Ambient concentrations and source apportionment of PCBs and trace elements around an industrial area in Izmir, Turkey

Atmospheric concentrations of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and trace elements were measured at two sites (Industrial and Urban) located around the Aliaga industrial region, Izmir, Turkey. Average sigma 36PCB concentrations were 3136+/-824 and 1371+/-642 pg m(-3) for summer and winter periods, respectively in the Industrial site and they were 314+/-129 and 847+/-610 pg m(-3) in the Urban site. The elemental content showed that the PM(10) measured at the Industrial site was dominated by terrestrial elements and trace elements emitted by the iron-steel plants (Fe, Zn and Pb). The elemental profile at the Urban site was typical for Aegean Region that was dominated by terrestrial elements (Ca, Al, Mg) and sea salt (Na). Sources of particle-phase PCBs and trace elements were identified using factor analysis (FA) and were apportioned by chemical mass balance (CMB) model. FA suggested that the steel industry, fuel oil combustion, or the nearby vinyl chloride process in the petrochemical plant, and soil were significant PCB sources. CMB results showed that at the Industrial site, the contribution of steel industry and soil to particle-phase PCBs were 71% and 22%, respectively, while at the Urban site, the contributions were 33% and 49%, respectively. Steel industry was also the dominant contributor for trace elements around the site. Fugacity calculations in air and soil showed that the soil acts as a secondary source to the atmosphere for low molecular weight PCBs especially in summer and as a sink for the higher molecular weight ones.     

Ameliorating effect of N-acetylcysteine and curcumin on pesticide-induced oxidative DNA damage in human peripheral blood mononuclear cells

Endosulfan, malathion, and phosphamidon are widely used pesticides. Subchronic exposure to these contaminants commonly affects the central nervous system, immune, gastrointestinal, renal, and reproductive system. There effects have been attributed to increased oxidative stress. This study was conducted to examine the role of oxidative stress in genotoxicity following pesticide exposure using peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) in vitro. Further possible attenuation of genotoxicity was studied using N-acetylcysteine (NAC) and curcumin as known modulators of oxidative stress. Cultured mononuclear cells was isolated from peripheral blood of healthy volunteers, and exposed to varying concentrations of different pesticides: endosulfan, malathion, and phosphamidon for 6, 12, and 24 h. Lipid peroxidation was assessed by cellular malondialdehyde (MDA) level and DNA damage was quantified by measuring 8-hydroxy-2'-deoxyguanosine (8-OH-dG) using ELISA. Both MDA and 8-OH-dG were significantly increased in a dose-dependent manner following treatment with these pesticides. There was a significant decrease in MDA and 8-OH-dG levels in PBMC when co-treated with NAC or/and curcumin as compared to pesticide alone. These results indicate that pesticide-induced oxidative stress is probably responsible for the DNA damage, and NAC or curcumin attenuate this effect by counteracting the oxidative stress.     

Morin protects against acrylamide-induced neurotoxicity in rats: an investigation into different signal pathways

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - The presented study investigates the effects of morin against toxicity induced by acrylamide (ACR) in the brains of Sprague Dawley rats. In this...     

Determination of Pb(II), Zn(II), Cd(II), and Co(II) ions by flame atomic absorption spectrometry in food and water samples after preconcentration by coprecipitation with Mo(VI)-diethyldithiocarbamate

A new, simple, and rapid separation and preconcentration procedure, for determination of Pb(II), Cd(II), Zn(II), and Co(II) ions in environmental real samples, has been developed. The method is based on the combination of coprecipitation of analyte ions by the aid of the Mo(VI)–diethyldithiocarbamate–(Mo(VI)-DDTC) precipitate and flame atomic absorption spectrometric determinations. The effects of experimental conditions like pH of the aqueous solution, amounts of DDTC and Mo(VI), standing time, centrifugation rate and time, sample volume, etc. and also the influences of some foreign ions were investigated in detail on the quantitative recoveries of the analyte ions. The preconcentration factors were found to be 150 for Pb(II), Zn(II) and Co(II), and 200 for Cd(II) ions. The detection limits were in the range of 0.1–2.2 μg L^?1 while the relative standard deviations were found to be lower than 5 % for the studied analyte ions. The accuracy of the method was checked by spiked/recovery tests and the analysis of certified reference material (CRM TMDW-500 Drinking Water). The procedure was successfully applied to seawater and stream water as liquid samples and baby food and dried eggplant as solid samples in order to determine the levels of Pb(II), Cd(II), Zn(II), and Co(II) ions.     

Adaptation and validation of QuEChERS method for the analysis of trifluralin in wind-eroded soil

This study was carried out to develop and validate a reliable analytical procedure for trifluralin analysis in wind-eroded sediments. Soil sediments trapped in BEST sediment traps were subjected to QuEChERS extraction method, incorporating a simple simultaneous cleanup step, followed by trifluralin analysis with GC-ECD. Results revealed that QuEChERS method offered a potential alternative technique for pesticide extraction from soil samples. The validity of analytical method was performed by the method-performance criteria such as, recovery, LOD, LOQ repeatability, precision, and all found to be within the required limits. It was also observed in this study that herbicide concentrations in the wind-eroded sediment did not vary with the time and trap height. Trifluralin concentrations of surface soil after four erosion events were higher (626.05 μg/kg) than wind-eroded soil (450.08 μg/kg).     

Assessing the Impact of Carbon Tax Differentiation in the European Union

To what extent do the welfare costs associated with the implementation of the Burden Sharing Agreement in the European Union depend on sectoral allocation of emissions rights? What are the prospects for strategic climate policy to favor domestic production? This paper attempts to answer those questions using a CGE model featuring a detailed representation of the European economies. First, numerical simulations show that equalizing marginal abatement costs across domestic sectors greatly reduces the burden of the emissions constraint but also that other allocations may be preferable for some countries because of pre-existing tax distortions. Second, we show that the effect of a single country's attempt to undertake a strategic policy to limit impacts on its domestic energy-intensive industries has mixed effects. Exempting energy-intensive industries from the reduction program is a costly solution to maintain the international competitiveness of these industries; a tax-cum-subsidy approach is shown to be better than exemption policy to sustain exports. The welfare impact either policy – exemption or subsidy – on other European countries is likely to be small because of general equilibrium effects.     

External benefits of environmental regulation: Resource recovery and the utilisation of effluents

Summary Since 1977, stringent environmental regulation has been progressively imposed on Malaysia's most polluting industry, the palm oil mills. The impact of the regulation on international trade and producer welfare has been quite small compared to the relative benefits to society in terms of changes in the levels of dissolved oxygen in the industrial effluents. External benefits from pollution abatement have been derived. This paper presents a preliminary evaluation of the derived benefits which have a long- term potential of recycling valuable resources while maintaining competitiveness in the international palm oil trade.Dr Khalid Abdul Rahim is a member of faculty in the Department of Natural Resource Economics at the Universiti Pertanian Malaysia. Wan Mustafa Wan Ali is a research assistant in the Department. This paper is based on part of the "Intensification of Research in Priority Areas" (IRPA) project 1991–95, funded by the Government of Malaysia.     

Lead removal in fixed-bed columns by zeolite and sepiolite

The removal efficiency of zeolite (clinoptilolite) and sepiolite from lead containing aqueous solutions was investigated. A series of experiments were conducted in batch-wise and fixed-bed columns. Synthetic wastewaters containing lead (50 mg l (-1)) and acetic acid (0.001 N) along with untreated and regenerated clinoptilolites and sepiolites were used in the adsorption studies. Batch tests were mainly conducted to isolate the magnitude of lead precipitation from real adsorption. Adsorption isotherms for both abstraction and adsorption were constructed. The removal of lead is found to be a sum of adsorption induced by ion exchange and precipitation of lead hydroxide. The breakthrough curves were obtained under different conditions by plotting the normalized effluent lead concentration (C/C0) versus bed volume (BV). The ion exchange capacity of sepiolite and clinoptilolite for lead removal showed good performance up to approximately 100 and 120 BV where the C/C0 remained below 0.1, respectively. The lead removal capacity of clinoptilolite bed from wastewater containing only lead yielded 45% higher performance compared to that of acetic acid partly due to a decrease in the effluent pH and consequently in precipitation. Also, the presence of acetic acid in the sepiolite column decreased the bed volumes treated by about 40%. Removal efficiency of lead-acetic system both in untreated clinoptilolite and sepiolite columns was found higher than that in regenerated columns.