Search results for "WASTE"
showing 10 items of 2580 documents
Environmental and biological factors are joint drivers of mercury biomagnification in subarctic lake food webs along a climate and productivity gradi…
2021
Subarctic lakes are getting warmer and more productive due to the joint effects of climate change and intensive land-use practices (e.g. forest clear-cutting and peatland ditching), processes that potentially increase leaching of peat- and soil-stored mercury into lake ecosystems. We sampled biotic communities from primary producers (algae) to top consumers (piscivorous fish), in 19 subarctic lakes situated on a latitudinal (69.0-66.5 degrees N), climatic (+3.2 degrees C temperature and +30% precipitation from north to south) and catchment land-use (pristine to intensive forestry areas) gradient. We first tested how the joint effects of climate and productivity influence mercury biomagnific…
Two decades of monitoring in marine debris ingestion in loggerhead sea turtle, Caretta caretta, from the western Mediterranean
2018
Abstract Anthropogenic marine debris is one of the major worldwide threats to marine ecosystems. The EU Marine Strategy Framework Directive (MSFD) has established a protocol for data collection on marine debris from the gut contents of the loggerhead sea turtle (Caretta caretta), and for determining assessment values of plastics for Good Environmental Status (GES). GES values are calculated as percent turtles having more than average plastic weight per turtle. In the present study, we quantify marine debris ingestion in 155 loggerhead sea turtles collected in the period 1995–2016 in waters of western Mediterranean (North-east Spain). The study aims (1) to update and standardize debris inges…
What is in our seas? Assessing anthropogenic litter on the seafloor of the central Mediterranean Sea
2020
Abstract Abundance, composition, and distribution of macro-litter found on the seafloor of the Strait of Sicily between 10 and 800 m depth has been studied using data collected by bottom trawl surveys MEDITS from 2015 to 2019. Three waste categories based on the items use were considered: single-use, fishing-related and generic-use. Over 600 sampling sites, just 14% of these were litter-free. The five-years average density of seafloor litter was 79.6 items/km2 and ranged between 46.8 in 2019 and 118.1 items/km2 in 2015. The predominant waste type was plastic (58% of all items). Regardless of material type, single-use items were a dominant (60% of items) and widespread (79% of hauls) fractio…
Anthropogenic lead distribution in soils under arable land and permanent grassland estimated by Pb isotopic compositions
2008
International audience; The role of land use on fate of metals in soils is poorly understood. In this work, we studied the incorporation of lead in two neighboring soils with comparable pedogenesis but under long-term different agricultural management. Distributions of anthropogenic Pb were assessed from concentrations and isotopic compositions determined on bulk horizon samples, systematical 5–10 cm increment samples, and on 24-h EDTA extracts. Minor amounts of anthropogenic lead were detected until 1-m depth under permanent grassland, linked to high earthworm activity. In arable land, exogenous Pb predominantly accumulated at depths <60 cm. Although the proximity between the two sites ens…
Chronospeciation of uranium released in soil during a long-term DU shell weathering experiment.
2021
Corrosion process was investigated of depleted uranium (DU) ammunition fragments buried for three years in aerobic soils continuously irrigated with water. The continuing corrosion process was triggered through formation of soluble uranyl oxyhydrate phases such as metaschoepite and becquerelite, which were identified by micro-Raman and X-ray diffraction spectroscopy. The soil was not amended by phosphates and, therefore, no uranyl phosphates were found as corrosion products on the DU surfaces by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. A speciation modelling at high temporal sequence (chronospeciation approach) indicated that the abundant Fe oxyhydroxides in the soil immobilized the U(IV) released…
Occurrence, distribution, and risk assessment of pharmerciuticals in wastewater and open surface drains of peri-urban areas: Case study of Juja town,…
2020
Abstract The occurrence of Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients (APIs) in the environment is becoming a major area of concern due to their undesirable effects on non-target organisms. This study investigated the occurrence and risk of contamination by five antibiotics and three antiretrovirals drugs in a fast-growing peri-urban area in Kenya, with inadequate sewer system coverage. Due to poor sewage connectivity and poorly designed decentralized systems, wastewater is directly released in open drains. Water and sediment samples were collected from open surface water drains, while wastewater samples were collected from centralized wastewater treatment plants (WWTP). Solid-phase extraction and u…
Soil erosion processes in European vineyards: A qualitative comparison of rainfall simulation measurements in Germany, Spain and France
2016
Small portable rainfall simulators are considered a useful tool to analyze soil erosion processes in cultivated lands. European research groups in Spain (Valencia, Málaga, Lleida, Madrid and La Rioja), France (Reims) and Germany (Trier) have used different rainfall simulators (varying in drop size distribution and fall velocities, kinetic energy, plot forms and sizes, and field of application) to study soil loss, surface flow, runoff and infiltration coefficients in different experimental plots (Valencia, Montes de Málaga, Penedès, Campo Real and La Rioja in Spain, Champagne in France and Mosel-Ruwer valley in Germany). The measurements and experiments developed by these research teams give…
Consolidation of earthen building materials: a comparative study
2019
The consolidation and protection of mud bricks are a challenge in the field of conservation of archeological sites. One of the solutions is represented by the coverage of the entire excavation that assures a protection against mud dissolution. Unfortunately, this is not always feasible, both for economical and practical issues. For these reasons, alternative solutions are needed. In this work, laboratory experimentation has been carried out in order to test the efficacy of some products to slow down the dissolution process and increase the brick toughness. Three typologies of raw materials taken from different outcrops (one from the Republic of Azerbaijan and two from Calabria region, Italy…
Bioavailable 87Sr/86Sr in different environmental samples — Effects of anthropogenic contamination and implications for isoscapes in past migration s…
2012
(87)Sr/(86)Sr reference maps (isoscapes) are a key tool for investigating past human and animal migrations. However, there is little understanding of which biosphere samples are best proxies for local bioavailable Sr when dealing with movements of past populations. In this study, biological and geological samples (ground vegetation, tree leaves, rock leachates, water, soil extracts, as well as modern and archeological animal teeth and snail shells) were collected in the vicinity of two early medieval cemeteries ("Thuringians", 5-6th century AD) in central Germany, in order to characterize (87)Sr/(86)Sr of the local biosphere. Animal tooth enamel is not appropriate in this specific context t…
Recent advances in paleoflood hydrology: From new archives to data compilation and analysis
2018
8 pags, 4 figs