Search results for "Geochimica"

Source and Nature of Inhaled Atmospheric Dust from Trace Element Analyses of Human Bronchial Fluids

2011

International audience; Rapid volcanic eruptions quickly ejecting large amounts of dust provoke the accumulation of heavy metals in people living in surrounding areas. Analyses of bronchoalveolar lavage samples (BAL) collected from people exposed to the paroxysmal 2001 Etna eruption revealed a strong enrichment of many toxic heavy metals. Comparing the BAL to the dust composition of southeastern Sicily, we found that only V, Cr, Mn, Fe, Co, and U enrichment could be related to the volcanic event, whereas Ni, Cu, Cd, and Pb contents come from the dissolution of particles of anthropogenic origin. Furthermore, the nature of these inhaled anthropogenic particles was revealed by anomalous La and…

Duvalo “Volcano” (North Macedonia): A Purely Tectonic‐Related CO 2 Degassing System

2022

Duvalo “volcano” is a site of anomalous geogenic degassing close to Ohrid (North Macedonia) not related to volcanic activity, despite its name. CO2 flux measurements made with the accumulation chamber (321 sites over ∼50,000 m2) showed fluxes up to nearly 60,000 g m-2 d-1, sustaining a total output of ∼67 t d-1. Soil gas samples were taken at 50 cm depth from sites with high CO2 fluxes and analyzed for their chemical and isotope composition. The gas is mainly composed by CO2 (> 90%) with significant concentrations of H2S (up to 0.55 %) and CH4 (up to 0.32 %). The isotope compositions of He (R/RA 0.10) and of CO2 (δ13C ∼0‰) exclude significant mantle contribution, while δ13C-CH4 (∼ -35‰) …

Tellurium in active volcanic environments: Preliminary results

2014

Comparison of metals and essential trace elements levels between Autistic Spectrum Disorders cases and their sibs in Sicily (southern Italy)

2016

Introduction: A role of metals exposure and essential trace element deficiency in Autistic Spectrum Disorders (ASD) etiology has been suggested by epidemiologic studies, but conclusive evidence on this topic is still lacking and controversial. We compared metals and essential trace element levels between cases both with their brothers and healthy children. Methods: The diagnosis of ASD were performed by ADOS and ADI-R according to DSM IV (Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders) criteria. Hair samples were collected from cases and sibs by single cutting from the occipital region. The samples were cut to lengths of about 1.5–2 cm using clean stainless steel scissors. Approximat…

Exposure to trace elements by hair mineral analysis. Mining , volcanic and urban areas

2015

Concerns about the effects of environmental exposure to metals and metalloids on human health have driven the scientific community to find reliable tools and methodologies for assessing the impact of emission of toxic metals from anthropogenic sources or through natural anomalous levels of metals in water, soil and air. Biological monitoring has been extensively employed with this end in view and blood, urine, hair and nails are the biological materials mostly collected and analyzed for the levels of multiple metals. With respect to blood and urine, whose metal concentrations decrease rapidly after the exposure period, hair and nails appear to be of greater value in evaluating past and cont…

Metals in Scalp Hair from Relapsing-Remitting Multiple Sclerosis Patients (RRMS)

2014

We measured the concentrations of 21 chemical elements (TE) in hair of 48 Sicilian patients with RRMS compared with 51 controls (HC). MS patients showed a significantly (p<0.01) lower hair concentration of Al and Rb and higher hair concentration of U compared to HC. The percentage of MS patients showing hair elemental concentrations greater than the 95th percentile of controls was 20% for Ni, 19% for Ba and U, and 15% for Ag, Mo and Se. The ratio Zn/Cu varied from 17 to 19, with no significant differences between HC and MS groups or between individuals differentiated by gender. No significant association was found between levels of each TE and age, disease duration, Expanded Disability Stat…

Trace elemental composition of PM2.5 atmospheric aereosol in Palermo urban area

2009

Geochemical investigation of trace metal pollutants in the Oreto river, Palermo (Italy)

2022

In the past, three main rivers, named Kemonia, Papireto and Oreto, were present in the plain of Palermo, in northwestern Sicily. Today, only the latter one has been preserved from the unregulated urban expansion. Fortunately, over the last ten years, attention and consciousness towardsthe Oreto river and its delicate ecosystem has grown considerably, also thanks to many associations and citizens’ committees involved in protecting, preserving and valorising the precious area. In this context, our study is focused on a hydrogeochemical investigation of its surface water quality. The Oreto river flows for about 20 km within a catchment area of about 130 km2. Over the past three years, numerous…

Sedimentary record of anthropogenic chemical and organic pollution in a Mediterranean coastal area (Gulf of Palermo, Italy).

2009

The relatively high influx of unregulated industrial and domestic effluents has progressively degraded the Palermo coastal environment in NW Sicily. To evaluate the poorly known effects of these inputs on the Palermo Gulf, three sediment box-cores were collected along a transect perpendicular to the coast, in front of the Oreto river mouth, in water depths of 20—750 m. The samples, dated by 210Pb and 137Cs, were analysed for concentration of major/trace elements, total polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH), total organic carbon (TOC) and for organic carbon and nitrogen isotopic compositions. Total organic carbon concentrations show relatively high values (0.4—2.9%), with a decreasing seawar…

Geochemical comparison of natural and anthropogenic metal fluxes in extreme environments: Mt. Etna volcano (Italy) and Šalek Valley (Slovenia)

2009

Geochemical comparison between some metals (As, Cd, Cu, Pb, Se, V, Zn) emissions from an active volcano (Mt. Etna) and a highly industrialized area (Šalek Valley) showed some interesting similarities: in general, most of the elements emitted into the atmosphere do not return to the Earth’s surface and are therefore dispersed into the environment. Exceptions for Šalek Valley are Cd, which probably derives in large part from rock leaching, and in part As and Pb, which fall mostly as ash. Also, Etna’s emissions are richer in Cd and Cu, whereas industrial emissions at Šalek Valley are richer in V and Zn. All other metals have similar fluxes in the two types of emissions.