Dental enamel as biomarker for environmental contaminants in relevant industrialized estuary areas in São Paulo,Brazil

Heavy metal contamination is a long-standing and very well-known public health problem, and its exposure can cause damage to several organs of human body, especially on the central nervous system of young children and teenagers. The aim of this article is to evaluate lead, cadmium, and manganese contamination in 125 children from 6 to 13 years old living in contaminated areas during the period from 2006 to 2009 (São Vicente, Cubatão Downtown, Bertioga and Cubatão Pilões/Água Fria). This estuary area is the most important example of environmental degradation by chemicals from industrial sources. This is a cross-sectional study through clinical examinations and dental enamel tests. All mothers from these children lived in the area since before the pregnancy. Lead, cadmium, and manganese levels (μg/g) were measured on dental enamel samples through graphite furnace atomic absorption spectrometry, searching for the occurrence of heavy metals. The mean lead concentrations were 139.48 μg/g in Cubatão Pilões/Água Fria, 170.45 μg/g in Cubatão Downtown, 213.52 μg/g in São Vicente, and 151.89 μg/g in Bertioga. The mean cadmium concentrations were 10.83 μg/g in Cubatão Pilões/Água Fria, 12.58 μg/g in Cubatão Downtown, 10.92 μg/g in São Vicente, and 14.57 μg/g in Bertioga. The mean manganese concentrations were 23.49 μg/g in Cubatão Pilões/Água Fria, 30.90 μg/g in Cubatão Downtown, 41.46 μg/g in São Vicente, and 42.00 μg/g in Bertioga. Dental surface enamel may be used as an efficient biomarker of past environmental exposure to lead, manganese, and cadmium which are associated to well-known sources of heavy metal contamination. The results suggest that the evaluated children were exposed to sources of lead, cadmium, and manganese since before their conceptions. Although Bertioga initially was chosen as a control area of this study, it was also was verified to have heavy metal contamination on examined children.     

Sediments as a sink for UV filters and benzotriazoles: the case study of Upper Iguaçu watershed,Curitiba (Brazil)

Ingredients in home and personal care products, including UV filters and benzotriazoles, are high production volume chemicals extensively used in our daily life, despite several studies revealed their potential eco-toxicity and endocrine-disrupting capacity. Due to some features, such as high lipophilicity, low degradability, and persistence of many of these compounds, sediments can be considered a sink for them in the aquatic environment. In the present study, nine organic UV filters and three benzotriazoles were investigated for the first time in sediments from four urban rivers in Brazil. The contaminants were analyzed by liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS). The results revealed that octocrylene (OC), etylhexyl-methoxycinnamate (EHMC), benzophenone-3 (oxybenzone, BP3), and benzotriazole (BZT) were the predominant compounds adsorbed on the sediments, with concentrations ranging from 5.6 to 322.2 ng g⁻¹ dry weight. The results reported in this work constitute the first data on the accumulation of polar benzotriazoles and lipophilic organic UV filters in sediments from Brazil.

     

Vegetation cover and rainfall seasonality impact nutrient loss via runoff and erosion in the Colombian Andes

Regional Environmental Change - Mountain ecosystems provide key services to a large portion of the population in the tropics. However, they are particularly vulnerable to regional environmental...     

Ultrasound effects on the activity of Aspergillus niger lipases in their application in dairy wastewater treatment

We evaluated the effect of ultrasound radiation on lipase activity. The experiments were conducted using a low‐cost crude enzyme extract. We then used this lipase to treat dairy effluent. The results of our study presented an increase of approximately 430% in the concentration of free fatty acids.     

Mercury accumulation and tissue-specific antioxidant efficiency in the wild European sea bass (Dicentrarchus labrax) with emphasis on seasonality

The main goal of this study was to assess both mercury (Hg) accumulation and organs’ specific oxidative stress responses of gills, liver and kidney of Dicentrarchus labrax with emphasis on seasonality. Fish were collected in cold and warm periods in three stations: reference, moderated and highly contaminated sites. Our results showed that seasonal factors slightly influenced Hg accumulation between year periods (cold and warm) and strongly affected organs’ response basal levels. In contrast, seasonality seemed not to influence oxidative stress responses, since similar response patterns were obtained for both year periods, and moderate degree of antioxidant responses was obtained. Moreover, the oxidative stress profile may be attributed to Hg contamination degree, which showed organ-specific response and accumulation patterns. Hence, gills showed to be able to adapt to Hg contamination, and in opposition, kidney and liver demonstrated some vulnerability to Hg toxicity. The critical Hg concentrations indicated specific threshold limits for each organ. Overall, seasonality should be taken into account in monitoring programmes, helping to characterize the individuals’ reference values of response and thus to discriminate between the effects induced by natural causes or by contamination.     

Ecological literacy and beyond: Problem-based learning for future professionals

Ecological science contributes to solving a broad range of environmental problems. However, lack of ecological literacy in practice often limits application of this knowledge. In this paper, we highlight a critical but often overlooked demand on ecological literacy: to enable professionals of various careers to apply scientific knowledge when faced with environmental problems. Current university courses on ecology often fail to persuade students that ecological science provides important tools for environmental problem solving. We propose problem-based learning to improve the understanding of ecological science and its usefulness for real-world environmental issues that professionals in careers as diverse as engineering, public health, architecture, social sciences, or management will address. Courses should set clear learning objectives for cognitive skills they expect students to acquire. Thus, professionals in different fields will be enabled to improve environmental decision-making processes and to participate effectively in multidisciplinary work groups charged with tackling environmental issues.     

Indication of PCDD/F formation through precursor condensation in a full-scale hazardous waste incinerator

This paper gives the PCDD/F fingerprint of boiler and fly ash of a full scale hazardous waste incinerator and demonstrates that, when the waste to be incinerated contains high concentrations of PCBs and chlorinated pesticides, heterogeneous precursor condensation is the dominant PCDD/F formation mechanism rather than de novo synthesis. This is in contrast to full-scale municipal solid waste incinerators, where de novo synthesis has been shown to be the dominant PCDD/F formation mechanism. This paper agrees with earlier predictions based on numerous lab scale experiments.     

Contamination levels of polychlorinated biphenyls in wild versus cultivated samples of female and male mussels (Mytilus sp.) from the Northwest Coast of Iberian Peninsula—new application for QuEChERS (Quick, Easy, Cheap, Effective, Rugged, and Safe) methodology

A newly analytical method based on QuEChERS extraction followed by gas chromatography with mass spectrometry (GC-MS) analysis was developed and validated for the quantification of 18 PCBs in wild (from Matosinhos Beach, Portugal) and cultivated (from Ria de Arousa, Spain) mussel samples, pooled by sex. Wild animals showed higher PCB levels than cultivated mussels, with males from both origins, presenting an upper contamination profile comparing with females. This fact seems to be correlated with few biometric parameters, but other interdependencies, not addressed herein, such as distinct lipid contents between sexes, as a consequence of the gametogenic stage, may also explain this data. Overall, data reiterate the importance of investigating the presence of PCBs in marine biological samples, which can act both as bioindicators of environmental contamination, either as food quality controls for human health.     

Valorization of solid waste products from olive oil industry as potential adsorbents for water pollution control—a review

The global olive oil production for 2010 is estimated to be 2,881,500 metric tons. The European Union countries produce 78.5 % of the total olive oil, which stands for an average production of 2,136,000 tons. The worldwide consumption of olive oil increased of 78 % between 1990 and 2010. The increase in olive oil production implies a proportional increase in olive mill wastes. As a consequence of such increasing trend, olive mills are facing severe environmental problems due to lack of feasible and/or cost-effective solutions to olive-mill waste management. Therefore, immediate attention is required to find a proper way of management to deal with olive mill waste materials in order to minimize environmental pollution and associated health risks. One of the interesting uses of solid wastes generated from olive mills is to convert them as inexpensive adsorbents for water pollution control. In this review paper, an extensive list of adsorbents (prepared by utilizing different types of olive mill solid waste materials) from vast literature has been compiled, and their adsorption capacities for various aquatic pollutants removal are presented. Different physicochemical methods that have been used to convert olive mill solid wastes into efficient adsorbents have also been discussed. Characterization of olive-based adsorbents and adsorption mechanisms of various aquatic pollutants on these developed olive-based adsorbents have also been discussed in detail. Conclusions have been drawn from the literature reviewed, and suggestions for future research are proposed.     

Occurrence,elimination, and risk of anticoagulant rodenticides and drugs during wastewater treatment

Anticoagulants are biocides widely used as pest control agents in agriculture, urban infrastructures, and domestic applications for the control of rodents. Other anticoagulants such as warfarin and acenocoumarol are also used as drugs against thrombosis. After use, anticoagulants are discharged to sewage grids and enter wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs). Our hypothesis is that WWTP effluents can be a source of anticoagulants to receiving waters and that these can affect aquatic organisms and other nontarget species. Therefore, the objective of the present study was to determine the occurrence of 11 anticoagulants in WWTPs receiving urban and agricultural wastewaters. Warfarin was the most ubiquitous compound detected in influent waters and was partially eliminated during the activated sludge treatment, and low nanograms per liter concentration were found in the effluents. Other detected compounds were coumatetralyl, ferulenol, acenocoumarol, flocoumafen, brodifacoum, bromadiolone, and difenacoum at concentrations of 0.86–87.0 ng L^?1. Considering water volumes of each WWTP, daily emissions were estimated to be 0.02 to 21.8 g day^?1, and thus, WWTPs contribute to the loads of anticoagulants to receiving waters. However, low aquatic toxicity was observed using Daphnia magna as a model aquatic organism.