Search results for "POLLUTION"

Precise Indication of Air Pollution Sources

2002

The present paper is a report of an application of Mossbauer spectroscopy, X-ray diffractometry, thermogravimetric analysis and PIXE in the characterization of the particulate matter in atmospheric aerosols in Vitoria Metropolitan Region (VMR), Brazil. The main sources of particulate matter, natural, industrial and antropogenic (from human activities), have been studied to identify its contribution in the atmospheric particles. Through the years 1995 to 1999 samples of total suspended particles (TSP, O ⩽; 100 μm) were collected from six points within VMR and in two points the inhalable particles (PM10, O ⩽ 10 μm). In addition, a receptor modeling was used helping in a precise indication of …

Mercury and chlorinated hydrocarbons in zoobenthos of Lake Päijänne, Finland

1979

The average amounts of mercury, PCBs, and sigma DDT (primarily DDE), found in macrozoobenthos, on the wet basis, in Lake Päijänne, Finland, for the time period 1972-1974, were 79 ng/g, 29 ng/g, and 8 ng/g, respectively. Lindane was found in negligible amounts in only 2% of the samples examined; aldrin was present in 10% of the samples; no dieldrin was detected. Mercury and PCB concentrations varied regionally in the lake. PCB and sigma DDT concentrations were greater in the predatory bottom animals than in the herbivores or detritus feeders, and the amounts of chlorinated hydrocarbons were greater in profundal animals than in littoral animals. No significant correlation was apparent between…

Use of semipermeable membrane devices for assessment of air quality in Tangier (Morocco)

2009

Semipermeable membrane devices (SPMDs) have been used for the evaluation of the contamination of air in both the urban and the industrial area in Tangier (Morocco). Benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene a...

Hot electron injection into aqueous electrolyte solution from thin insulating film-coated electrodes

1998

Hot electron injection into aqueous electrolyte solution was studied with electrochemiluminescence and electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) methods. Both methods provide further indirect support for the previously proposed hot electron emission mechanisms from thin insulating film-coated electrodes to aqueous electrolyte solution. The results do not rule out the possibility of hydrated electron being as a cathodic intermediate in the reduction reactions at cathodically pulse-polarized thin insulating film-coated electrodes. However, no direct evidence for electrochemical generation of hydrated electrons could be obtained with EPR, only spin-trapping experiments could give information about…

Transportation of complexing agents released by pulp and paper industry: A Finnish lake case

1996

Complexing agents (EDTA, DTPA) are used to bind metal ions in pulp and paper industry. Their role will increase significantly when the total chlorine free (TCF) processes will be applied to a larger extent. EDTA and DTPA were analysed in the waters from the southern part of the Lake Saimaa (SE Finland) influenced by the effluents of three pulp and paper mills. The samples were collected at different distances from the points of emission. The results of analyses suggest that EDTA can persist in lake water and is able to propagate for considerable distances, while DTPA can be detected only in the near surroundings of the site of release. Some EDTA was found even in the sampling points that we…

Application of fast solvent extraction processes to studies of exotic nuclides

1998

Fast solvent extraction is a chemical separation method, which can be applied to study exotic nuclides. Since about 1970 the SISAK technique, which is an on-line method based on multi-stage solvent extraction separations, has been successfully used to investigate the nuclear properties of β-decaying nuclides with half-lives down to about one second. During the last decade it has become possible to produce transactinide elements in high enough yields to investigate their chemical properties on a one-atom-at-a-time scale. For this purpose it was necessary to improve and change the detection part of the SISAK system in order to be capable to detect spontaneously fissioning and α-decaying nucli…

Acute and short-term toxicity of 2,3,4,6-tetrachlorophenol in rats

1981

Uptake and release kinetics of134Cs by Goldfish (Carassius auratus) and137Cs by Zebra Fish (Brachydanio rerio) in controlled aquatic environment

1994

The uptake and release kinetics of134Cs by Goldfish (Carassius auratus) and137Cs by Zebra Fish (Brachydanio rerio) from aquatic media of different ionic compositions and temperature was studied in controlled laboratory conditions. The accumulation of radiocesium in the case ofBrachydanio rerio is observed to be strongly dependent on the potassium ion concentration of the aquatic medium, but in the case ofCarassius auratus this dependence is quite weak. The biological half-lives of the cesium isotopes incorporated into the fish investigated in the present work vary from 19 to 80 days and are influenced by the temperature and the ionic composition of the aquatic medium.

Test of multielement analysis of bone samples using instrumental neutron activation analysis (INAA) and anti-Compton spectrometry

1997

INAA and anti-Compton spectrometry has been employed in the analysis of test bone samples. Validity and accuracy of the method were checked by the use of two biological reference materials procured from the National Institute of Standards and Technology, USA (NIST) and the International Atomic Energy Agency, Austria (IAEA). NIST 1486 Bone Meal (ca. 200–800 mg) and A-11 Milk Powder (ca. 200–600 mg) samples were irradiated in the 100 kW TRIGA Mainz reactor. Concentrations of 13 elements in both biological reference materials have been determined and were found in good agreement with the certified and provisional values.

Determination of mineral and trace element concentrations in pine needles by ICP-OES: evaluation of different sample pre-treatment methods

2008

In the present study, the determination of mineral and trace elements (Al, B, Ca, Cu, Fe, K, Mg, Mn, Na, P and Zn) from pine needles using three sample pre-treatment methods followed by inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectrometry, was examined. Sample pre-treatment methods tested were microwave digestion, ultrasound-assisted digestion and dry ashing. The new ultrasound-assisted digestion method was optimised by the analysis of the standard reference material (SRM) 1575a (pine needles) sample. The speed of dry ashing method was significantly increased by ultrasound dissolution after ashing. All the ICP-OES measurements were performed in robust plasma conditions which were tested…