Search results for " POLICY"
showing 10 items of 4303 documents
Tobacco plants detect a decrease of environmental genotoxicity in Toulouse (France).
2003
Tobacco plants, heterozygous for two independent loci involved in the chlorophyll parenchyma differentiation, allow the genotoxic effects of the atmosphere of the industrial estate South of Toulouse to be estimated. Somatic spots of green cellular colonies on yellow-green background, were counted to calculate the cellular rates of reversion. Two experiments were carried out in 1981, and in 1997. A general decrease of genotoxic effects was observed. These observations were interpreted as being due to a general decrease of the air pollution evaluated by the development of the concentrations of three toxic gases before and after the implementation of cleanup devices. The results obtained demon…
Effects of elevated production of autochthonous dissolved organic matter on the freely dissolved concentration of cadmium
2018
Eutrophication enhances the production of autochthonous dissolved organic matter (DOM), which is a major driving factor behind the impairment of many aquatic ecosystems. In a mesocosm study, we investigated the effects of the abundance and composition of DOM on the potential bioavailability of cadmium (Cd) caused by eutrophication, using three-dimensional excitation-emission matrix fluorescence spectroscopy integrated with tangential flow ultrafiltration technology. The complexing capacity of DOM-Cd and the sorption distribution coefficient between DOM and the bulk solution was calculated based on a 1 : 1 complexation model. The fluorescent DOM was decomposed into three components (one prot…
A practical approach to improve the statistical performance of surface water monitoring networks
2019
The representativeness of aquatic ecosystem monitoring and the precision of the assessment results are of high importance when implementing the EU’s Water Framework Directive that aims to secure a good status of waterbodies in Europe. However, adapting monitoring designs to answer the objectives and allocating the sampling resources effectively are seldom practiced. Here, we present a practical solution how the sampling effort could be re-allocated without decreasing the precision and confidence of status class assignment. For demonstrating this, we used a large data set of 272 intensively monitored Finnish lake, coastal, and river waterbodies utilizing an existing framework for quantifying…
A Method to Quantitatively Trap Volatilized Organoselenides for Stable Selenium Isotope Analysis
2011
If volatile organoselenides are to be analyzed for their stable Se isotope composition to elucidate sources and formation processes, organoselenides need to be trapped quantitatively to avoid artificial Se isotope fractionation. We developed an efficient trap of organoselenides to be used in microcosms designed to determine the Se isotope fractionation by microbial transformation of inorganic Se to volatile organoselenides. The recoveries of volatilized dimethyldiselenide (DMDSe) from aqueous standard solutions by activated charcoal and alkaline peroxide solution with subsequent freeze-drying and purification via a cation exchange resin were tested. Microcosm experiments with the Se-methyla…
Influence of ground tire rubber on the transient loading response of a peat biofilter
2010
Abstract The effect of using ground tire rubber (GTR) as an adsorptive material in the removal of a 2:1:1 weight mixture of n-butyl acetate, toluene and m-xylene by using a peat biofilter under different intermittent conditions was investigated. The performance of two identical size biofilters, one packed with fibrous peat alone and the other with a 3:1 (vol) fibrous peat and GTR mixture, was examined for a period of four months. Partition coefficients of both materials were measured. Values of 53, 118 and 402 L kg −1 were determined for n-butyl acetate, toluene and m-xylene in peat, respectively; and values of 40, 609 and 3035 L kg −1 were measured for the same compounds in GTR. Intermitte…
Eucalyptol-based green extraction of brown alga Zonaria tournefortii
2018
Abstract A green extraction method, based on the use of 1,8-cineole (eucalyptol) as biosolvent, has been developed to prepare crude extracts from the brown alga Zonaria tournefortii characterized by chemical composition, particularly dominated by phenolic compounds derived from phloroglucinol. The main advantage of the developed technique are the recovery of eucalyptol, based on multistep liquid-liquid extraction with distilled water, followed by centrifugation and elimination of the aqueous phase, and the complete recycling of biosolvent by steam distillation. A comparative study between the proposed green extract and the conventional extract, prepared by solvent maceration using the mixtu…
Influence of the Liquefied Starch Composition and pH on the Saccharification at the Obtaining of Maltose Syrup
1970
In this paper the influence of the composition of the liquefied starch and of pH on the quality of saccharification at the obtaining of maltose syrup is investigated. A large number of experiments (68) in various liquefaction conditions show that Dextrose Equivalent (DE) and the composition in hydrolysis products with Degree of Polymerisation higher as four (DP ≥4) in the liquefied starch have a strong influence on the saccharification products, mainly on the maltose content in the maltose syrups. The liquefied starch with DE lower as 25 has smaller amounts of DP ≥4 (40 to 60%), whereas the liquefied starch with DE between 25 and 27 has high amounts of DP ≥4 (60 to 80%). For the production …
Modelling of Starch Gelatinisation and Liquefaction with the Enzyme Liquozyme
2011
In this paper the influence of the enzyme Liquozyme Supra concentration (0.4-1.2 kg/t dry substance DS) and gelatinisation time (3-11 min.) on the liquefied starch quality is investigated. The composition in sugars with different Degrees of Polymerisation (DP) as DP1 (glucose), DP2 (maltose), DP3 (maltotriose), DP4 (maltotetrose) and oligosaccharides with DP≥5 is analysed by using HPLC with RI detector. The products obtained have different DP, the main components being oligosaccharides with DP≥5, followed by small amount of DP3+DP4 and much smaller concentrations of DP1; no DP2 is produced by this enzyme. Two quality criteria: the percent of oligosaccharides with DP≥5 and the percent of DP1…
Toxicity of binary mixtures of Cu, Cr and As to the earthworm Eisenia andrei
2020
AbstractChromated copper arsenate (CCA) mixtures were used in the past for wood preservation, leading to large scale soil contamination. This study aimed at contributing to the risk assessment of CCA-contaminated soils by assessing the toxicity of binary mixtures of copper, chromium and arsenic to the earthworm Eisenia andrei in OECD artificial soil. Mixture effects were related to reference models of Concentration Addition (CA) and Independent Action (IA) using the MIXTOX model, with effects being related to total and available (H2O and 0.01 M CaCl2 extractable) concentrations in the soil. Since only in mixtures with arsenic dose-related mortality occurred (LC50 92.5 mg/kg dry soil), it wa…
Determination of heavy metal content and lipid profiles in mussel extracts from two sites on the moroccan atlantic coast and evaluation of their biol…
2012
Mussels may concentrate pollutants, with possibly significant side effects on human health. Therefore, mussels (Mytilus galloprovincialis) from two sites of the Moroccan Atlantic coast (Jorf Lasfar [JL], an industrial site, and Oualidia [OL], a vegetable-growing area), were subjected to biochemical analyses to quantify the presence of heavy metals (Cd, Cr, and Pb) and to establish the lipid profile: fatty acid, cholesterol, oxysterol, phytosterol and phospholipid content. In addition, mussel lipid extracts known to accumulate numerous toxic components were tested on murine pancreatic β-cells (MIN6), and their biological activities were measured with various flow cytometric and biochemical m…