Search results for "Environmental Monitoring"
showing 10 items of 609 documents
Using moss and lichens in biomonitoring of heavy-metal contamination of forest areas in southern and north-eastern Poland.
2017
Abstract In the years 2014–2016 biomonitoring studies were conducted in the forest areas of south and north-eastern Poland: the Karkonosze Mountains, the Beskidy Mountains, the Borecka Forest, the Knyszynska Forest and the Bialowieska Forest. This study used epigeic moss Pleurozium schreberi and epiphytic lichens Hypogymnia physodes. Samples were collected in spring, summer and autumn. Approximately 500 samples of moss and lichens were collected for the study. In the samples, Mn, Ni, Cu, Zn, Cd, Hg and Pb concentrations were determined. Based on the obtained results, the studied areas were ranked by extent of heavy-metal deposition: Beskidy > Karkonosze Mountains > forests of north-eastern …
Monetary valuation of salicylic acid, methylparaben and THCOOH in a Mediterranean coastal wetland through the shadow prices methodology
2018
The presence of pharmaceutical and personal care products and drugs of abuse (PPCPs) in wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) indicates discharge of the effluent may not be suitable for the ecological balance of water ecosystems, such as wetlands. These PPCPs degrade water quality, considered as an ecosystem service (ES), provoking serious environmental impacts. Assessing the monetary value of PPCPs can be used as a proxy for environmental status of the ES of water quality (ESWQ). Considering PPCPs as non-desirable outputs of WWTPs, the shadow prices methodology has been implemented using directional distance function to measure the environmental avoided cost of removing salicylic acid (SA), …
Medium-term dynamics of element concentrations in a sparid fish and its isopod parasite after the Prestige oil-spill: Shifting baselines?
2019
Historically, the European Atlantic is probably the most important oil-spill hotspot worldwide. One of the most recent accidents occurred in 2002 when the oil-tanker Prestige sank over the Galician Bank causing two major oil-spills followed by several small leaks until March 2003. This resulted in contamination of virtually all types of marine habitat. Considering that parasites have proved to be good effect and accumulation bioindicators, the present study addresses the medium-term changes in trace element content after the Prestige oil-spill in a model host-parasite system, the bogue, Boops boops (Sparidae) and the isopod Ceratothoa oestroides. To our knowledge, this study is the first to…
Recommendations for ecotoxicity testing with stygobiotic species in the framework of groundwater environmental risk assessment.
2019
As a consequence of the growing global dependence on groundwater resources, environmental risk assessments (ERA) for groundwater are increasingly required and, with that, ecotoxicological studies with groundwater fauna (stygofauna). However, the literature on the ecotoxicological studies with stygobiotic species (i.e. species that complete their life cycle exclusively in groundwater) has not expanded significantly since the first paper published in this field. The limitations regarding the use of stygobiotic species for ecotoxicological testing are clear and consistent across the globe; stygobiotic species are often 1) naturally present in low numbers, 2) difficult to collect, and 3) diffic…
Estimating population size in wastewater-based epidemiology. Valencia metropolitan area as a case study.
2017
Wastewater can provide a wealth of epidemiologic data on common drugs consumed and on health and nutritional problems based on the biomarkers excreted into community sewage systems. One of the biggest uncertainties of these studies is the estimation of the number of inhabitants served by the treatment plants. Twelve human urine biomarkers —5-hydroxyindoleacetic acid (5-HIAA), acesulfame, atenolol, caffeine, carbamazepine, codeine, cotinine, creatinine, hydrochlorothiazide (HCTZ), naproxen, salicylic acid (SA) and hydroxycotinine (OHCOT)— were determined by liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC–MS/MS) to estimate population size. The results reveal that populations calculated fr…
Exposure and risk assessment to arsenic species in Spanish children using biomonitoring
2018
We present a new approach to arsenic (As) risk assessment using biomonitoring. In this pilot study we determined the levels of total and speciated urinary arsenicin 109 Spanish school children aged between 6 and 11 years, and interpreted these concentrations in a risk assessment context. The geometric mean (GM) for total As (TAs) was 33.82 mu/L. The order of occurrence and average concentrations of the different species was arsenobetaine (AsB) (100%, 15 mu g/L), dimethylarsinic (DMA) (97%, 8.32 mu g/L), monomethylarsonic (MMA) (26%, 027 mu g/L) and inorganic As (iAs) (4%, 0.14 mu g/L). 18% of children presented exposures to inorganic arsenic (7.52 mu g/g creatinine) higher than guidance val…
Shadow prices of emerging pollutants in wastewater treatment plants: Quantification of environmental externalities.
2017
Conventional wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) are designed to remove mainly the organic matter, nitrogen and phosphorus compounds and suspended solids from wastewater but are not capable of removing chemicals of human origin, such as pharmaceutical and personal care products (PPCPs). The presence of PPCPs in wastewater has environmental effects on the water bodies receiving the WWTP effluents and renders the effluent as unsuitable as a nonconventional water source. Considering PPCPs as non-desirable outputs, the shadow prices methodology has been implemented using the output distance function to measure the environmental benefits of removing five PPCPs (acetaminophen, ibuprofen, naproxen…
Occurrence of polybrominated diphenyl ethers, perfluorinated compounds, and nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs in freshwater mussels from Latvia.
2018
Abstract The occurrence of polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDE), perfluorinated compounds (PFC), and nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAID) in Latvian freshwater ecosystems was evaluated by using filter-feeding mussels as bioindicators. Twenty four samples of mussels were collected from freshwater bodies throughout the territory of Latvia during the summer of 2017. PBDE contamination was ubiquitous, reaching the highest total concentration of 193.2 pg g−1 w.w. BDE-209 was the most abundant compound, followed by penta-BDE components BDE-49, -100, −99, −153, −154, and −47 in decreasing order. The levels of PFCs in Latvian mussels were generally lower than those reported from other regi…
A comparative study on the quality of air in offices and homes.
2013
The main purpose of this study was to collect data on some of the factors that contribute to indoor air quality and to discomfort, in order to take the proper actions that can reduce the level of air pollution within houses and offices. To ascertain the contamination degree total bacterial counts, total fungal counts, suspended particulate matter, air temperature, and relative humidity have been determined. Additionally, mathematical statistical models have been elaborated for the total bacterial count, respirable particulate matter and humidity. A total number of 40 indoor air samples were collected from office and houses. The results shows that approximately 45% of the air samples from ho…
Impact of historical mining assessed in soils by kinetic extraction and lead isotopic ratios.
2014
12 pages; International audience; The aim of this study is to estimate the long-term behaviour of trace metals, in two soils differently impacted by past mining. Topsoils from two 1 km(2) zones in the forested Morvan massif (France) were sampled to assess the spatial distribution of Cd, Cu, Pb and Zn. The first zone had been contaminated by historical mining. As expected, it exhibits higher trace-metal levels and greater spatial heterogeneity than the second non-contaminated zone, supposed to represent the local background. One soil profile from each zone was investigated in detail to estimate metal behaviour, and hence, bioavailability. Kinetic extractions were performed using EDTA on thre…