Search results for "Environmental engineering"
showing 10 items of 2674 documents
Polychlorinated phenols and their metabolites in soil and earthworms of sawmill environment
1990
Abstract Topsoil and earthworm samples collected from three Finnish sawmill environments were analysed for polychlorinated phenols, 2,3,4,6-tetrachloro- and pentachlorophenol, and their metabolites. Analyses were carried out by gas chromatography/mass spectrometry using a selected ion monitoring technique and by dual-channel gas chromatography using quartz capillary columns and two electron capture detectors. The total chlorophenol concentrations ranged from ca. 260 to 480 μg/g (dry weight) in soil and from ca. 140 to 3500 μg/g fat in earthworms. The most important metabolites in soil were chlorinated dihydroxy-benzenes (also at ppm level); only traces of chlorinated anisoles were detected …
Iron as a source of color in river waters.
2015
Organic chromophores of total organic carbon (TOC) and those of iron (Fe) contribute to the color of water, but the relative contributions of colored organic carbon (COC%) and Fe (Fe%) are poorly known. In this study, we unraveled Fe% and COC% in 6128 unfiltered water samples collected from 94 Finnish river sites of contrasting catchment properties. According to regression analysis focusing on TOC alone, on average 84% of the mean TOC consisted of COC, while 16% was non-colored or below the color-detection limit. COC and Fe were much more important sources of color than phytoplankton (chlorophyll a as a proxy) or non-algal particles (suspended solids as a proxy). When COC and Fe were consid…
Influence of Heavy Metal Concentration on Chlorophyll Content in Pleurozium schreberi Mosses
2020
Abstract The aim of biomonitoring is assessment of environment condition. Biomonitoring studies with the use of mosses focus mainly on analytes accumulation and determining elements’ concentrations in the study area. It is often forgotten that a bioindicator should be alive during biomonitoring studies (which can be determined by, e.g., analysis of chlorophyll content). The objective of the carried out research was an assessment of the influence of selected heavy metals concentration: Ni, Cu, Zn, Cd and Pb accumulated by Pleurozium schreberi mosses during 3-month exposition within active biomonitoring, on their vitality, assessed by an analysis of a and b chlorophyll concentrations. The stu…
A field study on solar-induced chlorophyll fluorescence and pigment parameters along a vertical canopy gradient of four tree species in an urban envi…
2013
Abstract: To better understand the potential uses of vegetation indices based on the sun-induced upward and downward chlorophyll fluorescence at leaf and at canopy scales, a field study was carried out in the city of Valencia (Spain). Fluorescence yield (FY) indices were derived for trees at different traffic intensity locations and at three canopy heights. This allowed investigating within-tree and between-tree variations of FY indices for four tree species. Several FY indices showed a significant (p < 0.05) and important effect of tree location for the species Morus alba (white mulberry) and Phoenix canariensis (Canary Island date palm). The upward FY parameters of M. alba, and the upward…
A new tool for direct non-invasive evaluation of chlorophyll a content from diffuse reflectance measurements
2017
Abstract Chlorophyll is a key biochemical component that is responsible for photosynthesis and is an indicator of plant health. The effect of stressors can be determined by measuring the amount of chlorophyll a , which is the most abundant chlorophyll, in vegetation in general. Nowadays, invasive methods and vegetation indices are used for establishing chlorophyll amount or an approximation to this value, respectively. This paper demonstrates that H-point curve isolation method (HPCIM) is useful for isolating the signal of chlorophyll a from non-invasive diffuse reflectance measurements of leaves. Spinach plants have been chosen as an example. For applying the HPCIM only the registers of bo…
Spectral attenuation of solar ultraviolet radiation in humic lakes in Central Finland
2003
The attenuation of solar ultraviolet (UV) radiation in five lakes in Central Finland was evaluated through field measurements and/or by determining the optical properties of the lake water during summer 1999. Spectral UV irradiance in the air and at several depths underwater was measured in three lakes (Lake Palosjärvi, Konnevesi, and Jyväsjärvi) with dissolved organic carbon (DOC) ranging from 4.9 to 8.7 mg l(-1) and chlorophyll a ranging from 1.6 to 16 g l(-1). According to the field measurements, 99% of the UV-B radiation was attenuated in approximately a half meter water column in the clearest lake. In the UV-A region at 380 nm, the corresponding attenuation occurred in the upper one me…
Microalgae cultivation in wastewater: nutrient removal from anaerobic membrane bioreactor effluent
2012
This study investigated the removal of nitrogen and phosphorus from the effluent of a submerged anaerobic membrane bioreactor (SAnMBR) by means of a lab-scale photobioreactor in which algae biomass was cultured in a semi-continuous mode for a period of 42 days. Solids retention time was 2 days and a stable pH value in the system was maintained by adding CO2. Nitrogen and phosphorus concentrations in the SAnMBR effluent fluctuated according to the operating performance of the bioreactor and the properties of its actual wastewater load. Despite these variations, the anaerobic effluent proved to be a suitable growth medium for microalgae (mean biomass productivity was 234 mgl(-1) d(-1)), achie…
Ultrasound-assisted green solvent extraction of high-added value compounds from microalgae Nannochloropsis spp.
2015
Abstract The aim of this work was to investigate ultrasound (US)-assisted green solvent extraction of valuable compounds from the microalgae Nannochloropsis spp. Individual green solvents (water, ethanol (EtOH), dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO)) and binary mixture of solvents (water-DMSO and water-EtOH) were used for the extraction procedures. Maximum total phenolic compounds yield ( Y p ≈ 0.33) was obtained after US pre-treatment ( W = 400 W, 15 min), being almost 5-folds higher compared to that found for the untreated samples and aqueous extraction ( Y p ≈ 0.06). The highest yield of total chlorophylls ( Y c ≈ 0.043) was obtained after US ( W = 400 W, 7.5 min), being more than 9-folds highe…
Assessing and modeling nitrite inhibition in microalgae-bacteria consortia for wastewater treatment by means of photo-respirometric and chlorophyll f…
2022
Abstract Total nitrite (TNO2 = HNO2 + NO−2) accumulation due to the activity of ammonia-oxidizing bacteria (AOB) was monitored in microalgae-bacteria consortia, and the inhibitory effect of nitrite/free nitrous acid (NO2-N/FNA) on microalgae photosynthesis and inhibition mechanism was studied. A culture of Scenedesmus was used to run two sets of batch reactors at different pH and TNO2 concentrations to evaluate the toxic potential of NO2-N and FNA. Photo-respirometric tests showed that NO2-N accumulation has a negative impact on net oxygen production rate (OPRNET). Chlorophyll a fluorescence analysis was used to examine the biochemical effects of NO2-N stress and the mechanism of NO2-N inhi…
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…