Search results for "contamination"
showing 10 items of 916 documents
Toxicity of copper and zinc assessed with three different earthworm tests
2005
Abstract At present, standardised earthworm acute toxicity and reproduction tests are used to assess the toxicity of heavy metal contaminated soils. These tests are, however, time-consuming, laborious and costly, and in addition, some sublethal responses may remain overlooked. Avoidance of metal contaminated soils by earthworms may be a useful parameter when assessing ecological risks with a low test effort. The objective of the present study was to find out whether the earthworm Aporrectodea tuberculata avoids soils simultaneously contaminated with Cu and Zn, and whether earlier exposure to metal-polluted soil affects its avoidance response. The aim was also to compare the sensitivity of t…
New approaches for the effective valorization of papaya seeds: Extraction of proteins, phenolic compounds, carbohydrates, and isothiocyanates assiste…
2015
Abstract The study compares the efficiency of common aqueous extraction (CE) at different pH (2.5–11) and temperatures (20–60 °C) and extraction assisted by pulsed electric energy (pulsed electric fields, PEF or high voltage electrical discharges, HVED) of nutritionally valuable and antioxidant compounds from papaya seeds. The exponential decay pulses with initial electric field strengths of ≈ 13.3 kV/cm and ≈ 40 kV/cm for PEF and HVED treatments, respectively, were used. The number of pulses n was changed within 1–2000. The impacts of temperature and pH on extraction efficiency of different components (proteins, total phenolic compounds, carbohydrates, isothiocyanates) and antioxidant capa…
Electro-biorefinery as a Potential Tool for Valorization of Mango and Papaya By-products
2016
During exotic fruits processing, a large amount of by-products, especially seeds and peels, are produced and discarded into the environment causing organic pollution. However, it is recognized that these by-products are a good source of high-added value compounds, which can be used for different purposes (i.e. food additives and/or nutraceuticals). At this stage of development, there is a lack of information about the different extraction methods that can be used for the recovery of high-added value compounds from papaya and mango by-products. In this line, the extraction assisted by pulsed electric technologies seems to be rather promising. In this research study, the exponential decay pul…
Early detection of contamination and defect in foodstuffs by electronic nose: A review
2017
Abstract Electronic nose (e-nose) has emerged as a potential instrument in various areas of food safety assessment for rapid early detection of contamination and defect in food production chain. E-nose is an innovative measurement system designed for detecting and discriminating complex odors through mimicking the working mechanism and the principal building blocks of the mammalian olfactory system. This paper describes a literature update of the applications of the e-nose for ensuring health and safety in the food industry. Finally, its future trend, perspectives and challenging problem are also mentioned.
SCREENING OF CHEMICAL SPILL RISKS TO MUNICIPAL SEWAGE TREA TMENT PLANTS
1994
Seven operational mishaps were specified on the basis of a questionnaire on wastewater treatment plants, some of them large. In this study a process was developed for screening the chemical spill risks to municipal biological sewage treatment plant. Data on wastewater treatment processes, potential spill sources and chemical properties were combined to determine the threshold chemical quantities which may inhibit the removal of carbonaceous material, prevent nitrification and methanogenesis, cause sludge contamination or lead to the aeration capacity being exceeded. Two sewage treatment plants and eleven industrial sites were chosen for field studies. The influence of spill duration and mai…
Stabilization and Solidification Technology Implementation in Latvia: First Studies
2012
Soil and groundwater are environmental compartments that are primarily affected by industrial development with increasing amount of industrial wastes and inadequate dumping of them. A special attention should be paid to heavy metal contamination at least 56 contaminated territories of National priority are known as contaminated with heavy metals in different amount and concentration in Latvia. The stabilization / solidification technology refers to binding of waste contaminants to a more chemically stable form and thus diminishing leaching of contamination. In order to choose the remediation method the pre-investigation in industrial case study area was done in stages: data analysis of prev…
Comparing analytical methods to detect SARS-CoV-2 in wastewater
2021
Wastewater based epidemiology (WBE) has emerged as a reliable strategy to assess the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. Recent publications suggest that SARS-CoV-2 detection in wastewater is technically feasible; however, many different protocols are available and most of the methods applied have not been properly validated. To this end, different procedures to concentrate and extract inactivated SARS-CoV-2 and surrogates were initially evaluated. Urban wastewater seeded with gamma-irradiated SARS-CoV-2, porcine epidemic diarrhea virus (PEDV), and mengovirus (MgV) was used to test the concentration efficiency of an aluminum-based adsorption-precipitation method and a polyethylene…
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…
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…
Trace metal(loid) mobility in waste deposits and soils around Chadak mining area, Uzbekistan
2017
Abstract The assessment of potential trace metal(loid) contamination in tailing dumps and soils was characterized in the Chadak mining area (Uzbekistan). Concentrations of trace elements (V, Cr, Co, Ni, Cu, Zn, As, Cd, Sb, Pb) were determined by X-ray fluorescence analysis and compared with background and intervention values (IV). The concentrations of As, Zn, Sb, and Pb were higher in the abandoned than in the active tailing dump, ranging from 42–1689 mg/kg for As, 73–332 mg/kg for Zn, 14–1507 mg/kg for Sb, and 27–386 mg/kg for Pb. Selective extractions were applied in order to assess the mobility and availability of trace metal(loid)s in samples. Oxyanion-forming elements such as As and S…