Study of Precision,Deviations and Uncertainty in the Design of the Strategic Noise Map of the Macrocenter of the City of Buenos Aires,Argentina

This article aims to discuss the influence of input data on the simulation model when designing Strategic Noise Maps. The studied noise map was made in the Macrocenter of the Independent City of Buenos Aires (Argentina), which has an approximated extension of 20 km² and about 500,000 inhabitants. The several input data for the model are analyzed, for their quality and the lack of some of them could affect the final result. Also, the evolution and validity of experimental measurements are analyzed when validating a simulated map. Finally, a study of the uncertainty of the map based on the input data is made, comparing it with the recommendations internationally adopted.     

CO2 enrichment inhibits shoot nitrate assimilation in C3 but not C4 plants and slows growth under nitrate in C3 plants

The CO2 concentration in Earth's atmosphere may double during this century. Plant responses to such an increase depend strongly on their nitrogen status, but the reasons have been uncertain. Here, we assessed shoot nitrate assimilation into amino acids via the shift in shoot CO2 and O2 fluxes when plants received nitrate instead of ammonium as a nitrogen source (deltaAQ). Shoot nitrate assimilation became negligible with increasing CO2 in a taxonomically diverse group of eight C3 plant species, was relatively insensitive to CO2 in three C4 species, and showed an intermediate sensitivity in two C3-C4 intermediate species. We then examined the influence of CO2 level and ammonium vs. nitrate nutrition on growth, assessed in terms of changes in fresh mass, of several C3 species and a Crassulacean acid metabolism (CAM) species. Elevated CO2 (720 micromol CO2/mol of all gases present) stimulated growth or had no effect in the five C3 species tested when they received ammonium as a nitrogen source but inhibited growth or had no effect if they received nitrate. Under nitrate, two C3 species grew faster at sub-ambient (approximately 310 micromol/mol) than elevated CO2. A CAM species grew faster at ambient than elevated or sub-ambient CO2 under either ammonium or nitrate nutrition. This study establishes that CO2 enrichment inhibits shoot nitrate assimilation in a wide variety of C3 plants and that this phenomenon can have a profound effect on their growth. This indicates that shoot nitrate assimilation provides an important contribution to the nitrate assimilation of an entire C3 plant. Thus, rising CO2 and its effects on shoot nitrate assimilation may influence the distribution of C3 plant species.     

Fissioning minimizes ranging costs in spider monkeys: a multiple-level approach

The adjustment to deal with intragroup food competition is probably the most plausible explanation of high levels of fission–fusion dynamics. However, studies did not always support expected relations between food availability, ranging costs, and subgroup size. We used several levels of analysis differing in the time and spatial scale in order to investigate this explanation in spider monkeys. In our study, subgroups were larger when food availability was higher across most levels of analyses used. We also found a fine-scale adjustment: compared to the food patch previously visited, spider monkeys traveled to larger patches just after fusions. This was not without an immediate travel cost: the interpatch distance and travel time after a fusion were longer than that before the fusion. This rapid adjustment shows the flexibility that fission–fusion dynamics can offer. Spider monkeys are in large subgroups only when food conditions are favorable, as evidenced by the fact that at all the other time-scale levels larger subgroups did not experience greater ranging costs than smaller subgroups. Our results indicate that on the whole spider monkeys successfully minimize ranging costs by fission and fusion of subgroups.     

Mercury, lead and cadmium in human milk in relation to diet, lifestyle habits and sociodemographic variables in Madrid (Spain)

Background

Although breastfeeding is the ideal way of nurturing infants, it can be a source of exposure to toxicants. This study reports the concentration of Hg, Pb and Cd in breast milk from a sample of women drawn from the general population of the Madrid Region, and explores the association between metal levels and socio-demographic factors, lifestyle habits, diet and environmental exposures, including tobacco smoke, exposure at home and occupational exposures.

Methods

Breast milk was obtained from 100 women (20 mL) at around the third week postpartum. Pb, Cd and Hg levels were determined using Atomic Absorption Spectrometry. Metal levels were log-transformed due to non-normal distribution. Their association with the variables collected by questionnaire was assessed using linear regression models. Separate models were fitted for Hg, Pb and Cd, using univariate linear regression in a first step. Secondly, multivariate linear regression models were adjusted introducing potential confounders specific for each metal. Finally, a test for trend was performed in order to evaluate possible dose-response relationships between metal levels and changes in variables categories.

Results

Geometric mean Hg, Pb and Cd content in milk were 0.53 μg L⁻¹, 15.56 μg L⁻¹, and 1.31 μg L⁻¹, respectively. Decreases in Hg levels in older women and in those with a previous history of pregnancies and lactations suggested clearance of this metal over lifetime, though differences were not statistically significant, probably due to limited sample size. Lead concentrations increased with greater exposure to motor vehicle traffic and higher potato consumption. Increased Cd levels were associated with type of lactation and tended to increase with tobacco smoking.

Conclusions

Surveillance for the presence of heavy metals in human milk is needed. Smoking and dietary habits are the main factors linked to heavy metal levels in breast milk. Our results reinforce the need to strengthen national food safety programs and to further promote avoidance of unhealthy behaviors such as smoking during pregnancy.     

Phytoremediating a copper mine soil with Brassica juncea L., compost and biochar

The soils at a depleted copper mine in Touro (Galicia, Spain) are chemically degraded. In order to determine the effect of amendments and vegetation on the chemical characteristics of a mine soil and on the plant uptake of metals, a greenhouse experiment was carried out for 3 months. A settling pond soil was amended with different percentages of a compost and biochar mixture and vegetated with Brassica juncea L. The results showed that the untreated settling pond soil was polluted by Cu. Amendments and planting mustards decreased the pseudototal concentration of this metal, reduced the extreme soil acidity and increased the soil concentrations of C and TN. Both treatments also decreased the CaCl₂-extractable Co, Cu and Ni concentrations. However, the amendments increased the pseudototal concentration of Zn in the soil, provided by the compost that was used. The results also showed that mustards extracted Ni efficiently from soils, suggesting that B. juncea L. is a good phytoextractor of Ni in mine soils.     

Comparative effect of compost and technosol enhanced with biochar on the fertility of a degraded soil

A large number of studies on the reclamation of mine soils focused on the problem caused by metals and did not explore in depth the issue of nutrients and vegetation after the application of organic materials. The aim of this study was to compare the effect of two treatments made of wastes and vegetated with Brassica juncea L. on the fertility of a settling pond mine soil. The first treatment was compost, biochar, and B. juncea (SCBP) and the second treatment was technosol, biochar, and B. juncea (STBP). This study evaluated the effect of the treatments on the soil nutrient concentrations and fertility conditions in the soil amendment mixtures, after 11 months of greenhouse experiment. Total carbon and nitrogen concentrations were higher in treatment SCBP than in treatment STBP after 7 months but, after 11 months, carbon concentration was higher in STBP. The used technosol could have forms of carbon more stable than compost, which could be released slower than in the compost-amended soils. Both compost and technosol mixed with biochar also increased the concentration of calcium, potassium, magnesium, and sodium in exchangeable form in the mine soil.     

Public engagement on urban air pollution: an exploratory study of two interventions

The use of portable sensors to measure air quality is a promising approach for the management of urban air quality given its potential to improve public participation in environmental issues and to promote healthy behaviors. However, not all the projects that use air quality mobile sensors consider the potential effects of their use on the attitudes and behaviors of non-expert individuals. This study explores the experiences, perceptions, attitudes, and behavioral intentions of 12 participants who used a real-time NO₂ sensor over a period of 7 days in the metropolitan area of Barcelona and compares them with 16 participants who did not have access to the device but rather to documentary information. The study design is based on recombined focus groups who met at the beginning and end of a 7-day activity. The results suggest that the experience with the sensors, in comparison with the traditional information, generates greater motivation among participants. Also, that the use of the sensor seems to support a more specific awareness of the problem of air pollution. In relation to risk perception, the textual and visual information seems to generate stronger beliefs of severity among participants. In both groups, beliefs of low controllability and self-efficacy are observed. Neither using the sensor nor reading the documentary information seems to contribute positively in this sense. The results of the study aim to contribute to the design of public involvement strategies in urban air pollution.     

Newborns and low to moderate prenatal environmental lead exposure: might fathers be the key?

This study is part of the BioMadrid Project, a bio-monitoring study designed to assess pollutants in the environment surrounding children born in the Madrid region. Our aim in this report is to evaluate the association between prenatal lead exposure and fetal development using three biological samples (maternal and paternal blood lead at around 34 weeks of gestation as well as cord blood lead levels), three biomarkers of effect in cord blood peripheral lymphocytes (micronucleus in binucleated cells, nucleoplasmic bridges, and nuclear buds), and different anthropometrical characteristics at birth. Maternal and cord blood lead were not associated with newborn measurements or genotoxicity biomarkers. In contrast, increases in father blood lead were coupled with lower weight (mean difference (MD), ?110.8 g; 95 % confidence intervals (95%CI), ?235.6 to 6.00; p?<?0.10) and shorter abdominal (MD, ?0.81 cm; 95%CI, ?1.64 to 0.00; p?<?0.05) and cephalic (MD, ?0.32 cm; 95%CI, ?0.65 to 0.00; p?<?0.05) circumferences at birth as well as with the presence of nucleoplasmic bridges (odds ratio, 1.03; 95%CI, 1.00 to 1.06; p?<?0.05) and nuclear buds (odds ratio, 1.02; 95%CI, 0.99 to 1.04; p?<?0.10). These associations were mainly confined to female babies, in whom paternal lead was also inversely associated with length. Our results support the hypothesis that paternal lead exposure may be affecting the development of newborns.     

Toxicity assessment through multiple endpoint bioassays in soils posing environmental risk according to regulatory screening values

Toxicity profiles of two soils (a brownfield in Legazpi and an abandoned iron mine in Zugaztieta; Basque Country) contaminated with several metals (As, Zn, Pb and Cu in Legazpi; Zn, Pb, Cd and Cu in Zugaztieta) and petroleum hydrocarbons (in Legazpi) were determined using a multi-endpoint bioassay approach. Investigated soils exceeded screening values (SVs) of regulatory policies in force (Basque Country; Europe). Acute and chronic toxicity bioassays were conducted with a selected set of test species (Vibrio fischeri, Dictyostelium discoideum, Lactuca sativa, Raphanus sativus and Eisenia fetida) in combination with chemical analysis of soils and elutriates, as well as with bioaccumulation studies in earthworms. The sensitivity of the test species and the toxicity endpoints varied depending on the soil. It was concluded that whilst Zugaztieta soil showed very little or no toxicity, Legazpi soil was toxic according to almost all the toxicity tests (solid phase Microtox®, D. discoideum inhibition of fruiting body formation and developmental cycle solid phase assays, lettuce seed germination and root elongation test, earthworm acute toxicity and reproduction tests, D. discoideum cell viability and replication elutriate assays). Thus, albeit both soils had similar SVs, their ecotoxicological risk, and therefore the need for intervening, was different for each soil as unveiled after toxicity profiling based on multiple endpoint bioassays. Such a toxicity profiling approach is suitable to be applied for scenario-targeted soil risk assessment in those cases where applicable national/regional soil legislation based on SVs demands further toxicity assessment.