Environmental Science and Pollution Research - The Fundão Dam collapsed, on November 5th, 2015, dumping more than 50 million/m3 of iron ore tailings, enriched with metals, into the Doce River... 相似文献
Biomethane production through biogas upgrading is a promising renewable energy for some industries which could be part of the equilibrium needed with fossil fuels consumption to achieve a sustainable society. This paper presents a comprehensive list of biogas upgrading technologies focused on carbon dioxide removal as well as recent advances reported by researcher with wide expertise in this topic. Additionally, an extensive costs–performance comparison among the technologies studied is discussed. Among the different alternatives, chemical scrubbing stood out to achieve high biomethane purities while cryogenic technologies proved to be effective against methane losses. Regarding the different costs, water scrubbing and membrane separation seem to be the most affordable techniques. 相似文献
Ligustrum lucidum Ait. f. tricolor (Rehd.) Rehd. in relation to atmospheric pollutants in Córdoba city, Argentina. The study area receives
regional pollutants and was categorized taking into account traffic level, industrial density, type of industry, location
of the sample point in relation to the street corner, treeless condition, and topographic level. Dried weight/fresh weight
ratio (DW/FW) and specific leaf area (SLA) were calculated, and concentrations of chlorophylls, carotenoids, total sulfur,
soluble proteins, malondialdehyde (MDA), and hydroperoxy conjugated dienes (HPCD) were determined in leaf samples. Sulfur
content correlates positively with traffic density and SLA correlates negatively with some combinations of the categorical
variables; MDA correlates positively with topographic level and total protein concentration correlates negatively with treeless
condition. On the basis of our results, traffic, location of trees, type of industry, situation of a tree with respect to
others, and topographic level are the environmental variables to bear in mind when selecting analogous sampling points in
a passive monitoring program. An approximation to predict tree injury may be obtained by measuring DW/FW ratio, proteins,
pigments, HPCD, and MDA as they are responsible for the major variability of data. 相似文献
Major anthropogenic driven changes in the hydrologic and sedimentation patterns of the Orinoco River have had an impact on
environmental conditions in the delta. The abrupt water flow reduction from 3,600 to 200 m3 s–1 in one of its major distributaries resulting from dam construction forced its transformation from a fresh-water body into
a tidal channel with an increase in salinity level (as far as 100 km upstream) and with well-mixed water at the mouth and
estuarine connection to the Paria Gulf. Three different sectors along this distributary can be identified (indicated by the
Na/Cl ratio in the water). As a result, noticeable changes have occurred in the mangrove community which moved about 60 km
further upstream. The changes have also promoted the formation of new islands of sediment progradation at the mouth of this
distributary, where successional colonization and species replacement by different species of grasses and mangroves take place.
Electronic Publication 相似文献
Environment, Development and Sustainability - Disposal of healthcare waste is a key issue of environmental sustainability in the world. The amount of healthcare waste is increasing every day, and... 相似文献
Bombardier beetles (Coleoptera, Carabidae, Brachininae) possess a remarkable defense mechanism where a hot chemical spray is released from the tip of their abdomen, with an audible explosive sound. To date, the repellent properties of these chemicals have been tested against a limited number of taxa, such as amphibians and insects. To investigate the impact of bombardier beetle defenses on avian predators, feeding trials were conducted using the bombardier beetle (Pheropsophus jessoensis) and the Japanese quail (Coturnix japonica), a sympatric and generalist predator. All naïve, hand-reared quail attacked live beetles, indicating the absence of an innate aversion to them. However, most of the quail rejected consuming the beetles whether or not the beetles sprayed them with chemicals. Naïve quail also rejected dead P. jessoensis individuals. These results support the recent hypothesis that it is not essential for P. jessoensis to spray noxious chemicals to deter predators. We also found that some of the quail exposed to live P. jessoensis remembered to avoid them for up to 5 weeks. Our results provide the first evidence of the repelling effects of bombardier beetle defense mechanisms on avian predators.
The analysis for arsenic in hair is commonly used in epidemiological studies to assess exposure to this toxic element. However, poor correlation between total arsenic concentration in hair and water sources have been found in previous studies. Exclusive determination of endogenous arsenic in the hair, excluding external contamination has become an analytical challenge. Arsenic speciation in hair appears as a new possibility for analytical assessing in As-exposure studies. This study applied a relative simple method for arsenic speciation in human hair based on water extraction and HPLC-HG-ICP-MS. The concentration of arsenic species in human hair was assessed in chronically As(V)-exposed populations from two villages (Esqui?a and Illapata) of the Atacama Desert, Chile. The arsenic concentrations in drinking water are 0.075 and 1.25 mg L(-1), respectively, where As(V) represented between 92 and 99.5% of the total arsenic of the consumed waters. On average, the total arsenic concentrations in hair from individuals of Esqui?a and Illapata were 0.7 and 6.1 microg g(-1), respectively. Four arsenic species, As(III), DMA(V), MMA(V) and As(V), were detected and quantified in the hair extracts. Assuming the found species in extracts represent the species in hair, more than 98% of the total arsenic in hair corresponded to inorganic As. On average, As(III) concentrations in hair were 0.25 and 3.75 microg g(-1) in Esqui?a and Illapata, respectively; while, the As(V) average concentrations were 0.15 and 0.45 microg g(-1) in Esqui?a and Illapata, respectively. Methylated species represent less than 2% of the extracted As (DMA(V)+ MMA(V)) in both populations. As(III) in hair shows the best correlation with chronic exposure to As(V) in comparison to other species and total arsenic. In fact, concentrations of As(total), As(III) and As(V) in hair samples are correlated with the age of the exposed individuals from Illapata (R= 0.65, 0.69, 0.57, respectively) and with the time of residence in this village (R= 0.54, 0.71 and 0.58, respectively). 相似文献
The aim of this study was to analyse the relationship between the distribution of hay-fever patients in the city of Córdoba, south-western Iberian Peninsula, and the specific atmospheric biological content originating from local sources. Four different districts were established in the metropolitan area of the city, according to vegetational and urbanistic characteristics. Air samples were taken in each area using portable Hirst-type samplers (Lanzoni VPPS 1000) and the spectrum of biological content was defined. Patients attending the Allergy Unit at Córdoba Teaching Hospital in 2000 with allergic rhinitis and/or asthma, and displaying a positive reaction to aeroallergen extracts, were distributed within the areas as a function of their district of residence. Aerobiological results revealed differences in pollen content between areas, in terms of both quantity and number of pollen types recorded. These differences were largely due to proximity to rural areas, prevalence of pollen from typically urban species and the possible effect of urban architecture as a barrier to the dispersal/ concentration of particles and other pollutants. Patients were not uniformly distributed within the city. The majority lived in districts in which pollen from rural species was mixed with pollen from ornamentals. Patients living in typically urban districts displayed a higher prevalence of allergy to pollen from ornamentals. It is concluded that a high degree of exposure to the same environment may influence the development of sensitisation to the particular pollen load associated with that area. 相似文献