Search results for " heavy metals"
showing 10 items of 47 documents
Marine Invertebrates as Bioindicators of Heavy Metal Pollution
2014
Atmosphere, earth and water compose the environment. The presence of heavy metals in the environment has grown because of their large employment in some industrial and agricultural activities. Although these metals are terrestrial products, they flow into the sea through effluents and sewage or are directly discharged from industries placed on the seawater front. It should be considered that metals concentrations vary widely according to different seawater latitudes and depths and can be strongly influenced by fresh water discharges from heavily polluted rivers. In this review recent studies on heavy metal pollution in marine ecosystems and their organisms will be presented. Metal speciatio…
The environmental impact of air pollution on the built heritage of historic Cairo (Egypt)
2020
In the last decades, many researchers investigated the relation between environmental pollution and the degradation phenomena on the built heritage, because of their rapid increase and growing harmfulness. Consequently, the identification of the main pollution sources has become essential to define mitigation actions against degradation and alteration phenomena of the stone materials. In this way, the present paper is focused on the study of the effect of air pollution on archaeological buildings in Historic Cairo. A multi-methodological approach was used to obtain information about the chemical composition of examined black crusts and to clarify their correlation with the air pollution, sp…
Characteristics of current roadside pollution using test-monitoring plots
2014
Abstract The aim of the study was the qualitative recognition of the existing roadside pollutants deposited in topsoils located close to roads with high traffic volume. So far, the studies have helped to determine the content of pollutants that accumulated over a long period of time. Traditionally, it has been difficult to distinguish between roadside pollution and pollution from other industrial sources. In order to avoid such problems and to accurately recognize present threats originating from road traffic, test-monitoring plots were installed in Poland (Gliwice and Opole), Germany (Tubingen, Ulm and Boblingen), Finland (Helsinki), Tajikistan (Dushanbe) and China (Lanzhou). To install th…
Multidisciplinary Approach for Evaluating the Geochemical Degradation of Building Stone Related to Pollution Sources in the Historical Center of Napl…
2020
Natural stones have represented one of the main building materials since ancient times. In recent decades, a worsening in degradation phenomena related mostly to environmental pollution was observed, threatening their conservation. The present work is focused on the minero-petrographic and geochemical characterization of black crust (BC) samples taken from the historical center of Naples, after selecting two pilot monumental areas. The latter were chosen based on their historical importance, type of material, state of preservation and position in the urban context (i.e., high vehicular traffic area, limited traffic area, industrial area, etc.). The building materials used and their interact…
Mosses as biomonitors of atmospheric heavy metal deposition : Spatial patterns and temporal trends in Europe
2010
In recent decades, mosses have been used successfully as biomonitors of atmospheric deposition of heavy metals. Since 1990, the European moss survey has been repeated at five-yearly intervals. Although spatial patterns were metal-specific, in 2005 the lowest concentrations of metals in mosses were generally found in Scandinavia, the Baltic States and northern parts of the UK ; the highest concentrations were generally found in Belgium and south-eastern Europe. The recent decline in emission and subsequent deposition of heavy metals across Europe has resulted in a decrease in the heavy metal concentration in mosses for the majority of metals. Since 1990, the concentration in mosses has decli…
Cadmium-induced changes in soil biochemical characteristics of oat (Avena sativa L.) rhizosphere during early growth stages
2011
A microcosm was assembled to physically separate soil from roots and was used to study both the impact of living roots on the soil–plant system during early stages of growth and plant responses to abiotic stress. Oat (Avena sativa L.) seedlings were grown in the microcosm unit for 44 days. Twenty-three days after planting, 0.154 mg CdSO4/g dry soil was added. Plants grown in Cd-treated microcosms showed considerable inhibition of shoot growth rates, and leaf chlorophyll content. Soil microbial biomass C and respiration increased with plant age, and most of the measured biochemical indicators decreased with increasing distance from the soil–root interface, thus demonstrating the rhizosphere …
Metal distribution in road dust samples collected in an urban area close to a petrochemical plant at Gela, Sicily
2006
Eight samples of road dust were collected from three different localities (industrial, urban, peripheral) of the town of Gela (Italy) to characterize their chemical composition and to assess (a) the influence of the petrochemical plant and the urban traffic on the trace element content in different grain-size fractions of street dust and (b) the solid-phase speciation of the analysed metal using sequential extraction. The samples were sieved into six particle size ranges: 500–250, 250–125, 125–63, 63–40, 40–20 and <20 μm and then analysed for 15 trace elements by ICP-MS. Sequential extraction of metals was performed on each subsample. A principal component analysis was also carried out to d…
The influence of industrial emissions from a zinc factory on the properties of Chernozem soil
2018
This article describes the influence of zinc factory emissions on soil cover and vegetation cover of the lands of East Kazakhstan. It is shown how the physical properties of water affect soil moisture. The authors consider how heavy metals destroy the composition of organic acids and how it affects the aggregate state of the soil cover.
In vivo exposure of the marine sponge Chondrilla nucula Schmidt, 1862 to cadmium (Cd), copper (Cu) and lead (Pb) and its potential use for bioremedia…
2018
Abstract The study aimed to test the cadmium (Cd), copper (Cu) and lead (Pb) bioaccumulation capacity of the marine sponge Chondrilla nucula and to measure the expression of metallothioneins (MTs) by a western blotting assay to explore metal tolerance and its potential use as a bioremediator in contaminated coastal areas. C. nucula was sampled in a protected marine area in order to perform experiments on organisms living in a healthy environment. Under laboratory conditions, the sponges were exposed to increasing concentrations of Cd, Cu and Pb in tanks filled with artificial seawater set up for the experiments. For each metal, three waterborne concentrations (mgL−1) of Cd (0.02–0.04-0.08),…
Comparison of stable isotope composition and inorganic and organic contaminant levels in wild and farmed bluefin tuna, Thunnus thynnus, in the Medite…
2009
Abstract Stable isotope composition (δ13C and δ15N) and persistent pollutants, including heavy metals (Hg, Cd, Pb, As, Cu, Zn) and organochlorine compounds (PCBs, HCB and p,p′-DDE), were measured in muscle and liver tissues of wild and farmed bluefin tunas to investigate the changes occurring during the farming period and to assess the quality, in terms of contaminants, of the final product. At the end of farming, the food supplied was clearly integrated into the tuna tissues as derived from stable isotope signatures, and, contrarily to the literature findings obtained for other species, farmed tunas showed slight variations in persistent elements and chemical compounds in comparison with w…