Evaluation of ecological risk,source, and spatial distribution of some heavy metals in marine sediments in the Middle and Eastern Black Sea region,Turkey

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - In the present study, the concentration levels of heavy metals such as Mn, Fe, Ni, Cu, Zn, Cr, and Pb in sediment samples collected from 16 sampling...     

The risk estimation and assessment of heavy metal exposure by biomonitoring in the breast milk of mothers in the Cukurova Region,Turkey

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - Toxic heavy metals released into the environment through various industrial processes have potential adverse effects on the environment and human...     

Modeling oil price uncertainty effects on economic growth in Mexico: a sector-level analysis

This paper analyzes the impact of international oil price uncertainty on the different economic sectors (primary, secondary, and tertiary) in Mexico in the period 1993:1–2020:4 through a bivariate structural vector autoregressive (VAR) model with a generalized autoregressive conditional heteroskedasticity (GARCH) in mean to capture the impact of oil volatility on economic growth at the sectoral level of economic activity. The results show that the uncertainty of the international price of oil has a differentiated effect on the different sectors of economic activity in Mexico since it does not influence the primary sector; it negatively impacts the secondary sector, and there is mixed evidence in the tertiary sector. Additionally, evidence is provided that both positive and negative shocks to the international oil price have asymmetric effects at the sectoral level in Mexico. The results highlight the need to implement public policies, at the country level, that help mitigate the effect of uncertainty in the oil market and promote economic stability at the sector level.

     

Amylose Modified Starches as Superabsorbent Systems for Release of Potassium Fertilizers

Journal of Polymers and the Environment - High-amylose maize starch (AS) was modified by graft copolymerization with sodium acid maleate and disodium maleate, using the KMnO4-NaHSO3 redox system,...     

Effect of the mixing ratio on the composting of OFMSW digestate: assessment of compost quality

This study presents the results obtained in compostability tests of organic fraction of municipal solid waste (OFMSW) digestate. The final aim was to obtain mature compost without phytotoxic effects. For the evaluation of the composting process, a novel parameter describing the performance of the composting process, the relative heat generation standardized with the initial volatile solid content (RHGVS₀), was defined and evaluated at laboratory-scale. From these laboratory-scale test, the optimum operational conditions were obtained, a mixing ratio (v/v) of 1:1:0 (bulking agent:digestate:co-substrate) and with 15% of mature compost as inoculum. Subsequently, these optimum operational conditions were applied in the active phase of the composting pilot-scale reactor. The active composting stage took 7 days, subsequently a curing phase of 60 days was carried out at ambient conditions. After 30 days of curing, the mature compost showed a specific oxygen uptake rate (SOUR) of 0.14 mg O₂/g VS·h, a germination index (GI) of 99.63% and a low volatile fatty acids (VFA) concentration (41.3 AcH mg/kg_dm), being indicative of the good compost stability and maturity of the compost. The very good quality of the final compost obtained indicated that the RHGVS₀ accurately describes the performance of the composting process.

     

The false alarm/surprise trade-off in weather warnings systems: an expected utility theory perspective

Environment Systems and Decisions - Early warning systems for weather events are becoming widespread as technological capacities develop. For warnings to be effective, they must allow enough lead...     

Baselining pollution: producing ‘natural soil’ for an environmental risk assessment exercise in Chile

Baselines are used extensively in environmental regulation and usually serve as a proxy of a certain ‘natural’ environment upon which the potential toxicity of a certain substance is assessed. However, there is nothing natural or automatic about the process via which baselines are created. Most of the time they are produced through a series of baselining practices in which heterogeneous entities are assembled in highly idiosyncratic ways, a process always crisscrossed by technical, political and ethical issues. This particular paper, based on material collected while observing an environmental risk assessment exercise carried out in an abandoned mining waste dump in northern Chile, looks at two kinds of practices that are especially salient. On the one hand, there is the recognition of a certain ‘naturalness’ of a particular piece of soil, a process in which visual valuation processes play a central role. On the other hand, there is the creation of ‘traceability,’ through which the particular extracted sample is linked to a series of entities, gaining in the process validity as representative of the ‘natural soil’ existing in this particular patch. In the conclusion, both operations will be connected with different difficulties that current environmental regulation faces in dealing with polluted sites such as the one under study.     

Actinide analysis of a depleted uranium penetrator from a 1999 target site in southern Serbia

Following the detection of 236U in depleted uranium (DU) ammunition used during the Balkans conflict in the 1990s, concern has been expressed about the possibility that other nuclides from the nuclear fuel cycle and, in particular, transuranium nuclides, might be present in this type of ammunition. In this paper, we report the results of uranium and plutonium analyses carried out on a depleted uranium penetrator recovered from a target site in southern Serbia. Our data show the depleted nature of the uranium and confirm the presence of trace amounts of plutonium in the penetrator. The activity concentration of (239+240)PU, at 45.4+/-0.7 Bq kg(-1), is the highest reported to date for any penetrator recovered from the Balkans. This concentration, however, is comparable to that expected to be present naturally in uranium ores and, from a radiological perspective, would only give rise to a very small increase in dose to exposed persons compared to that from the DU itself.