Cyst-based toxicity tests XVI--sensitivity comparison of the solid phase Heterocypris incongruens microbiotest with the Hyalella azteca and Chironomus riparius contact assays on freshwater sediments from Peninsula Harbour (Ontario,Canada)

In view of the complexity and costs of "traditional" whole sediment assays, a "culture/maintenance free" direct contact microbiotest has been developed with the freshwater ostracod Heterocypris incongruens. The new Toxkit assay (named Ostracodtoxkit) has been applied to 33 sediment samples from Peninsula Harbour, located in Lake Superior of the Great Lakes water basin in Ontario, Canada. The microbiotest was applied in parallel to direct contact tests with the amphipod Hyalella azteca and the midge larva Chironomus riparius, to compare its relative sensitivity with that of the two "conventional" assays. The study was undertaken in the framework of remediation action plans for specific areas of concern, to enable decision making by the Canadian authorities for the restoration of impacted aquatic environments. Most sediments were found non-toxic (<20% mortality) to both the conventional test species and the ostracod. For the large majority of samples, a very good correspondence was found between the two crustacean test species for the intensity of the toxic signal "mortality", as reflected by a 0.71 (p<0.05) correlation coefficient. Growth inhibition, which is determined in the ostracod microbiotest as a sublethal effect criterion, allowed the earmarking of some sediment samples, which were apparently more toxic for the amphipod than to the ostracod. For 20% of the samples, substantially higher mortality scores were noted with the ostracod assay than with the midge larvae tests and the overall correlation coefficient between these two tests was lower (r=0.60,p<0.05). The results obtained in the present study corroborate those of previous research on sediments collected from various rivers in Flanders, Belgium, and confirm the potential of the new ostracod microbiotest as a reliable and sensitive low cost alternative for traditional whole sediment assays.     

Communicative diagnosis of cost-saving options for reducing nitrogen emission from pig finishing

Reducing nitrogen emission from livestock production is usually perceived as costly. Nevertheless, production process related measures addressing the transformation of input(s) into output(s) may result in a cost-saving reduction of nitrogen emission. This paper explores the separate and combined use of traditional key performance indicators and an environmentally adjusted Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) to reveal firm-specific cost-saving mechanisms for pig-finishing farms. Traditional key performance indicators are easy to communicate but have shortcomings when assessing benchmarks for comparative farm analysis. The environmentally adjusted DEA decomposes both cost and environmental efficiencies into technical and allocative efficiency components, separating the physical production analysis from price and nutrient content information. DEA makes efficiency benchmarks and improvement paths explicit, but the practical value of such efficiency scores is low. This paper proposes to take advantage of both methods: concrete benchmarks and eligible improvement paths are assessed using frontier methods, while the decision variables that steer farmers towards changes are described in terms of traditional key performance indicators. This leads to an improved diagnosis that is easy to communicate to farmers and may therefore facilitate decision support. Our pig-finishing case study shows that farms can achieve economic-environmental win–win situations through improving technical, cost allocative and cost efficiencies, which are mainly driven by feed conversion. Less technical efficient farms are found to require a lower delivery weight in order to minimize costs, which shows the farm-specificity of economic-environmental improvement advice.     

A Pathological Late Pleistocene canid from San Sidero (Italy): implications for social- and feeding-behaviour

Evidence of diseases on vertebrate fossil bones can provide detailed information on many aspects of extinct animals. This study focused on pathological craniodental remains (left maxilla and dentary) referred to the canid Cuon alpinus unearthed from a Late Pleistocene karst filling deposit at San Sidero (Apulia, southern Italy). These fossils show clear evidence of a chronic periodontitis that caused the animal’s death. Clinical diagnosis of the disease and the timing of its development have been defined on the basis of a veterinary odontostomatology approach, in addition to radiographic and tomographic techniques. From the initiation of the infection until death, a time span of at least 6 months occurred, and three main steps have been defined: (1) the bacterial infections of the buccal cavity turning into severe periodontitis, (2) the fracture of the lower carnassial and (3) the loss of teeth due to the worsening infection that deformed and/or eroded maxillary and mandibular bones and enlarged alveoli. The analysis of the palaeopathology also provides information about the biomechanics of the bite, on the feeding behaviour and on the relationships of injured members in a pack of Late Pleistocene canids.     

Multi-objective analysis of ground-level ozone concentration control

To develop sound air quality plans, regional authorities should have instruments that link the complex behaviour of pollutants both in time and space with costs of emission reduction. The problem is particularly important for ground level ozone which forms kilometres away, hours later from the emission of its precursors. To approach this problem, a method (1) to identify local pollutant-precursor models on the basis of results from a large photochemical model (CALGRID), (2) to integrate them in a multi-objective mathematical program, together with an estimate of the emission reduction costs, is suggested. The method has been used to assess action priorities in Lombardy (Northern Italy). This area, characterised by a complex terrain, high urban and industrial emissions and a dense road network is often affected by severe photochemical pollution episodes during summer.     

Traffic-related platinum and rhodium concentrations in the atmosphere of Rome

Platinum and Rh content in the atmosphere of Rome as released by car catalytic converters was monitored from 1998 to 2000 in six urban sites with different traffic intensities and in one rural area. Samples collected with medium-volume PM10 samplers were analyzed by Sector Field Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometry (SF-ICP-MS). The Pt content varied from 2.4 to 60.1 pg m(-3) (mean value 17.8 pg m(-3)) at the urban locations whilst that of Rh spanned the range 0.8-9.4 pg m(-3) (average value 4.0 pg m(-3)). The rural area showed metal levels mostly below the limits of detection, pointing to automobile traffic as the main source of those elements in the urban atmosphere. The highest mean concentrations of Pt and Rh, ie. 22.2 and 5.0 pg m(-3), were detected along the ring road where the traffic density is high (>100,000 vehicles per day) and the driving speed between 100 and 120 km h(-1). The lowest Pt and Rh mean concentrations, i.e. 11.4 and 3.4 pg m(-3), were measured downtown, where traffic density is lower (20,000 vehicles per day) and the driving speed is limited (50 km h(-1)). Significant concentrations of Pt and Rh were found in the vicinity of traffic signals, indicating that the "stop-and-go" conditions might also affect their release. The measured Pt/Rh ratio spanned the range 3.3-5.9 in accordance with that present in the more commonly used gasoline car catalytic converters. Seasonal variations between wintertime (with Pt and Rh mean concentrations of 23.8 and 5.1 pg m(-3), respectively) and summertime (with Pt and Rh mean concentrations of 14.1 and 3.3 pg m(-3), respectively) were also observed.     

Life Cycle Analysis of Extruded Films Based on Poly(lactic acid)/Cellulose Nanocrystal/Limonene: A Comparative Study with ATBC Plasticized PLA/OMMT Systems

Life cycle analysis (LCA) of limonene plasticized poly(lactic acid) (PLA) films containing cellulose nanocrystals (CNC) extracted, by acid hydrolysis, from Phormium tenax leaf fibres, was assessed and compared with the results of acetyl tributyl citrate (ATBC) plasticized PLA films, having equivalent mechanical properties, containing organo-modified montmorillonite (OMMT). Eco-Indicator 99 tool has been adopted as the main method for life cycle assessment. Results indicated that, despite CNC are biobased fillers obtained by natural sources, the related chemical extraction leads to a large environmental footprint and a relatively relevant energy expense. LCA characterization of these films demonstrated that the environmental impact of PLA/limonene film reinforced with 1% in weight of CNC (PLA/CNC/limonene) is comparable to the environmental impact of polylactic acid films reinforced with OMMT and plasticized with a petroleum based plasticizer (ATBC) (PLA/OMTT/ATBC). A “cradle to gate” approach has been considered for both the film typologies.     

Sustainable value assessment of farms using frontier efficiency benchmarks

Appropriate assessment of firm sustainability facilitates actor-driven processes towards sustainable development. The methodology in this paper builds further on two proven methodologies for the assessment of sustainability performance: it combines the sustainable value approach with frontier efficiency benchmarks. The sustainable value methodology tries to relate firm performance to the use of different resources. This approach assesses contributions to corporate sustainability by comparing firm resource productivity with the resource productivity of a benchmark, and this for all resources considered. The efficiency is calculated by estimating the production frontier indicating the maximum feasible production possibilities. In this research, the sustainable value approach is combined with efficiency analysis methods to benchmark sustainability assessment. In this way, the production theoretical underpinnings of efficiency analysis enrich the sustainable value approach. The methodology is presented using two different functional forms: the Cobb–Douglas and the translog functional forms. The simplicity of the Cobb–Douglas functional form as benchmark is very attractive but it lacks flexibility. The translog functional form is more flexible but has the disadvantage that it requires a lot of data to avoid estimation problems. Using frontier methods for deriving firm specific benchmarks has the advantage that the particular situation of each company is taken into account when assessing sustainability. Finally, we showed that the methodology can be used as an integrative sustainability assessment tool for policy measures.     

Vegetation fire emissions and their impact on air pollution and climate

Gaseous and particulate emissions from vegetation fires substantially modify the atmospheric chemical composition, degrade air quality and can alter weather and climate. The impact of vegetation fire emissions on air pollution and climate has been recognised in the late 1970s. The application of satellite data for fire-related studies in the beginning of the 21th century represented a major break through in our understanding of the global importance of fires. Today the location and extent of vegetation fires, burned area and emissions released from fires are determined from satellite products even though many uncertainties persist. Numerous dedicated experimental and modeling studies contributed to improve the current knowledge of the atmospheric impact of vegetation fires. The motivation of this paper is to give an overview of vegetation fire emissions, their environmental and climate impact, and what improvements can be expected in the near future.     

Analysis of Damaging Hydrogeological Events: The Case of the Calabria Region (Southern Italy)

A period of bad weather conditions due to prolonged intense rainfall and strong winds can trigger landslides, floods, secondary floods (accumulation of rain on surfaces with low permeability), and sea storms, causing damage to humans and infrastructure. As a whole, these periods of bad weather and triggered phenomena can be defined as damaging hydrogeological events (DHEs). We define a methodological approach based on seven simple indexes to analyze such events. The indexes describe the return period (T) and trend of rainfall, the extent of hit areas, and the level of damages; they can be considered attributes of georeferenced features and analyzed with GIS techniques. We tested our method in an Italian region frequently hit by DHEs. In a period of 10 years, 747 damaging phenomena (landslides, 43%; floods, 38%) and 94 DHEs have been classified. The road network and housing areas are the most frequently damaged elements, threatened by all types of damaging phenomena. T classes are almost in accordance with the level of damage. These results can be used to outline warning levels for civil protection purposes, to forecast the areas most likely to be hit and the potential ensuing damage, to disseminate information concerning vulnerable areas, and to increase people’s awareness of risk.