund Program, San Francisco, 2004, Abandoned uranium mines and the Navajo Nation: Northern aum region screening assessment report. Region 9 Superfund Program, San Francisco, 2006, Health and environmental impacts of uranium contamination, 5-year plan. Region 9 Superfund Program, San Franciso, 2008) and the dose assessment for the population due to ingestion of water containing ²³⁸U and ²³⁴U. The water quality data were taken from Sect. “Data analysis” of the published report, titled Abandoned Uranium Mines Project Arizona, New Mexico, Utah–Navajo Lands 1994–2000, Project Atlas. Total uranium concentration was above the maximum concentration level for drinking water (7.410–1 Bq/L) in 19 % of the water samples, while ²³⁸U and ²³⁴U concentrations were above in 14 and 17 % of the water samples, respectively. ²²⁶Ra and ²¹⁰Pb concentrations in water samples were in the range of 3.7 × 10^?1 to 5.55 × 102 Bq/L and 1.11 to 4.33 × 102 Bq/L, respectively. For only two samples, the ²²⁶Ra concentrations exceeded the MCL for total Ra for drinking water (0.185 Bq/L). However, the ²¹⁰Pb/²²⁶Ra ratios varied from 0.11 to 47.00, and ratios above 1.00 were observed in 71 % of the samples. Secular equilibrium of the natural uranium series was not observed in the data record for most of the water samples. Moreover, the ²³⁵U/^totalU mass ratios ranged from 0.06 to 5.9 %, and the natural mass ratio of ²³⁵U to ^totalU (0.72 %) was observed in only 16 % of the water samples, ratios above or below the natural ratio could not be explained based on data reported by U.S. EPA. In addition, statistical evaluations showed no correlations among the distribution of the radionuclide concentrations in the majority of the water samples, indicating more than one source of contamination could contribute to the sampled sources. The effective doses due to ingestion of the minimum uranium concentrations in water samples exceed the average dose considering inhalation and ingestion of regular diet for other populations around the world (1 μSv/year). The maximum doses due to ingestion of ²³⁸U or ²³⁴U were above the international limit for effective dose for members of the public (1 mSv/year), except for inhabitants of two chapters. The highest effective dose was estimated for inhabitants of Cove, and it was almost 20 times the international limit for members of the public. These results indicate that ingestion of water from some of the sampled sources poses health risks.