Use of micellar liquid chromatography for rapid monitoring of fungicides post harvest applied to citrus wastewater

A method based on micellar liquid chromatography has been developed to simultaneously monitor four pesticides largely post-harvest applied to citrus:thiabendazole,pyrimethanil,o-phenylphenol and imazalil.Water samples were filtered and directly injected without other treatment,thus avoiding extraction steps.The composition of the mobile phase was optimized using a chemometrical approach to achieve and excellent resolution to 0.07 mol/L SDS/5%,V/V 1-pentanol buffered at p H 3.Mobile phase run through a C18 column at 1 m L/min at room temperature.The detection was performing by UV–Visible absorbance using a wavelength program:0–10 min,305 nm(for thiabendazole);10–12;265 nm(for pyrimethanil)and 12–18,220 nm(o-phenylphenol and imazalil).The developed method was validated following the guidelines of the US Environmental Protection Agency in terms of:quantitation range,(0.5–4 to 15μg/m L),linearity(r20.9995),sensitivity(LOD,0.18–1.4μg/m L),precision(9.2%),trueness(93.9%–103.7%),and ruggedness(9.9%).It was found that the fungicides remain up to eight days in surface water at outdoor conditions.The method was used to screen the presence of the analytes in several waste water samples,and was proved to be useful in routine analysis.     

Drivers of farm-level adaptation to climate change in Africa: an evaluation by a composite index of potential adoption

Over recent decades, there has been increasing levels of research dedicated to assess drivers of farm-level uptake of adaptation strategies to climate change. The main purpose of this research being to determine how policy intervention can most effectively increase adoption. This paper aims to synthesise this past research in order to scale up uptake of farm-level adaptation strategies through a composite index of potential adoption in Africa. In doing so, we review the estimated coefficients of econometric regressions in 42 case studies published in peer-review journals to identify the factors that regularly explain adoption. We find that these common factors can be grouped into seven components, that is human capital, financial resources, infrastructure and technology, social interaction and governance, food security, dependence on agriculture and attitudes towards the environment. Using national-level indicators of these seven categories, we develop a composite index to inform potential adoption and test the robustness of the index in an in-depth sensitivity analysis. The results show that the highest likelihood of adoption of farm-level adaptation strategies is in Northern African countries namely Tunisia, Egypt, Algeria and Morocco and in Southern African countries such as South Africa and Botswana. Conversely, they indicate that the lowest likelihood of adoption is situated in nations of the Sahel and Horn of Africa and in nations that have recently experienced conflict. We conclude that adoption is associated predominantly with governance, civil rights, financial resources and education. However, it is not necessarily driven by the magnitude of climate change impacts on agricultural production.     

The environmental geochemical baseline,background and sources of metal and metalloids present in urban,peri-urban and rural soils in the O´Higgins region,Chile

Environmental Geochemistry and Health - The importance of environmental geochemistry baseline in soils of O´Higgins Region, Chile, since it hosts in its eastern area one of the major Cu-Mo...     

Risk of exposure to Hg and pesticides residues in a traditional fishing community in the Amazon: a probabilistic approach based on dietary pattern

Exposure to mercury (Hg) and pesticides (o.p’DDT, p.p’DDT, o.p’DDE, and p.p’DDE) in the Amazon through eating fish is of concern due to the large participation of this food in the diet of traditional fishing communities. The aim of this study was to evaluate the estimated daily intake (EDI) and the incremental lifetime cancer risk associated with Hg and o.p’DDT, p.p’DDT, o.p’DDE, and p.p’DDE in an Amazonian community. The results showed that for Hg, the EDI from carnivorous and detritivorous fish had the highest values, while for pesticides, the EDI from detritivorous fish intake had the highest value. The incremental lifetime cancer risk was below the permitted limit. A recommendation for controlling the high risk of exposure includes the reduction of detritivorous fish ingestion and/or replacement with herbivorous fish, which had lower EDI. We highlight the importance of investigating the human dietary patterns when estimating risk of exposure to Hg and pesticides.

     

Impact of air pollution on outdoor cultural heritage objects and decoding the role of particulate matter: a critical review

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - Atmospheric gases and particulate matter (PM) in contact with the material’s surface lead to chemical and physical changes, which in most cases...     

How to stay together? Habitat use by three sympatric sharks in the western coast of Baja California Sur,Mexico

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - Sharks are top predators and play an important role in the regulation of marine ecosystems at lower trophic position. Mustelus californicus, Sphyrna...     

Sorption of 4-n-nonylphenol, 4-n-octylphenol,and 4-tert-octyphenol on cyclodextrin polymers

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - Alkylphenols are industrial pollutants commonly present in wastewater. They are difficult to eliminate by conventional treatment processes, ending up...     

Investigation of biomass waste biochar production to act as matrix for urea

Journal of Material Cycles and Waste Management - In this work, the synthesis of biochar from several biomass wastes to act as matrix for urea was investigated. The objective was to select the most...