Search results for " pollution"

Inorganic polyphosphates in the developing freshwater spongeEphydatia muelleri: Effect of stress by polluted waters

1996

Relatively high amounts of inorganic polyphosphates (approximately 55 μg of polyphosphate/g of wet weight) were found in the freshwater sponge Ephydatia muelleri, particularly in the gemmules (260 μg/g). Here we report that the polyphosphate content of this sponge changes during development and in response to adverse environmental conditions. Germination and hatching of gemmules of E. muelleri is accompanied by a strong decrease (by 94% at day 2) in polyphosphate level and a rise in exopolyphosphatase activity. On the other hand, induction of gemmulogenesis by theophylline results in an increase (by 61%) in polyphosphate content of sponge tissue. An increase in polyphosphate content and a d…

Effect of substituted phenols on transaminase activity in the fish,Leuciscus idus melanotus L.

1986

Indoor air pollution in extremely poor Colombian households

2013

Objetivo Caracterizar la exposición a la contaminación del aire interior por uso de combustibles sólidos en hogares en situación de pobreza extrema en Colombia. Métodos A partir de la información gubernamental oficial de hogares en situación de pobreza extrema (encuesta Red Unidos de septiembre 2012, n=1,3 millones de hogares y >5 millones de individuos) se estructuraron dos modelos de regresión logística: (i) Factores asociados al uso de combustibles sólidos para cocinar a nivel hogar, (ii) Asociación entre el uso de combustibles sólidos en el hogar y prevalencia de limitaciones de la salud a nivel individuo. Resultados Un total de 530 mil hogares en situación de pobreza extrema donde habi…

Recent advances in the application of innovative food processing technologies for mycotoxins and pesticide reduction in foods

2020

Abstract Background Agricultural products are a vital component of the human diet. However, these products can be contaminated by health-threatening pesticides and mycotoxins due to improper farming and storage practices. Besides, pesticide pollution can be also regarded as environmental pollution and pesticide reduction is among the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). While these hazardous chemicals are stable during several traditional food processing, innovative food processing technologies, including high-pressure processing (HPP), pulsed electric fields (PEF), cold plasma (CP), supercritical carbon dioxide (SC-CO2), and ultrasound (USN) processing, have been found to have good potent…

Characterization of petroleum-based products by infrared spectroscopy and chemometrics

2012

Abstract The role of fossil fuels in providing the energy required for automobiles, factories and daily life has seriously concerned the authorities. Consistency of the quality of petroleum-based products is an important aspect of social and environmental criteria in a developed society. High-quality petroleum-based fuels would have several benefits (e.g., reduction in rate of consumption, less environmental pollution and durability of hardware). We review recent advances in the application of infrared spectroscopy in the petroleum industry. We focus on the methods proposed for the determination of a wide range of characteristics in petroleum-based products. We discuss methods based on the …

Model ecosystem for environmental transport of xenobiotics

1982

A compartmentalized aquatic-terrestrial flow-through model ecosystem was constructed for studying the transport of agricultural chemicals from the soil to the aquatic environment in soil drainage. Factors were investigated on the fate of reference toxicant,14C-DDT, in the subsystems of the model. The behavior of DDT corresponds to its behavior in natural soil/water systems. The soil, acting as a reservoir, retained most of the DDT. The transportation of DDT to the aquatic compartment was negligible, with low availability to the aquatic biota. Because of the dynamic nature of the model, variation was evident between and within model units.

Air pollution, chronic smoking, and mortality.

2019

DEPOSIT REFUND SYSTEM FOR BEVERAGE CONTAINERS IN LATVIA: LEARNINGS WITHIN THE BALTIC STATES

2019

INTRODUCTION
 One of the main global environmental problems we are facing is the increasing the amount of waste. There are numerous policy instruments used to reduce the environmental impact of packaging. Many EU member states use producer levies, packaging and resource taxes, deposit-refund systems and producer responsibility systems (Bailey, 2017; Watkins et al., 2017).
 MATERIALS AND METHODS
 In this article we conduct comparative analyses and evaluate the effectiveness of deposit-refund systems for beverage packaging in the three Baltic States: Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania. Data used in the study is obtained from statistical databases of the Central Statistical Bureau, E…

Occupational hygiene in a Finnish drum composting plant

2005

Bioaerosols (microbes, dust and endotoxins) and volatile organic compounds (VOCs) were determined in the working air of a drum composting plant treating source-separated catering waste. Different composting activities at the Oulu drum composting plant take place in their own units separated by modular design and constructions. Important implication of this is that the control room is a relatively clean working environment and the risk of exposure to harmful factors is low. However, the number of viable airborne microbes was high both in the biowaste receiving hall and in the drum composting hall. The concentration (geometric average) of total microbes was 21.8 million pcs/m3 in the biowaste…

A study of weathered coal spectroscopic properties

2017

Abstract Current coal industry causes significant environmental pollution and the most air pollution deaths in the world, making the development of new eco-friendly applications one of the top priorities. Coal contains up to 50 % humic substances (HS), the majority of which is humic acid (HA). HA is well known for its beneficial properties and thus compounds extracted from coal can be used to develop new applications. To address this issue, we assessed structural composition of coal HS by measuring their spectroscopic properties. As the result, obtained spectra can be used to identify information about the molecules and thus allowing describing the composition of HS. The purpose of this stu…