Search results for " Pollution"
showing 10 items of 1010 documents
Dry deposition of particle on urban areas
2019
Abstract Dry deposition process is recognized as an important pathway among the removal processes of radioactive pollutants in atmosphere. There is not a unique and accepted theoretical description of involved dry deposition phenomena due to the complexity of the fluid-dynamic processes that influence the deposition flux, but also because there is a lack of experimental data covering all scenarios of interest. In this paper, that is the result of a National Research Program a research activity conducted by DEIM Department of the University of Palermo and ENEA and funded by the Italian Minister of Economic Development, a new schema for parameterization of particle dry deposition velocity on …
Relationship between cobalt, copper and zinc content of soils and vegetables
1992
The relationship between cobalt, copper and zinc content of soils and the vegetables grown in them is discussed. Samples of soil and edible vegetables were taken from 15 different sites, corresponding to four agricultural areas exposed to different degrees of environmental pollution: high industrial and traffic, high industrial and urban, and low industrial and urban pollution. Elements were determined by atomic absorption spectroscopy. Variance analysis (ANOVA) was applied to cobalt, copper and zinc content of vegetables and soils in order to detect significant differences among soils of different areas and the vegetables grown there. The possible relationship between the heavy metal conte…
How urban characteristics affect vulnerability to heat and cold: a multi-country analysis
2019
Background The health burden associated with temperature is expected to increase due to a warming climate. Populations living in cities are likely to be particularly at risk, but the role of urban characteristics in modifying the direct effects of temperature on health is still unclear. In this contribution, we used a multi-country dataset to study effect modification of temperature–mortality relationships by a range of city-specific indicators. Methods We collected ambient temperature and mortality daily time-series data for 340 cities in 22 countries, in periods between 1985 and 2014. Standardized measures of demographic, socio-economic, infrastructural and environmental indicators were d…
Identification of highly effective antitrypanosomal compounds in essential oils from the Apiaceae family
2018
The Apiaceae family encompasses aromatic plants of economic importance employed in foodstuffs, beverages, perfumery, pharmaceuticals and cosmetics. Apiaceae are rich sources of essential oils because of the wealth of secretory structures (ducts and vittae) they are endowed with. The Apiaceae essential oils are available on an industrial level because of the wide cultivation and disposability of the bulky material from which they are extracted as well as their relatively cheap price. In the fight against protozoal infections, essential oils may represent new therapeutic options. In the present work, we focused on a panel of nine Apiaceae species (Siler montamon, Sison amomum, Echinophora spi…
Cinema audiences reproducibly vary the chemical composition of air during films, by broadcasting scene specific emissions on breath
2016
AbstractHuman beings continuously emit chemicals into the air by breath and through the skin. In order to determine whether these emissions vary predictably in response to audiovisual stimuli, we have continuously monitored carbon dioxide and over one hundred volatile organic compounds in a cinema. It was found that many airborne chemicals in cinema air varied distinctively and reproducibly with time for a particular film, even in different screenings to different audiences. Application of scene labels and advanced data mining methods revealed that specific film events, namely “suspense” or “comedy” caused audiences to change their emission of specific chemicals. These event-type synchronou…
Occurrence of palladium and platinum in human scalp hair of adolescents living in urban and industrial sites
2023
Platinum group elements (PGEs) can be naturally found at very low concentrations in the Earth's crust. However, the increasing uses of PGEs in vehicle exhaust catalysts, in addition to some other applications (industry, jewelry, anticancer drugs) cause their anthropogenic emission and dispersion in the environment. The use of human hair samples analysis is considered a suitable biological indicator to assess human occupational and environmental exposure. It is an easily accessible material for individuals or population groups of non-invasive sampling. The aim of this study is a comparative analysis to investigate human hair content of Pd and Pt in adolescents, of both genders, residing near…
A case study to the Evaluation of Global Environmental Quality, concerning thermal, acoustic and atmospheric conditions of urban areas
2013
In this paper we propose an operative procedure aimed at assessing and check the global environmental quality in the urban areas. This methodology is set up by using an ergonomic approach that analyses the interaction man-environment in terms of cause-effect and uses information and data from various sources contributing to the formation of discomfort degrees.[1-2] The representation technique by normo-grams is used for showing some applications executed along the urban territory of Palermo and allows to evaluate very simply all the parameters involved in human comfort. This paper is divided in 5 sections, after the introduction in section 2 a review of the principal simple and complex inde…
Remediation Practice at a Former Missile Base in Latvia
1998
Severe environmental pollution of soil and groundwater exists in Latvia from activities that took place at former Soviet military bases. Since 1994, the former owners of these territories have retaken possession of their lands and have started to use their properties for agriculture, exploitation of forests and recreation. These activities have increased the exposure of populations to toxic substances, with subsequent effects on human health.
HUMAN SPERM CELL AS EARLY BIOINDICATOR OF MALE HEALTH AND REPRODUCTION
2017
Environmental factors could have a key role in the remarkable and continuous decline of sperm quality observed in the last fifty years. This study addressed the gap of knowledge on the effect of air pollutants on sperm DNA fragmentation, comparing the seminal parameters from men living in locations with different levels of air pollution. The detrimental effects of environmental pollution in the Taranto area are alarming: the high level of pollutants released from the steel plants in the atmosphere can cause health and fertility issues. Our study analyzed sperm samples from three groups of patients: i) workers of Taranto steel plants; ii) Taranto residents; iii) Palermo residents, assumed as…
Chemical Aspects of Human and Environmental Overload with Fluorine
2021
Over the last 100-120 years, due to the ever-increasing importance of fluorine-containing compounds in modern technology and daily life, the explosive development of the fluorochemical industry led to an enormous increase of emission of fluoride ions into the biosphere. This made it more and more important to understand the biological activities, metabolism, degradation, and possible environmental hazards of such substances. This comprehensive and critical review focuses on the effects of fluoride ions and organofluorine compounds (mainly pharmaceuticals and agrochemicals) on human health and the environment. To give a better overview, various connected topics are also discussed: reasons an…