Environmental performance evaluation of agro-industrial innovations – part 1: Ambitec-Life Cycle,a methodological approach for considering life cycle thinking

As sustainability considerations increasingly dominate the technology development debate worldwide, practical approaches to assess environmental performance of innovations have been warranted. The present study (Part 1) introduces Ambitec-Life Cycle, a method derived from Ambitec-Agro for considering life cycle thinking in the environmental performance evaluation (EPE) of agro-industrial innovations. An agro-industrial innovation case study related to residue recycling is presented, revealing steps in the product life cycle where opportunities are best for technological improvements. In Part 2 (this issue) of this study, a methodological approach for considering the environmental vulnerability of watersheds and to integrate this analysis in EPE methods is presented. This approach is applied to Ambitec-Life Cycle and to the same residue case study, allowing the identification of performance indicators with greater potential to cause impacts at the studied watersheds.     

Health impact assessment of air pollutants during the COVID-19 pandemic in a Brazilian metropolis

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - Studies around the world have revealed reduced levels of atmospheric particulate matter in periods of greatest human mobility restriction to contain...     

From classic methodologies to application of nanomaterials for soil remediation: an integrated view of methods for decontamination of toxic metal(oid)s

Soil pollution with toxic elements is a recurrent issue due to environmental disasters, fossil fuel burning, urbanization, and industrialization, which have contributed to soil contamination over the years. Therefore, the remediation of toxic metals in soil is always an important topic since contaminated soil can affect the environment, agricultural safety, and human health. Many remediation methods have been developed; however, it is essential to ensure that they are safe, and also take into account the limitation of each methodology (including high energy input and generation of residues). This scenario has motivated this review, where we explore soil contamination with arsenic, lead, mercury, and chromium and summarize information about the methods employed to remediate each of these toxic elements such as phytoremediation, soil washing, electrokinetic remediation, and nanoparticles besides elucidating some mechanisms involved in the remediation. Considering all the discussed techniques, nowadays, different techniques can be combined together in order to improve the efficiency of remediation besides the new approach of the techniques and the use of one technique for remediating more than one contaminant.     

Hydrological benefits in the context of Brazilian environmental services program

The Brazilian program of payment for environmental services (PES) is based on ranges of potential erosion decrease (ED) from soil and water conservation proposals estimated from the Universal Soil Loss Equation. Changes in land use and land cover (LULC) result in many alterations of the basin water balance. Therefore, to contribute to the methodological development of Brazilian PES, this paper proposes a quantification of hydrological benefits based on conservation measures. We propose basing the PES program on adding the potential water storage increase (WSI) parameter estimated from the runoff curve number model. Two LULC change scenarios were run considering conservation measures on degraded areas. We found that indicators of ED and WSI were compatible tools for driving the eligibility of soil and water conservation measures. However, the water storage parameter seems to be better at managing the PES mechanism because it is based on water prices and can contribute to appreciation of the efforts performed by the rural producers. The use of the SCS-CN method presents greater feasibility as a tool for the implementation of PES programs in ungauged basins. Thus, an analysis of the success of the innovation proposal of the Brazilian PES program allows inferences to be made about the quantification and financial valuation of hydrological benefits of the potential storage increase and current water price.     

Micronucleus and different nuclear abnormalities in wild birds in the Cerrado,Brazil

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - Free-living birds play an important role as bioindicators in natural environments. In this study, we used the micronucleus test and nuclear...     

Effects of abiotic factors on growth and chemical defenses in cultivated clones of <Emphasis Type="Italic">Laurencia dendroidea</Emphasis> J. Agardh (Ceramiales,Rhodophyta)

Laurencia dendroidea shows high inter- and intrapopulation variability in the amount of the sesquiterpene elatol, caused by genetic variation as well as environmental factors. To test the independent effect of physical and nutritional conditions, the growth and the levels of elatol in L. dendroidea clones were evaluated under different conditions of temperature, salinity, irradiance, and culture medium in the laboratory. Growth of L. dendroidea was clearly affected by all these factors, but elatol levels were influenced only by temperature and salinity. Better conditions for growth did not produce a similar effect on elatol production in L. dendroidea, contradicting the carbon/nutrient balance and growth/differentiation balance models. On the contrary, severe conditions of temperature and salinity promoted a decrease in elatol levels, as predicted by the environmental stress model. Our results using clones indicated that abiotic factors clearly take part in fostering chemical variations observed in natural populations, in addition to genetic factors, and can promote differential susceptibility of plant specimens to natural enemies.     

Comparing the Number of Ozone Exceedances in Different Seasons of the Year in Mexico City

Ozone air pollution is a serious problem in several cities of the world. Hence, to analyse the behaviour of this pollutant is a very important issue. One problem of interest is to study the behaviour of the inter-occurrences times between two ozone exceedances, i.e. between two days in which the pollutant’s measurement surpasses a given threshold. Another interest resides in comparing the behaviour of ozone measurements in different seasons of the year. In this paper we use some Poisson models to analyse this problem. The time interval at which the ozone measurements were taken is split into subintervals corresponding roughly to the seasons of the year. We consider three parametric forms for the mean of the Poisson model, and consequently for the mean of the inter-occurrences times. In each model, the parameters describing its mean are estimated using Bayesian inference via Markov chain Monte Carlo methods. The models are applied to the ozone measurements provided by the Mexico City monitoring network. Theoretical results suggest that an increase has occurred in the mean inter-exceedances times and this is corroborated by the observed data. Differences between the behaviour of the pollutant during different seasons of the year are also detected as well as similarities in the same season in different years. Besides estimating the mean of the Poisson models, inference for the possible presence and location of change-points indicating change of parameters of the model is also performed.     

Behavioral and life-history evidence for interspecific competition in the larvae of two heliconian butterflies

Interspecific competition in herbivorous insects remains a controversial issue. To date, many studied systems have not met assumptions of the traditional competition theory, and a new paradigm has been emerging. We examined the behavioral and life-history consequences of common host plant use of Heliconius erato and Dryas iulia (Nymphalidae) in relation to Passiflora suberosa (Passifloraceae). Larvae of the former use the apical portion of this host; the latter is presumably able to explore all plant parts. We assessed host use pattern in relation to leaf age, when reared either alone (D. iulia) or together (D. iulia and H. erato). Larval feeding choice tests with respect to leaf age were performed, and performance was recorded. Observations were made to assess antagonistic behavior of H. erato and D. iulia towards each other, if any. Similarly to H. erato, D. iulia fed on the young leaves significantly more than the mature ones; larvae were not induced to prefer mature leaves. First instars of H. erato used only the apical parts of P. suberosa and displayed aggressive behavior towards D. iulia, which moved to the lower shoot portions. Larval mortality and development time of both species significantly increased when reared together; such performance costs were more pronounced in D. iulia than H. erato. Our study gathers evidences that use of P. suberosa by these heliconian butterflies represent a case of competitive exclusion resulting in niche differentiation, where costs are higher for D. iulia than H. erato.     

Decentralized management of sewage using septic tanks and anaerobic filters and its potential to comply with required standards in a developing country: a case study in Brazil

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - To investigate the feasibility of implementing decentralized sewage treatment systems aiming to meet environmental standards, the performance of three...     

UV-irradiation and BDD-based photoelectrolysis for the treatment of halosulfuron-methyl herbicide

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - This paper reports the development of a novel photoelectrochemical (PEC) oxidation technique based on UV-C irradiation and boron-doped diamond (BDD)...