Occurrence of endocrine disruptor compounds in the estuary of the Iberian Douro River and nearby Porto Coast (NW Portugal)

Previous studies in the Douro River estuary, based on occasional sampling, showed the presence of several estrogenic disrupting chemicals (EDCs). In sequence, we hypothesized that such type of pollution was more likely an enduring issue than an occasional phenomenon, and that it may even affect recreational beaches in each side of the estuarine mouth. Thus to conclude about the continuous influx of EDCs, water samples were taken twice a day, once per a week, from March to May of 2009, at four sites within the estuary and at two sites in the coastline. After solid-phase extraction, the extracts were prepared for GC-MS analysis of 11 reference EDCs. These embraced natural and pharmaceutical estrogens (17β-estradiol, estrone and 17α-ethynylestradiol) and xenoestrogenic industrial pollutants (4-octylphenol, 4-nonylphenol, and their mono and diethoxylates and bisphenol A). Data showed the ubiquitous presence of potentially hazardous amounts of natural estrogens (particularly of estradiol, ca 5.5?ng?L^?1) and persistent organic pollutants such as nonylphenol mono (up to 550?ng?L^?1) and diethoxylate (up to 2000?ng?L^?1). It was concluded that the targeted area is continuously polluted by the assayed EDCs, and as a consequence, conditions exist for endocrine disturbance in the biota by chronic exposure to EDCs.     

Effects of gasoline engine emissions on health status of auto rickshaw drivers at DIR (L) Khyber Pukhtunkhwa

A total of 50 blood samples were collected from auto rickshaw drivers who were exposed to environmental gasoline in different sites of Dir (L), Khyber Pukhtunkhwa, Pakistan, in July and August, 2009. Control group was selected among the individuals who were not regularly exposed to gasoline emissions. The samples were analyzed for calcium, cholesterol, glucose, phosphorus, potassium, and triglycerides levels. A significant increase was found in the blood levels of calcium, glucose, phosphorus, and triglycerides. A significant decrease was detected in the blood levels of potassium without any significant effect on the blood levels of cholesterol and magnesium.     

The role of environmental activity integration into the R&D department to obtain competitive advantage

The objective of this work is to examine to what degree the integration between R&D and environmental departments facilitates the achievement of an environmental practice-derived competitive advantage. With this aim, we surveyed 110 International Organization for Standardization (ISO) 14001 certified factories. The results reveal that the integration of environmental action into the R&D department enhances a company's reputation through the product quality and image. Moreover, the said integration positively influences the company's overall innovative capability and, hence, its ability to penetrate international markets.     

Radionuclide concentrations in raw and purified phosphoric acids from Brazil and their processing wastes: implications for radiation exposures

Radionuclides from the U and Th natural series are present in alkaline rocks, which are used as feedstock in Brazil for the production of raw phosphoric acid, which can be considered as a NORM (naturally occurring radioactive material). As a result of the purification of raw phosphoric acid to food-grade phosphoric acid, two by-products are generated, i.e., solid and liquid wastes. Taking this into account, the main aim of this study was to evaluate the fluxes of natural radionuclide in the production of food-grade phosphoric acids in Brazil, to determine the radiological impact caused by ingestion of food-grade phosphoric acid, and to evaluate the solid waste environmental hazards caused by its application in crop soils. Radiological characterization of raw phosphoric acid, food-grade phosphoric acid, solid waste, and liquid waste was performed by alpha and gamma spectrometry. The ²³⁸U, ²³⁴U, ²²⁶Ra, and ²³²Th activity concentrations varied depending on the source of raw phosphoric acid. Decreasing radionuclides activity concentrations in raw phosphoric acids used by the producer of the purified phosphoric acid were observed as follows: Tapira (raw phosphoric acid D) > Catal?o (raw phosphoric acids B and C) > Cajati (raw phosphoric acid A). The industrial purification process produces a reduction in radionuclide activity concentrations in food-grade phosphoric acid in relation to raw phosphoric acid produced in plant D and single raw phosphoric acid used in recent years. The most common use of food-grade phosphoric acid is in cola soft drinks, with an average consumption in Brazil of 72 l per person per year. Each liter of cola soft drink contains 0.5 ml of food-grade phosphoric acid, which gives an annual average intake of 36 ml of food-grade phosphoric acid per person. Under these conditions, radionuclide intake through consumption of food-grade phosphoric acid per year per person via cola soft drinks is not hazardous to human health in Brazil. Considering these annual additions of ²³⁸U, ²²⁶Ra, ²³²Th and ⁴⁰K, and since these radionuclide should be homogeneously distributed in the upper 10 cm of soils with an assumed apparent density of 1.5 g/cm³, a maximum increase of 0.19 ± 0.03 Bq kg⁻¹ of soil is expected for ²³⁸U and ²³⁴U. Thus, the addition of solid waste as phosphate fertilizers to Brazilian agricultural soils does not represent a hazard to the ecosystem or to human health.     

Lead availability in soils from Portugal’s Centre Region with special reference to bioaccessibility

Previous environmental biomonitoring studies indicated higher environmental lead (Pb) pollution levels at the districts of Aveiro and Leiria (Portugal). In evaluating the risk for human health, which is associated with contaminated soils after oral uptake, total soil concentrations have generally been held against criteria established from toxicological studies based upon the assumption that the uptake of the contaminant is similar in the toxicological studies and from the soils assessed. This assumption is not always valid, as most toxicological studies are carried out with soluble forms of the contaminants, whereas many soil contaminants are or become embedded in the soil matrix and thus exhibit limited availability. This study intends to estimate the soluble fraction of Pb in the soils from central Portugal, and to assess the bioaccessibility of Pb and, hence, infer exposure and risk for human health. Yet, as the physical–chemical properties of the soil exert some control over the solubility of Pb in the surface environment, the relation between such soil properties and the estimated soluble and/or bioaccessible fractions of Pb is also investigated. Other objective, with a more practical nature, was to give some contribution to find a suitable in vitro mimetic of the gastrointestinal tract environment. The results indicate relatively low total metal concentrations in the soils, even if differences between regions were observed. The Aveiro district has the higher total Pb concentration and the metal is in more soluble forms, that is, geoavailable. Soils with higher concentrations of soluble Pb show higher estimates of bioaccessible Pb. Soil pH seems to influence human bioaccessibility of Pb.     

The onset of natural convection in lakes and reservoirs due to night time cooling

A theoretical model, based on linear stability analysis, is proposed to predict the onset of natural convection in lakes and reservoirs due to night time cooling. To such purpose, the system was modelled as a initially quiescent deep Boussinesq fluid reservoir, whose upper boundary temperature changes sinusoidally. From scaling analysis, it is found that critical onset times for convection are proportional to R ^−2/7, where R is a Rayleigh number including fluid properties and forcing frequency. The proportionality constant was found, from the solution of an eigenvalue problem, as a function of the Prandtl number. The onset time for convection was easily observed from experiments and quantitatively detected as a rapid increase of the RMS of the computed velocity field obtained using PIV. In this controlled conditions, differences close to 10% between predicted and observed times for the start of the convective flow was found. It is apparent from the present set of results that predictions are reasonable.     

Application to the Port of Sines of a new tool for risk assessment in port navigation

This paper describes a first approach on the risk assessment in port navigation using GUIOMAR, an integrated system for port and coastal engineering modelling developed at the National Civil Engineering Laboratory (LNEC), Portugal, using a GIS software environment. A set of automatic procedures was designed to include a new methodology based on the amplitude of the wave-induced vertical movement of a ship along its trajectory. In this methodology, the risk in port navigation is assessed on the basis of a combination of the probability of exceedance of a pre-set threshold for the ship??s vertical movements and its consequences. To test the new procedures, a set of sea wave records obtained at the Sines wave-buoy from 1988 to 2002 was transferred into Sines Port using two numerical models of sea wave propagation and deformation (SWAN and DREAMS), included in the GUIOMAR system. The numerical model WAMIT was used for estimating the wave-induced ship??s vertical movements inside the port. By applying the new procedures, automatic generation of risk maps was carried out for navigation in the vicinity of the West breakwater of the Port of Sines. The recent developments contribute towards a more versatile and efficient GUIOMAR system, which results in a more adequate tool to support decision-making processes in port and coastal management.     

Assessing aboveground tropical forest biomass using Google Earth canopy images

Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation (REDD) in efforts to combat climate change requires participating countries to periodically assess their forest resources on a national scale. Such a process is particularly challenging in the tropics because of technical difficulties related to large aboveground forest biomass stocks, restricted availability of affordable, appropriate remote-sensing images, and a lack of accurate forest inventory data. In this paper, we apply the Fourier-based FOTO method of canopy texture analysis to Google Earth's very-high-resolution images of the wet evergreen forests in the Western Ghats of India in order to (1) assess the predictive power of the method on aboveground biomass of tropical forests, (2) test the merits of free Google Earth images relative to their native commercial IKONOS counterparts and (3) highlight further research needs for affordable, accurate regional aboveground biomass estimations. We used the FOTO method to ordinate Fourier spectra of 1436 square canopy images (125 x 125 m) with respect to a canopy grain texture gradient (i.e., a combination of size distribution and spatial pattern of tree crowns), benchmarked against virtual canopy scenes simulated from a set of known forest structure parameters and a 3-D light interception model. We then used 15 1-ha ground plots to demonstrate that both texture gradients provided by Google Earth and IKONOS images strongly correlated with field-observed stand structure parameters such as the density of large trees, total basal area, and aboveground biomass estimated from a regional allometric model. Our results highlight the great potential of the FOTO method applied to Google Earth data for biomass retrieval because the texture-biomass relationship is only subject to 15% relative error, on average, and does not show obvious saturation trends at large biomass values. We also provide the first reliable map of tropical forest aboveground biomass predicted from free Google Earth images.     

A multi-scale approach to modelling spatial and dynamic ecological patterns for reservoir's water quality management

With growing levels of urbanization and agriculture throughout the world, it is increasingly important that both research and management efforts take into account the effects of this widespread landscape alteration and its consequences for natural systems. Freshwater ecosystems, namely reservoirs, are particularly sensitive to land use changes. In this context, modelling can be very useful, for decision support, as an investigative tool to forecast the outcome of various scenarios, to guide current management in order to meet future targets and to develop integrated frameworks for management accordingly to the Water Framework Directive (WFD). The present paper examined the applicability of a holistic Stochastic-Dynamic Methodology (StDM), coupled with a Cellular Automata (CA) model, in capturing how expected changes at land use level will alter the ecological status of lentic ecosystems, namely at physicochemical and biological levels. The methodology was applied to Portuguese reservoirs located in the Douro's basin and illustrated with a series of stochastic-dynamic and spatial outputs taking into account expected scenarios regarding land use changes. Overall, the simulation results are encouraging since they seem to demonstrate the tool reliability in capturing the stochastic environmental dynamics of the selected metrics facing spatial explicit scenarios. The ultimate goal was to couple monitoring assessment and the described modelling techniques to ease management and decision making regarding the practical implementation of the WFD, both at the scale of the reservoir body and at the scale of the respective river watershed dynamics.