An Integrated Approach for the Environmental Characterization of a Wide Potentially Contaminated Area in Southern Italy

PubMed Central

Ducci, Daniela; Albanese, Stefano; Boccia, Lorenzo; Celentano, Egidio; Cervelli, Elena; Corniello, Alfonso; Crispo, Anna; De Vivo, Benedetto; Iodice, Paolo; Langella, Carmela; Lima, Annamaria; Manno, Maurizio; Palladino, Mario; Pindozzi, Stefania; Rigillo, Marina; Romano, Nunzio; Sellerino, Mariangela; Senatore, Adolfo; Speranza, Giuseppe; Fiorentino, Nunzio; Fagnano, Massimo

2017-01-01

This paper deals with the environmental characterization of a large and densely populated area, with a poor reputation for contamination, considering the contribution of environmental features (air, soil, soil hydraulic and groundwater) and the potential effects on human health. The use of Geographic Information System (GIS) has made possible a georeferenced inventory and, by overlaying environmental information, an operational synthesis of comprehensive environmental conditions. The cumulative effects on environmental features were evaluated, taking into account superposition effects, by means of the Spatial MultiCriteria Decision Analysis (S-MCDA). The application of the S-MCDA for converging the combination of heterogeneous factors, related to soil, land and water, deeply studied by heterogeneous groups of experts, constitutes the novelty of the paper. The results confirmed an overall higher potential of exposure to contaminants in the environment and higher mortality rates in the study area for some tumours, but hospital admissions for tumours were generally similar to the regional trend. Besides, mortality data may be strictly dependent on the poor socioeconomic conditions, quality of therapy and a lack of welfare in the area relative to the rest of Italy. Finally, as regards the possible relationship between presence of contaminants in the environment and health conditions of the population no definite conclusions can be drawn, although the present study encourages the use of the new proposed methods, that increase the possibilities for studying the combined effect of more environmental factors. PMID:28654005

The Role of Scientific Studies in Building Consensus in Environmental Decision Making: a Coral Reef Example

EPA Science Inventory

We present a new approach for characterizing the potential of scientific studies to reduce conflict among stakeholders in an analytic-deliberative environmental decision-making process. The approach computes a normalized metric, the Expected Consensus Index of New Research (ECINR...

ENVIRONMENTAL MEASUREMENTS OF ORGANOPHOSPHATE AND PYRETHROID PESTICIDES TO ASSESS EXPOSURES OF YOUNG CHILDREN LIVING IN JACKSONVILLE, FL

EPA Science Inventory

The Duval County Health Department (DCHD, Jacksonville, FL), in collaboration with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), conducted a research study to characterize young children's potential exposures to organopho...

Modeling Approaches for Characterizing and Evaluating Environmental Exposure to Engineered Nanomaterials in Support of Risk-Based Decision Making

EPA Science Inventory

As the use of engineered nanomaterials becomes more prevalent, the likelihood of unintended exposure to these materials also increases. Given the current scarcity of experimental data regarding fate, transport, and bioavailability, determining potential environmental exposure to ...

Sea truth and environmental characterization studies of Mobile Bay, Alabama, utilizing ERTS-1, data collection platforms

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Schroeder, W. W.

1977-01-01

The paper reports on the scientific results obtained during a feasibility study that evaluated the potential of using ERTS data collection platforms (DCPs) in the coastal environment of Mobile Bay, Alabama. The utility of instrumented buoys operated in a coastal marine environment as ERTS DCPs is demonstrated. It is shown that these platforms are capable of providing both sea-truth data for ERTS imagery studies and time-series data for event monitoring and/or environmental characterization studies.

Multimodal Physicochemical Characterization of Tire Crumbs Used at Synthetic Turf Fields

EPA Science Inventory

As part of a U.S. Federal Research Acton Plan to study possible environmental and human health implications of tire crumbs used as infill for synthetic turf, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is evaluating the potential of human exposure to various chemicals from tire cru...

Characterizing the Growth Kinetics in Estrogen Responsive T47D Cells After Exposure to 2000 Environmental Chemicals

EPA Science Inventory

There is a need to develop high-throughput screening (HTS) tests capable of testing thousands of environmental chemicals for endocrine disrupting potential. The estrogen signaling pathway is a known xenobiotic target that has been implicated in a variety of adverse health effects...

CHALLENGES IN CONSTRUCTING STATISTICALLY-BASED SAR MODELS FOR DEVELOPMENTAL TOXICITY

EPA Science Inventory

Regulatory agencies are increasingly called upon to review large numbers of environmental contaminants that have not been characterized for their potential to pose a health risk. Additionally, there is special interest in protecting potentially sensitive subpopulations and identi...

Measuring the spacecraft and environmental interactions of the 8-cm mercury ion thrusters on the P80-1 mission

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Power, J. L.

1981-01-01

The subject interface measurements are described for the Ion Auxiliary Propulsion System (IAPS) flight test of two 8-cm thrusters. The diagnostic devices and the effects to be measured include: 1) quartz crystal microbalances to detect nonvolatile deposition due to thruster operation; 2) warm and cold solar cell monitors for nonvolatile and volatile (mercury) deposition; 3) retarding potential ion collectors to characterize the low energy thruster ionic efflux; and 4) a probe to measure the spacecraft potential and thruster generated electron currents to biased spacecraft surfaces. The diagnostics will also assess space environmental interactions of the spacecraft and thrusters. The diagnostic data will characterize mercury thruster interfaces and provide data useful for future applications.

Leaching Environmental Assessment Framework to Evaluate Beneficial Use and Disposal Decisions

EPA Science Inventory

LEAF test methods are available for use to characterize the leaching potential over a range of conditions (i.e., pH, liquid-to-solid ratio, and waste form). LEAF characterization tests can be used to evaluate a range of materials to identify leaching behavior across a range of ...

Master environmental plan for Fort Devens, Massachusetts

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Biang, C.A.; Peters, R.W.; Pearl, R.H.

Argonne National Laboratory has prepared a master environmental plan (MEP) for Fort Devens, Massachusetts, for the US Army Toxic and Hazardous Materials Agency. The MEP is an assessment based on environmental laws and regulations of both the federal government and the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. The MEP assess the physical and environmental status of 58 potential hazardous waste sites, including 54 study areas (SAs) that pose a potential for releasing contamination into the environment and 4 areas of concern (AOCs) that are known to have substantial contamination. For each SA or AOC, this MEP describes the known history and environment, identifiesmore » additional data needs, and proposes possible response actions. Most recommended response actions consist of environmental sampling and monitoring and other characterization studies. 74 refs., 63 figs., 50 tabs.« less

Correlated Raman micro-spectroscopy and scanning electron microscopy analyses of flame retardants in environmental samples: a micro-analytical tool for probing chemical composition, origin and spatial distribution.

PubMed

Ghosal, Sutapa; Wagner, Jeff

2013-07-07

We present correlated application of two micro-analytical techniques: scanning electron microscopy/energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (SEM/EDS) and Raman micro-spectroscopy (RMS) for the non-invasive characterization and molecular identification of flame retardants (FRs) in environmental dusts and consumer products. The SEM/EDS-RMS technique offers correlated, morphological, molecular, spatial distribution and semi-quantitative elemental concentration information at the individual particle level with micrometer spatial resolution and minimal sample preparation. The presented methodology uses SEM/EDS analyses for rapid detection of particles containing FR specific elements as potential indicators of FR presence in a sample followed by correlated RMS analyses of the same particles for characterization of the FR sub-regions and surrounding matrices. The spatially resolved characterization enabled by this approach provides insights into the distributional heterogeneity as well as potential transfer and exposure mechanisms for FRs in the environment that is typically not available through traditional FR analysis. We have used this methodology to reveal a heterogeneous distribution of highly concentrated deca-BDE particles in environmental dust, sometimes in association with identifiable consumer materials. The observed coexistence of deca-BDE with consumer material in dust is strongly indicative of its release into the environment via weathering/abrasion of consumer products. Ingestion of such enriched FR particles in dust represents a potential for instantaneous exposure to high FR concentrations. Therefore, correlated SEM/RMS analysis offers a novel investigative tool for addressing an area of important environmental concern.

FASTER SCIENCE FOR BETTER DECISIONS: CHARACTERIZING ENVIRONMENTAL CONTAMINANT RISK FROM HIGH THROUGHPUT DATA

EPA Science Inventory

Tens of thousands of chemicals and other man-made contaminants exist in our environment, but only a fraction of these have been characterized for their potential risk to humans and there is widespread interest in closing this data gap in order to better manage contaminant risk. C...

Sustainability Characterization for Additive Manufacturing.

PubMed

Mani, Mahesh; Lyons, Kevin W; Gupta, S K

2014-01-01

Additive manufacturing (AM) has the potential to create geometrically complex parts that require a high degree of customization, using less material and producing less waste. Recent studies have shown that AM can be an economically viable option for use by the industry, yet there are some inherent challenges associated with AM for wider acceptance. The lack of standards in AM impedes its use for parts production since industries primarily depend on established standards in processes and material selection to ensure the consistency and quality. Inability to compare AM performance against traditional manufacturing methods can be a barrier for implementing AM processes. AM process sustainability has become a driver due to growing environmental concerns for manufacturing. This has reinforced the importance to understand and characterize AM processes for sustainability. Process characterization for sustainability will help close the gaps for comparing AM performance to traditional manufacturing methods. Based on a literature review, this paper first examines the potential environmental impacts of AM. A methodology for sustainability characterization of AM is then proposed to serve as a resource for the community to benchmark AM processes for sustainability. Next, research perspectives are discussed along with relevant standardization efforts.

Exploring the potential utility of high-throughput bioassays associated with US EPA Toxcast Program for effects-based monitoring and surveillance

EPA Science Inventory

Environmental monitoring and surveillance strategies are essential for identifying potential hazards of contaminant exposure to aquatic organisms. Chemical monitoring is effective for chemicals with well characterized hazards and for which sensitive analytical methods are availa...

Ecological risk assessment of landfill air emissions from a hazardous waste management facility in Ontario

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Durda, J.L.; Suit-Kowalski, L.; Preziosi, D.

1997-12-31

An ecological risk assessment was conducted to evaluate the potential for adverse environmental impacts associated with chemicals released to air as a result of a proposed expansion of a hazardous waste landfill in Ontario. The purpose of the risk assessment was to characterize ecological risks associated with the proposed expansion relative to those associated with the existing landfill and those that would exist if the current landfill was completely closed and background conditions prevailed. The ecological risk assessment was one part of a comprehensive environmental impact assessment of the proposed landfill continuation that was being performed under the requirements ofmore » Ontario`s Environmental Assessment Act. Air monitoring data from the facility were used to identify a list of 141 chemicals potentially released during landfill continuation, as well as to characterize current emissions and background chemical levels. An ecological risk-based chemical screening process that considered background concentration, source strength, environmental partitioning, bioaccumulation potential, and toxicity was used to select a group of 23 chemicals for detailed evaluation in the ecological risk assessment. Dispersion, deposition, partitioning and bioaccumulation modeling were used to predict potential exposures in ecological receptors. Receptors were selected for evaluation based on regional habitat characteristics, exposure potential, toxicant sensitivity, ecological significance, population status, and societal value. Livestock and agricultural crop and pasture species were key receptors for the assessment, given the highly agricultural nature of the study area. In addition, native wildlife species, including the endangered Henslow`s sparrow and the regionally vulnerable pugnose minnow, also were considered.« less

Regional characterization of freshwater Use in LCA: modeling direct impacts on human health.

PubMed

Boulay, Anne-Marie; Bulle, Cécile; Bayart, Jean-Baptiste; Deschênes, Louise; Margni, Manuele

2011-10-15

Life cycle assessment (LCA) is a methodology that quantifies potential environmental impacts for comparative purposes in a decision-making context. While potential environmental impacts from pollutant emissions into water are characterized in LCA, impacts from water unavailability are not yet fully quantified. Water use can make the resource unavailable to other users by displacement or quality degradation. A reduction in water availability to human users can potentially affect human health. If financial resources are available, there can be adaptations that may, in turn, shift the environmental burdens to other life cycle stages and impact categories. This paper proposes a model to evaluate these potential impacts in an LCA context. It considers the water that is withdrawn and released, its quality and scarcity in order to evaluate the loss of functionality associated with water uses. Regionalized results are presented for impacts on human health for two modeling approaches regarding affected users, including or not domestic uses, and expressed in disability-adjusted life years (DALY). A consumption and quality based scarcity indicator is also proposed as a midpoint. An illustrative example is presented for the production of corrugated board with different effluents, demonstrating the importance of considering quality, process effluents and the difference between the modeling approaches.

Toward a Metagenomic Understanding on the Bacterial Composition and Resistome in Hong Kong Banknotes

PubMed Central

Heshiki, Yoshitaro; Dissanayake, Thrimendra; Zheng, Tingting; Kang, Kang; Yueqiong, Ni; Xu, Zeling; Sarkar, Chinmoy; Woo, Patrick C. Y.; Chow, Billy K. C.; Baker, David; Yan, Aixin; Webster, Christopher J.; Panagiotou, Gianni; Li, Jun

2017-01-01

Currency is possibly one of the main media transmitting pathogens and drug resistance due to its wide circulation in daily life. In this study, we made a comprehensive characterization of the bacterial community present on banknotes collected from different geographical regions of Hong Kong (HK) by performing in vitro characterization of the bacterial presence and resistome profile, as well as metagenomic analysis including microbial diversity, the prevalence of potential pathogens, the dissemination potential of antibiotic-resistance genes (ARGs), among others. When comparing the bacterial community of HK banknotes with other HK environmental samples, including water and marine sediment, we revealed that HK banknotes cover nearly 50% of total genera found in all the environmental samples, implying that banknotes harbor diverse bacteria originated from a variety of environments. Furthermore, the banknotes have higher abundance of potential pathogenic species (~5 times more) and ARGs (~5 times more) with higher dissemination potential (~48 times more) compared with other environmental samples. These findings unveiled the capabilities of this common medium of exchange to accommodate various bacteria, and transmit pathogens and antibiotic resistance. Furthermore, the observed independence of microbiome profile from the city's topological indices led us to formulate a hypothesis that due to their high circulation banknotes may harbor a homogenized microbiome. PMID:28450856

Toward a Metagenomic Understanding on the Bacterial Composition and Resistome in Hong Kong Banknotes.

PubMed

Heshiki, Yoshitaro; Dissanayake, Thrimendra; Zheng, Tingting; Kang, Kang; Yueqiong, Ni; Xu, Zeling; Sarkar, Chinmoy; Woo, Patrick C Y; Chow, Billy K C; Baker, David; Yan, Aixin; Webster, Christopher J; Panagiotou, Gianni; Li, Jun

2017-01-01

Currency is possibly one of the main media transmitting pathogens and drug resistance due to its wide circulation in daily life. In this study, we made a comprehensive characterization of the bacterial community present on banknotes collected from different geographical regions of Hong Kong (HK) by performing in vitro characterization of the bacterial presence and resistome profile, as well as metagenomic analysis including microbial diversity, the prevalence of potential pathogens, the dissemination potential of antibiotic-resistance genes (ARGs), among others. When comparing the bacterial community of HK banknotes with other HK environmental samples, including water and marine sediment, we revealed that HK banknotes cover nearly 50% of total genera found in all the environmental samples, implying that banknotes harbor diverse bacteria originated from a variety of environments. Furthermore, the banknotes have higher abundance of potential pathogenic species (~5 times more) and ARGs (~5 times more) with higher dissemination potential (~48 times more) compared with other environmental samples. These findings unveiled the capabilities of this common medium of exchange to accommodate various bacteria, and transmit pathogens and antibiotic resistance. Furthermore, the observed independence of microbiome profile from the city's topological indices led us to formulate a hypothesis that due to their high circulation banknotes may harbor a homogenized microbiome.

Review of Potential Characterization Techniques in Approaching Energy and Sustainability

DOE PAGES

LePoire, David

2014-03-20

Societal prosperity is linked to sustainable energy and a healthy environment. But, tough global challenges include increased demand for fossil fuels, while approaching peak oil production and uncertainty in the environmental impacts of energy generation. Recently, energy use was identified as a major component of economic productivity, along with capital and labor. Furthermore, other environmental resources and impacts may be nearing environmental thresholds as indicated by nine planetary environmental boundaries, many of which are linked to energy production and use. Foresight techniques could be applied to guide future actions which include emphasis on (1) energy efficiency to bridge the transitionmore » to a renewable energy economy, (2) continued research, development, and assessment of new technologies, (3) improved understanding of environment impacts including natural capital use and degradation, (4) exploration of GDP alternative measures that include both economic production and environmental impacts, and (5) international cooperation and awareness of longer-term opportunities and their associated potential scenarios. Examples from the U.S. and the international community illustrate challenges and potential.« less

Environmental risk analysis of oil handling facilities in port areas. Application to Tarragona harbor (NE Spain).

PubMed

Valdor, Paloma F; Gómez, Aina G; Puente, Araceli

2015-01-15

Diffuse pollution from oil spills is a widespread problem in port areas (as a result of fuel supply, navigation and loading/unloading activities). This article presents a method to assess the environmental risk of oil handling facilities in port areas. The method is based on (i) identification of environmental hazards, (ii) characterization of meteorological and oceanographic conditions, (iii) characterization of environmental risk scenarios, and (iv) assessment of environmental risk. The procedure has been tested by application to the Tarragona harbor. The results show that the method is capable of representing (i) specific local pollution cases (i.e., discriminating between products and quantities released by a discharge source), (ii) oceanographic and meteorological conditions (selecting a representative subset data), and (iii) potentially affected areas in probabilistic terms. Accordingly, it can inform the design of monitoring plans to study and control the environmental impact of these facilities, as well as the design of contingency plans. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Hanford Site National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) Characterization. Revision 5

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Cushing, C.E.

1992-12-01

This fifth revision of the Hanford Site National Environmental Policy (NEPA) Characterization presents current environmental data regarding the Hanford Site and its immediate environs. This information is intended for use in preparing Site-related NEPA documentation. Information is presented on climate and meteorology, geology and hydrology, ecology, history and archaeology, socioeconomics, land use, and noise levels, prepared by Pacific Northwest Laboratory (PNL) staff. Models are described that are to be used in simulating realized or potential impacts from nuclear materials at the Hanford Site. Included are models of radionuclide transport in groundwater and atmospheric pathways, and of radiation dose to populationsmore » via all known pathways from known initial conditions. Federal and state regulations, DOE orders and permits, and environmental standards directly applicable for the NEPA documents at the Hanford Site, are provided.« less

Hanford Site National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) Characterization

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Cushing, C.E.

1992-12-01

This fifth revision of the Hanford Site National Environmental Policy (NEPA) Characterization presents current environmental data regarding the Hanford Site and its immediate environs. This information is intended for use in preparing Site-related NEPA documentation. Information is presented on climate and meteorology, geology and hydrology, ecology, history and archaeology, socioeconomics, land use, and noise levels, prepared by Pacific Northwest Laboratory (PNL) staff. Models are described that are to be used in simulating realized or potential impacts from nuclear materials at the Hanford Site. Included are models of radionuclide transport in groundwater and atmospheric pathways, and of radiation dose to populationsmore » via all known pathways from known initial conditions. Federal and state regulations, DOE orders and permits, and environmental standards directly applicable for the NEPA documents at the Hanford Site, are provided.« less

Evaluation of Unbound Engineered Nanoparticles from a Worker Exposure and Environmental Release Perspective

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bunker, K.; Casuccio, G.; Lersch, T.; Ogle, R.; Wahl, L.

2009-12-01

Nanotechnology and the use of unbound engineered nanoparticles (UNP) is a rapidly developing area of materials science. UNP are defined as engineered nanoparticles that are not contained within a matrix that would prevent the nanoparticles from being mobile and a potential source of exposure. At this time there are no regulatory environmental release limits or worker exposure limits for UNP. The Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL) has initiated a study to evaluate worker exposure and potential environmental release of UNP related to various research activities at LBNL. The study is being performed to help identify and manage potential health and safety hazards as well as environmental impacts related to UNP. A key component of the study is the characterization of starting (source) UNP materials to assist in the determination of worker exposure and environmental release. Analysis of the starting materials is being used to establish source signatures. The source signatures will then be used in the evaluation of worker exposure and environmental release. This presentation will provide an overview of the LBNL study with a focus on the methodologies being used to analyze the samples.

Potential environmental effects of energy conservation measures in northwest industries

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Baechler, M C; Gygi, K F; Hendrickson, P L

The Bonneville Power Administration (Bonneville) has identified 101 plants in the Pacific Northwest that account for 80% of the region's industrial electricity consumption. These plants offer a precise target for a conservation program. PNL determined that most of these 101 plants were represented by 11 major industries. We then reviewed 36 major conservation technologies used in these 11 industrial settings to determine their potential environmental impacts. Energy efficiency technologies designed for industrial use may result in direct or indirect environmental impacts. Effects may result from the production of the conservation measure technology, changes in the working environment due to differentmore » energy and material requirements, or changes to waste streams. Industry type, work-place conditions, worker training, and environmental conditions inside and outside the plant are all key variables that may affect environmental outcomes. To address these issues this report has three objectives: Describe potential conservation measures that Bonneville may employ in industrial programs and discuss potential primary impacts. Characterize industrial systems and processes where the measure may be employed and describe general environmental issues associated with each industry type. Review environmental permitting, licensing, and other regulatory actions required for industries and summarize the type of information available from these sources for further analysis.« less

Dietary Exposure Potential Model

EPA Science Inventory

Existing food consumption and contaminant residue databases, typically products of nutrition and regulatory monitoring, contain useful information to characterize dietary intake of environmental chemicals. A PC-based model with resident database system, termed the Die...

Microbial Characterization and Comparison of Isolates During the Mir and ISS Missions

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Fontenot, Sondra L.; Castro, Victoria; Bruce, Rebekah; Ott, C. Mark; Pierson, Duane L.

2004-01-01

Spacecraft represent a semi-closed ecosystem that provides a unique model of microbial interaction with other microbes, potential hosts, and their environment. Environmental samples from the Mir Space Station (1995-1998) and the International Space Station (ISS) (2000-Present) were collected and processed to provide insight into the characterization of microbial diversity aboard spacecraft over time and assess any potential health risks to the crew. All microbiota were isolated using standard media-based methodologies. Isolates from Mir and ISS were processed using various methods of analysis, including VITEK biochemical analysis, 16s ribosomal identification, and fingerprinting using rep-PCR analysis. Over the first 41 months of habitation, the diversity of the microbiota from air and surface samples aboard ISS increased from an initial six to 53 different bacterial species. During the same period, fungal diversity increased from 2 to 24 species. Based upon rep-PCR analysis, the majority of isolates were unique suggesting the need for increased sampling frequency and a more thorough analysis of samples to properly characterize the ISS microbiota. This limited fungal and bacterial data from environmental samples acquired during monitoring currently do not indicate a microbial hazard to ISS or any trends suggesting potential health risks.

Options for the Development of a Voluntary Network of Participants in the National Environmental Data Referral Service. Final Report.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

MAXIMA Corp., Silver Spring, MD.

Building on the findings of a survey of potential users and a descriptive review of five existing information networks, the present study represents an attempt to characterize several options for a voluntary confederation of participants in operating the National Environmental Data Referral Services (NEDRES) being developed by the Assessment and…

The Release of Nanosilver from Consumer Products Used in the Home

PubMed Central

Benn, Troy; Cavanagh, Bridget; Hristovski, Kiril; Posner, Jonathan D.; Westerhoff, Paul

2016-01-01

Nanosilver has become one of the most widely used nanomaterials in consumer products because of its antimicrobial properties. Public concern over the potential adverse effects of nanosilver's environmental release has prompted discussion of federal regulation. In this paper, we assess several classes of consumer products for their silver content and potential to release nanosilver into water, air, or soil. Silver was quantified in a shirt, a medical mask and cloth, toothpaste, shampoo, detergent, a towel, a toy teddy bear, and two humidifiers. Silver concentrations ranged from 1.4 to 270,000 μg Ag g product−1. Products were washed in 500 mL of tap water to assess the potential release of silver into aqueous environmental matrices (wastewater, surface water, saliva, etc.). Silver was released in quantities up to 45 μg Ag g product−1, and size fractions were both larger and smaller than 100 nm. Scanning electron microscopy confirmed the presence of nanoparticle silver in most products as well as in the wash water samples. Four products were subjected to a toxicity characterization leaching procedure to assess the release of silver in a landfill. The medical cloth released an amount of silver comparable to the toxicity characterization limit. This paper presents methodologies that can be used to quantify and characterize silver and other nanomaterials in consumer products. The quantities of silver in consumer products can in turn be used to estimate real-world human and environmental exposure levels. PMID:21284285

Observations on the migration of bacillus spores outside a contaminated facility during a decontamination efficacy study

USGS Publications Warehouse

Silvestri, Erin E.; Perkins, Sarah; Lordo, Robert; Kovacik, William; Nichols, Tonya L.; Bowling, Charlena Yoder; Griffin, Dale W.; Schaefer, Frank W.

2015-01-01

Bacillus species spores have the potential to remain viable in the soil for many years. Lasting environmental contamination following a release is a possibility, and planning for site characterization and remediation activities should consider both indoor-to-outdoor spore transport and outdoor soil as potential exposure pathways.

Sustainability Characterization for Additive Manufacturing

PubMed Central

Mani, Mahesh; Lyons, Kevin W; Gupta, SK

2014-01-01

Additive manufacturing (AM) has the potential to create geometrically complex parts that require a high degree of customization, using less material and producing less waste. Recent studies have shown that AM can be an economically viable option for use by the industry, yet there are some inherent challenges associated with AM for wider acceptance. The lack of standards in AM impedes its use for parts production since industries primarily depend on established standards in processes and material selection to ensure the consistency and quality. Inability to compare AM performance against traditional manufacturing methods can be a barrier for implementing AM processes. AM process sustainability has become a driver due to growing environmental concerns for manufacturing. This has reinforced the importance to understand and characterize AM processes for sustainability. Process characterization for sustainability will help close the gaps for comparing AM performance to traditional manufacturing methods. Based on a literature review, this paper first examines the potential environmental impacts of AM. A methodology for sustainability characterization of AM is then proposed to serve as a resource for the community to benchmark AM processes for sustainability. Next, research perspectives are discussed along with relevant standardization efforts. PMID:26601038

Non-monetary benefit indicators for prioritizing wetlands restoration projects

EPA Science Inventory

Ecological restoration of wetlands can reestablish ecosystem services that provide valuable social and environmental benefits. Explicitly characterizing these benefits can help managers better allocate scarce resources among potential restoration projects. Economic valuation stud...

Benefit indicators to promote and prioritize wetlands restoration

EPA Science Inventory

Ecological restoration of wetlands can reestablish ecosystem services that provide valuable social and environmental benefits. Explicitly characterizing these benefits can help managers garner support for restoration and better allocate scarce resources among potential restoratio...

2004 Environmental Report

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Althouse, P E; Bertoldo, N A; Brown, R A

2005-09-28

The Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) annual Environmental Report, prepared for the Department of Energy (DOE) and made available to the public, presents summary environmental data that characterizes site environmental management performance, summarizes environmental occurrences and responses reported during the calendar year, confirms compliance with environmental standards and requirements, and highlights significant programs and efforts. By explaining the results of effluent and environmental monitoring, mentioning environmental performance indicators and performance measure programs, and assessing the impact of Laboratory operations on the environment and the public, the report also demonstrates LLNL's continuing commitment to minimize any potentially adverse impact of itsmore » operations. The combination of environmental and effluent monitoring, source characterization, and dose assessment showed that radiological doses to the public caused by LLNL operations in 2004 were less than 0.26% of regulatory standards and more than 11,000 times smaller than dose from natural background. Analytical results and evaluations generally showed continuing low levels of most contaminants; remediation efforts further reduced the concentrations of contaminants of concern in groundwater and soil vapor. In addition, LLNL's extensive environmental compliance activities related to water, air, endangered species, waste, wastewater, and waste reduction controlled or reduced LLNL's effects on the environment. LLNL's environmental program clearly demonstrates a commitment to protecting the environment from operational impacts.« less

Satellite Data Aid Monitoring of Nation's Forests

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

2014-01-01

The USDA Forest Service’s Asheville, North Carolina-based Eastern Forest Environmental Threat Assessment Center and Prineville, Oregon-based Western Wildlands Environmental Threat Assessment Center partnered with Stennis Space Center and other agencies to create an early warning system to identify, characterize, and track disturbances from potential forest threats. The result was ForWarn, which is now being used by federal and state forest and natural resource managers.

Remedial Action Plan and site design for stabilization of the inactive uranium mill tailings site at Durango, Colorado: Attachment 3, Groundwater hydrology report. Revised final report

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Not Available

1991-12-01

The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has established health and environmental protection regulations to correct and prevent groundwater contamination resulting from processing activities at inactive uranium milling sites. According to the Uranium Mill Tailings Radiation Control Act of 1978, (UMTRCA) the US Department of Energy (DOE) is responsible for assessing the inactive uranium processing sites. The DOE has determined this assessment shall include information on hydrogeologic site characterization. The water resources protection strategy that describes how the proposed action will comply with the EPA groundwater protection standards is presented in Attachment 4. Site characterization activities discussed in this section include:more » Characterization of the hydrogeologic environment; characterization of existing groundwater quality; definition of physical and chemical characteristics of the potential contaminant source; and description of local water resources.« less

Yucca Mountain Biological Resources Monitoring Program; Annual report, FY91

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

NONE

1992-01-01

The US Department of Energy (DOE) is required by the Nuclear Waste Policy Act of 1982 (as amended in 1987) to study and characterize Yucca Mountain as a possible site for a geologic repository for high-level nuclear waste. During site characterization, the DOE will conduct a variety of geotechnical, geochemical, geological, and hydrological studies to determine the suitability of Yucca Mountain as a repository. To ensure that site characterization activities (SCA) do not adversely affect the Yucca Mountain area, an environmental program has been implemented to monitor and mitigate potential impacts and to ensure that activities comply with applicable environmentalmore » regulations. This report describes the activities and accomplishments during fiscal year 1991 (FY91) for six program areas within the Terrestrial Ecosystem component of the YMP environmental program. The six program areas are Site Characterization Activities Effects, Desert Tortoises, Habitat Reclamation, Monitoring and Mitigation, Radiological Monitoring, and Biological Support.« less

Bridging the divide between human and environmental nanotoxicology

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Malysheva, Anzhela; Lombi, Enzo; Voelcker, Nicolas H.

2015-10-01

The need to assess the human and environmental risks of nanoscale materials has prompted the development of new metrological tools for their detection, quantification and characterization. Some of these methods have tremendous potential for use in various scenarios of nanotoxicology. However, in some cases, the limited dialogue between environmental scientists and human toxicologists has hampered the full exploitation of these resources. Here we review recent progress in the development of methods for nanomaterial analysis and discuss the use of these methods in environmental and human toxicology. We highlight the opportunities for collaboration between these two research areas.

Processing use, and characterization of shale oil products

PubMed Central

Decora, Andrew W.; Kerr, Robert D.

1979-01-01

Oil shale is a potential source of oil that will supplement conventional sources for oil as our needs for fossil fuels begin to exceed our supplies. The resource may be mined and processed on the surface or it may be processed in situ. An overview of the potential technologies and environmental issues is presented. PMID:446454

PROCEDURE FOR DETERMINATION OF SEDIMENT PARTICLE SIZE (GRAIN SIZE)

EPA Science Inventory

Sediment quality and sediment remediation projects have become a high priority for USEPA. Sediment particle size determinations are used in environmental assessments for habitat characterization, chemical normalization, and partitioning potential of chemicals. The accepted met...

Mapping Flood Reduction Benefits of Potential Wetlands Restoration

EPA Science Inventory

Public officials and environmental managers face difficult decisions when allocating funds to prioritize the most beneficial wetlands conservation or restoration projects, and often face difficulty even characterizing benefits. One benefit of natural and constructed wetlands is t...

An ecotoxicological characterization of nanocrystalline cellulose (NCC).

PubMed

Kovacs, Tibor; Naish, Valerie; O'Connor, Brian; Blaise, Christian; Gagné, Francois; Hall, Lauren; Trudeau, Vance; Martel, Pierre

2010-09-01

The pulp and paper industry in Canada is developing technology for the production and use of nanocrystalline cellulose (NCC). A key component of the developmental work is an assessment of potential environmental risks. Towards this goal, NCC samples as well as carboxyl methyl cellulose (CMC), a surrogate of the parent cellulosic material, were subjected to an ecotoxicological evaluation. This involved toxicity tests with rainbow trout hepatocytes and nine aquatic species. The hepatocytes were most sensitive (EC20s between 10 and 200 mg/l) to NCC, although neither NCC nor CMC caused genotoxicity. In tests with the nine species, NCC affected the reproduction of the fathead minnow at (IC25) 0.29 g/l, but no other effects on endpoints such as survival and growth occurred in the other species at concentrations below 1 g/l, which was comparable to CMC. Based on this ecotoxicological characterization, NCC was found to have low toxicity potential and environmental risk.

Global Characteristics of Childhood Acute Promyelocytic Leukemia

PubMed Central

Zhang, L; Samad, A; Pombo-de-Oliveira, MS; Scelo, G; Smith, MT; Feusner, J; Wiemels, JL; Metayer, C

2014-01-01

Acute promyelocytic leukemia (APL) comprises approximately 5–10% of childhood acute myeloid leukemia (AML) cases in the US. While variation in this percentage among other populations was noted previously, global patterns of childhood APL have not been thoroughly characterized. In this comprehensive review of childhood APL, we examined its geographic pattern and the potential contribution of environmental factors to observed variation. In 142 studies (spanning >60 countries) identified, variation was apparent—de novo APL represented from 2% (Switzerland) to >50% (Nicaragua) of childhood AML in different geographic regions. Because a limited number of previous studies addressed specific environmental exposures that potentially underlie childhood APL development, we gathered 28 childhood cases of therapy-related APL, which exemplified associations between prior exposures to chemotherapeutic drugs/radiation and APL diagnosis. Future population-based studies examining childhood APL patterns and the potential association with specific environmental exposures and other risk factors are needed. PMID:25445717

The Environmental Protection Agency's Community-Focused Exposure and Risk Screening Tool (C-FERST) and its potential use for environmental justice efforts.

PubMed

Zartarian, Valerie G; Schultz, Bradley D; Barzyk, Timothy M; Smuts, Marybeth; Hammond, Davyda M; Medina-Vera, Myriam; Geller, Andrew M

2011-12-01

Our primary objective was to provide higher quality, more accessible science to address challenges of characterizing local-scale exposures and risks for enhanced community-based assessments and environmental decision-making. After identifying community needs, priority environmental issues, and current tools, we designed and populated the Community-Focused Exposure and Risk Screening Tool (C-FERST) in collaboration with stakeholders, following a set of defined principles, and considered it in the context of environmental justice. C-FERST is a geographic information system and resource access Web tool under development for supporting multimedia community assessments. Community-level exposure and risk research is being conducted to address specific local issues through case studies. C-FERST can be applied to support environmental justice efforts. It incorporates research to develop community-level data and modeled estimates for priority environmental issues, and other relevant information identified by communities. Initial case studies are under way to refine and test the tool to expand its applicability and transferability. Opportunities exist for scientists to address the many research needs in characterizing local cumulative exposures and risks and for community partners to apply and refine C-FERST.

ANIMAL SOURCE IDENTIFICATION USING A CRYPTOSPORIDIUM DNA CHARACTERIZATION TECHNIQUE

EPA Science Inventory

This document summarizes the application of a particular molecular method to improve detection and differentiation of species and genotypes of Cryptosporidium oocysts found in environmental samples. Of particular interest is the method's potential for determining the source anim...

The Triple Value Model: A Systems Approach to Sustainable Solutions

EPA Science Inventory

The unintended environmental impacts of economic development threaten the continued availability of ecosystem services that are critical to human well being. An integrated systems approach is needed to characterize sustainability problems and evaluate potential solutions. The T...

Deployment Effects of Marine Renewable Energy Technologies: Wave Energy Scenarios

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Mirko Previsic

2010-06-17

Given proper care in siting, design, deployment, operation and maintenance, wave energy conversion could become one of the more environmentally benign sources of electricity generation. In order to accelerate the adoption of these emerging hydrokinetic and marine energy technologies, navigational and environmental concerns must be identified and addressed. All developing hydrokinetic projects involve a wide variety of stakeholders. One of the key issues that site developers face as they engage with this range of stakeholders is that, due to a lack of technical certainty, many of the possible conflicts (e.g., shipping and fishing) and environmental issues are not well-understood,. Inmore » September 2008, re vision consulting, LLC was selected by the Department of Energy (DoE) to apply a scenario-based assessment to the emerging hydrokinetic technology sector in order to evaluate the potential impact of these technologies on the marine environment and navigation constraints. The project’s scope of work includes the establishment of baseline scenarios for wave and tidal power conversion at potential future deployment sites. The scenarios capture variations in technical approaches and deployment scales to properly identify and characterize environmental effects and navigational effects. The goal of the project is to provide all stakeholders with an improved understanding of the potential range of technical attributes and potential effects of these emerging technologies and focus all stakeholders on the critical issues that need to be addressed. By identifying and addressing navigational and environmental concerns in the early stages of the industry’s development, serious mistakes that could potentially derail industry-wide development can be avoided. This groundwork will also help in streamlining siting and associated permitting processes, which are considered key hurdles for the industry’s development in the U.S. today. Re vision is coordinating its efforts with two other project teams funded by DoE which are focused on regulatory issues (Pacific Energy Ventures) and navigational issues (PCCI). The results of this study are structured into three reports: (1) Wave power scenario description (2) Tidal power scenario description (3) Framework for Identifying Key Environmental Concerns This is the first report in the sequence and describes the results of conceptual feasibility studies of wave power plants deployed in Humboldt County, California and Oahu, Hawaii. These two sites contain many of the same competing stakeholder interactions identified at other wave power sites in the U.S. and serve as representative case studies. Wave power remains at an early stage of development. As such, a wide range of different technologies are being pursued by different manufacturers. In order to properly characterize potential effects, it is useful to characterize the range of technologies that could be deployed at the site of interest. An industry survey informed the process of selecting representative wave power devices. The selection criteria requires that devices are at an advanced stage of development to reduce technical uncertainties, and that enough data are available from the manufacturers to inform the conceptual design process of this study. Further, an attempt is made to cover the range of different technologies under development to capture variations in potential environmental effects. Table 1 summarizes the selected wave power technologies. A number of other developers are also at an advanced stage of development, but are not directly mentioned here. Many environmental effects will largely scale with the size of the wave power plant. In many cases, the effects of a single device may not be measurable, while larger scale device arrays may have cumulative impacts that differ significantly from smaller scale deployments. In order to characterize these effects, scenarios are established at three deployment scales which nominally represent (1) a small pilot deployment, (2) a small commercial deployment, and (3) a large commercial scale plant. It is important to understand that the purpose of this study was to establish baseline scenarios based on basic device data that was provided to use by the manufacturer for illustrative purposes only.« less

Hydrology Model Formulation within the Training Range Environmental Evaluation and Characterization System (TREECS)

DTIC Science & Technology

2014-02-01

Potential evapotranspiration is computed using the Thornthwaite Method. Infiltration is computed from a water balance. DISCLAIMER: The contents of...precipitation, rainfall, runoff, evapotranspiration , infiltration, and number of days with rainfall. A hydrology model was developed to estimate...temperatures. Potential evapotranspiration (PET) is computed using the Thornthwaite Method. Actual evapotranspiration (ET) and infiltration are computed from a

Environmental controls on chemoautotrophic primary producers at deep-sea vents

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Le Bris, Nadine; Mullineaux, Lauren; Sievert, Stefan

2014-05-01

High biomasses and fast growth rates of dominant chemosynthetic species characterize hydrothermal ecosystems, raising the issue of their contribution to energy transfer and carbon cycling in the deep-sea. Addressing this issue, however, needs to account for the temporal instability of hydrothermal systems, both, in terms of biological colonization and habitat conditions. Volcanic eruptions on mid-ocean ridges offer the opportunity to investigate the environmental conditions favoring the successive modes of chemoautotrophic primary production (i.e. free living microbes and symbiotic invertebrates). In that perspective, habitat-scale approaches distinguish from vent field-scale approaches based on fluid composition and provide relevant information on environmental constraints exerted at different stages of colonization focusing on parameters linked with physiological limits and available energy. Investigation of habitat physicochemical properties along a typical successional sequence of recolonization at 9°50'N EPR diffuse-flow vents, between 2006 and 2014, was performed in order to examine potential changes in environmental features associated with chemoautotrophic primary producers, from early microbial colonizers to symbiotic invertebrates. Combined in situ measurements of temperature, pH and hydrogen sulfide were used and their variability documented over a series of assemblages characterizing recolonization stages. The distributions of mature assemblages of dominant invertebrate species associate with substantial differences in habitat conditions, pointing to a strong influence of habitat properties on potential productivity. Among the differences observed, however, the amplitude and rate of environmental fluctuation appear more important than average conditions in the succession, highlighting the role of spatial heterogeneity and temporal dynamics as a control on primary producers. Invertebrate species acting as engineer species are expected to play a primary role in the rate of organic carbon formed over the lifetime of a vent and potentially transferred to adjacent ecosystems.

Development of a risk-based environmental management tool for drilling discharges. Summary of a four-year project.

PubMed

Singsaas, Ivar; Rye, Henrik; Frost, Tone Karin; Smit, Mathijs G D; Garpestad, Eimund; Skare, Ingvild; Bakke, Knut; Veiga, Leticia Falcao; Buffagni, Melania; Follum, Odd-Arne; Johnsen, Ståle; Moltu, Ulf-Einar; Reed, Mark

2008-04-01

This paper briefly summarizes the ERMS project and presents the developed model by showing results from environmental fates and risk calculations of a discharge from offshore drilling operations. The developed model calculates environmental risks for the water column and sediments resulting from exposure to toxic stressors (e.g., chemicals) and nontoxic stressors (e.g., suspended particles, sediment burial). The approach is based on existing risk assessment techniques described in the European Union technical guidance document on risk assessment and species sensitivity distributions. The model calculates an environmental impact factor, which characterizes the overall potential impact on the marine environment in terms of potentially impacted water volume and sediment area. The ERMS project started in 2003 and was finalized in 2007. In total, 28 scientific reports and 9 scientific papers have been delivered from the ERMS project (http://www.sintef.no/erms).

Methods proposed to achieve air quality standards for mobile sources and technology surveillance.

PubMed Central

Piver, W T

1975-01-01

The methods proposed to meet the 1975 Standards of the Clean Air Act for mobile sources are alternative antiknocks, exhaust emission control devices, and alternative engine designs. Technology surveillance analysis applied to this situation is an attempt to anticipate potential public and environmental health problems from these methods, before they happen. Components of this analysis are exhaust emission characterization, environmental transport and transformation, levels of public and environmental exposure, and the influence of economics on the selection of alternative methods. The purpose of this presentation is to show trends as a result of the interaction of these different components. In no manner can these trends be interpreted explicitly as to what will really happen. Such an analysis is necessary so that public and environmental health officials have the opportunity to act on potential problems before they become manifest. PMID:50944

POLIBROMINATED DIPHENYL ETHERS: A CASE STUDY FOR APPLICATION OF BIOMONITORING DATA TO CHARACTERIZE EXPOSURE

EPA Science Inventory

The presence and steady increase in environmental and human concentrations of PBDEs (polybrominated diphenyl ethers) has heightened interest in the potential toxicological consequences of these chemicals. Currently available data on exposure, pharmacokinetics, toxicity, and biom...

An integrated experimental and computational approach for characterizing the kinetics and mechanism of triadimefon racemization.

EPA Science Inventory

Enantiomers of chiral molecules commonly exhibit differing pharmacokinetics and toxicities, which can introduce significant uncertainty when evaluating biological and environmental fates and potential risks to humans and the environment. However, racemization (the irreversible tr...

Monitoring the Environmental Impact of TiO2 Nanoparticles Using a Plant-Based Sensor Network

PubMed Central

Lenaghan, Scott C.; Li, Yuanyuan; Zhang, Hao; Burris, Jason N.; Stewart, C. Neal; Parker, Lynne E.; Zhang, Mingjun

2016-01-01

The increased manufacturing of nanoparticles for use in cosmetics, foods, and clothing necessitates the need for an effective system to monitor and evaluate the potential environmental impact of these nanoparticles. The goal of this research was to develop a plant-based sensor network for characterizing, monitoring, and understanding the environmental impact of TiO2 nanoparticles. The network consisted of potted Arabidopsis thaliana with a surrounding water supply, which was monitored by cameras attached to a laptop computer running a machine learning algorithm. Using the proposed plant sensor network, we were able to examine the toxicity of TiO2 nanoparticles in two systems: algae and terrestrial plants. Increased terrestrial plant growth was observed upon introduction of the nanoparticles, whereas algal growth decreased significantly. The proposed system can be further automated for high-throughput screening of nanoparticle toxicity in the environment at multiple trophic levels. The proposed plant-based sensor network could be used for more accurate characterization of the environmental impact of nanomaterials. PMID:28458617

The environmental balance of the Alta Val d'Agri: a contribution to the evaluation of the industrial risk and strategic sustainable development

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Loperte, S.; Cosmi, C.

2015-09-01

This study presents the preliminary environmental balance of the Alta Val d'Agri (Basilicata Region, Southern Italy), an area of great naturalistic interest characterized by the presence of huge oil and gas fields. The Driving Forces-Pressure-State-Impact-Responses (DPSIR) methodology was used to outline the background in terms of environmental impacts mainly caused by oil extraction activities, as well as potential existing responses. The study aims at providing stakeholders with an exhaustive framework to identify the existing data, the main sources of pollution, their potential impacts, the associated industrial risks and the existing policy strategies. Moreover, the DPSIR approach allows the identification of the vulnerable areas and the definition of targeted actions for a sustainable development of the area.

Variations in diatom communities at genus and species levels in peatlands (central China) linked to microhabitats and environmental factors.

PubMed

Chen, Xu; Bu, Zhaojun; Stevenson, Mark A; Cao, Yanmin; Zeng, Linghan; Qin, Bo

2016-10-15

Peatlands are a specialized type of organic wetlands, fulfilling essential roles as global carbon sinks, headwaters of rivers and biodiversity hotspots. Despite their importance, peatlands are being lost at an alarming rate due to human disturbance and climatic variability. Both the scientific and regulatory communities have focused considerable attention on developing tools for assessing environmental changes in peatlands. Diatoms are widely used in biomonitoring studies of lakes, rivers and streams as they have high abundance, specific ecological preferences and can respond rapidly to environmental change. However, diatom-based assessment studies in peatlands remain limited. The aims of this study were to identify indicator species and genus for three types of habitats (hummocks, hollows and ditch edges) in peatlands (central China), to examine the effects of physiochemical factors on diatom composition at genus and species levels, and to compare the efficiency of species- and genus-level identification in environmental assessment. Our results revealed that hummocks were characterized by drought-tolerant diatoms, while hollows were dominated by species and genus preferring wet conditions. Ditch edges were characterized by diatoms with different life strategies. Depth to water table, redox potential, conductivity and calcium were significant predictors of both genus- and species-level composition. According to ordination analyses, pH was not correlated with species composition while it was a significant factor associated with genus-level composition. Genus-level composition outperformed species composition in describing the response of diatoms to environmental variables. Our results indicate that diatoms can be useful environmental indicators of peatlands, and show that genus-level taxonomic analysis can be a potential tool for assessing environmental change in peatlands. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Strategies towards an optimized use of the shallow geothermal potential

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Schelenz, S.; Firmbach, L.; Kalbacher, T.; Goerke, U.; Kolditz, O.; Dietrich, P.; Vienken, T.

2013-12-01

Thermal use of the shallow subsurface for heat generation, cooling and thermal energy storage is increasingly gaining importance in reconsideration of future energy supplies, e.g. in the course of German energy transition, with application shifting from isolated to intensive use. The planning and dimensioning of (geo-)thermal applications is strongly influenced by the availability of exploration data. Hence, reliable site-specific dimensioning of systems for the thermal use of the shallow subsurface will contribute to an increase in resource efficiency, cost reduction during installation and operation, as well as reduction of environmental impacts and prevention of resource over-exploitation. Despite large cumulative investments that are being made for the utilization of the shallow thermal potential, thermal energy is in many cases exploited without prior on-site exploration and investigation of the local geothermal potential, due to the lack of adequate and cost-efficient exploration techniques. We will present new strategies for an optimized utilization of urban thermal potential, showcased at a currently developed residential neighborhood with high demand for shallow geothermal applications, based on a) enhanced site characterization and b) simulation of different site specific application scenarios. For enhanced site characterization, surface geophysics and vertical high resolution direct push-profiling were combined for reliable determination of aquifer structure and aquifer parameterization. Based on the site characterization, different site specific geothermal application scenarios, including different system types and system configurations, were simulated using OpenGeoSys to guarantee an environmental and economic sustainable thermal use of the shallow subsurface.

Environmental assessment for the Groundwater Characterization Project, Nevada Test Site, Nye County, Nevada; Revision 1

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

NONE

1992-08-01

The US Department of Energy (DOE) proposes to conduct a program to characterize groundwater at the Nevada Test Site (NTS), Nye County, Nevada, in accordance with a 1987 DOE memorandum stating that all past, present, and future nuclear test sites would be treated as Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA) sites (Memorandum from Bruce Green, Weapons Design and Testing Division, June 6, 1987). DOE has prepared an environmental assessment (DOE/EA-0532) to evaluate the environmental consequences associated with the proposed action, referred to as the Groundwater Characterization Project (GCP). This proposed action includes constructing access roads and drill pads,more » drilling and testing wells, and monitoring these wells for the purpose of characterizing groundwater at the NTS. Long-term monitoring and possible use of these wells in support of CERCLA, as amended by the Superfund Amendments and Reauthorization Act, is also proposed. The GCP includes measures to mitigate potential impacts on sensitive biological, cultural and historical resources, and to protect workers and the environment from exposure to any radioactive or mixed waste materials that may be encountered. DOE considers those mitigation measures related to sensitive biological, cultural and historic resources as essential to render the impacts of the proposed action not significant, and DOE has prepared a Mitigation Action Plan (MAP) that explains how such mitigations will be planned and implemented. Based on the analyses presented in the EA, DOE has determined that the proposed action is not a major Federal action significantly affecting the quality of the human environment, within the meaning of the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (NEPA). Therefore, preparation of an environmental impact statement is not required and the Department is issuing this FONSI.« less

Characterization of phosphate rock and phosphogypsum from Gabes phosphate fertilizer factories (SE Tunisia): high mining potential and implications for environmental protection.

PubMed

El Zrelli, Radhouan; Rabaoui, Lotfi; Daghbouj, Nabil; Abda, Heithem; Castet, Sylvie; Josse, Claudie; van Beek, Pieter; Souhaut, Marc; Michel, Sylvain; Bejaoui, Nejla; Courjault-Radé, Pierre

2018-05-01

Since the establishment of the coastal industrial complex in Gabes city (Gulf of Gabes, SE Tunisia), hundred million tons of untreated phosphogypsum have been discharged in the open sea causing serious environmental problems. To better understand the dynamic and behavior of phosphate/phosphogypsum contaminants from raw ores to marine environment, a chemical, organic, mineralogical, and morphological characterization of phosphate rock and phosphogypsum was conducted using several sophisticated techniques. The chemical analysis showed that phosphate and phosphogypsum contain high loads of trace elements and that the transfer factors of pollutants varied from 5.83% (U) to 140% (Hg). Estimated annual flows of phosphogypsum contaminants into the marine environment ranged between 0.05 (Re) and 87,249.60 (F) tons. The phosphate rock was found to be formed by carbonate fluorapatite, calcite, dolomite, natural gypsum, quartz, calcite-Mg, apatite, pyrite, fluorite, and sphalerite-Cd and phosphogypsum by synthetic gypsum and sphalerite-Cd. The phosphate was found to be richer in organic compounds compared to phosphogypsum. Based on this work, the Tunisian phosphogypsum has a high mining potential and encourages the development of an economically beneficial and environmentally friendly phosphogypsum-treating industry.

DEVELOPMENT OF DNA-BASED TOOLS FOR IDENTIFICATION AND MONITORING OF AQUATIC INTRODUCED SPECIES

EPA Science Inventory

Claims for potential applications of DNA taxonomy range from identification of unknown specimens and the discovery of new species to the study of biodiversity through comprehensive characterizations of complex biotic communities drawn from environmental samples. Recently, these a...

COMPARISON OF FATHEAD MINNOW AND HUMAN ESTROGEN RECEPTOR BINDING TO ENDOCRINE DISRUPTING COMPOUNDS

EPA Science Inventory

Environmental estrogens have the potential to disrupt endocrine function in a myriad of species. However, in vitro assays designed to detect and characterize endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDCs) typically utilize mammalian estrogen receptors. Our overall objective is to charac...

A Systems-Level Approach to Characterizing Effects of ENMs in Terrestrial Organisms and Ecosystems

EPA Science Inventory

Engineered nanomaterials (ENMs) represent a new regulatory challenge because of their unique properties and their potential to interact with ecological organisms at various developmental stages, in numerous environmental compartments. Traditional toxicity tests have proven to be...

EMISSION CHARACTERIZATION OF STATIONARY NOX SOURCES: VOLUME 1. RESULTS

EPA Science Inventory

The report gives results of an inventory of gaseous, liquid, and solid effluents from stationary NOx sources, projected to the year 2000, and ranks them according to their potential for environmental hazard. It classifies sources according to their pollution formation characteris...

The environmental and medical geochemistry of potentially hazardous materials produced by disasters

USGS Publications Warehouse

Plumlee, Geoffrey S.; Morman, Suzette A.; Meeker, G.P.; Hoefen, Todd M.; Hageman, Philip L.; Wolf, Ruth E.

2014-01-01

Many natural or human-caused disasters release potentially hazardous materials (HM) that may pose threats to the environment and health of exposed humans, wildlife, and livestock. This chapter summarizes the environmentally and toxicologically significant physical, mineralogical, and geochemical characteristics of materials produced by a wide variety of recent disasters, such as volcanic eruptions, hurricanes and extreme storms, spills of mining/mineral-processing wastes or coal extraction by-products, and the 2001 attacks on and collapse of the World Trade Center towers. In describing these characteristics, this chapter also illustrates the important roles that geochemists and other earth scientists can play in environmental disaster response and preparedness. In addition to characterizing in detail the physical, chemical, and microbial makeup of HM generated by the disasters, these roles also include (1) identifying and discriminating potential multiple sources of the materials; (2) monitoring, mapping, and modeling dispersal and evolution of the materials in the environment; (3) understanding how the materials are modified by environmental processes; (4) identifying key characteristics and processes that influence the materials' toxicity to exposed humans and ecosystems; (5) estimating shifts away from predisaster environmental baseline conditions; and (6) using geochemical insights learned from past disasters to help estimate, prepare for, and increase societal resilience to the environmental and related health impacts of future disasters.

In vitro bioassays for detecting dioxin-like activity--application potentials and limits of detection, a review.

PubMed

Eichbaum, Kathrin; Brinkmann, Markus; Buchinger, Sebastian; Reifferscheid, Georg; Hecker, Markus; Giesy, John P; Engwall, Magnus; van Bavel, Bert; Hollert, Henner

2014-07-15

Use of in vitro assays as screening tool to characterize contamination of a variety of environmental matrices has become an increasingly popular and powerful toolbox in the field of environmental toxicology. While bioassays cannot entirely substitute analytical methods such as gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS), the increasing improvement of cell lines and standardization of bioassay procedures enhance their utility as bioanalytical pre-screening tests prior to more targeted chemical analytical investigations. Dioxin-receptor-based assays provide a holistic characterization of exposure to dioxin-like compounds (DLCs) by integrating their overall toxic potential, including potentials of unknown DLCs not detectable via e.g. GC-MS. Hence, they provide important additional information with respect to environmental risk assessment of DLCs. This review summarizes different in vitro bioassay applications for detection of DLCs and considers the comparability of bioassay and chemical analytically derived toxicity equivalents (TEQs) of different approaches and various matrices. These range from complex samples such as sediments through single reference to compound mixtures. A summary of bioassay derived detection limits (LODs) showed a number of current bioassays to be equally sensitive as chemical methodologies, but moreover revealed that most of the bioanalytical studies conducted to date did not report their LODs, which represents a limitation with regard to low potency samples. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Wave energy: a Pacific perspective.

PubMed

Paasch, Robert; Ruehl, Kelley; Hovland, Justin; Meicke, Stephen

2012-01-28

This paper illustrates the status of wave energy development in Pacific rim countries by characterizing the available resource and introducing the region's current and potential future leaders in wave energy converter development. It also describes the existing licensing and permitting process as well as potential environmental concerns. Capabilities of Pacific Ocean testing facilities are described in addition to the region's vision of the future of wave energy.

Multichannel imager for littoral zone characterization

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Podobna, Yuliya; Schoonmaker, Jon; Dirbas, Joe; Sofianos, James; Boucher, Cynthia; Gilbert, Gary

2010-04-01

This paper describes an approach to utilize a multi-channel, multi-spectral electro-optic (EO) system for littoral zone characterization. Advanced Coherent Technologies, LLC (ACT) presents their EO sensor systems for the surf zone environmental assessment and potential surf zone target detection. Specifically, an approach is presented to determine a Surf Zone Index (SZI) from the multi-spectral EO sensor system. SZI provides a single quantitative value of the surf zone conditions delivering an immediate understanding of the area and an assessment as to how well an airborne optical system might perform in a mine countermeasures (MCM) operation. Utilizing consecutive frames of SZI images, ACT is able to measure variability over time. A surf zone nomograph, which incorporates targets, sensor, and environmental data, including the SZI to determine the environmental impact on system performance, is reviewed in this work. ACT's electro-optical multi-channel, multi-spectral imaging system and test results are presented and discussed.

Geological investigations and hydrogeologic model development in support of DoD and DOE environmental programs on Kirtland Air Force Base, New Mexico, U.S.A.

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Gibson, J.D.; Pratt, G.; Davidson, H.

This paper presents results of preliminary geologic site characterization and hydrogeologic conceptual model development for the 250-km{sup 2} Kirtland Air Force Base (KAFB) and associated lands in central New Mexico. The research, development, and other operational activities of the Department of Defense (DoD) and Department of Energy (DOE) on KAFB over the last 50 years have resulted in diverse hazardous, radioactive, and mixed-waste environmental concerns. Because multiple federal, state, and local agencies are responsible for administrating the involved lands and because of the nature of many U.S. environmental regulations, individual contaminated and potentially contaminated DoD and DOE environmental restoration (ER)more » sites on KAFB are commonly handled as distinct entities with little consideration for the cumulative environmental and health risk from all sites. A site-wide characterization program has been undertaken at Sandia National Laboratories/New Mexico (SNL/NM), under the auspices of the DOE, to construct a conceptual hydrogeologic model for the base. This conceptual model serves as the basis for placing each ER site into a broader context for evaluating background (i.e., non-contaminated) conditions and for modeling of possible contaminant pathways and travel-times. Regional and local hydrogeologic investigations from KAFB can be used as models for characterizing and evaluating other sites around the world where combined civilian and military environmental programs must work together to resolve environmental problems that may present health risks to workers and the general public.« less

Hazard Characterization of Modified Vaccinia Virus Ankara Vector: What Are the Knowledge Gaps?

PubMed Central

Okeke, Malachy I.; Okoli, Arinze S.; Offor, Collins; Oludotun, Taiwo G.; Tryland, Morten; Bøhn, Thomas; Moens, Ugo

2017-01-01

Modified vaccinia virus Ankara (MVA) is the vector of choice for human and veterinary applications due to its strong safety profile and immunogenicity in vivo. The use of MVA and MVA-vectored vaccines against human and animal diseases must comply with regulatory requirements as they pertain to environmental risk assessment, particularly the characterization of potential adverse effects to humans, animals and the environment. MVA and recombinant MVA are widely believed to pose low or negligible risk to ecosystem health. However, key aspects of MVA biology require further research in order to provide data needed to evaluate the potential risks that may occur due to the use of MVA and MVA-vectored vaccines. The purpose of this paper is to identify knowledge gaps in the biology of MVA and recombinant MVA that are of relevance to its hazard characterization and discuss ongoing and future experiments aimed at providing data necessary to fill in the knowledge gaps. In addition, we presented arguments for the inclusion of uncertainty analysis and experimental investigation of verifiable worst-case scenarios in the environmental risk assessment of MVA and recombinant MVA. These will contribute to improved risk assessment of MVA and recombinant MVA vaccines. PMID:29109380

Hazard Characterization of Modified Vaccinia Virus Ankara Vector: What Are the Knowledge Gaps?

PubMed

Okeke, Malachy I; Okoli, Arinze S; Diaz, Diana; Offor, Collins; Oludotun, Taiwo G; Tryland, Morten; Bøhn, Thomas; Moens, Ugo

2017-10-29

Modified vaccinia virus Ankara (MVA) is the vector of choice for human and veterinary applications due to its strong safety profile and immunogenicity in vivo. The use of MVA and MVA-vectored vaccines against human and animal diseases must comply with regulatory requirements as they pertain to environmental risk assessment, particularly the characterization of potential adverse effects to humans, animals and the environment. MVA and recombinant MVA are widely believed to pose low or negligible risk to ecosystem health. However, key aspects of MVA biology require further research in order to provide data needed to evaluate the potential risks that may occur due to the use of MVA and MVA-vectored vaccines. The purpose of this paper is to identify knowledge gaps in the biology of MVA and recombinant MVA that are of relevance to its hazard characterization and discuss ongoing and future experiments aimed at providing data necessary to fill in the knowledge gaps. In addition, we presented arguments for the inclusion of uncertainty analysis and experimental investigation of verifiable worst-case scenarios in the environmental risk assessment of MVA and recombinant MVA. These will contribute to improved risk assessment of MVA and recombinant MVA vaccines.

Concepts in ecological risk assessment. Professional paper

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Johnston, R.K.; Seligman, P.F.

1991-05-01

Assessing the risk of impact to natural ecosystems from xenobiotic compounds requires an accurate characterization of the threatened ecosystem, direct measures or estimates of environmental exposure, and a comprehensive evaluation of the biological effects from actual and potential contamination. Field and laboratory methods have been developed to obtain direct measures of environmental health. These methods have been implemented in monitoring programs to assess and verify the ecological risks of contamination from past events, such as hazardous waste disposal sites, as well as future scenarios, such as the environmental consequences from the use of biocides in antifouling bottom paints for ships.

Analysis of Causes of Major Environmental Issues Occurring on Sea Coastlines of the Peter the Great Bay

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Golikov, S. Yu; Dulepov, V. I.; Maiorov, I. S.

2017-11-01

The geoecological assessment of any territory or aquatic area is based on the evaluation of the natural resource potential, conditions and factors influencing its development as well as the analysis of major environmental issues that characterize the current regional state. The monitoring of water ecosystems under the conditions of anthropogenic impact on coastal areas is of significant importance within the study of the conservation and restoration of biodiversity, in the assessment of the dynamics of various environmental factors and their effects on ecosystems and on the bioresources management planning.

Health concepts, issues, and experience in the Abakaliki area, Nigeria.

PubMed Central

Chukwuma, C

1994-01-01

Environmental health problems are increasingly receiving global attention. The health of entire nations may not only be affected by adverse environmental conditions, but by nutritional deficiencies that lead to morbidity and mortality. The type and extent of adverse health effects in a population depend on the potential for exposure to some environmental factors and pathogens as well as other environmental variables like industrialization, sanitation conditions, and urbanization. National and international comparisons between health status indicators can reveal the extent of any differences that exist, including dynamic changes in prevailing environmental conditions which may be helpful in characterizing the role of specific risk factors. Improvements in collection of environmental data related to health can help to identify, control, and eliminate many of the factors that are associated with environmental risk in the Abakaliki area of eastern Nigeria. PMID:9644193

Characterization of the Androgen-sensitive MDA-kb2 Cell Line for Assessing Complex Environmental Mixtures

EPA Science Inventory

Complex mixtures of synthetic and natural androgens and estrogens, and many other non-steroidal components are commonly released to the aquatic environment from anthropogenic sources. It is important to understand the potential interactive (i.e., additive, synergistic, antagonist...

Integrating publicly-available data to generate computationally-predicted adverse outcome pathways for hepatic steatosis

EPA Science Inventory

The adverse outcome pathway (AOP) framework provides a way of organizing knowledge related to the key biological events that result in a particular health outcome. For the majority of environmental chemicals, the availability of curated pathways characterizing potential toxicity ...

Type III Polyketide Synthases: Discovery, Characterization, and Engineering

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Pitel, Sheryl Beth Rubin

2009-01-01

The polyketides are a diverse group of natural products with important applications in medicine and industry. Industry, especially the pharmaceutical industry, is under pressure to deliver "greener" chemical syntheses that are less environmentally damaging and incorporate renewable resources. There exists potential to replace current…

Incorporation of the zosteric sodium salt in silica nanocapsules: synthesis and characterization of new fillers for antifouling coatings

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ruggiero, Ludovica; Crociani, Laura; Zendri, Elisabetta; El Habra, Naida; Guerriero, Paolo

2018-05-01

In the last decade many commercial biocides were gradually banned for toxicity. This work reports, for the first time, the synthesis and characterization of silica nanocontainers loaded with a natural product antifoulant (NPA), the zosteric sodium salt which is a non-commercial and environmentally friendly product with natural origin. The synthesis approach is a single step dynamic self-assembly with tetraethoxysilane (TEOS) as silica precursor. Unlike conventional mesoporous silica nanoparticles, the structure of these silica nanocontainers provides loading capacity and allows prolonged release of biocide species. The obtained nanocapsules have been characterized morphologically by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). The encapsulation was checked by FTIR ATR spectroscopy and thermogravimetric analyses. The results of the release studies show the great potential of the here presented newly developed nanofillers in all applications where a controlled release of non-toxic and environmentally friendly biocides is required.

U.S. Geological Survey Field Leach Test for Assessing Water Reactivity and Leaching Potential of Mine Wastes, Soils, and Other Geologic and Environmental Materials

USGS Publications Warehouse

Hageman, Philip L.

2007-01-01

The U. S. Geological Survey (USGS) has developed a fast (5-minute), effective, simple, and cost-effective leach test that can be used to simulate the reactions that occur when materials are leached by water. The USGS Field Leach Test has been used to predict, assess, and characterize the geochemical interactions between water and a broad variety of geologic and environmental matrices. Examples of some of the samples leached include metal mine wastes, various types of dusts, biosolids (processed sewage sludge), flood and wetland sediments, volcanic ash, forest-fire burned soils, and many other diverse matrices. The Field Leach Test has been an integral part of these investigations and has demonstrated its value as a geochemical characterization tool. It has enabled investigators to identify which constituents are water reactive, soluble, mobilized, and made bioaccessible because of leaching by water, and to understand potential impacts of these interactions on the surrounding environment.

How can farming intensification affect the environmental impact of milk production?

PubMed

Bava, L; Sandrucci, A; Zucali, M; Guerci, M; Tamburini, A

2014-07-01

The intensification process of the livestock sector has been characterized in recent decades by increasing output of product per hectare, increasing stocking rate, including more concentrated feed in the diet, and improving the genetic merit of the breeds. In dairy farming, the effects of intensification on the environmental impact of milk production are not completely clarified. The aim of the current study was to assess the environmental impacts of dairy production by a life cycle approach and to identify relations between farming intensity and environmental performances expressed on milk and land units. A group of 28 dairy farms located in northern Italy was involved in the study; data collected during personal interviews of farmers were analyzed to estimate emissions (global warming potential, acidification, and eutrophication potentials) and nonrenewable source consumption (energy and land use). The environmental impacts of milk production obtained from the life cycle assessment were similar to those of other recent studies and showed high variability among the farms. From a cluster analysis, 3 groups of farms were identified, characterized by different levels of production intensity. Clusters of farms showed similar environmental performances on product basis, despite important differences in terms of intensification level, management, and structural characteristics. Our study pointed out that, from a product perspective, the most environmentally friendly way to produce milk is not clearly identifiable. However, the principal component analysis showed that some characteristics related to farming intensification, such as milk production per cow, dairy efficiency, and stocking density, were negatively related to the impacts per kilogram of product, suggesting a role of these factors in the mitigation strategy of environmental burden of milk production on a global scale. Considering the environmental burden on a local perspective, the impacts per hectare were positively associated with the intensification level. Copyright © 2014 American Dairy Science Association. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Characterization (environmental Signature) and Function of the Main Instrumented (monitoring Water Quality Network in Real Time) Rivers Atoyac and Zahuapan in High Atoyac Basin; in Dry, Rain and Winter Season 2013-2014; Puebla-Tlaxcala Mexico

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tavera, E. M.; Rodriguez-Espinosa, P. F.; Morales-Garcia, S. S.; Muñoz-Sevilla, N. P.

2014-12-01

The Zahuapan and Atoyac rivers were characterized in the Upper Atoyac through the integration of physical and chemical parameters (environmental firm) determining the behavior and function of the basin as a tool for measuring and monitoring the quality and management of water resources of the water in one of the most polluted rivers in Mexico. For the determination of the environmental signature proceeded to characterize the water through 11 physicochemical parameters: temperature (T), potential hydrogen (pH), dissolved oxygen (DO), spectral absorption coefficient (SAC), the reduction of oxide potential (ORP), turbidity (Turb), conductivity (l), biochemical oxygen demand in 5 days (BOD5), chemical oxygen demand (COD), total suspended solids (TSS) and total dissolved solids (TDS ), which were evaluated in 49 sites in the dry season, 47 for the rainy season and 23 for the winter season in the basin and Atoyac Zahuapan Alto Atoyac, Puebla-Tlaxcala, Mexico river; finding a mathematical algorithm to assimilate and better represent the information obtained. The algorithm allows us to estimate correlation greater than 0.85. The results allow us to propose the algorithm used in the monitoring stations for purposes of processing information assimilated form.This measurement and monitoring of water quality supports the project, the monitoring network in real time and the actions to clean up Atoyac River, in the urban area of the city of Puebla.

Evaluating minerals of environmental concern using spectroscopy

USGS Publications Warehouse

Swayze, G.A.; Clark, R.N.; Higgins, C.T.; Kokaly, R.F.; Livo, K. Eric; Hoefen, T.M.; Ong, C.; Kruse, F.A.

2006-01-01

Imaging spectroscopy has been successfully used to aid researchers in characterizing potential environmental impacts posed by acid-rock drainage, ore-processing dust on mangroves, and asbestos in serpentine mineral deposits and urban dust. Many of these applications synergistically combine field spectroscopy with remote sensing data, thus allowing more-precise data calibration, spectral analysis of the data, and verification of mapping. The increased accuracy makes these environmental evaluation tools efficient because they can be used to focus field work on those areas most critical to the research effort. The use of spectroscopy to evaluate minerals of environmental concern pushes current imaging spectrometer technology to its limits; we present laboratory results that indicate the direction for future designs of imaging spectrometers.

High-Throughput Models for Exposure-Based Chemical Prioritization in the ExpoCast Project

EPA Science Inventory

The United States Environmental Protection Agency (U.S. EPA) must characterize potential risks to human health and the environment associated with manufacture and use of thousands of chemicals. High-throughput screening (HTS) for biological activity allows the ToxCast research pr...

ANALYSIS OF FUNCTIONAL EFFECTS OF A MIXTURE OF FIVE PESTICIDES USING A RAY DESIGN

EPA Science Inventory

Abstract
The protection of human health from the adverse effects of cumulative environmental exposure to chemical mixtures is an important issue. Of particular interest is the potential detection and characterization of interaction among chemicals in complex mixtures. R...

Characterization of the ecological interactions of Roundup Ready 2 Yield® soybean, MON 89788, for use in ecological risk assessment

PubMed Central

Horak, Michael J; Rosenbaum, Eric W; Phillips, Samuel L; Kendrick, Daniel L; Carson, David; Clark, Pete L; Nickson, Thomas E

2015-01-01

Abstract As part of an ecological risk assessment, Roundup Ready 2 Yield® soybean (MON 89788) was compared to a conventional control soybean variety, A3244, for disease and arthropod damage, plant response to abiotic stress and cold, effects on succeeding plant growth (allelopathic effects), plant response to a bacterial symbiont, and effects on the ability of seed to survive and volunteer in a subsequent growing season. Statistically significant differences between MON 89788 and A3244 were considered in the context of the genetic variation known to occur in soybean and were assessed for their potential impact on plant pest (weed) potential and adverse environmental impact. The results of these studies revealed no effects of the genetic modification that would result in increased pest potential or adverse environmental impact of MON 89788 compared with A3244. This paper illustrates how such characterization studies conducted in a range of environments where the crop is grown are used in an ecological risk assessment of the genetically modified (GM) crop. Furthermore, risk assessors and decision makers use this information when deciding whether to approve a GM crop for cultivation in—or grain import into—their country. PMID:26177011

Characterization of the Androgen-sensitive MDA-kb2 Cell Line for Assessing Complex Environmental Mixtures, Presentation

EPA Science Inventory

Synthetic and natural steroidal androgens and estrogens and many other non-steroidal endocrine-active compounds commonly occur as complex mixtures in aquatic environments. It is important to understand the potential interactive effects of these mixtures to properly assess their r...

MAMMARY GLAND DEVELOPMENT AS A SENSITIVE END-POINT FOLLOWING ACUTE PERNATAL EXPOSURE TO A LOW DOSE ATRAZINE METABOLITE MIXTURE IN FEMALE LONG EVANS RATS

EPA Science Inventory

In order to characterize the potential developmental effects of atrazine (ATR) metabolites at low doses, an environmentally-based mixture (EBM) of ATR and its metabolites hydroxyatrazine, diaminochlorotriazine, deethylatrazine, and deisopropylatrazine was formulated based on surv...

Chemical and HTS Profiling of 63 Cleft Palate Teratogens from ToxCast (FutureTox III)

EPA Science Inventory

Cleft palate is a common human birth defect that has been linked to both genetic and environmental factors. To characterize the potential molecular targets and biological processes across mechanistically diverse teratogens that cause cleft palate, we mined the ToxCast high-throug...

TRANSPORT AND TRANSFORMATION OF HEXAVALENT CHROMIUM THROUGH SOILS AND INTO GROUND WATER

EPA Science Inventory

A detailed characterization of the underlying and adjacent soils of a chrome-plating shop was performed to provide information on the extent of soil and aquifer contamination at the site and on the potential for off-site migration and environmental impact. Intact, moist cores wer...

Biological profiling and dose-response modeling tools, characterizing uncertainty

EPA Science Inventory

Through its ToxCast project, the U.S. EPA has developed a battery of in vitro high throughput screening (HTS) assays designed to assess the potential toxicity of environmental chemicals. At present, over 1800 chemicals have been tested in up to 600 assays, yielding a large number...

CHARACTERIZATION OF MERCURY-ENRICHED COAL COMBUSTION RESIDUES FROM ELECTRIC UTILITIES USING ENHANCED SORBENTS FOR MERCURY CONTROL

EPA Science Inventory

Leaching of mercury and other constituents of potential concern during land disposal or beneficial use of coal combustion residues (CCRs) is the environmental impact pathway evaluated in this report. The specific objectives of the research was to: (1) evaluate mercury, arsenic an...

Characterizing environmental suitability of Aedes albopictus (Diptera: Culicidae) in Mexico based on regional and global niche models.

PubMed

Yañez-Arenas, Carlos; Rioja-Nieto, Rodolfo; Martín, Gerardo A; Dzul-Manzanilla, Felipe; Chiappa-Carrara, Xavier; Buenfil-Ávila, Aura; Manrique-Saide, Pablo; Correa-Morales, Fabián; Díaz-Quiñónez, José Alberto; Pérez-Rentería, Crescencio; Ordoñez-Álvarez, José; Vazquez-Prokopec, Gonzalo; Huerta, Herón

2018-01-10

The Asian tiger mosquito, Aedes albopictus (Skuse) (Diptera: Culicidae), is an invasive species and a vector of numerous human pathogens, including chikungunya, dengue, yellow fever, and Zika viruses. This mosquito had been reported from 36 geographic locations in Mexico by 2005, increasing to 101 locations by 2010 and 501 locations (spanning 16 states) by 2016. Here we modeled the occupied niche for Ae. albopictus in Mexico to characterize the environmental conditions related to its presence, and to generate updated environmental suitability maps. The predictors with the greatest contribution to characterizing the occupied niche for Ae. albopictus were NDVI and annual mean temperature. We also estimated the environmental suitability for Ae. albopictus in regions of the country where it has not been documented yet, by means of: 1) transferring its occupied niche model to these regions and 2) modeling its fundamental niche using global data. Our models will help vector control and public health institutions to identify areas where Ae. albopictus has not yet been recorded but where it may be present. We emphasize that most of Mexico has environmental conditions that potentially allow the survival of Ae. albopictus, which underscores the need for systematic mosquito monitoring in all states of the country. © The Author(s) 2017. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of Entomological Society of America. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.

Bioclimatic and physical characterization of the world’s islands

PubMed Central

Weigelt, Patrick; Jetz, Walter; Kreft, Holger

2013-01-01

The Earth’s islands harbor a distinct, yet highly threatened, biological and cultural diversity that has been shaped by geographic isolation and unique environments. Island systems are key natural laboratories for testing theory in ecology and evolution. However, despite their potential usefulness for research, a quantitative description of island environments and an environmental classification are still lacking. Here, we prepare a standardized dataset and perform a comprehensive global environmental characterization for 17,883 of the world’s marine islands >1 km2 (∼98% of total island area). We consider area, temperature, precipitation, seasonality in temperature and precipitation, past climate change velocity, elevation, isolation, and past connectivity—key island characteristics and drivers of ecosystem processes. We find that islands are significantly cooler, wetter, and less seasonal than mainlands. Constrained by their limited area, they show less elevational heterogeneity. Wet temperate climates are more prevalent on islands, whereas desert climates are comparatively rare. We use ordination and clustering to characterize islands in multidimensional environmental space and to delimit island ecoregions, which provides unique insights into the environmental configuration and diversity of the world’s islands. Combining ordination and classification together with global environmental data in a common framework opens up avenues for a more integrative use of islands in biogeography, macroecology, and conservation. To showcase possible applications of the presented data, we predict vascular plant species richness for all 17,883 islands based on statistically derived environment–richness relationships. PMID:24003123

Is the inherent potential of maize roots efficient for soil phosphorus acquisition?

PubMed

Deng, Yan; Chen, Keru; Teng, Wan; Zhan, Ai; Tong, Yiping; Feng, Gu; Cui, Zhenling; Zhang, Fusuo; Chen, Xinping

2014-01-01

Sustainable agriculture requires improved phosphorus (P) management to reduce the overreliance on P fertilization. Despite intensive research of root adaptive mechanisms for improving P acquisition, the inherent potential of roots for efficient P acquisition remains unfulfilled, especially in intensive agriculture, while current P management generally focuses on agronomic and environmental concerns. Here, we investigated how levels of soil P affect the inherent potential of maize (Zea mays L.) roots to obtain P from soil. Responses of root morphology, arbuscular mycorrhizal colonization, and phosphate transporters were characterized and related to agronomic traits in pot and field experiments with soil P supply from deficiency to excess. Critical soil Olsen-P level for maize growth approximated 3.2 mg kg(-1), and the threshold indicating a significant environmental risk was about 15 mg kg(-1), which represented the lower and upper levels of soil P recommended in current P management. However, most root adaptations involved with P acquisition were triggered when soil Olsen-P was below 10 mg kg(-1), indicating a threshold for maximum root inherent potential. Therefore, to maintain efficient inherent potential of roots for P acquisition, we suggest that the target upper level of soil P in intensive agriculture should be reduced from the environmental risk threshold to the point maximizing the inherent potential of roots.

Is the Inherent Potential of Maize Roots Efficient for Soil Phosphorus Acquisition?

PubMed Central

Deng, Yan; Chen, Keru; Teng, Wan; Zhan, Ai; Tong, Yiping; Feng, Gu; Cui, Zhenling; Zhang, Fusuo; Chen, Xinping

2014-01-01

Sustainable agriculture requires improved phosphorus (P) management to reduce the overreliance on P fertilization. Despite intensive research of root adaptive mechanisms for improving P acquisition, the inherent potential of roots for efficient P acquisition remains unfulfilled, especially in intensive agriculture, while current P management generally focuses on agronomic and environmental concerns. Here, we investigated how levels of soil P affect the inherent potential of maize (Zea mays L.) roots to obtain P from soil. Responses of root morphology, arbuscular mycorrhizal colonization, and phosphate transporters were characterized and related to agronomic traits in pot and field experiments with soil P supply from deficiency to excess. Critical soil Olsen-P level for maize growth approximated 3.2 mg kg−1, and the threshold indicating a significant environmental risk was about 15 mg kg−1, which represented the lower and upper levels of soil P recommended in current P management. However, most root adaptations involved with P acquisition were triggered when soil Olsen-P was below 10 mg kg−1, indicating a threshold for maximum root inherent potential. Therefore, to maintain efficient inherent potential of roots for P acquisition, we suggest that the target upper level of soil P in intensive agriculture should be reduced from the environmental risk threshold to the point maximizing the inherent potential of roots. PMID:24594677

A model biorefinery for avocado (Persea americana mill.) processing.

PubMed

Dávila, Javier A; Rosenberg, Moshe; Castro, Eulogio; Cardona, Carlos A

2017-11-01

This research investigated and evaluated a biorefinery for processing avocado Hass variety into microencapsulated phenolic compounds extract, ethanol, oil and xylitol. Avocado was first characterized for its potential valuable compounds; then, the techno-economic and environmental aspects of the biorefinery were developed and finally the total production costs and potential environmental impact of the proposed biorefinery were investigated. Four scenarios of the biorefinery were evaluated with different extent of mass and energy integration as well as the incorporation of a cogeneration system. Results indicated that the main fatty acid in the pulp of the investigated avocado variety was oleic acid (50.96%) and that this fruit contained significant amount of holocellulose (52.88% and 54.36% in the peel and seed, respectively). Techno-economic and environmental assessment suggested an attractive opportunity for a biorefinery for complete utilization of the avocado fruit as well the importance of the level of integration. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Yersinia pestis Survival and Replication in Potential Ameba Reservoir

PubMed Central

Antolin, Michael F.; Bowen, Richard A.; Wheat, William H.; Woods, Michael; Gonzalez-Juarrero, Mercedes; Jackson, Mary

2018-01-01

Plague ecology is characterized by sporadic epizootics, then periods of dormancy. Building evidence suggests environmentally ubiquitous amebae act as feral macrophages and hosts to many intracellular pathogens. We conducted environmental genetic surveys and laboratory co-culture infection experiments to assess whether plague bacteria were resistant to digestion by 5 environmental ameba species. First, we demonstrated that Yersinia pestis is resistant or transiently resistant to various ameba species. Second, we showed that Y. pestis survives and replicates intracellularly within Dictyostelium discoideum amebae for ˃48 hours postinfection, whereas control bacteria were destroyed in <1 hour. Finally, we found that Y. pestis resides within ameba structures synonymous with those found in infected human macrophages, for which Y. pestis is a competent pathogen. Evidence supporting amebae as potential plague reservoirs stresses the importance of recognizing pathogen-harboring amebae as threats to public health, agriculture, conservation, and biodefense. PMID:29350155

Behçet's syndrome pathophysiology and potential therapeutic targets.

PubMed

Emmi, Giacomo; Silvestri, Elena; Squatrito, Danilo; D'Elios, Mario Milco; Ciucciarelli, Lucia; Prisco, Domenico; Emmi, Lorenzo

2014-04-01

Behçet syndrome is a systemic inflammatory disorder characterized by multiorgan involvement such as oral and genital ulcers, uveitis, skin lesions as well as by less frequent, but often more severe, central nervous system and vascular manifestations. The pathogenetic mechanisms are still incompletely known; however the interaction between a specific genetic background and environmental or infectious factors certainly contributes to the immune dysregulation that characterizes this disease. The discovery of new immunological pathways in Behçet syndrome pathogenesis may help us to set up new treatments. In this review, we will focus our attention on the possible mechanisms underlying Behçet syndrome pathogenesis and their potential role as novel therapeutic targets.

Are environmental risk estimations linked to the actual environmental impact? Application to an oil handling facility (NE Spain).

PubMed

Valdor, Paloma F; Puente, Araceli; Gómez, Aina G; Ondiviela, Bárbara; Juanes, José A

2017-01-30

The environmental risk analysis of aquatic systems includes the evaluation of the likelihood that adverse ecological effects may occur as a result of exposure to one or more stressors. In harbor areas, pollution is provided by a complex mixture of substances with different levels of toxicity, persistence and bioaccumulation, which complicates the hazards characterization and their multiple effects. A study of the relationship between the environmental impact and the environmental risk assessment at a specific isolated oil handling facility was undertaken. The environmental risk of the oil handling facility, considering the consequences of specific pollutants, was estimated and the associated environmental impact was quantified based on a 'weights of evidence' approach. The contamination quantified at the potentially affected area around the monobuoy of Tarragona has proved to be related with environmental risk estimations but the lines of evidence obtained do not allow us to assert that the activity developed at this facility has an associated environmental impact. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Characterization of Vibrio cholerae bacteriophages isolated from the environmental waters of the Lake Victoria region of Kenya.

PubMed

Maina, Alice Nyambura; Mwaura, Francis B; Oyugi, Julius; Goulding, David; Toribio, Ana L; Kariuki, Samuel

2014-01-01

Over the last decade, cholera outbreaks have become common in some parts of Kenya. The most recent cholera outbreak occurred in Coastal and Lake Victoria region during January 2009 and May 2010, where a total of 11,769 cases and 274 deaths were reported by the Ministry of Public Health and Sanitation. The objective of this study is to isolate Vibrio cholerae bacteriophages from the environmental waters of the Lake Victoria region of Kenya with potential for use as a biocontrol for cholera outbreaks. Water samples from wells, ponds, sewage effluent, boreholes, rivers, and lakes of the Lake Victoria region of Kenya were enriched for 48 h at 37 °C in broth containing a an environmental strain of V. cholerae. Bacteriophages were isolated from 5 out of the 42 environmental water samples taken. Isolated phages produced tiny, round, and clear plaques suggesting that these phages were lytic to V. cholerae. Transmission electron microscope examination revealed that all the nine phages belonged to the family Myoviridae, with typical icosahedral heads, long contractile tails, and fibers. Head had an average diameter of 88.3 nm and tail of length and width 84.9 and 16.1 nm, respectively. Vibriophages isolated from the Lake Victoria region of Kenya have been characterized and the isolated phages may have a potential to be used as antibacterial agents to control pathogenic V. cholerae bacteria in water reservoirs.

Evaluation of high temperature structural adhesives for extended service

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Hendricks, C. L.; Hill, S. G.

1984-01-01

High temperature stable adhesive systems were evaluated for potential Supersonic Cruise Research (SCR) vehicle applications. The program was divided into two major phases: Phase I 'Adhesive Screening' evaluated eleven selected polyimide (PI) and polyphenylquinoxaline (PPQ) adhesive resins using eight different titanium (6Al-4V) adherend surface preparations; Phase II 'Adhesive Optimization and Characterization' extensively evaluated two adhesive systems, selected from Phase I studies, for chemical characterization and environmental durability. The adhesive systems which exhibited superior thermal and environmental bond properties were LARC-TPI polyimide and polyphenylquinoxaline both developed at NASA Langley. The latter adhesive system did develop bond failures at extended thermal aging due primarily to incompatibility between the surface preparation and the polymer. However, this study did demonstrate that suitable adhesive systems are available for extended supersonic cruise vehicle design applications.

Eating Disorders and Epigenetics.

PubMed

Thaler, Lea; Steiger, Howard

2017-01-01

Eating disorders (EDs) are characterized by intense preoccupation with shape and weight and maladaptive eating practices. The complex of symptoms that characterize EDs often arise through the activation of latent genetic potentials by environmental exposures, and epigenetic mechanisms are believed to link environmental exposures to gene expression. This chapter provides an overview of genetic factors acting in the etiology of EDs. It then provides a background to the hypothesis that epigenetic mechanisms link stresses such as obstetric complications and childhood abuse as well as effects of malnutrition to eating disorders (EDs). The chapter then summarizes the emerging body of literature on epigenetics and EDs-mainly studies on DNA methylation in samples of anorexia and bulimia. The available evidence base suggests that an epigenetically informed perspective contributes in valuable ways to the understanding of why people develop EDs.

Environmental assessment: Davis Canyon site, Utah

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

none,

1986-05-01

In February 1983, the US Department of Energy (DOE) identified the Davis Canyon site in Utah as one of the nine potentially acceptable sites for a mined geologic repository for spent nuclear fuel and high-level radioactive waste. To determine their suitability, the Davis Canyon site and the eight other potentially acceptable sites have been evaluated in accordance with the DOE's General Guidelines for the Recommendation of Sites for the Nuclear Waste Repositories. These evaluations were reported in draft environmental assessments (EAs), which were issued for public review and comment. After considering the comments received on the draft EAs, the DOEmore » prepared the final EA. The Davis Canyon site is in the Paradox Basin, which is one of five distinct geohydrologic settings considering for the first repository. This setting contains one other potentially acceptable site -- the Lavender Canyon site. Although the Lavender Canyon site is suitable for site characterization, the DOE has concluded that the Davis Canyon site is the preferred site in the Paradox Basin. On the basis of the evaluations reported in this EA, the DOE has found that the Davis Canyon site is not disqualified under the guidelines. Furthermore, the DOE has found that the site is suitable for site characterization because the evidence does not support a conclusion that the site will not be able to meet each of the qualifying conditions specified in the guidelines. On the basis of these findings, the DOE is nominating the Davis Canyon site as one of five sites suitable for characterization.« less

Developing Anticipatory Life Cycle Assessment Tools to Support Responsible Innovation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wender, Benjamin

Several prominent research strategy organizations recommend applying life cycle assessment (LCA) early in the development of emerging technologies. For example, the US Environmental Protection Agency, the National Research Council, the Department of Energy, and the National Nanotechnology Initiative identify the potential for LCA to inform research and development (R&D) of photovoltaics and products containing engineered nanomaterials (ENMs). In this capacity, application of LCA to emerging technologies may contribute to the growing movement for responsible research and innovation (RRI). However, existing LCA practices are largely retrospective and ill-suited to support the objectives of RRI. For example, barriers related to data availability, rapid technology change, and isolation of environmental from technical research inhibit application of LCA to developing technologies. This dissertation focuses on development of anticipatory LCA tools that incorporate elements of technology forecasting, provide robust explorations of uncertainty, and engage diverse innovation actors in overcoming retrospective approaches to environmental assessment and improvement of emerging technologies. Chapter one contextualizes current LCA practices within the growing literature articulating RRI and identifies the optimal place in the stage gate innovation model to apply LCA. Chapter one concludes with a call to develop anticipatory LCA---building on the theory of anticipatory governance---as a series of methodological improvements that seek to align LCA practices with the objectives of RRI. Chapter two provides a framework for anticipatory LCA, identifies where research from multiple disciplines informs LCA practice, and builds off the recommendations presented in the preceding chapter. Chapter two focuses on crystalline and thin film photovoltaics (PV) to illustrate the novel framework, in part because PV is an environmentally motivated technology undergoing extensive R&D efforts and rapid increases in scale of deployment. The chapter concludes with a series of research recommendations that seek to direct PV research agenda towards pathways with the greatest potential for environmental improvement. Similar to PV, engineered nanomaterials (ENMs) are an emerging technology with numerous potential applications, are the subject of active R&D efforts, and are characterized by high uncertainty regarding potential environmental implications. Chapter three introduces a Monte Carlo impact assessment tool based on the toxicity impact assessment model USEtox and demonstrates stochastic characterization factor (CF) development to prioritize risk research with the greatest potential to improve certainty in CFs. The case study explores a hypothetical decision in which personal care product developers are interested in replacing the conventional antioxidant niacinamide with the novel ENM C 60, but face high data uncertainty, are unsure regarding potential ecotoxicity impacts associated with this substitution, and do not know what future risk-relevant experiments to invest in that most efficiently improve certainty in the comparison. Results suggest experiments that elucidate C60 partitioning to suspended solids should be prioritized over parameters with little influence on results. This dissertation demonstrates a novel anticipatory approach to exploration of uncertainty in environmental models that can create new, actionable knowledge with potential to guide future research and development decisions.

Environmental surveillance and compliance at Los Alamos during 1996

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

NONE

1997-09-01

This report presents environmental data that characterize environmental performance and addresses compliance with environmental standards and requirements at Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL or the Laboratory) during 1996. The Laboratory routinely monitors for radiation and for radioactive nonradioactive materials at Laboratory sites as well as in the surrounding region. LANL uses the monitoring results to determine compliance with appropriate standards and to identify potentially undesirable trends. Data were collected in 1996 to assess external penetrating radiation; quantities of airborne emissions; and concentrations of chemicals and radionuclides in ambient air, surface waters and groundwaters, the municipal water supply, soils and sediments,more » and foodstuffs. Using comparisons with standards and regulations, this report concludes that environmental effects from Laboratory operations are small and do not pose a demonstrable threat to the public, Laboratory employees, or the environment. Laboratory operations were in compliance with all major environmental regulations.« less

Identification of Absorption, Distribution, Metabolism, and Excretion (ADME) Genes Relevant to Steatosis Using a Systems Biology Approach

EPA Science Inventory

Ensuring chemical safety and sustainability form a main priority of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. This entails efforts on multiple fronts to characterize the potential hazard posed by chemicals currently in use and those to be commercialized in the future. The use of ...

A Method for the Determination of Genetic Sex in the Fathead Minnow, Pimephales promelas, to Support Testing of Endocrine-active Chemicals

EPA Science Inventory

Fathead minnows are used as a model fish species for the characterization of the endocrine-disrupting potential of environmental contaminants. This research describes the development of a PCR method that can determine the genetic sex in this species. This method, when incorpora...

Characterization and Potential Environmental Implications of Select Cu-Based Fungicides and Bactericides Employed in U.S. Markets

EPA Science Inventory

This exploratory study aimed to examine the extent and mineral speciation of nanosized Cu in two fungicide products (A and B) available in the U.S. markets. Electron microcopy results demonstrated the presence of spherical and polydisperse <100 nm Cu particles in product B. Oth...

INFLUENCE OF PH AND OXIDATION-REDUCTION (EH) POTENTIAL ON THE DISSOLUTION OF MERCURY-CONTAINING MINE WASTES FROM THE SULFUR BANK MERCURY MINE

EPA Science Inventory

Mine waste rock and roaster tailings were collected from the Sulfur Bank Mercury Mine (SBMM) located in Clearlake Oaks, California. The site has been under investigation as a Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA) site. Characterization an...

Overview of Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) Environmental Program

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Forgave, John C.; Man, Kin F.; Hoffman, Alan R.

2006-01-01

This viewgraph presentation is an overview of the Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) program. The engineering objectives of the program are to create a Mobile Science Laboratory capable of one Mars Year surface operational lifetime (670 Martian sols = 687 Earth days). It will be able to land and operation over wide range of latitudes, altitudes and seasons It must have controlled propulsive landing and demonstrate improved landing precision via guided entry The general science objectives are to perform science that will focus on Mars habitability, perform next generation analytical laboratory science investigations, perform remote sensing/contact investigations and carry a suite of environmental monitoring instruments. Specific scientific objectives of the MSL are: (1) Characterization of geological features, contributing to deciphering geological history and the processes that have modified rocks and regolith, including the role of water. (2) Determination of the mineralogy and chemical composition (including an inventory of elements such as C, H, N, O, P, S, etc. known to be building blocks for life) of surface and near-surface materials. (3) Determination of energy sources that could be used to sustain biological processes. (4) Characterization of organic compounds and potential biomarkers in representative regolith, rocks, and ices. (5) Determination the stable isotopic and noble gas composition of the present-day bulk atmosphere. (6) Identification potential bio-signatures (chemical, textural, isotopic) in rocks and regolith. (7) Characterization of the broad spectrum of surface radiation, including galactic cosmic radiation, solar proton events, and secondary neutrons. (8) Characterization of the local environment, including basic meteorology, the state and cycling of water and C02, and the near-surface distribution of hydrogen. Several views of the planned MSL and the rover are shown. The MSL environmental program is to: (1) Ensure the flight hardware design is capable of surviving all the environments throughout its mission life time, including ground, transportation, launch, cruise, entry decent and landing (EDL) and surface operation environments. (2) Verify environmental testing and analysis have adequately validated the flight hardware's ability to withstand all natural, self-induced, and mission-activity-induced environments. The planned tests to ascertain the capability of the MSL to perform as desired are reviewed.

Report of sampling and analysis results, Addison Army housing units, Addison, Illinois. Final report

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Not Available

1990-09-01

The objectives of this sampling and analysis effort include further characterization of environmental contamination identified in an enhanced preliminary assessment carried out in 1989. The specific activities performed at this site were identification, evaluation of the condition, and collection of samples from specific suspected asbestos-containing materials, including floor tiles, pipe run and pipe fitting insulation, dust in the ductwork, and exterior siding, where present. These evaluation were necessary to clarify potential environmental issues identified in the earlier report, prior to the sale or realignment of the property.

Digital Mapping and Environmental Characterization of National Wild and Scenic River Systems

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

McManamay, Ryan A; Bosnall, Peter; Hetrick, Shelaine L

2013-09-01

Spatially accurate geospatial information is required to support decision-making regarding sustainable future hydropower development. Under a memorandum of understanding among several federal agencies, a pilot study was conducted to map a subset of National Wild and Scenic Rivers (WSRs) at a higher resolution and provide a consistent methodology for mapping WSRs across the United States and across agency jurisdictions. A subset of rivers (segments falling under the jurisdiction of the National Park Service) were mapped at a high resolution using the National Hydrography Dataset (NHD). The spatial extent and representation of river segments mapped at NHD scale were compared withmore » the prevailing geospatial coverage mapped at a coarser scale. Accurately digitized river segments were linked to environmental attribution datasets housed within the Oak Ridge National Laboratory s National Hydropower Asset Assessment Program database to characterize the environmental context of WSR segments. The results suggest that both the spatial scale of hydrography datasets and the adherence to written policy descriptions are critical to accurately mapping WSRs. The environmental characterization provided information to deduce generalized trends in either the uniqueness or the commonness of environmental variables associated with WSRs. Although WSRs occur in a wide range of human-modified landscapes, environmental data layers suggest that they provide habitats important to terrestrial and aquatic organisms and recreation important to humans. Ultimately, the research findings herein suggest that there is a need for accurate, consistent, mapping of the National WSRs across the agencies responsible for administering each river. Geospatial applications examining potential landscape and energy development require accurate sources of information, such as data layers that portray realistic spatial representations.« less

Environmental monitoring and assessment of antibacterial metabolite producing actinobacteria screened from marine sediments in south coastal regions of Karnataka, India.

PubMed

Skariyachan, Sinosh; Garka, Shruthi; Puttaswamy, Sushmitha; Shanbhogue, Shobitha; Devaraju, Raksha; Narayanappa, Rajeswari

2017-06-01

Assessment of the therapeutic potential of secondary metabolite producing microorganisms from the marine coastal areas imparts scope and application in the field of environmental monitoring. The present study aims to screen metabolites with antibacterial potential from actionbacteria associated with marine sediments collected from south coastal regions of Karnataka, India. The actinobacteria were isolated and characterized from marine sediments by standard protocol. The metabolites were extracted, and antibacterial potential was analyzed against eight hospital associated bacteria. The selected metabolites were partially characterized by proximate analysis, SDS-PAGE, and FTIR-spectroscopy. The antibiogram of the test clinical isolates revealed that they were emerged as multidrug-resistant strains (P ≤ 0.05). Among six actinobacteria (IS1-1S6) screened, 100 μl -1 metabolite from IS1 showed significant antibacterial activities against all the clinical isolates except Pseudomonas aeruginosa. IS2 demonstrated antimicrobial potential towards Proteus mirabilis, Streptococcus pyogenes, and Escherichia coli. The metabolite from IS3 showed activity against Strep. pyogenes and E. coli. The metabolites from IS4, IS5, and IS6 exhibited antimicrobial activities against Ps. aeruginosa (P ≤ 0.05). The two metabolites that depicted highest antibacterial activities against the test strains were suggested to be antimicrobial peptides with low molecular weight. These isolates were characterized and designated as Streptomyces sp. strain mangaluru01 and Streptomyces sp. mangaloreK01 by 16S ribosomal DNA (rDNA) sequencing. This study suggests that south coastal regions of Karnataka, India, are one of the richest sources of antibacterial metabolites producing actinobacteria and monitoring of these regions for therapeutic intervention plays profound role in healthcare management.

Energy technology characterizations handbook: environmental pollution and control factors. Third edition

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Not Available

1983-03-01

This Handbook deals with environmental characterization information for a range of energy-supply systems and provides supplementary information on environmental controls applicable to a select group of environmentally characterized energy systems. Environmental residuals, physical-resource requirements, and discussion of applicable standards are the principal information provided. The quantitative and qualitative data provided are useful for evaluating alternative policy and technical strategies and for assessing the environmental impact of facility siting, energy production, and environmental controls.

Characterizing the environmental impact of metals in construction and demolition waste.

PubMed

Yu, Danfeng; Duan, Huabo; Song, Qingbin; Li, Xiaoyue; Zhang, Hao; Zhang, Hui; Liu, Yicheng; Shen, Weijun; Wang, Jinben

2018-05-01

Large quantities of construction and demolition (C&D) waste are generated in China every year, but their potential environmental impacts on the surrounding areas are rarely assessed. This study focuses on metals contained in C&D waste, characterizing the metal concentrations and their related environmental risks. C&D waste samples were collected in Shenzhen City, China, from building demolition sites, renovation areas undergoing refurbishment, landfill sites, and recycling companies (all located in Shenzhen city) that produce recycled aggregate, in order to identify pollution levels of the metals As, Cd, Cr, Cu, Pb, Ni, and Zn. The results showed that (1) the metal concentrations in most demolition and renovation waste samples were below the soil environmental quality standard for agricultural purposes (SQ-Agr.) in China; (2) Cd, Cu, and Zn led to relatively higher environmental risks than other metals, especially for Zn (DM5 tile sample, 360 mg/kg; R4 tile sample, 281 mg/kg); (3) non-inert C&D waste such as wall insulation and foamed plastic had high concentrations of As and Cd, so that these materials required special attention for sound waste management; and (4) C&D waste collected from landfill sites had higher concentrations of Cd and Cu than did waste collected from demolition and refurbishment sites.

Environmental constraints and call evolution in torrent-dwelling frogs.

PubMed

Goutte, Sandra; Dubois, Alain; Howard, Samuel D; Marquez, Rafael; Rowley, Jodi J L; Dehling, J Maximilian; Grandcolas, Philippe; Rongchuan, Xiong; Legendre, Frédéric

2016-04-01

Although acoustic signals are important for communication in many taxa, signal propagation is affected by environmental properties. Strong environmental constraints should drive call evolution, favoring signals with greater transmission distance and content integrity in a given calling habitat. Yet, few empirical studies have verified this prediction, possibly due to a shortcoming in habitat characterization, which is often too broad. Here we assess the potential impact of environmental constraints on the evolution of advertisement call in four groups of torrent-dwelling frogs in the family Ranidae. We reconstruct the evolution of calling site preferences, both broadly categorized and at a finer scale, onto a phylogenetic tree for 148 species with five markers (∼3600 bp). We test models of evolution for six call traits for 79 species with regard to the reconstructed history of calling site preferences and estimate their ancestral states. We find that in spite of existing morphological constraints, vocalizations of torrent-dwelling species are most probably constrained by the acoustic specificities of torrent habitats and particularly their high level of ambient noise. We also show that a fine-scale characterization of calling sites allows a better perception of the impact of environmental constraints on call evolution. © 2016 The Author(s). Evolution © 2016 The Society for the Study of Evolution.

Life cycle environmental impact of high-capacity lithium ion battery with silicon nanowires anode for electric vehicles.

PubMed

Li, Bingbing; Gao, Xianfeng; Li, Jianyang; Yuan, Chris

2014-01-01

Although silicon nanowires (SiNW) have been widely studied as an ideal material for developing high-capacity lithium ion batteries (LIBs) for electric vehicles (EVs), little is known about the environmental impacts of such a new EV battery pack during its whole life cycle. This paper reports a life cycle assessment (LCA) of a high-capacity LIB pack using SiNW prepared via metal-assisted chemical etching as anode material. The LCA study is conducted based on the average U.S. driving and electricity supply conditions. Nanowastes and nanoparticle emissions from the SiNW synthesis are also characterized and reported. The LCA results show that over 50% of most characterized impacts are generated from the battery operations, while the battery anode with SiNW material contributes to around 15% of global warming potential and 10% of human toxicity potential. Overall the life cycle impacts of this new battery pack are moderately higher than those of conventional LIBs but could be actually comparable when considering the uncertainties and scale-up potential of the technology. These results are encouraging because they not only provide a solid base for sustainable development of next generation LIBs but also confirm that appropriate nanomanufacturing technologies could be used in sustainable product development.

Methods used to characterize the chemical composition and biological activity of environmental waters throughout the United States, 2012-14

USGS Publications Warehouse

Romanok, Kristin M.; Reilly, Timothy J.; Barber, Larry B.; Boone, J. Scott; Buxton, Herbert T.; Foreman, William T.; Furlong, Edward T.; Hladik, Michelle; Iwanowicz, Luke R.; Journey, Celeste A.; Kolpin, Dana W.; Kuivila, Kathryn; Loftin, Keith A.; Mills, Marc A.; Meyer, Michael T.; Orlando, James L.; Smalling, Kelly L.; Villeneuve, Daniel L.; Bradley, Paul M.

2017-03-22

A vast array of chemical compounds are in wide commercial use in the United States, and the potential ecological and human-health effect of exposure to chemical mixtures has been identified as a high priority in environment health science. Awareness of the potential effects of low-level chemical exposures is rising. The U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, conducted a study in which samples were collected from 38 streams in 25 States to provide an overview of contaminants found in stream water across the Nation. Additionally, biological screening assays were used to help determine any potential ecological and human-health effects of these chemical mixtures and to prioritize target chemicals for future toxicological studies. This report describes the site locations and the sampling and analytical methods and quality-assurance procedures used in the study.

Role of environmental pollution in irritable bowel syndrome.

PubMed

Marynowski, Mateusz; Likońska, Aleksandra; Zatorski, Hubert; Fichna, Jakub

2015-10-28

Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), with the prevalence of 10%-20 % of the population has become an emerging problem worldwide. IBS is a functional gastrointestinal (GI) disorder characterized by abdominal pain or discomfort and altered bowel habits. The etiology of IBS contains genetic, psychological, and immunological factors, and has not been fully elucidated; of note, recent studies also point at environmental pollution and its role in the development of functional GI diseases. In this review we focus on several environmental factors, such as bacterial contamination, air pollution, radiation and even stress as potential triggers of IBS. We discuss associated disturbances in homeostasis, such as changes in intestinal microbiome and related pathophysiological mechanisms. Based on the effect of environmental factors on the GI tract, we also propose novel targets in IBS treatment.

Role of environmental pollution in irritable bowel syndrome

PubMed Central

Marynowski, Mateusz; Likońska, Aleksandra; Zatorski, Hubert; Fichna, Jakub

2015-01-01

Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), with the prevalence of 10%-20 % of the population has become an emerging problem worldwide. IBS is a functional gastrointestinal (GI) disorder characterized by abdominal pain or discomfort and altered bowel habits. The etiology of IBS contains genetic, psychological, and immunological factors, and has not been fully elucidated; of note, recent studies also point at environmental pollution and its role in the development of functional GI diseases. In this review we focus on several environmental factors, such as bacterial contamination, air pollution, radiation and even stress as potential triggers of IBS. We discuss associated disturbances in homeostasis, such as changes in intestinal microbiome and related pathophysiological mechanisms. Based on the effect of environmental factors on the GI tract, we also propose novel targets in IBS treatment. PMID:26523104

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Oney, Stephen K.; Hogan, Timothy; Steinbeck, John

Ocean thermal energy conversion (OTEC) is a marine renewable energy technology with the potential to contribute significantly to the baseload power needs of tropical island communities and remote U.S. military installations. As with other renewable energy technologies, however, there are potential challenges to its commercialization: technological, financial, social, and environmental. Given the large volumes of seawater required to drive the electricity-producing cycle, there is potential for the intakes to negatively impact the marine resources of the source waterbody through the impingement and entrainment of marine organisms. The goal of this project was to identify feasible warm water intake designs formore » a land-based OTEC facility proposed for development in Port Allen, Kauai and to characterize the populations of ichthyoplankton near the proposed warm water intake location that could be at risk of entrainment. The specific objectives of this project were to: • Complete a site-specific assessment of available and feasible warm water intake technologies to determine the best intake designs for minimizing impacts to aquatic organisms at the proposed land-based OTEC site in Port Allen, Kauai. • Complete a field sampling program to collect biological data to characterize the baseline populations of ichthyoplankton near the sites being considered for the warm water intake at the proposed land-based OTEC site in Port Allen, Kauai. Various intake design options are presented with the focus on providing adequate environmental protection to the local ichthyoplankton population while providing an economically viable intake option to the OTEC developer. Further definition by NOAA and other environmental regulators is required to further refine the designs presented to meet all US regulations for future OTEC development.« less

Characterizing Dissolved Organic Matter and Metabolites in an Actively Serpentinizing Ophiolite Using Global Metabolomics Techniques

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Seyler, L. M.; Rempfert, K. R.; Kraus, E. A.; Spear, J. R.; Templeton, A. S.; Schrenk, M. O.

2017-12-01

Environmental metabolomics is an emerging approach used to study ecosystem properties. Through bioinformatic comparisons to metagenomic data sets, metabolomics can be used to study microbial adaptations and responses to varying environmental conditions. Since the techniques are highly parallel to organic geochemistry approaches, metabolomics can also provide insight into biogeochemical processes. These analyses are a reflection of metabolic potential and intersection with other organisms and environmental components. Here, we used an untargeted metabolomics approach to characterize dissolved organic carbon and aqueous metabolites from groundwater obtained from an actively serpentinizing habitat. Serpentinites are known to support microbial communities that feed off of the products of serpentinization (such as methane and H2 gas), while adapted to harsh environmental conditions such as high pH and low DIC availability. However, the biochemistry of microbial populations that inhabit these environments are understudied and are complicated by overlapping biotic and abiotic processes. The aim of this study was to identify potential sources of carbon in an environment that is depleted of soluble inorganic carbon, and to characterize the flow of metabolites and describe overlapping biogenic and abiogenic processes impacting carbon cycling in serpentinizing rocks. We applied untargeted metabolomics techniques to groundwater taken from a series of wells drilled into the Semail Ophiolite in Oman.. Samples were analyzed via quadrupole time-of-flight liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry (QToF-LC/MS/MS). Metabolomes and metagenomic data were imported into Progenesis QI software for statistical analysis and correlation, and metabolic networks constructed using the Genome-Linked Application for Metabolic Maps (GLAMM), a web interface tool. Further multivariate statistical analyses and quality control was performed using EZinfo. Pools of dissolved organic carbon could readily be distinguished based on their source rock and the pH of the groundwater sample. Our results are promising regarding the future use of metabolomics techniques in this and other serpentinizing environments, for the identification of nutrients, biomarkers and metabolic pathways in the subsurface biosphere.

Reanalyzing Environmental Lidar Data for Archaeology: Mesoamerican Applications and Implications

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Golden, Charles; Murtha, Timothy; Cook, Bruce; Shaffer, Derek S.; Schroder, Whittaker; Hermitt, Elijah J.; Firpi, Omar Alcover; Scherer, Andrew K.

2016-01-01

This paper presents a preliminary archaeological assessment of extensive transects of lidar recently collected by environmental scientists over southern Mexico using the G-LiHT system of NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center. In particular, this article offers the results of a first phase of research, consisting of: 1) characterization and classification of the cultural and ecological context of the samples, and 2) bare earth processing and visual inspection of a sample of the flight paths for identification of probable anthropogenic Precolumbian features. These initial results demonstrate that significant contributions to understanding variations in Precolumbian land-use and settlement patterns and change is possible with truly multi-regional lidar surveys not originally captured for archaeological prospection. We point to future directions for the development of archaeological applications of this robust data set. Finally, we offer the potential for enriching archaeological research through tightly coupled collaborations with environmental science and monitoring. Archaeologists in the neotropics can acquire more data, better realize the full potential of lidar surveys, and better contribute to interdisciplinary studies of human-environmental dynamic systems through regionally focused and collaborative scientific research.

Characterisation of carbon nanotubes in the context of toxicity studies

USGS Publications Warehouse

Berhanu, D.; Dybowska, A.; Misra, S.K.; Stanley, C.J.; Ruenraroengsak, P.; Boccaccini, A.R.; Tetley, T.D.; Luoma, S.N.; Plant, J.A.; Valsami-Jones, E.

2009-01-01

Nanotechnology has the potential to revolutionise our futures, but has also prompted concerns about the possibility that nanomaterials may harm humans or the biosphere. The unique properties of nanoparticles, that give them novel size dependent functionalities, may also have the potential to cause harm. Discrepancies in existing human health and environmental studies have shown the importance of good quality, well-characterized reference nanomaterials for toxicological studies. Here we make a case for the importance of the detailed characterization of nanoparticles, using several methods, particularly to allow the recognition of impurities and the presence of chemically identical but structurally distinct phases. Methods to characterise fully, commercially available multi-wall carbon nanotubes at different scales, are presented. ?? 2009 Berhanu et al; licensee BioMed Central Ltd.

GIS technology transfer for use in private sector consulting

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gibas, Dawn R.; Davis, Roger J.

1996-03-01

Summit Envirosolutions, Inc. (Summit) is an EOCAP '93 company working in partnership with NASA's Commercial Remote Sensing Program to integrate the use of Geographic Information Systems (GIS) and Remote Sensing (RS) technology into our environmental consulting business. The EOCAP program has allowed us to obtain the hardware and software necessary for this technology that would have been difficult for a small company, such as Summit, to purchase outright. We are integrating GIS/RS into our consulting business in several areas including wellhead protection and environmental assessments. The major emphasis in the EOCAP project is to develop a system, termed RealFlowSM. The goals of RealFlowSM are to reduce client costs associated with environmental compliance (in particular preparation of EPA-mandated Wellhead Protection Plans), more accurately characterize aquifer parameters, provide a scientifically sound basis for delineating Wellhead Protection Areas, and readily assess changes in well field operations and potential impacts of environmental stresses. RealFlowSM utilizes real-time telemetric data, digital imagery, GIS, Global Positioning System (GPS), and field data to characterize a study area at a lower cost. In addition, we are applying this technology in other service areas and showing a reduction in the overall costs for large projects.

Local versus field scale soil heterogeneity characterization - a challenge for representative sampling in pollution studies

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kardanpour, Z.; Jacobsen, O. S.; Esbensen, K. H.

2015-06-01

This study is a contribution to development of a heterogeneity characterisation facility for "next generation" sampling aimed at more realistic and controllable pesticide variability in laboratory pots in experimental environmental contaminant assessment. The role of soil heterogeneity on quantification of a set of exemplar parameters, organic matter, loss on ignition (LOI), biomass, soil microbiology, MCPA sorption and mineralization is described, including a brief background on how heterogeneity affects sampling/monitoring procedures in environmental pollutant studies. The Theory of Sampling (TOS) and variographic analysis has been applied to develop a fit-for-purpose heterogeneity characterization approach. All parameters were assessed in large-scale profile (1-100 m) vs. small-scale (0.1-1 m) replication sampling pattern. Variographic profiles of experimental analytical results concludes that it is essential to sample at locations with less than a 2.5 m distance interval to benefit from spatial auto-correlation and thereby avoid unnecessary, inflated compositional variation in experimental pots; this range is an inherent characteristic of the soil heterogeneity and will differ among soils types. This study has a significant carrying-over potential for related research areas e.g. soil science, contamination studies, and environmental monitoring and environmental chemistry.

Environmental implications of increased biomass energy use

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Miles, T.R. Sr.; Miles, T.R. Jr.

1992-03-01

This study reviews the environmental implications of continued and increased use of biomass for energy to determine what concerns have been and need to be addressed and to establish some guidelines for developing future resources and technologies. Although renewable biomass energy is perceived as environmentally desirable compared with fossil fuels, the environmental impact of increased biomass use needs to be identified and recognized. Industries and utilities evaluating the potential to convert biomass to heat, electricity, and transportation fuels must consider whether the resource is reliable and abundant, and whether biomass production and conversion is environmentally preferred. A broad range ofmore » studies and events in the United States were reviewed to assess the inventory of forest, agricultural, and urban biomass fuels; characterize biomass fuel types, their occurrence, and their suitability; describe regulatory and environmental effects on the availability and use of biomass for energy; and identify areas for further study. The following sections address resource, environmental, and policy needs. Several specific actions are recommended for utilities, nonutility power generators, and public agencies.« less

The development of "fab-chips" as low-cost, sensitive surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) substrates for analytical applications.

PubMed

Robinson, Ashley M; Zhao, Lili; Shah Alam, Marwa Y; Bhandari, Paridhi; Harroun, Scott G; Dendukuri, Dhananjaya; Blackburn, Jonathan; Brosseau, Christa L

2015-02-07

The demand for methods and technologies capable of rapid, inexpensive and continuous monitoring of health status or exposure to environmental pollutants persists. In this work, the development of novel surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) substrates from metal-coated silk fabric, known as zari, presents the potential for SERS substrates to be incorporated into clothing and other textiles for the routine monitoring of important analytes, such as disease biomarkers or environmental pollutants. Characterization of the zari fabric was completed using scanning electron microscopy, energy dispersive X-ray analysis and Raman spectroscopy. Silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) were prepared, characterized by transmission electron microscopy and UV-vis spectroscopy, and used to treat fabric samples by incubation, drop-coating and in situ synthesis. The quality of the treated fabric was evaluated by collecting the SERS signal of 4,4'-bipyridine on these substrates. When AgNPs were drop-coated on the fabric, sensitive and reproducible substrates were obtained. Adenine was selected as a second probe molecule, because it dominates the SERS signal of DNA, which is an important class of disease biomarker, particularly for pathogens such as Plasmodium spp. and Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Excellent signal enhancement could be achieved on these affordable substrates, suggesting that the developed fabric chips have the potential for expanding the use of SERS as a diagnostic and environmental monitoring tool for application in wearable sensor technologies.

Roles of Historical Photography in Waste Site Characterization, Closure, and Remediation

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Mackey, H.

1998-07-01

Over 40,000 frames of vertical historical photography from 1938 to 1996 and over 10,000 frames of oblique photography from 1981 to 1991 of the 777-square kilometer Savannah River Site in south central South Carolina were reviewed, cataloged, and referenced utilizing ARCView and associated ArcInfo tools. This allows environmental reviews of over 400 potential waste units on the SRS to be conducted in a rapid fashion to support preparation of work plans, characterization, risk assessments, and closure of the waste units in a more cost effective manner.

Hot Dry Rock Geothermal Energy Development Program. Annual report, fiscal year 1979

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Cremer, G.M.; Duffield, R.B.; Smith, M.C.

1980-08-01

The Fenton Hill Project is still the principal center for developing methods, equipment, and instrumentation for creating and utilizing HDR geothermal reservoirs. The search for a second site for a similar experimental system in a different geological environment has been intensified, as have the identification and characterization of other HDR areas that may prove suitable for either experimental or commercial development. The Phase I fracture system was enlarged during FY79. Drilling of the injection well of the Phase II system began at Fenton Hill in April 1979. Environmental monitoring of the Fenton Hill area continued through FY79. The environmental studiesmore » indicate that the hot dry rock operations have caused no significant environmental impact. Other supporting activities included rock physics, rock mechanics, fracture mapping, and instrumentation development. Two closely related activities - evaluation of the potential HDR energy resource of the US and the selection of a site for development of a second experimental heat-extraction system generally similar to that at Fenton Hill - have resulted in the collection of geology, hydrology, and heat-flow data on some level of field activity in 30 states. The resource-evaluation activity included reconnaissance field studies and a listing and preliminary characterization of US geothermal areas in which HDR energy extraction methods may be applicable. The selection of Site 2 has taken into account such legal, institutional, and economic factors as land ownership and use, proximity to possible users, permitting and licensing requirements and procedures, environmental issues, areal extent of the geothermal area, and visibility to and apparent interest by potential industrial developers.« less

Models of regeneration, tree growth, and current and potential ranges of tree and mammal species in the Eastern U.S.

Treesearch

Elaine K. Sutherland; Louis R. Iverson; Daniel A. Yaussy; Charles T. Scott; Betsy J. Hale; Anantha Prasad; Mark Schwartz; Hope R. Barrett

1997-01-01

An environmentally responsive, mechanistic regeneration simulator should simulate important ecological relationships and disturbance effects. Development of such a regeneration simulator is complex because of the many attributes that characterize reproductive strategies and the importance of forest history and disturbance in determining the composition of the next...

THE IDENTIFICATION OF THE WATER-BORNE PATHOGEN AEROMONAS USING WHOLE CELL ANALYSIS BY MATRIX ASSISTED LASER DESORPTION/IONIZATION-MASS

EPA Science Inventory

MALDI-MS has long been established as a tool by which microorganisms can be characterized and identified. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is investigating the potential of using this technique as a way to rapidly identify Aeromonas species in drinking water. A nu...

Environmental effects on FOD resistance of composite fan blade

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Murphy, G. C.; Selemme, C. T.

1981-01-01

The sensitivity of the impact characteristics of typical polymeric composite fan blade materials to potential limiting combinations of moisture, temperature level and temperature transients was established. The following four technical tasks are reported: (1) evaluation and characterization of constituent blade materials; (2) ballistic impact tests; (3) leading edge impact protection systems; and (4) simulated blade spin impact tests.

Novel spectrometers for environmental dose rate monitoring.

PubMed

Kessler, P; Behnke, B; Dabrowski, R; Dombrowski, H; Röttger, A; Neumaier, S

2018-07-01

A new generation of dosemeters, based on the scintillators LaBr 3 , CeBr 3 and SrI 2 , read out with conventional photomultipliers, to be used in the field of environmental gamma-radiation monitoring, was investigated. The main features of these new instruments and especially their outdoor performance, studied by long-term investigations under real weather conditions, are presented. The systems were tested at the reference sites for environmental radiation of the Physikalisch-Technische Bundesanstalt. The measurements are compared with that of well characterized classical dose rate reference instruments to demonstrate the suitability of new spectrometers for environmental dose rate monitoring even in adverse weather conditions. Their potential to replace the (mainly Geiger Müller based) dose rate meters operated in about 5000 European early waning network stations as well as in environmental radiation monitoring in general is shown. Copyright © 2018 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.

Environmental assessment: Davis Canyon site, Utah

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

none,

1986-05-01

In February 1983, the US Department of Energy (DOE) identified the Davis Canyon site in Utah as one of the nine potentially acceptable sites for a mined geologic repository for spent nuclear fuel and high-level radioactive waste. To determine their suitability, the Davis Canyon site and the eight other potentially acceptable sites have been evaluated in accordance with the DOE's General Guidelines for the Recommendation of Sites for the Nuclear Waste Repositories. These evaluations were reported in draft environmental assessments (EAs), which were issued for public review and comment. After considering the comments received on the draft EAs, the DOEmore » prepared the final EA. The Davis Canyon site is in the Paradox Basin, which is one of five distinct geohydrologic settings considered for the first repository. This setting contains one other potentially acceptable site -- the Lavender Canyon site. Although the Lavender Canyon site is suitable for site characterization, the DOE has concluded that the Davis Canyon site is the preferred site in the Paradox Basin. On the basis of the evaluations reported in this EA, the DOE has found that the Davis Canyon site is not disqualified under the guidelines. Furthermore, the DOE has fond that the site is suitable for site characterization because the evidence does not support a conclusion that the site will not be able to meet each of the qualifying conditions specified in the guidelines. On the basis of these findings, the DOE is nominating the Davis Canyon site as one of five sites suitable for characterization. 181 figs., 175 tabs.« less

Environmental assessment: Davis Canyon site, Utah

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

none,

1986-05-01

In February 1983, the US Department of Energy (DOE) identified the Davis Canyon site in Utah as one of the nine potentially acceptable sites for a mined geologic repository for spent nuclear fuel and high- level radioactive waste. To determine their suitability, the Davis Canyon site and the eight other potentially acceptable sites have been evaluated in accordance with the DOE's General Guidelines for the Recommendation of Sites for the Nuclear Waste Repositories. These evaluations were reported in draft environmental assessments (EAs), which were issued for public review and comment. After considering the comments received on the draft EAs, themore » DOE prepared the final EA. The Davis Canyon site is in the Paradox Basin, which is one of five distinct geohydrologic settings considered for the first repository. This setting contains one other potentially acceptable site -- the Lavender Canyon site. Although the Lavender Canyon site is suitable for site characterization, the DOE has concluded that the Davis Canyon site is the preferred site in the Paradox Basin. On the basis of the evaluations reported in this EA, the DOE has found that the Davis Canyon site is not disqualified under the guidelines. Furthermore, the DOE has found that the site is suitable for site characterization because the evidence does not support a conclusion that the site will not be able to meet each of the qualifying conditions specified in the guidelines. On the basis of these findings, the DOE is nominating the Davis Canyon site as one of the five sites suitable for characterization.« less

Characterization and assessment of potential environmental risk of tailings stored in seven impoundments in the Aries river basin, Western Romania

PubMed Central

2013-01-01

Background The objective of this study was to examine the potential environmental risk of tailings resulted after precious and base metal ores processing, stored in seven impoundments located in the Aries river basin, Romania. The tailings were characterized by mineralogical and elemental composition, contamination indices, acid rock drainage generation potential and water leachability of hazardous/priority hazardous metals and ions. Multivariate statistical methods were used for data interpretation. Results Tailings were found to be highly contaminated with several hazardous/priority hazardous metals (As, Cu, Cd, Pb), and pose potential contamination risk for soil, sediments, surface and groundwater. Two out of the seven studied impoundments does not satisfy the criteria required for inert wastes, shows acid rock drainage potential and thus can contaminate the surface and groundwater. Three impoundments were found to be highly contaminated with As, Pb and Cd, two with As and other two with Cu. The tailings impoundments were grouped based on the enrichment factor, geoaccumulation index, contamination factor and contamination degree of 7 hazardous/priority hazardous metals (As, Cd, Cr, Cu, Ni, Pb, Zn) considered typical for the studied tailings. Principal component analysis showed that 47% of the elemental variability was attributable to alkaline silicate rocks, 31% to acidic S-containing minerals, 12% to carbonate minerals and 5% to biogenic elements. Leachability of metals and ions was ascribed in proportion of 61% to silicates, 11% to acidic minerals and 6% to the organic matter. A variability of 18% was attributed to leachability of biogenic elements (Na, K, Cl-, NO3-) with no potential environmental risk. Pattern recognition by agglomerative hierarchical clustering emphasized the grouping of impoundments in agreement with their contamination degree and acid rock drainage generation potential. Conclusions Tailings stored in the studied impoundments were found to be contaminated with some hazardous/ priority hazardous metals, fluoride and sulphate and thus presents different contamination risk for the environment. A long term monitoring program of these tailings impoundments and the expansion of the ecologization measures in the area is required. PMID:23311708

Genotypic, physiological, and biochemical characterization of potentially pathogenic Acanthamoeba isolated from the environment in Cairo, Egypt.

PubMed

Tawfeek, Gihan Mostafa; Bishara, Sawsan Abdel-Hamid; Sarhan, Rania Mohammad; ElShabrawi Taher, Eman; ElSaady Khayyal, Amira

2016-05-01

Acanthamoebae are the most common opportunistic amphizoic protozoa that cause life-threatening granulomatous amoebic encephalitis in immunocompromised individuals and sight-threatening amoebic keratitis (AK) in contact lens wearers. The present work aimed to determine the presence of Acanthamoeba isolates in different environmental sources: water, soil, and dust in Cairo, Egypt and to characterize the pathogenic potential of the isolated Acanthamoeba using physiological and biochemical assays as well as determination of the genotypes in an attempt to correlate pathogenicity with certain genotypes. The study included the collection of 22 corneal scrapings from patients complaining of symptoms and signs indicative of acanthamoeba keratitis (AK) and 75 environmental samples followed by cultivation on non-nutrient agar plates preseeded with E. coli. Positive samples for Acanthamoeba were subjected to osmo- and thermo-tolerance assays and zymography analysis. Potentially pathogenic isolates were subjected to PCR amplification using genus-specific primer pair. Isolates were classified at the genotype level based on the sequence analysis of Acanthamoeba 18S rRNA gene (diagnostic fragment 3). The total detection rate for Acanthamoeba in environmental samples was 33.3 %, 31.4 % in water, 40 % in soil, and 20 % in dust samples. Three and two Acanthamoeba isolates from water and soil sources, respectively, had the potential for pathogenicity as they exhibited full range of pathogenic traits. Other 12 isolates were designated as weak potential pathogens. Only ten of the environmental isolates were positive in PCR and were classified by genotype analysis into T4 genotype (70 %), T3 (10 %) and T5 (20 %). Potential pathogens belonged to genotypes T4 (from water) and T5 (from soil) while weak potential pathogens belonged to genotypes T3 (from water) and T4 (from water and soil). Additionally, T7 genotype was isolated from keratitis patients. There is a considerable variation in the response of Acanthamoeba members of the same genotype to pathogenicity indicator assays making correlation of pathogenicity with certain genotypes difficult. Presence of potentially pathogenic Acanthamoeba isolates in habitats related directly to human populations represent a risk for human health. Isolation of Acanthamoeba genotype T7 from AK cases, which is commonly considered as nonpathogenic, might draw the attention to other Acanthamoeba genotypes considered as non pathogenic and reevaluate their role in production of human infections. To our knowledge, this is the first study on the presence and distribution of Acanthamoeba genotypes in the environment, Cairo, Egypt.

Improving spatial prediction of Schistosoma haematobium prevalence in southern Ghana through new remote sensors and local water access profiles.

PubMed

Kulinkina, Alexandra V; Walz, Yvonne; Koch, Magaly; Biritwum, Nana-Kwadwo; Utzinger, Jürg; Naumova, Elena N

2018-06-04

Schistosomiasis is a water-related neglected tropical disease. In many endemic low- and middle-income countries, insufficient surveillance and reporting lead to poor characterization of the demographic and geographic distribution of schistosomiasis cases. Hence, modeling is relied upon to predict areas of high transmission and to inform control strategies. We hypothesized that utilizing remotely sensed (RS) environmental data in combination with water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) variables could improve on the current predictive modeling approaches. Schistosoma haematobium prevalence data, collected from 73 rural Ghanaian schools, were used in a random forest model to investigate the predictive capacity of 15 environmental variables derived from RS data (Landsat 8, Sentinel-2, and Global Digital Elevation Model) with fine spatial resolution (10-30 m). Five methods of variable extraction were tested to determine the spatial linkage between school-based prevalence and the environmental conditions of potential transmission sites, including applying the models to known human water contact locations. Lastly, measures of local water access and groundwater quality were incorporated into RS-based models to assess the relative importance of environmental and WASH variables. Predictive models based on environmental characterization of specific locations where people contact surface water bodies offered some improvement as compared to the traditional approach based on environmental characterization of locations where prevalence is measured. A water index (MNDWI) and topographic variables (elevation and slope) were important environmental risk factors, while overall, groundwater iron concentration predominated in the combined model that included WASH variables. The study helps to understand localized drivers of schistosomiasis transmission. Specifically, unsatisfactory water quality in boreholes perpetuates reliance of surface water bodies, indirectly increasing schistosomiasis risk and resulting in rapid reinfection (up to 40% prevalence six months following preventive chemotherapy). Considering WASH-related risk factors in schistosomiasis prediction can help shift the focus of control strategies from treating symptoms to reducing exposure.

Environmental Redox Potential and Redox Capacity Concepts Using a Simple Polarographic Experiment

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pidello, Alejandro

2003-01-01

The redox status of a system may be analyzed in terms of the redox potential (redox intensity component) and the size of the pool of electrons able to be transferred (redox capacity component). In single chemical systems, both terms are thermodynamically related by means of the Nernst equation, the classical redox equilibrium equation. Consequently, either the redox potential measurement or the redox capacity may be used without distinction to define the redox characteristics of these systems. However, in natural environments, which are a complex mixture of compounds undergoing redox reactions in several stages of nonequilibrium, it is difficult to establish the relationships linking redox potential and redox capacity. In this situation, as suggested by various authors, the complementary use of intensity and capacity measurements improves the characterization of the redox status of these systems. The aim of this laboratory experiment is to enable undergraduate students of applied biology (agronomy, veterinary or environmental sciences) to distinguish clearly between redox potential and redox capacity concepts through concrete results obtained in complex natural system such as soil, and to discuss the ecological significance of both concepts.

Oak Ridge Reservation: Annual Site Environmental Report for 2015

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Rochelle, James; Rogers, Ben; Roche, Paula R.

The Oak Ridge Reservation Annual Site Environmental Report is prepared annually and presents summary environmental data to (1) characterize environmental performance, (2) summarize environmental occurrences reported during the year, (3) confirm compliance with environmental standards and requirements, and (4) highlight significant program activities. The report fulfills the requirement contained in DOE Order 231.1A, Environment, Safety and Health Reporting (DOE 2004) that an integrated annual site environmental report be prepared. The results summarized in this report are based on data collected prior to and through 2015. This report is not intended to nor does it present the results of all environmentalmore » monitoring associated with the ORR. Data collected for other site and regulatory purposes, such as environmental restoration/remedial investigation reports, waste management characterization sampling data, and environmental permit compliance data, are presented in other documents that have been prepared in accordance with applicable DOE guidance and/or laws and are referenced herein as appropriate. Environmental monitoring on the ORR consists primarily of two major activities: effluent monitoring and environmental surveillance. Effluent monitoring involves the collection and analysis of samples or measurements of liquid and gaseous effluents at the points of release to the environment; these measurements allow the quantification and official reporting of contaminant levels, assessment of radiation and chemical exposures to the public, and demonstration of compliance with applicable standards and permit requirements. Environmental surveillance consists of direct measurements and collection and analysis of samples taken from the site and its environs exclusive of effluents; these activities provide information on contaminant concentrations in air, water, groundwater, soil, foods, biota, and other media. Environmental surveillance data support determinations regarding environmental compliance and, when combined with data from effluent monitoring, support chemical and radiation dose and exposure assessments of the potential effects of ORR operations, if any, on the local environment.« less

Regulatory requirements and tools for environmental assessment of hazardous wastes: Understanding tribal and stakeholder concerns using Department of Energy sites

PubMed Central

Burger, Joanna; Powers, Charles; Gochfeld, Michael

2014-01-01

Many US governmental and Tribal Nation agencies, as well as state and local entities, deal with hazardous wastes within regulatory frameworks that require specific environmental assessments. In this paper we use Department of Energy (DOE) sites as examples to examine the relationship between regulatory requirements and environmental assessments for hazardous waste sites and give special attention to how assessment tools differ. We consider federal laws associated with environmental protection include the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA), the Comprehensive Environmental Response Compensation and Liability Act (CERCLA), as well as regulations promulgated by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Tribal Nations and state agencies. These regulatory regimes require different types of environmental assessments and remedial investigations, dose assessments and contaminant pathways. The DOE case studies illustrate the following points: 1) there is often understandable confusion about what regulatory requirements apply to the site resources, and what environmental assessments are required by each, 2) the messages sent on site safety issued by different regulatory agencies are sometimes contradictory or confusing (e.g. Oak Ridge Reservation), 3) the regulatory frameworks being used to examine the same question can be different, leading to different conclusions (e.g. Brookhaven National Laboratory), 4) computer models used in support of groundwater models or risk assessments are not necessarily successful in convincing Native Americans and others that there is no possibility of risk from contaminants (e.g. Amchitka Island), 5) when given the opportunity to choose between relying on a screening risk assessments or waiting for a full site-specific analysis of contaminants in biota, the screening risk assessment option is rarely selected (e.g. Amchitka, Hanford Site), and finally, 6) there needs to be agreement on whether there has been adequate characterization to support the risk assessment (e.g. Hanford). The assessments need to be transparent and to accommodate different opinions about the relationship between characterizations and risk assessments. This paper illustrates how many of the problems at DOE sites, and potentially at other sites in the U.S. and elsewhere, derive from a lack of either understanding of, or consensus about, the regulatory process, including the timing and types of required characterizations and data in support of site characterizations and risk assessments. PMID:20719428

Advances in mass spectrometric characterization of naphthenic acids fraction compounds in oil sands environmental samples and crude oil--A review.

PubMed

Headley, John V; Peru, Kerry M; Barrow, Mark P

2016-01-01

There has been a recent surge in the development of mass spectrometric methods for detailed characterization of naphthenic acid fraction compounds (all C(c)H(h)N(n)O(o)S(s), species, including heteroatomic and aromatic components in the acid-extractable fraction) in environmental samples. This surge is driven by the increased activity in oil sands environmental monitoring programs in Canada, the exponential increase in research studies on the isolation and toxicity identification of components in oil sands process water (OSPW), and the analytical requirements for development of technologies for treatment of OSPW. There has been additional impetus due to the parallel studies to control corrosion from naphthenic acids during the mining and refining of heavy bitumen and crude oils. As a result, a range of new mass spectrometry tools have been introduced since our last major review of this topic in 2009. Of particular significance are the developments of combined mass spectrometric methods that incorporate technologies such as gas chromatography, liquid chromatography, and ion mobility. There has been additional progress with respect to improved visualization methods for petroleomics and oil sands environmental forensics. For comprehensive coverage and more reliable characterization of samples, an approach based on multiple-methods that employ two or more ionization modes is recommended. On-line or off-line fractionation of isolated extracts, with or without derivatization, might also be used prior to mass spectrometric analyses. Individual ionization methods have their associated strengths and weaknesses, including biases, and thus dependence upon a single ionization method is potentially misleading. There is also a growing trend to not rely solely on low-resolution mass spectrometric methods (<20,000 resolving power at m/z 200) for characterization of complex samples. Future research is anticipated to focus upon (i) structural elucidation of components to determine the correlation with toxicity or corrosion, (ii) verification of characterization studies based on authentic reference standards and reference materials, and (iii) integrated approaches based on multiple-methods and ionization methods for more-reliable oil sands environmental forensics. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Microbiota and environmental stress: how pollution affects microbial communities in Manila clams.

PubMed

Milan, M; Carraro, L; Fariselli, P; Martino, M E; Cavalieri, D; Vitali, F; Boffo, L; Patarnello, T; Bargelloni, L; Cardazzo, B

2018-01-01

Given the crucial role of microbiota in host development, health, and environmental interactions, genomic analyses focusing on host-microbiota interactions should certainly be considered in the investigation of the adaptive mechanisms to environmental stress. Recently, several studies suggested that microbiota associated to digestive tract is a key, although still not fully understood, player that must be considered to assess the toxicity of environmental contaminants. Bacteria-dependent metabolism of xenobiotics may indeed modulate the host toxicity. Conversely, environmental variables (including pollution) may alter the microbial community and/or its metabolic activity leading to host physiological alterations that may contribute to their toxicity. Here, 16s rRNA gene amplicon sequencing has been applied to characterize the hepatopancreas microbiota composition of the Manila clam, Ruditapes philippinarum. The animals were collected in the Venice lagoon area, which is subject to different anthropogenic pressures, mainly represented by the industrial activities of Porto Marghera (PM). Seasonal and geographic differences in clam microbiotas were explored and linked to host response to chemical stress identified in a previous study at the transcriptome level, establishing potential interactions among hosts, microbes, and environmental parameters. The obtained results showed the recurrent presence of putatively detoxifying bacterial taxa in PM clams during winter and over-representation of several metabolic pathways involved in xenobiotic degradation, which suggested the potential for host-microbial synergistic detoxifying actions. Strong interaction between seasonal and chemically-induced responses was also observed, which partially obscured such potentially synergistic actions. Seasonal variables and exposure to toxicants were therefore shown to interact and substantially affect clam microbiota, which appeared to mirror host response to environmental variation. It is clear that understanding how animals respond to chemical stress cannot ignore a key component of such response, the microbiota. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Modeling approaches for characterizing and evaluating environmental exposure to engineered nanomaterials in support of risk-based decision making.

PubMed

Hendren, Christine Ogilvie; Lowry, Michael; Grieger, Khara D; Money, Eric S; Johnston, John M; Wiesner, Mark R; Beaulieu, Stephen M

2013-02-05

As the use of engineered nanomaterials becomes more prevalent, the likelihood of unintended exposure to these materials also increases. Given the current scarcity of experimental data regarding fate, transport, and bioavailability, determining potential environmental exposure to these materials requires an in depth analysis of modeling techniques that can be used in both the near- and long-term. Here, we provide a critical review of traditional and emerging exposure modeling approaches to highlight the challenges that scientists and decision-makers face when developing environmental exposure and risk assessments for nanomaterials. We find that accounting for nanospecific properties, overcoming data gaps, realizing model limitations, and handling uncertainty are key to developing informative and reliable environmental exposure and risk assessments for engineered nanomaterials. We find methods suited to recognizing and addressing significant uncertainty to be most appropriate for near-term environmental exposure modeling, given the current state of information and the current insufficiency of established deterministic models to address environmental exposure to engineered nanomaterials.

Geologic cross sections showing the concentrations of As, Cd, Co, Cu, Cr, Fe, Mo, Ni, Pb, and Zn in acid-insoluble residues of Paleozoic rocks within the Doniphan/Eleven Point Ranger District of the Mark Twain National Forest, Missouri, USA

USGS Publications Warehouse

Lee, Lopaka; Goldhaber, Martin B.

2002-01-01

This report is a product of a U.S. Geological Survey investigation that is focused on characterizing the potential environmental impacts of lead-zinc mining within the Doniphan/Eleven Point ranger district of the Mark Twain national forest. The elemental concentrations of iron (Fe), arsenic (As), cadmium (Cd), cobalt (Co), copper (Cu), chromium (Cr), nickel (Ni), lead (Pb), and zinc (Zn) in acidinsoluble residues are shown for boreholes along two geologic cross sections within Doniphan/Elevan Point ranger district (Figure 1). The purpose of this report is to characterize, in a general sense, the distribution of economically and environmentally important elements within the rocks and aquifers of the Doniphan/Eleven Point ranger district

Zoonotic pathogens isolated from wild animals and environmental samples at two California wildlife hospitals.

PubMed

Siembieda, Jennifer L; Miller, Woutrina A; Byrne, Barbara A; Ziccardi, Michael H; Anderson, Nancy; Chouicha, Nadira; Sandrock, Christian E; Johnson, Christine K

2011-03-15

To determine types and estimate prevalence of potentially zoonotic enteric pathogens shed by wild animals admitted to either of 2 wildlife hospitals and to characterize distribution of these pathogens and of aerobic bacteria in a hospital environment. Cross-sectional study. Fecal samples from 338 animals in 2 wildlife hospitals and environmental samples from 1 wildlife hospital. Fecal samples were collected within 24 hours of hospital admission. Environmental samples were collected from air and surfaces. Samples were tested for zoonotic pathogens via culture techniques and biochemical analyses. Prevalence of pathogen shedding was compared among species groups, ages, sexes, and seasons. Bacterial counts were determined for environmental samples. Campylobacter spp, Vibrio spp, Salmonella spp, Giardia spp, and Cryptosporidium spp (alone or in combination) were detected in 105 of 338 (31%) fecal samples. Campylobacter spp were isolated only from birds. Juvenile passerines were more likely to shed Campylobacter spp than were adults; prevalence increased among juvenile passerines during summer. Non-O1 serotypes of Vibrio cholerae were isolated from birds; during an oil-spill response, 9 of 10 seabirds screened were shedding this pathogen, which was also detected in environmental samples. Salmonella spp and Giardia spp were isolated from birds and mammals; Cryptosporidium spp were isolated from mammals only. Floors of animal rooms had higher bacterial counts than did floors with only human traffic. Potentially zoonotic enteric pathogens were identified in samples from several species admitted to wildlife hospitals, indicating potential for transmission if prevention is not practiced.

Molecular profiles: a new tool to substantiate serum banks for evaluation of potential allergenicity of GMO.

PubMed

Barber, D; Rodríguez, R; Salcedo, G

2008-10-01

Assessment of the allergenicity of GMOs involves performing a test with a panel of sera obtained from allergic donors. However, there is no clear indication of how to characterize the above-mentioned panel. The patient selection criteria should take into account the geographical location of patients, the intensity and nature of the environmental allergens in the area and the potential cross-reactivity among allergenic molecules. Sera for serum banks, obtained from patients with demonstrated food allergy, should be subjected to a further characterization by screening with a panel of relevant allergenic molecules. A representative panel of these sera should be used in the allergenicity assessment. Finally, the "in vitro" methodologies should have the adequate specificity and sensitivity, and the integrity of the molecules tested should be guaranteed.

Microclimate environmental parameters indexed for Sudden Oak death in Georgia and South Carolina

Treesearch

Pauline Spaine; William J. Otrosina; Stanley J. Zarnoch; Sharon V. Lumpkin

2008-01-01

We monitored Ericaceous habitat in Georgia and South Carolina for temperature, dew point and humidity ranges throughout a two year period. Temperature and humidity data were used to characterize their range in Georgia and South Carolina where potential SOD susceptible hosts occur. This data suggests risk for SOD development may be more widespread in southeastern forest...

Environmental Degradation: Implications for National Security

DTIC Science & Technology

1990-03-30

national interests, one can readily determine the points of confluencP. When the major security implications have been identified. realistic security...planning can be accomplished effectivelv. The major potential threat of East-West confrontation. characterized by massive conventional and nuclear arsenals...degradation. Economic infrastructures, the relative scarcity of resources, and surging population qrowth can combine to create a world not far removed from

Characterizing cereal rye biomass and allometric relationships across a range of fall available nitrogen rates in the eastern United States

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Cereal rye (Secale cereale L.) is the most commonly grown cover crop in the Eastern US due to its winter hardiness, adaptability to a wide array of soil and environmental conditions, and many potential benefits. These benefits hinge in large part on biomass production, which varies according to mult...

Medical geochemistry research in Spissko-Gemerské rudohorie Mts., Slovakia.

PubMed

Rapant, S; Cvecková, V; Dietzová, Z; Khun, M; Letkovicová, M

2009-02-01

This study presents an assessment of the potential impact of geological contamination of the environment on the health of the population in Spissko-Gemerské rudohorie Mts. (SGR Mts.). The concentration levels of potentially toxic elements (mainly As, Cd, Cu, Hg, Pb, Sb, and Zn) were determined in soils, groundwater, surface water, and stream sediments as well as in the food chain (locally grown vegetables). A medical study included some 30 health indicators for all 98 municipalities of the study area. The As and Sb contents in human fluids and tissues were analyzed in one municipality identified to be at the highest risk. Based on element content, environmental and health risks were calculated for respective municipalities. Out of 98 municipalities 14 were characterized with extremely high environmental risk and 10 were characterized with very high carcinogenic risk from arsenic (groundwater). Extensive statistical analysis of geochemical data (element contents in soils, groundwater, surface water, and stream sediments) and health indicators was performed. Significant correlations between element contents in the geological environment and health indicators, mainly cancer and cardiovascular diseases, were identified. Biological monitoring has confirmed the transfer of elements from the geological environment to human fluids and tissues as well as to the local food chain.

Characterizing the Growth Kinetics in Estrogen Responsive ...

EPA Pesticide Factsheets

There is a need to develop high-throughput screening (HTS) tests capable of testing thousands of environmental chemicals for endocrine disrupting potential. The estrogen signaling pathway is a known xenobiotic target that has been implicated in a variety of adverse health effects including reproductive deficits and cancer promotion. Using real-time measurements of growth kinetics by electrode impedance, the estrogen-responsive human ductal carcinoma cell line, T47D, was treated with 2000 chemicals of environmental relevance. Cells were treated in concentration response and measurements of cellular impedance were recorded every hour for six days. Exponential impedance, signifying increased proliferation, was observed by prototypical estrogen receptor agonists (17β-estradiol, genestein, bisphenol-A, nonylphenol, 4-tert-octylphenol). Several compounds, including bisphenol-A and genestein, induced cell proliferation at comparable levels to 17β-estradiol, although at much higher concentrations. Progestins, and mineralocortocoids (progesterone, dihydrotestosterone, aldosterone) invoked a biphasic impedance signature. In conclusion, the real-time nature of this assay allows for rapid detection of differential growth characteristics shows potential, in combination with other ToxCast HTS assays, to detect environmental chemicals with potential endocrine activity. [This abstract does not necessarily reflect Agency policy]. Several compounds, including bisphenol-A and

Characterization of Geologic Structures and Host Rock Properties Relevant to the Hydrogeology of the Standard Mine in Elk Basin, Gunnison County, Colorado

USGS Publications Warehouse

Caine, Jonathan S.; Manning, Andrew H.; Berger, Byron R.; Kremer, Yannick; Guzman, Mario A.; Eberl, Dennis D.; Schuller, Kathryn

2010-01-01

The Standard Mine Superfund Site is a source of mine drainage and associated heavy metal contamination of surface and groundwaters. The site contains Tertiary polymetallic quartz veins and fault zones that host precious and base metal sulfide mineralization common in Colorado. To assist the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency in its effort to remediate mine-related contamination, we characterized geologic structures, host rocks, and their potential hydraulic properties to better understand the sources of contaminants and the local hydrogeology. Real time kinematic and handheld global positioning systems were used to locate and map precisely the geometry of the surface traces of structures and mine-related features, such as portals. New reconnaissance geologic mapping, field and x-ray diffraction mineralogy, rock sample collection, thin-section analysis, and elemental geochemical analysis were completed to characterize hydrothermal alteration, mineralization, and subsequent leaching of metallic phases. Surface and subsurface observations, fault vein and fracture network characterization, borehole geophysical logging, and mercury injection capillary entry pressure data were used to document potential controls on the hydrologic system.

Emerging Estrogenic Pollutants in the Aquatic Environment and Breast Cancer

PubMed Central

Lecomte, Sylvain; Charlier, Thierry D.; Pakdel, Farzad

2017-01-01

The number and amount of man-made chemicals present in the aquatic environment has increased considerably over the past 50 years. Among these contaminants, endocrine-disrupting chemicals (EDCs) represent a significant proportion. This family of compounds interferes with normal hormonal processes through multiple molecular pathways. They represent a potential risk for human and wildlife as they are suspected to be involved in the development of diseases including, but not limited to, reprotoxicity, metabolic disorders, and cancers. More precisely, several studies have suggested that the increase of breast cancers in industrialized countries is linked to exposure to EDCs, particularly estrogen-like compounds. Estrogen receptors alpha (ERα) and beta (ERβ) are the two main transducers of estrogen action and therefore important targets for these estrogen-like endocrine disrupters. More than 70% of human breast cancers are ERα-positive and estrogen-dependent, and their development and growth are not only influenced by endogenous estrogens but also likely by environmental estrogen-like endocrine disrupters. It is, therefore, of major importance to characterize the potential estrogenic activity from contaminated surface water and identify the molecules responsible for the hormonal effects. This information will help us understand how environmental contaminants can potentially impact the development of breast cancer and allow us to fix a maximal limit to the concentration of estrogen-like compounds that should be found in the environment. The aim of this review is to provide an overview of emerging estrogen-like compounds in the environment, sum up studies demonstrating their direct or indirect interactions with ERs, and link their presence to the development of breast cancer. Finally, we emphasize the use of in vitro and in vivo methods based on the zebrafish model to identify and characterize environmental estrogens. PMID:28914763

Reducing environmental risk associated with laboratory decommissioning and property transfer.

PubMed

Dufault, R; Abelquist, E; Crooks, S; Demers, D; DiBerardinis, L; Franklin, T; Horowitz, M; Petullo, C; Sturchio, G

2000-12-01

The need for more or less space is a common laboratory problem. Solutions may include renovating existing space, leaving or demolishing old space, or acquiring new space or property for building. All of these options carry potential environmental risk. Such risk can be the result of activities related to the laboratory facility or property (e.g., asbestos, underground storage tanks, lead paint), or the research associated with it (e.g., radioactive, microbiological, and chemical contamination). Regardless of the option chosen to solve the space problem, the potential environmental risk must be mitigated and the laboratory space and/or property must be decommissioned or rendered safe prior to any renovation, demolition, or property transfer activities. Not mitigating the environmental risk through a decommissioning process can incur significant financial liability for any costs associated with future decommissioning cleanup activities. Out of necessity, a functioning system, environmental due diligence auditing, has evolved over time to assess environmental risk and reduce associated financial liability. This system involves a 4-phase approach to identify, document, manage, and clean up areas of environmental concern or liability, including contamination. Environmental due diligence auditing includes a) historical site assessment, b) characterization assessment, c) remedial effort and d) final status survey. General practice standards from the American Society for Testing and Materials are available for conducting the first two phases. However, standards have not yet been developed for conducting the third and final phases of the environmental due diligence auditing process. Individuals involved in laboratory decommissioning work in the biomedical research industry consider this a key weakness.

Reducing environmental risk associated with laboratory decommissioning and property transfer.

PubMed Central

Dufault, R; Abelquist, E; Crooks, S; Demers, D; DiBerardinis, L; Franklin, T; Horowitz, M; Petullo, C; Sturchio, G

2000-01-01

The need for more or less space is a common laboratory problem. Solutions may include renovating existing space, leaving or demolishing old space, or acquiring new space or property for building. All of these options carry potential environmental risk. Such risk can be the result of activities related to the laboratory facility or property (e.g., asbestos, underground storage tanks, lead paint), or the research associated with it (e.g., radioactive, microbiological, and chemical contamination). Regardless of the option chosen to solve the space problem, the potential environmental risk must be mitigated and the laboratory space and/or property must be decommissioned or rendered safe prior to any renovation, demolition, or property transfer activities. Not mitigating the environmental risk through a decommissioning process can incur significant financial liability for any costs associated with future decommissioning cleanup activities. Out of necessity, a functioning system, environmental due diligence auditing, has evolved over time to assess environmental risk and reduce associated financial liability. This system involves a 4-phase approach to identify, document, manage, and clean up areas of environmental concern or liability, including contamination. Environmental due diligence auditing includes a) historical site assessment, b) characterization assessment, c) remedial effort and d) final status survey. General practice standards from the American Society for Testing and Materials are available for conducting the first two phases. However, standards have not yet been developed for conducting the third and final phases of the environmental due diligence auditing process. Individuals involved in laboratory decommissioning work in the biomedical research industry consider this a key weakness. PMID:11121365

Environmental, land cover and land use constraints on the distributional patterns of anurans: Leptodacylus species (Anura, Leptodactylidae) from Dry Chaco

PubMed Central

Medina, Regina Gabriela; Aráoz, Ezequiel

2016-01-01

Subtropical dry forests are among the most vulnerable biomes to land transformation at a global scale. Among them, the Dry Chaco suffers an accelerated change due to agriculture expansion and intensification. The Dry Chaco ecoregion is characterized by high levels of endemisms and species diversity, which are the result of a variety of climates and reliefs, allowing a wide variety of environments. The amphibian group exhibits a high richness in the Dry Chaco, which has been barely studied in relation to land cover changes. We used ecological niche models (ENMs) to assess the potential geographic distribution of 10 Leptodactylus species (Anura, Leptodactylidae), which are mainly distributed within the Dry Chaco. We characterized these distributions environmentally, analyzed their overlap with land cover classes, and assessed their diversity of ecoregions. Also, we evaluated how these species potential distribution is affected by the transformation of land, and quantified the proportional area of the potential distribution in protected areas. We found that temperature seasonality is the main constraint to the occurrence of the species studied, whose main habitats are savannas, grasslands and croplands. The main threats to these species are the effects of climate change over spatial patterns of seasonality, which could affect their breeding and reproduction mode; the loss of their natural habitat; the exposure to contaminants used by intensive agriculture and their underrepresentation in protected areas. PMID:27833796

Environmental, land cover and land use constraints on the distributional patterns of anurans: Leptodacylus species (Anura, Leptodactylidae) from Dry Chaco.

PubMed

Medina, Regina Gabriela; Ponssa, Maria Laura; Aráoz, Ezequiel

2016-01-01

Subtropical dry forests are among the most vulnerable biomes to land transformation at a global scale. Among them, the Dry Chaco suffers an accelerated change due to agriculture expansion and intensification. The Dry Chaco ecoregion is characterized by high levels of endemisms and species diversity, which are the result of a variety of climates and reliefs, allowing a wide variety of environments. The amphibian group exhibits a high richness in the Dry Chaco, which has been barely studied in relation to land cover changes. We used ecological niche models (ENMs) to assess the potential geographic distribution of 10 Leptodactylus species (Anura, Leptodactylidae), which are mainly distributed within the Dry Chaco. We characterized these distributions environmentally, analyzed their overlap with land cover classes, and assessed their diversity of ecoregions. Also, we evaluated how these species potential distribution is affected by the transformation of land, and quantified the proportional area of the potential distribution in protected areas. We found that temperature seasonality is the main constraint to the occurrence of the species studied, whose main habitats are savannas, grasslands and croplands. The main threats to these species are the effects of climate change over spatial patterns of seasonality, which could affect their breeding and reproduction mode; the loss of their natural habitat; the exposure to contaminants used by intensive agriculture and their underrepresentation in protected areas.

Using adaptive processes and adverse outcome pathways to develop meaningful, robust, and actionable environmental monitoring programs.

PubMed

Arciszewski, Tim J; Munkittrick, Kelly R; Scrimgeour, Garry J; Dubé, Monique G; Wrona, Fred J; Hazewinkel, Rod R

2017-09-01

The primary goals of environmental monitoring are to indicate whether unexpected changes related to development are occurring in the physical, chemical, and biological attributes of ecosystems and to inform meaningful management intervention. Although achieving these objectives is conceptually simple, varying scientific and social challenges often result in their breakdown. Conceptualizing, designing, and operating programs that better delineate monitoring, management, and risk assessment processes supported by hypothesis-driven approaches, strong inference, and adverse outcome pathways can overcome many of the challenges. Generally, a robust monitoring program is characterized by hypothesis-driven questions associated with potential adverse outcomes and feedback loops informed by data. Specifically, key and basic features are predictions of future observations (triggers) and mechanisms to respond to success or failure of those predictions (tiers). The adaptive processes accelerate or decelerate the effort to highlight and overcome ignorance while preventing the potentially unnecessary escalation of unguided monitoring and management. The deployment of the mutually reinforcing components can allow for more meaningful and actionable monitoring programs that better associate activities with consequences. Integr Environ Assess Manag 2017;13:877-891. © 2017 The Authors. Integrated Environmental Assessment and Management Published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc. on behalf of Society of Environmental Toxicology & Chemistry (SETAC). © 2017 The Authors. Integrated Environmental Assessment and Management Published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc. on behalf of Society of Environmental Toxicology & Chemistry (SETAC).

Draft environmental assessment: Davis Canyon site, Utah. Nuclear Waste Policy Act (Section 112). [Contains glossary

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Not Available

1984-12-01

In February 1983, the US Department of Energy (DOE) identified the Davis Canyon site in Utah, as one of nine potentially acceptable sites for a mined geologic repository for spent nuclear fuel and high-level radioactive waste. To determine their suitability, the Davis Canyon site and the eight other potentially acceptable sites have been evaluated in accordance with the DOE's General Guidelines for the Recommendation of Sites for Nuclear Waste Repositories. These evaluations are reported in this draft environmental assessment (EA), which is being issued for public review and comment. The DOE findings and determinations that are based on these evaluationsmore » are preliminary and subject to public review and comment. A final EA will be prepared after considering the comments received. On the basis of the evaluations reported in this draft EA, the DOE has found that the Davis Canyon site is not disqualified under the guidelines. The site is in the Paradox Basin, which is one of five distinct geohydrologic settings considered for the first repository. This setting contains one other potentially acceptable site - the Lavender Canyon site. Although the Lavender Canyon site appears to be suitable for site characterization, the DOE has concluded that the Davis Canyon site is the preferred site in the Paradox Basin. Furthermore, the DOE finds that the site is suitable for site characterization because the evidence does not support a conclusion that the site will not be able to meet each of the qualifying conditions specified in the guidelines. On the basis of these findings, the DOE is proposing to nominate the Davis Canyon site as one of five sites suitable for characterization. Having compared the Davis Canyon site with the other four sites proposed for nomination, the DOE has determined that the Davis Canyon site is not one of the three preferred sites for recommendation to the President as candidates for characterization.« less

Finite Element Model Characterization Of Nano-Composite Thermal And Environmental Barrier Coatings

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Yamada, Yoshiki; Zhu, Dongming

2011-01-01

Thermal and environmental barrier coatings have been applied for protecting Si based ceramic matrix composite components from high temperature environment in advanced gas turbine engines. It has been found that the delamination and lifetime of T/EBC systems generally depend on the initiation and propagation of surface cracks induced by the axial mechanical load in addition to severe thermal loads. In order to prevent T/EBC systems from surface cracking and subsequent delamination due to mechanical and thermal stresses, T/EBC systems reinforced with nano-composite architectures have showed promise to improve mechanical properties and provide a potential crack shielding mechanism such as crack bridging. In this study, a finite element model (FEM) was established to understand the potential beneficial effects of nano-composites systems such as SiC nanotube-reinforced oxide T/EBC systems.

Characterizing the Estrogenic Potential of 1060 Environmental ...

EPA Pesticide Factsheets

In order to detect environmental chemicals that pose a risk of endocrine disruption, high-throughput screening (HTS) tests capable of testing thousands of environmental chemicals are needed. Alteration of estrogen signaling has been implicated in a variety of adverse health effects including cancer promotion, reproductive deficits, and vascular effects. Here we investigate the estrogenic potential of 1060 chemicals of environmental relevance using a real-time measure of growth kinetics by electrode impedance in the estrogen-responsive human ductal carcinoma, T47D cell line. Cells were treated in concentration response and measurements of cellular impedance were recorded every hour for six days. Progestens, androgens, and mineralocortocoids (progesterone, dihydrotestosterone, aldosterone) invoked a biphasic impedance signature that contrasted with the anticipated exponential impedance observed in response to known estrogen receptor agonists (17β-estradiol, genestein, bisphenol-A, nonylphenol, 4-tert-octylphenol). Several compounds, including bisphenol-A, and genestein caused impedance comparable to that of 17β-estradiol, although at much higher concentrations. Additionally, trenbolone and cyproterone acetate invoked the characteristic biphasic signature observed with other endogenous steroid hormones. The continuous real-time nature of this assay allows for the rapid detection of differential growth characteristics not easily detected by traditional cell prol

Evaluation of Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) for Roadway Drainage Systems.

PubMed

Byrne, Diana M; Grabowski, Marta K; Benitez, Amy C B; Schmidt, Arthur R; Guest, Jeremy S

2017-08-15

Roadway drainage design has traditionally focused on cost-effectively managing water quantity; however, runoff carries pollutants, posing risks to the local environment and public health. Additionally, construction and maintenance incur costs and contribute to global environmental impacts. While life cycle assessment (LCA) can potentially capture local and global environmental impacts of roadway drainage and other stormwater systems, LCA methodology must be evaluated because stormwater systems differ from wastewater and drinking water systems to which LCA is more frequently applied. To this end, this research developed a comprehensive model linking roadway drainage design parameters to LCA and life cycle costing (LCC) under uncertainty. This framework was applied to 10 highway drainage projects to evaluate LCA methodological choices by characterizing environmental and economic impacts of drainage projects and individual components (basin, bioswale, culvert, grass swale, storm sewer, and pipe underdrain). The relative impacts of drainage components varied based on functional unit choice. LCA inventory cutoff criteria evaluation showed the potential for cost-based criteria, which performed better than mass-based criteria. Finally, the local aquatic benefits of grass swales and bioswales offset global environmental impacts for four impact categories, highlighting the need to explicitly consider local impacts (i.e., direct emissions) when evaluating drainage technologies.

SAMCO: Society Adaptation for coping with Mountain risks in a global change COntext

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Grandjean, Gilles; Bernardie, Severine; Malet, Jean-Philippe; Puissant, Anne; Houet, Thomas; Berger, Frederic; Fort, Monique; Pierre, Daniel

2013-04-01

The SAMCO project aims to develop a proactive resilience framework enhancing the overall resilience of societies on the impacts of mountain risks. The project aims to elaborate methodological tools to characterize and measure ecosystem and societal resilience from an operative perspective on three mountain representative case studies. To achieve this objective, the methodology is split in several points with (1) the definition of the potential impacts of global environmental changes (climate system, ecosystem e.g. land use, socio-economic system) on landslide hazards, (2) the analysis of these consequences in terms of vulnerability (e.g. changes in the location and characteristics of the impacted areas and level of their perturbation) and (3) the implementation of a methodology for quantitatively investigating and mapping indicators of mountain slope vulnerability exposed to several hazard types, and the development of a GIS-based demonstration platform. The strength and originality of the SAMCO project will be to combine different techniques, methodologies and models (multi-hazard assessment, risk evolution in time, vulnerability functional analysis, and governance strategies) and to gather various interdisciplinary expertises in earth sciences, environmental sciences, and social sciences. The multidisciplinary background of the members could potentially lead to the development of new concepts and emerging strategies for mountain hazard/risk adaptation. Research areas, characterized by a variety of environmental, economical and social settings, are severely affected by landslides, and have experienced significant land use modifications (reforestation, abandonment of traditional agricultural practices) and human interferences (urban expansion, ski resorts construction) over the last century.

Behavioral Responses Of Fish To A Current-Based Hydrokinetic Turbine Under Mutlipe Operational Conditions: Final Report

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Grippo, Mark A.; Shen, Haixue; Zydlewski, Gayle

There is significant interest in the interaction of aquatic organisms with current-based marine and hydrokinetic (MHK) technologies. Determining the potential impacts of MHK devices on fish behavior is critical to addressing the environmental concerns that could act as barriers to the permitting and deployment of MHK devices. To address these concerns, we use field monitoring and fish behavior models to characterize the behavioral responses of fish to MHK turbines and infer potential stimuli that may have elicited the observed behavioral changes.

Hematite Core Nanoparticles with Carbon Shell: Potential for Environmentally Friendly Production from Iron Mining Sludge

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Stević, Dragana; Mihajlović, Dijana; Kukobat, Radovan; Hattori, Yoshiyuki; Sagisaka, Kento; Kaneko, Katsumi; Atlagić, Suzana Gotovac

2016-08-01

Hematite nanoparticles with amorphous, yet relatively uniform carbon shell, were produced based exclusively on the waste sludge from the iron mine as the raw material. The procedure for acid digestion-based purification of the sludge with the full recovery of acid vapors and the remaining non-toxic rubble is described. Synthesis of the hematite nanoparticles was performed by the arrested precipitation method with cationic surfactant. The particles were thoroughly characterized and the potential of their economical production for the battery industry is indicated.

Sensitivity of cell-based biosensors to environmental variables.

PubMed

Gilchrist, Kristin H; Giovangrandi, Laurent; Whittington, R Hollis; Kovacs, Gregory T A

2005-01-15

Electrically active living cells cultured on extracellular electrode arrays are utilized to detect biologically active agents. Because cells are highly sensitive to environmental conditions, environmental fluctuations can elicit cellular responses that contribute to the noise in a cell-based biosensor system. Therefore, the characterization and control of environmental factors such as temperature, pH, and osmolarity is critical in such a system. The cell-based biosensor platform described here utilizes the measurement of action potentials from cardiac cells cultured on electrode arrays. A recirculating fluid flow system is presented for use in dose-response experiments that regulates temperature within +/-0.2 degrees C, pH to within +/-0.05 units, and allows no significant change in osmolarity. Using this system, the relationship between the sensor output parameters and environmental variation was quantified. Under typical experimental conditions, beat rate varied approximately 10% per degree change in temperature or per 0.1 unit change in pH. Similar relationships were measured for action potential amplitude, duration, and conduction velocity. For the specific flow system used in this work, the measured environmental sensitivity resulted in an overall beat rate variation of +/-4.7% and an overall amplitude variation of +/-3.3%. The magnitude of the noise due to environmental sensitivity has a large impact on the detection capability of the cell-based system. The significant responses to temperature, pH, and osmolarity have important implications for the use of living cells in detection systems and should be considered in the design and evaluation of such systems.

Seasonal characterization of sugarcane vinasse: Assessing environmental impacts from fertirrigation and the bioenergy recovery potential through biodigestion.

PubMed

Fuess, Lucas Tadeu; Garcia, Marcelo Loureiro; Zaiat, Marcelo

2018-09-01

Sugarcane vinasse has been widely used as a soil fertilizer in the Brazilian sucro-alcohol industry for recycling potassium and water. However, the potential negative effects from long-term soil fertirrigation represent a major drawback regarding this practice, whereas the application of biodigestion represents an efficient method for reducing the polluting organic load and recovering bioenergy from vinasse. Regardless of the predicted use for vinasse, an understanding of the potential of each option is imperative, as the seasonal alterations in the inorganic/organic fractions of vinasse directly affect its management. In this context, this study presents a detailed compositional characterization of sugarcane vinasse from a large-scale Brazilian biorefinery throughout the 2014/2015 harvest to assess the environmental effects (due to fertirrigation) and to estimate the biogas energetic potential. Calculated inputs of organic matter into soils due to vinasse land application were equivalent to the polluting load of populations (117-257inhabha -1 ) at least 2-fold greater than the largest Brazilian capital cities (78-70inhabha -1 ). Two-phase biodigestion could efficiently reduce the polluting load of vinasse (23-52inhabha -1 ) and eliminate the negative effects from direct sulfide emissions in the environment. However, a high risk of soil sodification could result from using high doses of Na-based alkalizing compounds in biodigestion plants. Finally, the optimized recovery of bioenergy through biogas (13.3-26.7MW as electricity) could supply populations as large as 305 thousand inhabitants, so that over 30% of the surplus electricity produced by the studied biorefinery could be obtained from biogas. Overall, applying biodigestion in the treatment of vinasse provides important environmental and energetic gains. However, the benefits of reducing the polluting organic load of vinasse through bioenergy recovery may lose their effect depending on the alkalizing strategy, indicating that the proper use of chemicals in full-scale biodigestion plants is imperative to attain process sustainability. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Environmental transmission of generalized anxiety disorder from parents to children: worries, experiential avoidance, and intolerance of uncertainty

PubMed Central

Aktar, Evin; Nikolić, Milica; Bögels, Susan M.

2017-01-01

Generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) runs in families. Building on recent theoretical approaches, this review focuses on potential environmental pathways for parent-to-child transmission of GAD. First, we address child acquisition of a generalized pattern of fearful/anxious and avoidant responding to potential threat from parents via verbal information and via modeling. Next, we address how parenting behaviors may contribute to maintenance of fearful/anxious and avoidant reactions in children. Finally, we consider intergenerational transmission of worries as a way of coping with experiential avoidance of strong negative emotions and with intolerance of uncertainty. We conclude that parents with GAD may bias their children's processing of potential threats in the environment by conveying the message that the world is not safe, that uncertainty is intolerable, that strong emotions should be avoided, and that worry helps to cope with uncertainty, thereby transmitting cognitive styles that characterize GAD. Our review highlights the need for research on specific pathways for parent-to-child transmission of GAD. PMID:28867938

Melamine nephrotoxicity: an emerging epidemic in an era of globalization.

PubMed

Bhalla, Vivek; Grimm, Paul C; Chertow, Glenn M; Pao, Alan C

2009-04-01

Recent outbreaks of nephrolithiasis and acute kidney injury among children in China have been linked to ingestion of milk-based infant formula contaminated with melamine. These cases provide evidence in humans for the nephrotoxicity of melamine, which previously had been described only in animals. The consequences of this outbreak are already severe and will likely continue to worsen. Herein we summarize the global impact of the melamine milk contamination, the reemergence of melamine-tainted animal feed, and potential mechanisms of melamine nephrotoxicity. Large-scale epidemiologic studies are necessary to further characterize this disease and to assess its potential long-term sequelae. This epidemic of environmental kidney disease highlights the morbidity associated with adulterated food products available in today's global marketplace and reminds us of the unique vulnerability of the kidney to environmental insults. Melamine is the latest in a growing list of diverse potentially toxic compounds about which nephrologists and other health-care providers responsible for the diagnosis and management of kidney disease must now be aware.

Environmental transmission of generalized anxiety disorder from parents to children: worries, experiential avoidance, and intolerance of uncertainty.

PubMed

Aktar, Evin; Nikolić, Milica; Bögels, Susan M

2017-06-01

Generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) runs in families. Building on recent theoretical approaches, this review focuses on potential environmental pathways for parent-to-child transmission of GAD. First, we address child acquisition of a generalized pattern of fearful/anxious and avoidant responding to potential threat from parents via verbal information and via modeling. Next, we address how parenting behaviors may contribute to maintenance of fearful/anxious and avoidant reactions in children. Finally, we consider intergenerational transmission of worries as a way of coping with experiential avoidance of strong negative emotions and with intolerance of uncertainty. We conclude that parents with GAD may bias their children's processing of potential threats in the environment by conveying the message that the world is not safe, that uncertainty is intolerable, that strong emotions should be avoided, and that worry helps to cope with uncertainty, thereby transmitting cognitive styles that characterize GAD. Our review highlights the need for research on specific pathways for parent-to-child transmission of GAD.

The effect of water table fluctuation on soil respiration in a lower coastal plain forested wetland in the southeastern U.S.

Treesearch

Guofang Miao; Asko Noormets; Jean-Christophe Domec; Carl C. Trettin; Steve G. McNulty; Ge Sun; John S. King

2013-01-01

Anthropogenic and environmental pressures on wetland hydrology may trigger changes in carbon (C) cycling, potentially exposing vast amounts of soil C to rapid decomposition. We measured soil CO2 efflux (Rs) continuously from 2009 to 2010 in a lower coastal plain forested wetland in North Carolina, U.S., to characterize its...

Regulatory considerations in assessing the potential for Phytophthora ramorum to cause environmental impact to ecozones outside the west coast "fog belt" in North America

Treesearch

John McDonald; Gary Kristjansson; Stephen Miller; Shane Sela

2010-01-01

Sudden oak death (SOD) is a disease caused by Phytophthora ramorum that is characterized by lethal trunk lesions that affect tanoak (Lithocarpus densiflorus), and a few oak species, principally coast live oak (Quercus agrifolia). It was first observed in Marin County, California, in 1994, and now has been...

Characterization of Contaminant Migration Potential Through In-Place Sediment Caps

DTIC Science & Technology

2009-04-01

flocculation step involved the addition of 0.25 mL of 10% weight alum and two drops of 1 N NaOH to the supernatant. Sodium hydroxide was used to adjust the...ACRONYMS AND ABBREVIATIONS ...................................................................................... vi 1.0. PROJECT DESCRIPTION AND...Engineers US EPA U.S. Environmental Protection Agency -8- 1.0. PROJECT DESCRIPTION AND OBJECTIVES This Work Plan has been prepared for the

Complex Patterns of Local Adaptation in Teosinte

PubMed Central

Pyhäjärvi, Tanja; Hufford, Matthew B.; Mezmouk, Sofiane; Ross-Ibarra, Jeffrey

2013-01-01

Populations of widely distributed species encounter and must adapt to local environmental conditions. However, comprehensive characterization of the genetic basis of adaptation is demanding, requiring genome-wide genotype data, multiple sampled populations, and an understanding of population structure and potential selection pressures. Here, we used single-nucleotide polymorphism genotyping and data on numerous environmental variables to describe the genetic basis of local adaptation in 21 populations of teosinte, the wild ancestor of maize. We found complex hierarchical genetic structure created by altitude, dispersal events, and admixture among subspecies, which complicated identification of locally beneficial alleles. Patterns of linkage disequilibrium revealed four large putative inversion polymorphisms showing clinal patterns of frequency. Population differentiation and environmental correlations suggest that both inversions and intergenic polymorphisms are involved in local adaptation. PMID:23902747

Can environmental impact assessments alone conserve freshwater fish biota? Review of the Chilean experience

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Lacy, Shaw Nozaki, E-mail: shaw.lacy@gmail.com; Departmento de Ecosistemas y Medio Ambiente, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, Vicuña Mackenna 4860, Macul; Centro Interdisciplinario de Cambio Global, Vicuña Mackenna 4860, Macul

Chile was one of many countries that initiated environmental impact assessments in the 1990s, and has relied on their use for species conservation and territorial planning without the use of larger-scale environmental and ecological planning. The capacity of Chile's environmental impact assessment system (SEIA) to evaluate resident freshwater fishes and the potential impacts of water projects and aquaculture activities – two categories of projects that create direct threats to freshwater fishes – are assessed. Of the 3997 such submissions to the SEIA, only 0.6% conducted any freshwater fish assessment, and only 0.1% conducted any quantitative assessment of expected impacts frommore » the associated project. The small number of assessments was characterized by poor study design, inconsistent sampling methodology, and species misidentification. Traditional assessments failed to include freshwater fish ecology in the general assessment framework. The new strategic environmental evaluation system only underscores the need for vastly improved field sampling protocols and assessment methodologies.« less

Assessing contributory risk using economic input-output life-cycle analysis.

PubMed

Miller, Ian; Shelly, Michael; Jonmaire, Paul; Lee, Richard V; Harbison, Raymond D

2005-04-01

The contribution of consumer purchases of non-essential products to environmental pollution is characterized. Purchase decisions by consumers induce a complex sequence of economy-wide production interactions that influence the production and consumption of chemicals and subsequent exposure and possible public health risks. An economic input-output life-cycle analysis (EIO-LCA) was used to link resource consumption and production by manufacturers to corresponding environmental impacts. Using the US Department of Commerce's input-output tables together with the US Environmental Protection Agency's Toxics Release Inventory and AIRData databases, the economy-wide air discharges resulting from purchases of household appliances, motor homes, and games and toys were quantified. The economic and environmental impacts generated from a hypothetical 10,000 US dollar purchase for selected consumer items were estimated. The analysis shows how purchases of seemingly benign consumer products increase the output of air pollutants along the supply chain and contribute to the potential risks associated with environmental chemical exposures to both consumers and non-consumers alike.

Oak Ridge Reservation Annual Site Environmental Report for 2009

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Bechtel Jacobs

2010-09-01

The Oak Ridge Reservation Annual Site Environmental Report is prepared animally and presents summary environmental data to (1) characterize environmental performance, (2) summarize environmental occurrences reported during the year, (3) confirm compliance with environmental standards and requirements, and (4) highlight significant program activities. The report fulfills the requirement contained in DOE Order 231.1 A, Environment, Safety and Health Reporting (DOE 2004) that an integrated annual site environmental report be prepared. The results summarized in this report are based on data collected prior to and through 2009. This report is not intended to nor does it present the results of allmore » environmental monitoring associated with the ORR. Data collected for other site and regulatory purposes, such as environmental restoration/remedial investigation reports, waste management characterization sampling data, and environmental permit compliance data, are presented in other documents that have been prepared in accordance with applicable DOE guidance and/or laws and are referenced herein as appropriate. Appendix A to this report identifies corrections to the 2008 report. Appendix B contains a glossary of technical terms that may be useful for understanding the terminology used in this document. Environmental monitoring on the ORR consists primarily of two major activities: effluent monitoring and environmental surveillance. Effluent monitoring involves the collection and analysis of samples or measurements of liquid and gaseous effluents at the points of release to the environment; these measurements allow the quantification and official reporting of contaminant levels, assessment of radiation and chemical exposures to the public, and demonstration of compliance with applicable standards and permit requirements. Environmental surveillance consists of direct measurements and collection and analysis of samples taken from the site and its environs exclusive of effluents; these activities provide information on contaminant concentrations in air, water, groundwater, soil, foods, biota, and other media. Environmental surveillance data support determinations regarding environmental compliance and, when combined with data from effluent monitoring, support chemical and radiation dose and exposure assessments regarding the potential effects of ORR operations, if any, on the local environment.« less

Genetic Diversity of Giardia duodenalis: Multilocus Genotyping Reveals Zoonotic Potential between Clinical and Environmental Sources in a Metropolitan Region of Brazil

PubMed Central

Durigan, Mauricio; Abreu, Aluana Gonçalves; Zucchi, Maria Imaculada; Franco, Regina Maura Bueno; de Souza, Anete Pereira

2014-01-01

Background Giardia duodenalis is a flagellate protozoan that parasitizes humans and several other mammals. Protozoan contamination has been regularly documented at important environmental sites, although most of these studies were performed at the species level. There is a lack of studies that correlate environmental contamination and clinical infections in the same region. The aim of this study is to evaluate the genetic diversity of a set of clinical and environmental samples and to use the obtained data to characterize the genetic profile of the distribution of G. duodenalis and the potential for zoonotic transmission in a metropolitan region of Brazil. Methodology/Principal Findings The genetic assemblages and subtypes of G. duodenalis isolates obtained from hospitals, a veterinary clinic, a day-care center and important environmental sites were determined via multilocus sequence-based genotyping using three unlinked gene loci. Cysts of Giardia were detected at all of the environmental sites. Mixed assemblages were detected in 25% of the total samples, and an elevated number of haplotypes was identified. The main haplotypes were shared among the groups, and new subtypes were identified at all loci. Ten multilocus genotypes were identified: 7 for assemblage A and 3 for assemblage B. Conclusions/Significance There is persistent G. duodenalis contamination at important environmental sites in the city. The identified mixed assemblages likely represent mixed infections, suggesting high endemicity of Giardia in these hosts. Most Giardia isolates obtained in this study displayed zoonotic potential. The high degree of genetic diversity in the isolates obtained from both clinical and environmental samples suggests that multiple sources of infection are likely responsible for the detected contamination events. The finding that many multilocus genotypes (MLGs) and haplotypes are shared by different groups suggests that these sources of infection may be related and indicates that there is a notable risk of human infection caused by Giardia in this region. PMID:25536055

SAR/multispectral image fusion for the detection of environmental hazards with a GIS

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Errico, Angela; Angelino, Cesario Vincenzo; Cicala, Luca; Podobinski, Dominik P.; Persechino, Giuseppe; Ferrara, Claudia; Lega, Massimiliano; Vallario, Andrea; Parente, Claudio; Masi, Giuseppe; Gaetano, Raffaele; Scarpa, Giuseppe; Amitrano, Donato; Ruello, Giuseppe; Verdoliva, Luisa; Poggi, Giovanni

2014-10-01

In this paper we propose a GIS-based methodology, using optical and SAR remote sensing data, together with more conventional sources, for the detection of small cattle breeding areas, potentially responsible of hazardous littering. This specific environmental problem is very relevant for the Caserta area, in southern Italy, where many small buffalo breeding farms exist which are not even known to the productive activity register, and are not easily monitored and surveyed. Experiments on a test area, with available specific ground truth, prove that the proposed systems is characterized by very large detection probability and negligible false alarm rate.

Potential environmental impacts of light-emitting diodes (LEDs): metallic resources, toxicity, and hazardous waste classification.

PubMed

Lim, Seong-Rin; Kang, Daniel; Ogunseitan, Oladele A; Schoenung, Julie M

2011-01-01

Light-emitting diodes (LEDs) are advertised as environmentally friendly because they are energy efficient and mercury-free. This study aimed to determine if LEDs engender other forms of environmental and human health impacts, and to characterize variation across different LEDs based on color and intensity. The objectives are as follows: (i) to use standardized leachability tests to examine whether LEDs are to be categorized as hazardous waste under existing United States federal and California state regulations; and (ii) to use material life cycle impact and hazard assessment methods to evaluate resource depletion and toxicity potentials of LEDs based on their metallic constituents. According to federal standards, LEDs are not hazardous except for low-intensity red LEDs, which leached Pb at levels exceeding regulatory limits (186 mg/L; regulatory limit: 5). However, according to California regulations, excessive levels of copper (up to 3892 mg/kg; limit: 2500), Pb (up to 8103 mg/kg; limit: 1000), nickel (up to 4797 mg/kg; limit: 2000), or silver (up to 721 mg/kg; limit: 500) render all except low-intensity yellow LEDs hazardous. The environmental burden associated with resource depletion potentials derives primarily from gold and silver, whereas the burden from toxicity potentials is associated primarily with arsenic, copper, nickel, lead, iron, and silver. Establishing benchmark levels of these substances can help manufacturers implement design for environment through informed materials substitution, can motivate recyclers and waste management teams to recognize resource value and occupational hazards, and can inform policymakers who establish waste management policies for LEDs.

Metagenomic Insights into the RDX-Degrading Potential of the Ovine Rumen Microbiome

PubMed Central

Li, Robert W.; Giarrizzo, Juan Gabriel; Wu, Sitao; Li, Weizhong; Duringer, Jennifer M.; Craig, A. Morrie

2014-01-01

The manufacturing processes of royal demolition explosive (RDX), or hexahydro-1,3,5-trinitro-1,3,5-triazine, have resulted in serious water contamination. As a potential carcinogen, RDX can cause a broad range of harmful effects to humans and animals. The ovine rumen is capable of rapid degradation of nitroaromatic compounds, including RDX. While ruminal RDX-degrading bacteria have been identified, the genes and pathways responsible for RDX degradation in the rumen have yet to be characterized. In this study, we characterized the metabolic potential of the ovine rumen using metagenomic approaches. Sequences homologous to at least five RDX-degrading genes cloned from environmental samples (diaA, xenA, xenB, xplA, and xplB) were present in the ovine rumen microbiome. Among them, diaA was the most abundant, likely reflective of the predominance of the genus Clostridium in the ovine rumen. At least ten genera known to harbor RDX-degrading microorganisms were detectable. Metagenomic sequences were also annotated using public databases, such as Pfam, COG, and KEGG. Five of the six Pfam protein families known to be responsible for RDX degradation in environmental samples were identified in the ovine rumen. However, increased substrate availability did not appear to enhance the proliferation of RDX-degrading bacteria and alter the microbial composition of the ovine rumen. This implies that the RDX-degrading capacity of the ovine rumen microbiome is likely regulated at the transcription level. Our results provide metagenomic insights into the RDX-degrading potential of the ovine rumen, and they will facilitate the development of novel and economic bioremediation strategies. PMID:25383623

Importance of investigating epigenetic alterations for industry and regulators: An appraisal of current efforts by the Health and Environmental Sciences Institute.

PubMed

Miousse, Isabelle R; Currie, Richard; Datta, Kaushik; Ellinger-Ziegelbauer, Heidrun; French, John E; Harrill, Alison H; Koturbash, Igor; Lawton, Michael; Mann, Derek; Meehan, Richard R; Moggs, Jonathan G; O'Lone, Raegan; Rasoulpour, Reza J; Pera, Renee A Reijo; Thompson, Karol

2015-09-01

Recent technological advances have led to rapid progress in the characterization of epigenetic modifications that control gene expression in a generally heritable way, and are likely involved in defining cellular phenotypes, developmental stages and disease status from one generation to the next. On November 18, 2013, the International Life Sciences Institute (ILSI) Health and Environmental Sciences Institute (HESI) held a symposium entitled "Advances in Assessing Adverse Epigenetic Effects of Drugs and Chemicals" in Washington, D.C. The goal of the symposium was to identify gaps in knowledge and highlight promising areas of progress that represent opportunities to utilize epigenomic profiling for risk assessment of drugs and chemicals. Epigenomic profiling has the potential to provide mechanistic information in toxicological safety assessments; this is especially relevant for the evaluation of carcinogenic or teratogenic potential and also for drugs that directly target epigenetic modifiers, like DNA methyltransferases or histone modifying enzymes. Furthermore, it can serve as an endpoint or marker for hazard characterization in chemical safety assessment. The assessment of epigenetic effects may also be approached with new model systems that could directly assess transgenerational effects or potentially sensitive stem cell populations. These would enhance the range of safety assessment tools for evaluating xenobiotics that perturb the epigenome. Here we provide a brief synopsis of the symposium, update findings since that time and then highlight potential directions for future collaborative efforts to incorporate epigenetic profiling into risk assessment. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

Field Demonstration and Validation of TREECS (trademark) and CTS for the Risk Assessment of Contaminants on Department of Defense (DoD) Ranges

DTIC Science & Technology

2017-04-01

unlimited. N/A The objective of this project was to demonstrate and validate the integrated Training Range Environmental Evaluation and Characterization...Defense (DoD) training and testing ranges. Training Range Environmental Evaluation and Characterization System (TREECS™), Environmental Fate Simulator...Defense (DoD) Ranges” ERDC/EL TR-17-5 ii Abstract The Training Range Environmental Evaluation and Characterization Sys- tem (TREECS™) was developed to

Genetic diversity and virulence potential of shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli O113:H21 strains isolated from clinical, environmental, and food sources.

PubMed

Feng, Peter C H; Delannoy, Sabine; Lacher, David W; Dos Santos, Luis Fernando; Beutin, Lothar; Fach, Patrick; Rivas, Marta; Hartland, Elizabeth L; Paton, Adrienne W; Guth, Beatriz E C

2014-08-01

Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli strains of serotype O113:H21 have caused severe human diseases, but they are unusual in that they do not produce adherence factors coded by the locus of enterocyte effacement. Here, a PCR microarray was used to characterize 65 O113:H21 strains isolated from the environment, food, and clinical infections from various countries. In comparison to the pathogenic strains that were implicated in hemolytic-uremic syndrome in Australia, there were no clear differences between the pathogens and the environmental strains with respect to the 41 genetic markers tested. Furthermore, all of the strains carried only Shiga toxin subtypes associated with human infections, suggesting that the environmental strains have the potential to cause disease. Most of the O113:H21 strains were closely related and belonged in the same clonal group (ST-223), but CRISPR analysis showed a great degree of genetic diversity among the O113:H21 strains. Copyright © 2014, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.

Center for Nuclear Medicine Research in Alzheimer`s Disease Health Sciences Center, West Virginia University. Environmental Assessment

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Not Available

1994-04-01

The Environmental Assessment (EA) of the Center for Nuclear Medicine Research in Alzheimer`s Disease (CNMR) at the Health Sciences Center, at West Virginia University in Morgantown, West Virginia for the construction and operation was prepared by DOE. The EA documents analysis of the environmental and socioeconomic impacts that might occur as a result of these actions, and characterizes potential impacts on the environment. In the EA, DOE presents its evaluation of potential impacts of construction and operation of the CNMR on health and safety of both workers and the public, as well as on the external environment. Construction impacts includemore » the effects of erosion, waste disposal, air emissions, noise, and construction traffic and parking. Operational impacts include the effects of waste generation (domestic, sanitary, hazardous, medical/biological, radioactive and mixed wastes), radiation exposures, air emissions (radioactive, criteria, and air toxics), noise, and new workers. No sensitive resources (wetlands, special sources of groundwater, protected species) exist in the area of project effect.« less

Study on each phase characteristics of the whole coal life cycle and their ecological risk assessment-a case of coal in China.

PubMed

Dai, Wenting; Dong, Jihong; Yan, Wanglin; Xu, Jiren

2017-01-01

The paper divided the whole coal life cycle, explained each phase characteristics, and took coal mine in China as a study case to assess the ecological risk in coal utilization phase. The main conclusions are as follows: (1) the whole coal life cycle is divided into coal mining, processing, transportation, utilization, and waste disposal. (2) The key points of production organization and characteristics in the five phases have great differences. The coal mining phase is characterized by the damage of the key ecological factors (water, soil, atmosphere, vegetation, etc.) damaged while the coal processing phase by discharging waste. The characteristics in coal transportation phase mainly performance as escaping and migration of atmospheric pollutants. In coal utilization phase, the main characteristics are aggravation of greenhouse effect. The main characteristics of waste disposal phase are accumulation of negative ecological effects on the land. (3) The ecological risk of soil heavy metals is serious in coal utilization phase. The potential ecological hazard coefficients of Pb and As in coal, residue and ash are all lower than 40, presenting low environmental impact on soil; the potential ecological risk coefficients of Cd are higher than 60, nearly half of their potential ecological risk coefficients are higher than 160, which presents high environmental pollution impact on soil; Hg's potential ecological risk coefficients are higher than 320, presenting the highest environmental pollution impact on soil; the comprehensive pollution indexes in coal, residue, and ash are relatively high, which means the pollution hazard potential to soil environment is high. (4) The ecological risk of the atmospheric solid suspended matter is relatively strong in coal utilization phase. The ecological risk of Cd and As in primary flue gas is both lower than net flue gas. The geoaccumulation indexes of Cd and Hg in primary flue gas and net flue gas are both higher than 5, presenting the very strong ecological risk; 50 % of the geoaccumulation index values of As are between 3 and 4, which has also presenting a strong ecological risk while Pb does not present the ecological risk characterization.

Characteristics of and sorption to biochars derived from waste material

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sun, Huichao; Kah, Melanie; Sigmund, Gabriel; Hofmann, Thilo

2015-04-01

Biochars can exhibit a high sorption potential towards heavy metals and organic contaminants in various environmental matrices (e.g., water, soil). They have therefore been proposed for environmental remediation purposes to sequester contaminants. To date, most studies have focused on the physicochemical and sorption properties of mineral phases poor biochars, which are typically produced from plant residues. Only little knowledge is available for biochars derived from human and animal waste material, which are typically characterized by high mineral contents (e.g., sewage sludge, manure). Using human and animal waste as source material to produce biochars would support the development of attractive combined strategies for waste management and remediation. The potential impact of mineral phases on the physicochemical and sorption properties of biochars requires further studies so that the potential as sorbent material can be evaluated. With this purpose, different source material biochars were produced at 200°C, 350°C and 500°C, to yield a series of biochars representing a range of mineral content. The derived biochars from wood shavings (<1% ash), sewage sludge (50-70% ash) and pig manure (30-60% ash), as well as a commercial biochar derived from grain husks (40% ash), were extensively characterized (e.g., element composition, surface area, porosity, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy). The contents of potentially toxic elements (i.e., heavy metals and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons) of all materials were within the guidelines values proposed by the International Biochar Initiative, indicating their suitability for environmental application. Single point sorption coefficients for the model sorbate pyrene were measured to investigate the effect of mineral content, feedstock, pyrolysis temperature, particle size fractions and acid demineralization on sorption behavior. Overall, sorption of pyrene was strong for all materials (4 < Log Kd < 6.5 L/kg). Sorption generally increased with increasing pyrolysis temperature but there was no effect of particle size on sorption affinity. For mineral phase rich biochars, sorption generally increased after acid demineralization. When considering all materials together, the sorbent aromaticity (hydrogen-carbon ratio) was the most important factor controlling sorption of pyrene. Overall, the study demonstrates that biochars derived from human and animal waste material and exhibiting high mineral contents have potential for remediation applications.

Oak Ridge Reservation Annual Site Environmental Report for 2010

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Thompson, Sharon D

2011-10-01

The Oak Ridge Reservation Annual Site Environmental Report is prepared annually and presents summary environmental data to (1) characterize environmental performance, (2) summarize environmental occurrences reported during the year, (3) confirm compliance with environmental standards and requirements, and (4) highlight significant program activities. The report fulfills the requirement contained in DOE Order 231.1A, Environment, Safety and Health Reporting (DOE 2004) that an integrated annual site environmental report be prepared. The results summarized in this report are based on data collected prior to and through 2010. This report is not intended to nor does it present the results of all environmentalmore » monitoring associated with the ORR. Data collected for other site and regulatory purposes, such as environmental restoration/remedial investigation reports, waste management characterization sampling data, and environmental permit compliance data, are presented in other documents that have been prepared in accordance with applicable DOE guidance and/or laws and are referenced herein as appropriate. Appendix A to this report identifies corrections to the 2009 report. Appendix B contains a glossary of technical terms that may be useful for understanding the terminology used in this document. Environmental monitoring on the ORR consists primarily of two major activities: effluent monitoring and environmental surveillance. Effluent monitoring involves the collection and analysis of samples or measurements of liquid and gaseous effluents at the points of release to the environment; these measurements allow the quantification and official reporting of contaminant levels, assessment of radiation and chemical exposures to the public, and demonstration of compliance with applicable standards and permit requirements. Environmental surveillance consists of direct measurements and collection and analysis of samples taken from the site and its environs exclusive of effluents; these activities provide information on contaminant concentrations in air, water, groundwater, soil, foods, biota, and other media. Environmental surveillance data support determinations regarding environmental compliance and, when combined with data from effluent monitoring, support chemical and radiation dose and exposure assessments of the potential effects of ORR operations, if any, on the local environment.« less

Oak Ridge Reservation Annual Site Environmental Report for 2009

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Thompson, Sharon D; Loffman, Regis S

2010-10-01

The Oak Ridge Reservation Annual Site Environmental Report is prepared annually and presents summary environmental data to (1) characterize environmental performance, (2) summarize environmental occurrences reported during the year, (3) confirm compliance with environmental standards and requirements, and (4) highlight significant program activities. The report fulfills the requirement contained in DOE Order 231.1A, Environment, Safety and Health Reporting (DOE 2004) that an integrated annual site environmental report be prepared. The results summarized in this report are based on data collected prior to and through 2009. This report is not intended to nor does it present the results of all environmentalmore » monitoring associated with the ORR. Data collected for other site and regulatory purposes, such as environmental restoration/remedial investigation reports, waste management characterization sampling data, and environmental permit compliance data, are presented in other documents that have been prepared in accordance with applicable DOE guidance and/or laws and are referenced herein as appropriate. Appendix A to this report identifies corrections for the 2008 report. Appendix B contains a glossary of technical terms that may be useful for understanding the terminology used in this document. Environmental monitoring on the ORR consists primarily of two major activities: effluent monitoring and environmental surveillance. Effluent monitoring involves the collection and analysis of samples or measurements of liquid and gaseous effluents at the points of release to the environment; these measurements allow the quantification and official reporting of contaminant levels, assessment of radiation and chemical exposures to the public, and demonstration of compliance with applicable standards and permit requirements. Environmental surveillance consists of direct measurements and collection and analysis of samples taken from the site and its environs exclusive of effluents; these activities provide information on contaminant concentrations in air, water, groundwater, soil, foods, biota, and other media. Environmental surveillance data support determinations regarding environmental compliance and, when combined with data from effluent monitoring, support chemical and radiation dose and exposure assessments regarding the potential effects of ORR operations, if any, on the local environment.« less

SMARTE'S SITE CHARACTERIZATION TOOL

EPA Science Inventory

Site Characterization involves collecting environmental data to evaluate the nature and extent of contamination. Environmental data could consist of chemical analyses of soil, sediment, water or air samples. Typically site characterization data are statistically evaluated for thr...

10 CFR 960.3-4 - Environmental impacts.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-01-01

... REPOSITORY Implementation Guidelines § 960.3-4 Environmental impacts. Environmental impacts shall be considered by the DOE throughout the site characterization, site selection, and repository development..., during site characterization and repository construction, operation, closure, and decommissioning. ...

In Vitro Screening of Environmental Chemicals Identifies Zearalenone as a Novel Substrate of the Placental BCRP/ABCG2 Transporter

PubMed Central

Xiao, Jingcheng; Wang, Qi; Bircsak, Kristin M.; Wen, Xia; Aleksunes, Lauren M.

2015-01-01

The BCRP (ABCG2) transporter is responsible for the efflux of chemicals from the placenta to the maternal circulation. Inhibition of BCRP activity could enhance exposure of offspring to environmental chemicals leading to altered reproductive, endocrine, and metabolic development. The purpose of this study was to characterize environmental chemicals as potential substrates and inhibitors of the human placental BCRP transporter. The interaction of BCRP with a panel of environmental chemicals was assessed using the ATPase and inverted plasma membrane vesicle assays as well as a cell-based fluorescent substrate competition assay. Human HEK cells transfected with wild-type BCRP or the Q141K genetic variant, as well as BeWo placental cells that endogenously express BCRP were used to further test inhibitor and substrate interactions. To varying degrees, the eleven chemicals inhibited BCRP activity in activated ATPase membranes and inverted membrane vesicles. Further, genistein, zearalenone, and tributyltin increased the retention of the fluorescent BCRP substrate, Hoechst 33342, between 50–100% in BeWo cells. Additional experiments characterized the mycotoxin and environmental estrogen, zearalenone, as a novel substrate and inhibitor of BCRP in WT-BCRP and BeWo cells. Interestingly, the BCRP genetic variant Q141K exhibited reduced efflux of zearalenone compared to the wild-type protein. Taken together, screening assays and direct quantification experiments identified zearalenone as a novel human BCRP substrate. Additional in vivo studies are needed to directly determine whether placental BCRP prevents fetal exposure to zearalenone. PMID:26052432

Waste Isolation Pilot Plant site environmental report, for calendar year 1995

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

NONE

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Order 5400.1 General Environmental Protection Program, requires DOE facilities, that conduct environmental protection programs, to annually prepare a Site Environmental Report (SER). The purpose of the SER is to provide an abstract of environmental assessments conducted in order to characterize site environmental management performance, to confirm compliance with environmental standards and requirements, and to highlight significant programs and efforts of environmental merit. The content of this SER is not restricted to a synopsis of the required data, in addition, information pertaining to new and continued monitoring and compliance activities during the 1995 calendar yearmore » are also included. Data contained in this report are derived from those monitoring programs directed by the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) Environmental Monitoring Plan (EMP). The EMP provides inclusive guidelines implemented to detect potential impacts to the environment and to establish baseline measurements for future environmental evaluations. Surface water, groundwater. air, soil, and biotic matrices are monitored for an array of radiological and nonradiological factors. The baseline radiological surveillance program encompasses a broader geographic area that includes nearby ranches, villages, and cities. Most elements of nonradiological assessments are conducted within the geographic vicinity of the WIPP site.« less

2016 Billion-Ton Report: Advancing Domestic Resources for a Thriving Bioeconomy, Volume 2: Environmental Sustainability Effects of Select Scenarios from Volume 1

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Efroymson, Rebecca Ann; Langholtz, Matthew H.

With the goal of understanding environmental effects of a growing bioeconomy, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), national laboratories, and U.S. Forest Service research laboratories, together with academic and industry collaborators, undertook a study to estimate environmental effects of potential biomass production scenarios in the United States, with an emphasis on agricultural and forest biomass. Potential effects investigated include changes in soil organic carbon (SOC), greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, water quality and quantity, air emissions, and biodiversity. Effects of altered land-management regimes were analyzed based on select county-level biomass-production scenarios for 2017 and 2040 taken from the 2016 Billion-Ton Report:more » Advancing Domestic Resources for a Thriving Bioeconomy (BT16), volume 1, which assumes that the land bases for agricultural and forestry would not change over time. The scenarios reflect constraints on biomass supply (e.g., excluded areas; implementation of management practices; and consideration of food, feed, forage, and fiber demands and exports) that intend to address sustainability concerns. Nonetheless, both beneficial and adverse environmental effects might be expected. To characterize these potential effects, this research sought to estimate where and under what modeled scenarios or conditions positive and negative environmental effects could occur nationwide. The report also includes a discussion of land-use change (LUC) (i.e., land management change) assumptions associated with the scenario transitions (but not including analysis of indirect LUC [ILUC]), analyses of climate sensitivity of feedstock productivity under a set of potential scenarios, and a qualitative environmental effects analysis of algae production under carbon dioxide (CO2) co-location scenarios. Because BT16 biomass supplies are simulated independent of a defined end use, most analyses do not include benefits from displacing fossil fuels or other products, with the exception of including a few illustrative cases on potential reductions in GHG emissions and fossil energy consumption associated with using biomass supplies for fuel, power, heat, and chemicals.« less

USEPA RESEARCH ACTIVITIES TO CHARACTERIZE CHILDREN'S ENVIRONMENTAL EXPOSURES

EPA Science Inventory

Given the vulnerability of children to effects from environmental exposures, understanding links between children's health and environmental exposures is critical. In recent years, significant research has been initiated at USEPA to characterize children's exposures.

Chemical Composition and Potential Environmental Impacts of Water-Soluble Polar Crude Oil Components Inferred from ESI FT-ICR MS

PubMed Central

Liu, Yina; Kujawinski, Elizabeth B.

2015-01-01

Polar petroleum components enter marine environments through oil spills and natural seepages each year. Lately, they are receiving increased attention due to their potential toxicity to marine organisms and persistence in the environment. We conducted a laboratory experiment and employed state-of-the-art Fourier-transform ion cyclotron resonance mass spectrometry (FT-ICR-MS) to characterize the polar petroleum components within two operationally-defined seawater fractions: the water-soluble fraction (WSF), which includes only water-soluble molecules, and the water-accommodated fraction (WAF), which includes WSF and microscopic oil droplets. Our results show that compounds with higher heteroatom (N, S, O) to carbon ratios (NSO:C) than the parent oil were selectively partitioned into seawater in both fractions, reflecting the influence of polarity on aqueous solubility. WAF and WSF were compositionally distinct, with unique distributions of compounds across a range of hydrophobicity. These compositional differences will likely result in disparate impacts on environmental health and organismal toxicity, and thus highlight the need to distinguish between these often-interchangeable terminologies in toxicology studies. We use an empirical model to estimate hydrophobicity character for individual molecules within these complex mixtures and provide an estimate of the potential environmental impacts of different crude oil components. PMID:26327219

Development of a multiphysics model to characterize the responsive behavior of urea-sensitive hydrogel as biosensor.

PubMed

Goh, K B; Li, Hua; Lam, K Y

2017-05-15

A remarkable feature of biomaterials is their ability to deform in response to certain external bio-stimuli. Here, a novel biochemo-electro-mechanical model is developed for the numerical characterization of the urea-sensitive hydrogel in response to the external stimulus of urea. The urea sensitivity of the hydrogel is usually characterized by the states of ionization and denaturation of the immobilized urease, as such the model includes the effect of the fixed charge groups and temperature coupled with pH on the activity of the urease. Therefore, a novel rate of reaction equation is proposed to characterize the hydrolysis of urea that accounts for both the ionization and denaturation states of the urease subject to the environmental conditions. After examination with the published experimental data, it is thus confirmed that the model can characterize well the responsive behavior of the urea-sensitive hydrogel subject to the urea stimulus, including the distribution patterns of the electrical potential and pH of the hydrogel. The results point to an innovative means for generating electrical power via the enzyme-induced pH and electrical potential gradients, when the hydrogel comes in contact with the urea-rich solution, such as human urine. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Environmental assessment: Reference repository location, Hanford site, Washington

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

none,

1986-05-01

In February 1983, the US Department of Energy (DOE) identified a reference repository location at the Hanford Site in Washington as one of the nine potentially acceptable sites for a mined geologic repository for spent nuclear fuel and high-level radioactive waste. The site is in the Columbia Plateau, which is one of five distinct geohydrologic settings considered for the first repository. To determine their suitability, the Hanford Site and the eight other potentially acceptable sites have been evaluated in accordance with the DOE's General Guidelines for the Recommendation of Sites for the Nuclear Waste Repositories. These evaluations were reported inmore » draft environmental assessments (EAs), which were issued for public review and comment. After considering the comments received on the draft EAs, the DOE prepared the final EAs. On the basis of the evaluations reported in this EA, the DOE has found that the Hanford site is not disqualified under the guidelines. The DOE has also found that it is suitable for site characterization because the evidence does not support a conclusion that the site will not be able to meet each of the qualifying conditions specified in the guidelines. On the basis of these findings, the DOE is nominating the Hanford site as one of five sites suitable for characterization.« less

Environmental assessment: Yucca Mountain site, Nevada research and development area, Nevada; Volume 1

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

NONE

1986-05-01

In February 1983, the US Department of Energy (DOE) identified the Yucca Mountain site in Nevada as one of nine potentially acceptable sites for a mined geologic repository for spent nuclear fuel and high- level radioactive waste. The site is in the Great Basin, which is one of five distinct geohydrologic settings considered for the first repository. To determine their suitability, the Yucca Mountain site and the eight other potentially acceptable sites have been evaluated in accordance with the DOE`s General Guideline for the Recommendation of Sites for the Nuclear Waste Repositories. These evaluations were reported in draft environmental assessmentsmore » (EA), which were issued for public review and comment. After considering the comments received on the draft EAs, the DOE prepared the final EAs. On the basis of the evaluations reported in this EA, the DOE found that the Yucca Mountain site is not disqualified under the guidelines. The DOE has also found that it is suitable for site characterization because the evidence does not support a conclusion that the site will not be able to meet each of the qualifying conditions specified in the guidelines. On the basis of these findings, the DOE is nominating the Yucca Mountain site as of five sites suitable for characterization.« less

The Chromobacterium violaceum ArsR Arsenite Repressor Exerts Tighter Control on Its Cognate Promoter Than the Escherichia coli System

PubMed Central

Arruda, Letícia M.; Monteiro, Lummy M. O.; Silva-Rocha, Rafael

2016-01-01

Environmental bacteria are endowed with several regulatory systems that have potential applications in biotechnology. In this report, we characterize the arsenic biosensing features of the ars response system from Chromobacterium violaceum in the heterologous host Escherichia coli. We show that the native Pars/arsR system of C. violaceum outperforms the chromosomal ars copy of E. coli when exposed to micromolar concentrations of arsenite. To understand the molecular basis of this phenomenon, we analyzed the interaction between ArsR regulators and their promoter target sites as well as induction of the system at saturating concentrations of the regulators. In vivo titration experiments indicate that ArsR from C. violaceum has stronger binding affinity for its target promoter than the regulator from E. coli does. Additionally, arsenite induction experiments at saturating regulator concentration demonstrates that although the Pars/arsR system from E. coli displays a gradual response to increasing concentration of the inducer, the system from C. violaceum has a steeper response with a stronger promoter induction after a given arsenite threshold. Taken together, these data demonstrate the characterization of a novel arsenic response element from an environmental bacterium with potentially enhanced performance that could be further explored for the construction of an arsenic biosensor. PMID:27917165

The Chromobacterium violaceum ArsR Arsenite Repressor Exerts Tighter Control on Its Cognate Promoter Than the Escherichia coli System.

PubMed

Arruda, Letícia M; Monteiro, Lummy M O; Silva-Rocha, Rafael

2016-01-01

Environmental bacteria are endowed with several regulatory systems that have potential applications in biotechnology. In this report, we characterize the arsenic biosensing features of the ars response system from Chromobacterium violaceum in the heterologous host Escherichia coli . We show that the native Pars/arsR system of C. violaceum outperforms the chromosomal ars copy of E. coli when exposed to micromolar concentrations of arsenite. To understand the molecular basis of this phenomenon, we analyzed the interaction between ArsR regulators and their promoter target sites as well as induction of the system at saturating concentrations of the regulators. In vivo titration experiments indicate that ArsR from C. violaceum has stronger binding affinity for its target promoter than the regulator from E. coli does. Additionally, arsenite induction experiments at saturating regulator concentration demonstrates that although the Pars/arsR system from E. coli displays a gradual response to increasing concentration of the inducer, the system from C. violaceum has a steeper response with a stronger promoter induction after a given arsenite threshold. Taken together, these data demonstrate the characterization of a novel arsenic response element from an environmental bacterium with potentially enhanced performance that could be further explored for the construction of an arsenic biosensor.

Surface functionalized SiO2 nanoparticles with cationic polymers via the combination of mussel inspired chemistry and surface initiated atom transfer radical polymerization: Characterization and enhanced removal of organic dye.

PubMed

Huang, Qiang; Liu, Meiying; Mao, Liucheng; Xu, Dazhuang; Zeng, Guangjian; Huang, Hongye; Jiang, Ruming; Deng, Fengjie; Zhang, Xiaoyong; Wei, Yen

2017-08-01

Monodispersed SiO 2 particles functionalized with cationic polymers poly-((3-acrylamidopropyl)trimethylammonium chloride) (PAPTCl) were prepared using mussel inspired surface modification strategy and surface initiated atom transfer radical polymerization (SI-ATRP). Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, transmission electron microscope, thermogravimetric analysis, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, and zeta potential were employed to characterize these SiO 2 samples. The adsorption performance of the functionalized SiO 2 (donated as SiO 2 -PDA-PAPTCl) towards anionic organic dye Congo red (CR) was investigated to evaluate their potential environmental applications. We demonstrated that the surface of SiO 2 particles can be successfully functionalized with cationic PAPTCl. The adsorption capability of as-prepared SiO 2 was found to increases from 28.70 and 106.65mg/g after surface grafted with cationic polymers. The significant enhancement in the adsorption capability of SiO 2 -PDA-PAPTCl is mainly attributed to the introduction of cationic polymers. More importantly, this strategy is expected to be promising for fabrication of many other functional polymer nanocomposites for environmental applications due to the universality of mussel inspired chemistry and well designability and good monomer adaptability of SI-ATRP. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Remote-sensing application for facilitating land resource assessment and monitoring for utility-scale solar energy development

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Hamada, Yuki; Grippo, Mark A.

2015-01-01

A monitoring plan that incorporates regional datasets and integrates cost-effective data collection methods is necessary to sustain the long-term environmental monitoring of utility-scale solar energy development in expansive, environmentally sensitive desert environments. Using very high spatial resolution (VHSR; 15 cm) multispectral imagery collected in November 2012 and January 2014, an image processing routine was developed to characterize ephemeral streams, vegetation, and land surface in the southwestern United States where increased utility-scale solar development is anticipated. In addition to knowledge about desert landscapes, the methodology integrates existing spectral indices and transformation (e.g., visible atmospherically resistant index and principal components); a newlymore » developed index, erosion resistance index (ERI); and digital terrain and surface models, all of which were derived from a common VHSR image. The methodology identified fine-scale ephemeral streams with greater detail than the National Hydrography Dataset and accurately estimated vegetation distribution and fractional cover of various surface types. The ERI classified surface types that have a range of erosive potentials. The remote-sensing methodology could ultimately reduce uncertainty and monitoring costs for all stakeholders by providing a cost-effective monitoring approach that accurately characterizes the land resources at potential development sites.« less

Environmental assessment: Yucca Mountain site, Nevada research and development area, Nevada; Volume 3

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

NONE

1986-05-01

In February 1983, the US Department of Energy (DOE) identified the Yucca Mountain site in Nevada as one of nine potentially acceptable sites for a mined geologic repository for spent nuclear fuel and high-level radioactive waste. The site is in the Great Basin, which is one of five distinct geohydrologic settings considered for the first repository. To determine their suitability, the Yucca Mountain site and the eight other potentially acceptable sites have been evaluated in accordance with the DOE`s General Guidelines for the Recommendation of Sites for the Nuclear Waste Repositories. These evaluations were reported in draft environmental assessments (EAs),more » which were issued for public review and comment. After considering the comments received on the draft EAs, the DOE prepared the final EAs. On the basis of the evaluations reported in this EA, the DOE has found that the Yucca Mountain site is not disqualified under the guidelines. The DOE has also found that it is suitable for site characterization because the evidence does not support a conclusion that the site will not be able to meet each of the qualifying conditions specified in the guidelines. On the basis of these findings, the DOE is nominating the Yucca Mountain site as one of five sites suitable for characterization.« less

[Agriculture microbiology and microbe interaction with plants].

PubMed

Caballero-Mellado, Jesús

2006-01-01

About the characterization and distribution of novel nitrogen-fixing Burkholderia species associated with maize and other plants and their potential use on the plant growth was presented in this symposium. The symposium included studies directed to the revegetation of eroded areas by using plant growth promoting rhizo-bacteria and mycorrizal fungi associated with desert plants, as well as studies related with the resistance of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi to heavy metals associated with the environmental pollution. In addition, the identification and characterization of a 31-kb chromosomal fragment from Pseudomonas syringae pv. phaseolicola was presented; such a fragment, involved with the phaseolotoxin synthesis, showed characteristic features of a bacterial pathogenicity island.

Determining the degradation efficiency and mechanisms of ethyl violet using HPLC-PDA-ESI-MS and GC-MS

PubMed Central

2012-01-01

Background The discharge of wastewater that contains high concentrations of reactive dyes is a well-known problem associated with dyestuff activities. In recent years, semiconductor photocatalysis has become more and more attractive and important since it has a great potential to contribute to such environmental problems. One of the most important aspects of environmental photocatalysis is in the selection of semiconductor materials like ZnO and TiO2, which are close to being two of the ideal photocatalysts in several respects. For example, they are relatively inexpensive, and they provide photo-generated holes with high oxidizing power due to their wide band gap energy. In this work, nanostructural ZnO film on the Zn foil of the Alkaline-Manganese Dioxide-Zinc Cell was fabricated to degrade EV dye. The major innovation of this paper is to obtain the degradation mechanism of ethyl violet dyes resulting from the HPLC-PDA-ESI-MS analyses. Results The fabrication of ZnO nanostructures on zinc foils with a simple solution-based corrosion strategy and the synthesis, characterization, application, and implication of Zn would be reported in this study. Other objectives of this research are to identify the reaction intermediates and to understand the detailed degradation mechanism of EV dye, as model compound of triphenylmethane dye, with active Zn metal, by HPLC-ESI-MS and GC-MS. Conclusions ZnO nanostructure/Zn-foils had an excellent potential for future applications on the photocatalytic degradation of the organic dye in the environmental remediation. The intermediates of the degradation process were separated and characterized by the HPLC-PDA-ESI-MS and GC-MS, and twenty-six intermediates were characterized in this study. Based on the variation of the amount of intermediates, possible degradation pathways for the decolorization of dyes are also proposed and discussed. PMID:22748361

Harmful Cyanobacterial Material Production in the North Han River (South Korea): Genetic Potential and Temperature-Dependent Properties.

PubMed

Kim, Keonhee; Park, Chaehong; Yoon, Youngdae; Hwang, Soon-Jin

2018-03-03

Cyanobacteria synthesize various harmful materials, including off-flavor substances and toxins, that are regarded as potential socio-economic and environmental hazards in freshwater systems, however, their production is still not well understood. In this study, we investigated the potential and properties of harmful materials produced by cyanobacteria, depending on temperature, and undertook a phylogenetic analysis of cyanobacteria present in the North Han River (South Korea). Production potentials were evaluated using gene-specific probes, and the harmful material production properties of strains showing positive potentials were further characterized at different temperatures in the range 15 to 30 °C. We identified six cyanobacterial strains based on 16S rDNA analysis: two morphological types (coiled and straight type) of Dolichospermum circinale, Aphanizomenon flos-aquae, Oscillatoria limosa, Planktothricoides raciborskii, Pseudanabaena mucicola , and Microcystis aeruginosa . We confirmed that cyanobacterial strains showing harmful material production potential produced the corresponding harmful material, and their production properties varied with temperature. Total harmful material production was maximal at 20~25 °C, a temperature range optimal for cell growth. However, harmful material productivity was highest at 15 °C. These results indicate that the expression of genes related to synthesis of harmful materials can vary depending on environmental conditions, resulting in variable harmful material production, even within the same cyanobacterial strains.

Ontogenetic resource-use strategies in a rare long-lived cycad along environmental gradients

PubMed Central

Álvarez-Yépiz, Juan C.; Cueva, Alejandro; Dovčiak, Martin; Teece, Mark; Yepez, Enrico A.

2014-01-01

Functional traits can drive plant responses to short- and long-term stressful conditions, with potential effects on species persistence in local habitats, changes in population size and structure, and potential species range shifts in changing environments. We investigated whether ecophysiological traits in a rare cycad vary along environmental gradients and with ontogeny to understand intra-specific resource-use variation (e.g. symbiotic nitrogen fixation, nitrogen- and water-use efficiency) and possible species adaptations for different environments. Environmental gradients were characterized with 14 soil and topographic variables. Nitrogen- and water-use efficiency improved with ontogeny (from seedling to juvenile and adult stages) but declined as soil fertility decreased with increasing elevation. Conversely, reliance on symbiotic nitrogen fixation increased with elevation and varied slightly with ontogeny. Improved water-use efficiency at lower elevation and nitrogen fixation at higher elevation may represent key functional strategies for maintaining the lower and upper altitudinal species range limits, especially in arid environments where stressful conditions are intensifying due to climatic and land-use changes. In addition to facilitation linked to the regeneration niche, improved resource-use efficiency linked to the adult niche may strongly influence cycad distribution and persistence in contemporary environments. A functional approach to conservation of rare or endangered plant species may be needed in order to target the most sensitive stages to changing environmental conditions and to better understand potential range shifts and adaptive responses to global land-use and climate changes. PMID:27293655

Spatiotemporal analysis of air conditions as a tool for the environmental management of a show cave (Cueva del Agua, Spain)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Fernandez-Cortes, A.; Calaforra, J. M.; Sanchez-Martos, F.

We recorded the air temperature and carbon dioxide concentration within the Cueva del Agua, a cave in Spain, under natural conditions prior to the cave being opened to tourists. Geostatistical tools are useful techniques for characterizing microclimate parameters with the aim of adopting measures to ensure the conservation and sound environmental management of tourist caves. We modelled the spatial distribution of these microclimatic parameters over an annual cycle using iterative residual kriging, revealing the stratification of air related to the cave's topography. Replenishment of the cave air is activated by convective circulation that accompanies the development of inversions in the thermal gradient of the air. Comparison of the spatial distribution of each microclimatic parameter over time enables us to characterize the exchange of air between the cave interior and the outside, as well as identify potential areas that could be opened to tourists and determine suitable visiting schedules.

Genetic characterization of Vibrio vulnificus strains isolated from oyster samples in Mexico.

PubMed

Guerrero, Abraham; Gómez Gil Rodríguez, Bruno; Wong-Chang, Irma; Lizárraga-Partida, Marcial Leonardo

2015-01-01

Vibrio vulnificus strains were isolated from oysters that were collected at the main seafood market in Mexico City. Strains were characterized with regard to vvhA, vcg genotype, PFGE, multilocus sequence typing (MLST), and rtxA1. Analyses included a comparison with rtxA1 reference sequences. Environmental (vcgE) and clinical (vcgC) genotypes were isolated at nearly equal percentages. PFGE had high heterogeneity, but the strains clustered by vcgE or vcgC genotype. Select housekeeping genes for MLST and primers that were designed for rtxA1 domains divided the strains into two clusters according to the E or C genotype. Reference rtxA1 sequences and those from this study were also clustered according to genotype. These results confirm that this genetic dimorphism is not limited to vcg genotyping, as other studies have reported. Some environmental C genotype strains had high similarity to reference strains, which have been reported to be virulent, indicating a potential risk for oyster consumers in Mexico City.

Insecticide resistance in the dengue vector Aedes aegypti from Martinique: distribution, mechanisms and relations with environmental factors.

PubMed

Marcombe, Sébastien; Mathieu, Romain Blanc; Pocquet, Nicolas; Riaz, Muhammad-Asam; Poupardin, Rodolphe; Sélior, Serge; Darriet, Frédéric; Reynaud, Stéphane; Yébakima, André; Corbel, Vincent; David, Jean-Philippe; Chandre, Fabrice

2012-01-01

Dengue is an important mosquito borne viral disease in Martinique Island (French West Indies). The viruses responsible for dengue are transmitted by Aedes aegypti, an indoor day-biting mosquito. The most effective proven method for disease prevention has been by vector control by various chemical or biological means. Unfortunately insecticide resistance has already been observed on the Island and recently showed to significantly reduce the efficacy of vector control interventions. In this study, we investigated the distribution of resistance and the underlying mechanisms in nine Ae. aegypti populations. Statistical multifactorial approach was used to investigate the correlations between insecticide resistance levels, associated mechanisms and environmental factors characterizing the mosquito populations. Bioassays revealed high levels of resistance to temephos and deltamethrin and susceptibility to Bti in the 9 populations tested. Biochemical assays showed elevated detoxification enzyme activities of monooxygenases, carboxylesterases and glutathione S-tranferases in most of the populations. Molecular screening for common insecticide target-site mutations, revealed the presence of the "knock-down resistance" V1016I Kdr mutation at high frequency (>87%). Real time quantitative RT-PCR showed the potential involvement of several candidate detoxification genes in insecticide resistance. Principal Component Analysis (PCA) performed with variables characterizing Ae. aegypti from Martinique permitted to underline potential links existing between resistance distribution and other variables such as agriculture practices, vector control interventions and urbanization. Insecticide resistance is widespread but not homogeneously distributed across Martinique. The influence of environmental and operational factors on the evolution of the resistance and mechanisms are discussed.

Insecticide Resistance in the Dengue Vector Aedes aegypti from Martinique: Distribution, Mechanisms and Relations with Environmental Factors

PubMed Central

Marcombe, Sébastien; Mathieu, Romain Blanc; Pocquet, Nicolas; Riaz, Muhammad-Asam; Poupardin, Rodolphe; Sélior, Serge; Darriet, Frédéric; Reynaud, Stéphane; Yébakima, André; Corbel, Vincent; David, Jean-Philippe; Chandre, Fabrice

2012-01-01

Dengue is an important mosquito borne viral disease in Martinique Island (French West Indies). The viruses responsible for dengue are transmitted by Aedes aegypti, an indoor day-biting mosquito. The most effective proven method for disease prevention has been by vector control by various chemical or biological means. Unfortunately insecticide resistance has already been observed on the Island and recently showed to significantly reduce the efficacy of vector control interventions. In this study, we investigated the distribution of resistance and the underlying mechanisms in nine Ae. aegypti populations. Statistical multifactorial approach was used to investigate the correlations between insecticide resistance levels, associated mechanisms and environmental factors characterizing the mosquito populations. Bioassays revealed high levels of resistance to temephos and deltamethrin and susceptibility to Bti in the 9 populations tested. Biochemical assays showed elevated detoxification enzyme activities of monooxygenases, carboxylesterases and glutathione S-tranferases in most of the populations. Molecular screening for common insecticide target-site mutations, revealed the presence of the “knock-down resistance” V1016I Kdr mutation at high frequency (>87%). Real time quantitative RT-PCR showed the potential involvement of several candidate detoxification genes in insecticide resistance. Principal Component Analysis (PCA) performed with variables characterizing Ae. aegypti from Martinique permitted to underline potential links existing between resistance distribution and other variables such as agriculture practices, vector control interventions and urbanization. Insecticide resistance is widespread but not homogeneously distributed across Martinique. The influence of environmental and operational factors on the evolution of the resistance and mechanisms are discussed. PMID:22363529

Increased Arctic Deposition of Persistent Compounds as a Result of the Montreal Protocol

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Young, C.; Pickard, H. M.; De Silva, A. O.; Spencer, C.; Criscitiello, A. S.; Muir, D.; Sharp, M. J.

2017-12-01

Perfluorocarboxylic acids (PFCAs) are among the diverse groups of compounds characterized as persistent organic pollutants. They are toxic, resistant to environmental degradation, and adversely impact human and environmental health. PFCAs with four or fewer carbons, short-chain PFCAs (scPFCAs), are of particular interest because of their increasing levels in the environment, toxicity to plants, and potential for accumulation in some aquatic ecosystems, making them an emerging environmental concern. A minor source of scPFCAs to the Arctic has been shown to be atmospheric transformation of fluoropolymer precursors, followed by deposition. Additional potential sources of scPFCAs to the Arctic are chlorofluorocarbon (CFC)-replacement compounds. Through analysis of an ice core from the Canadian High Arctic, we show that Montreal Protocol-mandated introduction of CFC-replacement compounds for the heat-transfer industry has led to increasing inputs of these scPFCAs to the remote environment. Flux measurements for scPFCAs as a class of contaminants have only been reported in a couple studies to date. Here, we provide the first multi-decadal temporal record of scPFCA deposition, demonstrating a dramatic increase in deposition resulting from emission of CFC-replacements. These results bring to the forefront a need for a holistic approach to environmental risk assessment that considers impacts of replacement substances and degradation products.

On the Versatility of Rheoreversible, Stimuli-responsive Hydraulic-Fracturing Fluids for Enhanced Geothermal Systems: Effect of Reservoir pH

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Fernandez, Carlos A.; Shao, Hongbo; Bonneville, Alain

Abstract The primary challenge for the feasibility of enhanced geothermal systems (EGS) is to cost-effectively create high-permeability reservoirs inside deep crystalline bedrock. Although fracturing fluids are commonly used for oil/gas, standard fracturing methods are not developed or proven for EGS temperatures and pressures. Furthermore, the environmental impacts of currently used fracturing methods are only recently being determined. These authors recently reported an environmentally benign, CO2-activated, rheoreversible fracturing fluid that enhances permeability through fracturing due to in situ volume expansion and gel formation. The potential of this novel fracturing fluid is evaluated in this work towards its application at geothermal sitesmore » under different pH conditions. Laboratory-scale fracturing experiments using Coso Geothermal rock cores under different pH environments were performed followed by X-ray microtomography characterization. The results demonstrate that CO2-reactive aqueous solutions of environmentally amenable polyallylamine (PAA) consistently and reproducibly creates/propagates fracture networks through highly impermeable crystalline rock from Coso EGS sites at considerably lower effective stress as compared to conventional fracturing fluids. In addition, permeability was significantly enhanced in a wide range of formation-water pH values. This effective, and environmentally-friendly fracturing fluid technology represents a potential alternative to conventional fracturing fluids.« less

Improving environmental assessments by integrating Species Sensitivity Distributions into environmental modeling: examples with two hypothetical oil spills.

PubMed

Bejarano, Adriana C; Mearns, Alan J

2015-04-15

A three dimensional (3D) trajectory model was used to simulate oil mass balance and environmental concentrations of two 795,000 L hypothetical oil spills modeled under physical and chemical dispersion scenarios. Species Sensitivity Distributions (SSD) for Total Hydrocarbon Concentrations (THCs) were developed, and Hazard Concentrations (HC) used as levels of concern. Potential consequences to entrained water column organisms were characterized by comparing model outputs with SSDs, and obtaining the proportion of species affected (PSA) and areas with oil concentrations exceeding HC5s (Area ⩾ HC5). Under the physically-dispersed oil scenario ⩽ 77% of the oil remains on the water surface and strands on shorelines, while with the chemically-dispersed oil scenario ⩽ 67% of the oil is entrained in the water column. For every 10% increase in chemical dispersion effectiveness, the average PSA and Area ⩾ HC5 increases (range: 0.01-0.06 and 0.50-2.9 km(2), respectively), while shoreline oiling decreases (⩽ 2919 L/km). Integrating SSDs into modeling may improve understanding of scales of potential impacts to water column organisms, while providing net environmental benefit comparison of oil spill response options. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Characterization of flood sediments from Hurricanes Katrina and Rita and potential implications for human health and the environment: Chapter 7I in Science and the storms-the USGS response to the hurricanes of 2005

USGS Publications Warehouse

Plumlee, Geoffrey S.; Foreman, William T.; Griffin, Dale W.; Lovelace, John K.; Meeker, Gregory P.; Demas, Charles R.

2007-01-01

The flooding in the greater New Orleans, La., area that resulted from Hurricanes Katrina and Rita in August and September 2005 left behind accumulations of sediments up to many centimeters thick on streets, lawns, parking lots, and other flat surfaces (fig. 1). During the flood dewatering and subsequent cleanup, there were concerns that these sediments might contain pathogens and chemical contaminants that would pose a health risk to emergency responders, cleanup workers, and local residents who came into contact with the wet sediments or inhaled dusts generated from dried sediments. In response to these concerns, U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) scientists and colleagues characterized the potential environmental and health hazards of hurricane flood sediments from the greater New Orleans and Slidell, La., area.

Fungal phytotoxins with potential herbicidal activity: chemical and biological characterization.

PubMed

Cimmino, Alessio; Masi, Marco; Evidente, Marco; Superchi, Stefano; Evidente, Antonio

2015-12-19

Covering: 2007 to 2015 Fungal phytotoxins are secondary metabolites playing an important role in the induction of disease symptoms interfering with host plant physiological processes. Although fungal pathogens represent a heavy constraint for agrarian production and for forest and environmental heritage, they can also represent an ecofriendly alternative to manage weeds. Indeed, the phytotoxins produced by weed pathogenic fungi are an efficient tool to design natural, safe bioherbicides. Their use could avoid that of synthetic pesticides causing resistance in the host plants and the long term impact of residues in agricultural products with a risk to human and animal health. The isolation and structural and biological characterization of phytotoxins produced by pathogenic fungi for weeds, including parasitic plants, are described. Structure activity relationships and mode of action studies for some phytotoxins are also reported to elucidate the herbicide potential of these promising fungal metabolites.

Urban soil exploration through multi-receiver electromagnetic induction and stepped-frequency ground penetrating radar.

PubMed

Van De Vijver, Ellen; Van Meirvenne, Marc; Vandenhaute, Laura; Delefortrie, Samuël; De Smedt, Philippe; Saey, Timothy; Seuntjens, Piet

2015-07-01

In environmental assessments, the characterization of urban soils relies heavily on invasive investigation, which is often insufficient to capture their full spatial heterogeneity. Non-invasive geophysical techniques enable rapid collection of high-resolution data and provide a cost-effective alternative to investigate soil in a spatially comprehensive way. This paper presents the results of combining multi-receiver electromagnetic induction and stepped-frequency ground penetrating radar to characterize a former garage site contaminated with petroleum hydrocarbons. The sensor combination showed the ability to identify and accurately locate building remains and a high-density soil layer, thus demonstrating the high potential to investigate anthropogenic disturbances of physical nature. In addition, a correspondence was found between an area of lower electrical conductivity and elevated concentrations of petroleum hydrocarbons, suggesting the potential to detect specific chemical disturbances. We conclude that the sensor combination provides valuable information for preliminary assessment of urban soils.

Spatial Distribution of Dorylaimid and Mononchid Nematodes from the Southeast Iberian Peninsula: Environmental Characterization of Chorotypes

PubMed Central

Liébanas, G.; Guerrero, P.; Martín-García, J.-M.; Peña-Santiago, R.

2004-01-01

The aim of this study was to determine the incidence of 18 environmental variables in the spatial distribution of 30 chorotypes (species groups with significantly similar distribution patterns) of dorylaimid and mononchid nematodes by means of logistic regression in a natural area in the southeastern Iberian Peninsula. Six variables (elevation, color chroma, clay content, nitrogen content, CaCO₃, and plant community associated) were the most important environmental factors that helped explain the distribution of chorotypes. The distribution of most chorotypes was characterized by some (one to three) environmental variables; only two chorotypes were characterized by five or more variables, and four have not been characterized. PMID:19262795

Potential environmental drivers of a regional blue mussel mass mortality event (winter of 2014, Breton Sound, France)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Polsenaere, Pierre; Soletchnik, Patrick; Le Moine, Olivier; Gohin, Francis; Robert, Stéphane; Pépin, Jean-François; Stanisière, Jean-Yves; Dumas, Franck; Béchemin, Christian; Goulletquer, Philippe

2017-05-01

In the context of global change, increasing mariculture production has raised particular concerns regarding its environmental impact and sustainability. Molluscs and particularly blue mussel account for a significant part of this total production. Although blue mussels are considered to be pretty resilient to environmental disturbances, we report in this study an unprecedented mussel mortality event that occurred during the winter of 2014 in the Breton Sound. 9000 metric tonnes of mussels were lost and mortality rates up to 100% were recorded at some farming areas. Through a coupling approach, the present work aims to better understand the potential environmental drivers associated with those mortalities. Firstly, we analysed long-term in situ and satellite data from environmental monitoring networks (available since 1998) to characterize the variability of seawater masses of the sound during the winter of 2014. Secondly, we used modelling simulations to study the possible relationship between seawater hydrodynamics and observed spatio-temporal patterns of mussel mortalities. From January to April 2014 at the long-line culture site where mortalities started, seawater temperatures ranged from 8.3 to 13.3 °C (10.2 ± 0.8 °C). Salinity and turbidity values showed successive and short drops (below 16; 29.3 ± 2.3) and numerous peaks (above 70 NTU; 17.4 ± 13.4 NTU) respectively. Winter conditions of 2014 were encountered along the entire French Atlantic coastline and linked to the sixth highest positive North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO +) index recorded since 1865. These particular environmental variations characterized the winter of 2014 but also others whereas no comparable mussel mortality rates were reported. Exact causes of the 2014 mortality event are still unknown but we showed these environmental variations could not alone be responsible. These have likely affected the sensitivity of the blue mussel populations that were already weakened by early spawning. Meanwhile, these may have facilitated the apparition of a pathogenic strain of Vibrio splendidus isolated on moribund mussels at that time. Our modelling simulations suggested that this pathogenic strain could spread through hydrodynamic patterns and drive the observed mussel mortalities. If this pathogenic strain recurs in future years, particularly with the added stress associated with climate change, mussel mass mortality events may exceed the resilience of this species.

Environmental technology demonstrations involving explosives contamination at the Volunteer Site

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Walker, A.J.; Broder, M.F.; Jayne, E.A.

1997-08-01

Managed by the US Army Environmental Center, the Army`s test site at Volunteer Army Ammunition Plant encompasses a 300-acre area formerly used for batch production of TNT. Soil and groundwater contamination in the test area is well characterized. A network of monitoring wells and detailed information regarding the volume, location, and concentration of soil contamination is available to potential demonstrators. On-site field and laboratory support is provided by ICI Americas Incorporated, the facility`s operator. Four demonstrations have been conducted at the test site and several are scheduled for 1997. Preliminary findings from the four demonstrations discussed will be available sometimemore » in 1997.« less

Nanominerals, fullerene aggregates, and hazardous elements in coal and coal combustion-generated aerosols: An environmental and toxicological assessment.

PubMed

Saikia, Jyotilima; Narzary, Bardwi; Roy, Sonali; Bordoloi, Manobjyoti; Saikia, Prasenjit; Saikia, Binoy K

2016-12-01

Studies on coal-derived nanoparticles as well as nano-minerals are important in the context of the human health and the environment. The coal combustion-generated aerosols also affect human health and environmental quality aspects in any coal-fired station. In this study, the feed coals and their combustion-generated aerosols from coal-fired boilers of two tea industry facilities were investigated for the presence of nanoparticles/nano minerals, fullerene aggregates, and potentially hazardous elements (PHEs). The samples were characterized by using X-ray diffraction (XRD), Time-of-flight secondary ion mass spectroscopy (TOF-SIMS), High resolution-transmission electron microscopy/energy dispersive spectroscopy (HR-TEM/EDS) and Ultra Violet-visible spectroscopy (UV-Vis) to know their extent of environmental risks to the human health when present in coals and aerosols. The feed coals contain mainly clay minerals, whilst glass fragments, spinel, quartz, and other minerals occur in lesser quantities. The PM samples contain potentially hazardous elements (PHEs) like As, Pb, Cd and Hg. Enrichment factor of the trace elements in particulate matters (PMs) was calculated to determine their sources. The aerosol samples were also found to contain nanomaterials and ultrafine particles. The fullerene aggregates along with potentially hazardous elements were also detected in the aerosol samples. The cytotoxicity studies on the coal combustion-generated PM samples show their potential risk to the human health. This detailed investigation on the inter-relationship between the feed coals and their aerosol chemistry will be useful for understanding the extent of environmental hazards and related human health risk. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Contribution of individual waste fractions to the environmental impacts from landfilling of municipal solid waste.

PubMed

Manfredi, Simone; Tonini, Davide; Christensen, Thomas H

2010-03-01

A number of LCA-based studies have reported on the environmental performance of landfilling of mixed waste, but little is known about the relative contributions of individual waste fractions to the overall impact potentials estimated for the mixed waste. In this paper, an empirical model has been used to estimate the emissions to the environment from landfilling of individual waste fractions. By means of the LCA-model EASEWASTE, the emissions estimated have been used to quantify how much of the overall impact potential for each impact category is to be attributed to the individual waste fractions. Impact potentials are estimated for 1 tonne of mixed waste disposed off in a conventional landfill with bottom liner, leachate collection and treatment and gas collection and utilization for electricity generation. All the environmental aspects are accounted for 100 years after disposal and several impact categories have been considered, including standard categories, toxicity-related categories and groundwater contamination. Amongst the standard and toxicity-related categories, the highest potential impact is estimated for human toxicity via soil (HTs; 12 mPE/tonne). This is mostly caused by leaching of heavy metals from ashes (e.g. residues from roads cleaning and vacuum cleaning bags), batteries, paper and metals. On the other hand, substantial net environmental savings are estimated for the categories Global Warming (GW; -31 mPE/tonne) and Eco-Toxicity in water chronic (ETwc; -53 mPE/tonne). These savings are mostly determined by the waste fractions characterized by a high content of biogenic carbon (paper, organics, other combustible waste). These savings are due to emissions from energy generation avoided by landfill gas utilization, and by the storage of biogenic carbon in the landfill due to incomplete waste degradation. Copyright 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Isolation and Characterization of Aquatic-Borne Klebsiella pneumoniae from Tropical Estuaries in Malaysia

PubMed Central

Barati, Anis; Ghaderpour, Aziz; Chew, Li Lee; Bong, Chui Wei; Thong, Kwai Lin; Chong, Ving Ching; Chai, Lay Ching

2016-01-01

Klebsiella pneumoniae is an opportunistic pathogen that is responsible for causing nosocomial and community-acquired infections. Despite its common presence in soil and aquatic environments, the virulence potential of K. pneumoniae isolates of environmental origin is largely unknown. Hence, in this study, K. pneumoniae isolated from the estuarine waters and sediments of the Matang mangrove estuary were screened for potential virulence characteristics: antibiotic susceptibility, morphotype on Congo red agar, biofilm formation, presence of exopolysaccharide and capsule, possession of virulence genes (fimH, magA, ugE, wabG and rmpA) and their genomic fingerprints. A total of 55 strains of K. pneumoniae were isolated from both human-distributed sites (located along Sangga Besar River) and control sites (located along Selinsing River) where less human activity was observed, indicated that K. pneumoniae is ubiquitous in the environment. However, the detection of potentially virulent strains at the downstream of Kuala Sepetang village has suggested an anthropogenic contamination source. In conclusion, the findings from this study indicate that the Matang mangrove estuary could harbor potentially pathogenic K. pneumoniae with risk to public health. More studies are required to compare the environmental K. pneumoniae strains with the community-acquired K. pneumoniae strains. PMID:27092516

Ocean Thermal Energy Conversion (OTEC) Programmatic Environmental Analysis--Appendices

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Authors, Various

1980-01-01

The programmatic environmental analysis is an initial assessment of Ocean Thermal Energy Conversion (OTEC) technology considering development, demonstration and commercialization. It is concluded that the OTEC development program should continue because the development, demonstration, and commercialization on a single-plant deployment basis should not present significant environmental impacts. However, several areas within the OTEC program require further investigation in order to assess the potential for environmental impacts from OTEC operation, particularly in large-scale deployments and in defining alternatives to closed-cycle biofouling control: (1) Larger-scale deployments of OTEC clusters or parks require further investigations in order to assess optimal platform siting distancesmore » necessary to minimize adverse environmental impacts. (2) The deployment and operation of the preoperational platform (OTEC-1) and future demonstration platforms must be carefully monitored to refine environmental assessment predictions, and to provide design modifications which may mitigate or reduce environmental impacts for larger-scale operations. These platforms will provide a valuable opportunity to fully evaluate the intake and discharge configurations, biofouling control methods, and both short-term and long-term environmental effects associated with platform operations. (3) Successful development of OTEC technology to use the maximal resource capabilities and to minimize environmental effects will require a concerted environmental management program, encompassing many different disciplines and environmental specialties. This volume contains these appendices: Appendix A -- Deployment Scenario; Appendix B -- OTEC Regional Characterization; and Appendix C -- Impact and Related Calculations.« less

Priority screening of toxic chemicals and industry sectors in the U.S. toxics release inventory: a comparison of the life cycle impact-based and risk-based assessment tools developed by U.S. EPA.

PubMed

Lim, Seong-Rin; Lam, Carl W; Schoenung, Julie M

2011-09-01

Life Cycle Impact Assessment (LCIA) and Risk Assessment (RA) employ different approaches to evaluate toxic impact potential for their own general applications. LCIA is often used to evaluate toxicity potentials for corporate environmental management and RA is often used to evaluate a risk score for environmental policy in government. This study evaluates the cancer, non-cancer, and ecotoxicity potentials and risk scores of chemicals and industry sectors in the United States on the basis of the LCIA- and RA-based tools developed by U.S. EPA, and compares the priority screening of toxic chemicals and industry sectors identified with each method to examine whether the LCIA- and RA-based results lead to the same prioritization schemes. The Tool for the Reduction and Assessment of Chemical and other environmental Impacts (TRACI) is applied as an LCIA-based screening approach with a focus on air and water emissions, and the Risk-Screening Environmental Indicator (RSEI) is applied in equivalent fashion as an RA-based screening approach. The U.S. Toxic Release Inventory is used as the dataset for this analysis, because of its general applicability to a comprehensive list of chemical substances and industry sectors. Overall, the TRACI and RSEI results do not agree with each other in part due to the unavailability of characterization factors and toxic scores for select substances, but primarily because of their different evaluation approaches. Therefore, TRACI and RSEI should be used together both to support a more comprehensive and robust approach to screening of chemicals for environmental management and policy and to highlight substances that are found to be of concern from both perspectives. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Draft report: Results of stainless steel canister corrosion studies and environmental sample investigations

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Bryan, Charles R.; Enos, David

2014-09-01

This progress report describes work being done at Sandia National Laboratories (SNL) to assess the localized corrosion performance of container/cask materials used in the interim storage of used nuclear fuel. The work involves both characterization of the potential physical and chemical environment on the surface of the storage canisters and how it might evolve through time, and testing to evaluate performance of the canister materials under anticipated storage conditions.

Real time monitoring of environmental crack growth in BWRs

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Hale, D.; Diehl, C.G.

1988-01-01

A comprehensive field test program was recently completed at several Boiling Water Reactors (BWR) to quantify the effect of coolant impurities on the initiation and growth of stress corrosion cracks. A new technology was utilized which allows for real time monitoring of stress corrosion crack growth rates. The BWR environments were characterized using Ion Chromatography and Electro Chemical Potential (ECP) measurements. The effects of typical water chemistry transients and startups were quantified.

Gene response profiles for Daphnia pulex exposed to the environmental stressor cadmium reveals novel crustacean metallothioneins.

PubMed

Shaw, Joseph R; Colbourne, John K; Davey, Jennifer C; Glaholt, Stephen P; Hampton, Thomas H; Chen, Celia Y; Folt, Carol L; Hamilton, Joshua W

2007-12-21

Genomic research tools such as microarrays are proving to be important resources to study the complex regulation of genes that respond to environmental perturbations. A first generation cDNA microarray was developed for the environmental indicator species Daphnia pulex, to identify genes whose regulation is modulated following exposure to the metal stressor cadmium. Our experiments revealed interesting changes in gene transcription that suggest their biological roles and their potentially toxicological features in responding to this important environmental contaminant. Our microarray identified genes reported in the literature to be regulated in response to cadmium exposure, suggested functional attributes for genes that share no sequence similarity to proteins in the public databases, and pointed to genes that are likely members of expanded gene families in the Daphnia genome. Genes identified on the microarray also were associated with cadmium induced phenotypes and population-level outcomes that we experimentally determined. A subset of genes regulated in response to cadmium exposure was independently validated using quantitative-realtime (Q-RT)-PCR. These microarray studies led to the discovery of three genes coding for the metal detoxication protein metallothionein (MT). The gene structures and predicted translated sequences of D. pulex MTs clearly place them in this gene family. Yet, they share little homology with previously characterized MTs. The genomic information obtained from this study represents an important first step in characterizing microarray patterns that may be diagnostic to specific environmental contaminants and give insights into their toxicological mechanisms, while also providing a practical tool for evolutionary, ecological, and toxicological functional gene discovery studies. Advances in Daphnia genomics will enable the further development of this species as a model organism for the environmental sciences.

Gene response profiles for Daphnia pulex exposed to the environmental stressor cadmium reveals novel crustacean metallothioneins

PubMed Central

Shaw, Joseph R; Colbourne, John K; Davey, Jennifer C; Glaholt, Stephen P; Hampton, Thomas H; Chen, Celia Y; Folt, Carol L; Hamilton, Joshua W

2007-01-01

Background Genomic research tools such as microarrays are proving to be important resources to study the complex regulation of genes that respond to environmental perturbations. A first generation cDNA microarray was developed for the environmental indicator species Daphnia pulex, to identify genes whose regulation is modulated following exposure to the metal stressor cadmium. Our experiments revealed interesting changes in gene transcription that suggest their biological roles and their potentially toxicological features in responding to this important environmental contaminant. Results Our microarray identified genes reported in the literature to be regulated in response to cadmium exposure, suggested functional attributes for genes that share no sequence similarity to proteins in the public databases, and pointed to genes that are likely members of expanded gene families in the Daphnia genome. Genes identified on the microarray also were associated with cadmium induced phenotypes and population-level outcomes that we experimentally determined. A subset of genes regulated in response to cadmium exposure was independently validated using quantitative-realtime (Q-RT)-PCR. These microarray studies led to the discovery of three genes coding for the metal detoxication protein metallothionein (MT). The gene structures and predicted translated sequences of D. pulex MTs clearly place them in this gene family. Yet, they share little homology with previously characterized MTs. Conclusion The genomic information obtained from this study represents an important first step in characterizing microarray patterns that may be diagnostic to specific environmental contaminants and give insights into their toxicological mechanisms, while also providing a practical tool for evolutionary, ecological, and toxicological functional gene discovery studies. Advances in Daphnia genomics will enable the further development of this species as a model organism for the environmental sciences. PMID:18154678

Developing ecological scenarios for the prospective aquatic risk assessment of pesticides.

PubMed

Rico, Andreu; Van den Brink, Paul J; Gylstra, Ronald; Focks, Andreas; Brock, Theo Cm

2016-07-01

The prospective aquatic environmental risk assessment (ERA) of pesticides is generally based on the comparison of predicted environmental concentrations in edge-of-field surface waters with regulatory acceptable concentrations derived from laboratory and/or model ecosystem experiments with aquatic organisms. New improvements in mechanistic effect modeling have allowed a better characterization of the ecological risks of pesticides through the incorporation of biological trait information and landscape parameters to assess individual, population and/or community-level effects and recovery. Similarly to exposure models, ecological models require scenarios that describe the environmental context in which they are applied. In this article, we propose a conceptual framework for the development of ecological scenarios that, when merged with exposure scenarios, will constitute environmental scenarios for prospective aquatic ERA. These "unified" environmental scenarios are defined as the combination of the biotic and abiotic parameters that are required to characterize exposure, (direct and indirect) effects, and recovery of aquatic nontarget species under realistic worst-case conditions. Ideally, environmental scenarios aim to avoid a potential mismatch between the parameter values and the spatial-temporal scales currently used in aquatic exposure and effect modeling. This requires a deeper understanding of the ecological entities we intend to protect, which can be preliminarily addressed by the formulation of ecological scenarios. In this article we present a methodological approach for the development of ecological scenarios and illustrate this approach by a case-study for Dutch agricultural ditches and the example focal species Sialis lutaria. Finally, we discuss the applicability of ecological scenarios in ERA and propose research needs and recommendations for their development and integration with exposure scenarios. Integr Environ Assess Manag 2016;12:510-521. © 2015 SETAC. © 2015 SETAC.

Potentials and Limitations of Wireless Sensor Networks for Environmental

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bumberger, J.; Remmler, P.; Hutschenreuther, T.; Toepfer, H.; Dietrich, P.

2013-12-01

Understanding and dealing with environmental challenges worldwide requires suitable interdisciplinary methods and a level of expertise to be able to implement these solutions, so that the lifestyles of future generations can be secured in the years to come. To characterize environmental systems it is necessary to identify and describe processes with suitable methods. Environmental systems are often characterized by their high heterogeneity, so individual measurements for their complete representation are often not sufficient. The application of wireless sensor networks in terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems offer significant benefits as a better consideration of the local test conditions becomes possible. This can be essential for the monitoring of heterogeneous environmental systems. Significant advantages in the application of wireless sensor networks are their self-organizing behaviour, resulting in a major reduction in installation and operation costs and time. In addition, a point measurement with a sensor is significantly improved by measuring at several points. It is also possible to perform analog and digital signal processing and computation on the basis of the measured data close to the sensor. Hence, a significant reduction of the data to be transmitted can be achieved which leads to a better energy management of sensor nodes. Furthermore, their localization via satellite, the miniaturization of the nodes and long-term energy self-sufficiency are current topics under investigation. In this presentation, the possibilities and limitations of the applicability of wireless sensor networks for long-term environmental monitoring are presented. To underline the importance of this future technology, example concepts are given in the field of near-surface geothermics, groundwater observation, measurement of spatial radiation intensity and air humidity on soils, measurement of matter fluxes, greenhouse gas measurement, and landslide monitoring.

Regional material flow accounting and environmental pressures: the Spanish case.

PubMed

Sastre, Sergio; Carpintero, Óscar; Lomas, Pedro L

2015-02-17

This paper explores potential contributions of regional material flow accounting to the characterization of environmental pressures. With this aim, patterns of material extraction, trade, consumption, and productivity for the Spanish regions were studied within the 1996-2010 period. The main methodological variation as compared to whole-country based approaches is the inclusion of interregional trade, which can be separately assessed from the international exchanges. Each region was additionally profiled regarding its commercial exchanges with the rest of the regions and the rest of the world and the related environmental pressures. Given its magnitude, interregional trade is a significant source of environmental pressure. Most of the exchanges occur across regions and different extractive and trading patterns also arise at this scale. These differences are particularly great for construction minerals, which in Spain represent the largest share of extracted and consumed materials but do not cover long distances, so their impact is visible mainly at the regional level. During the housing bubble, economic growth did not improve material productivity.

Anaerobic digestion of starch-polyvinyl alcohol biopolymer packaging: biodegradability and environmental impact assessment.

PubMed

Guo, M; Trzcinski, A P; Stuckey, D C; Murphy, R J

2011-12-01

The digestibility of a starch-polyvinyl alcohol (PVOH) biopolymer insulated cardboard coolbox was investigated under a defined anaerobic digestion (AD) system with key parameters characterized. Laboratory results were combined with industrial operational data to develop a site-specific life cycle assessment (LCA) model. Inoculated with active bacterial trophic groups, the anaerobic biodegradability of three starch-PVOH biopolymers achieved 58-62%. The LCA modeling showed that the environmental burdens of the starch-PVOH biopolymer packaging under AD conditions on acidification, eutrophication, global warming and photochemical oxidation potential were dominated by atmospheric emissions released from substrate degradation and fuel combustion, whereas energy consumption and infrastructure requirements were the causes of abiotic depletion, ozone depletion and toxic impacts. Nevertheless, for this bio-packaging, AD of the starch-PVOH biopolymer combined with recycling of the cardboard emerged as the environmentally superior option and optimization of the energy utilization system could bring further environmental benefits to the AD process. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Genotoxic effects of environmental endocrine disruptors on the aquatic insect Chironomus riparius evaluated using the comet assay.

PubMed

Martínez-Paz, Pedro; Morales, Mónica; Martínez-Guitarte, José Luis; Morcillo, Gloria

2013-12-12

Genotoxicity is one of the most important toxic endpoints in chemical toxicity testing and environmental risk assessment. The aim of this study was to evaluate the genotoxic potential of various environmental pollutants frequently found in aquatic environments and characterized by their endocrine disrupting activity. Monitoring of DNA damage was undertaken after in vivo exposures of the aquatic larvae of the midge Chironomus riparius, a model organism that represents an abundant and ecologically relevant macroinvertebrate, widely used in freshwater toxicology. DNA-induced damage, resulting in DNA fragmentation, was quantified by the comet assay after short (24 h) and long (96 h) exposures to different concentrations of the selected toxicants: bisphenol A (BPA), nonylphenol (NP), pentachlorophenol (PCP), tributyltin (TBT) and triclosan (TCS). All five compounds were found to have genotoxic activity as demonstrated by significant increases in all the comet parameters (%DNA in tail, tail length, tail moment and Olive tail moment) at all tested concentrations. Persistent exposure did not increase the extent of DNA damage, except for TCS at the highest concentration, but generally there was a reduction in DNA damage thought to be associated with the induction of the detoxification processes and repairing mechanisms. Comparative analysis showed differences in the genotoxic potential between the chemicals, as well as significant time and concentration-dependent variations, which most likely reflect differences in the ability to repair DNA damage under the different treatments. The present report demonstrates the sensitivity of the benthic larvae of C. riparius to these environmental genotoxins suggesting its potential as biomonitor organism in freshwater ecosystems. The results obtained about the DNA-damaging potential of these environmental pollutants reinforce the need for additional studies on the genotoxicity of endocrine active substances that, by linking genotoxic activity to other biological responses, could provide further understanding of adverse effects in aquatic environments. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Environmental Impacts of Plant-Based Diets: How Does Organic Food Consumption Contribute to Environmental Sustainability?

PubMed

Lacour, Camille; Seconda, Louise; Allès, Benjamin; Hercberg, Serge; Langevin, Brigitte; Pointereau, Philippe; Lairon, Denis; Baudry, Julia; Kesse-Guyot, Emmanuelle

2018-01-01

Studies investigating diet-related environmental impacts have rarely considered the production method of the foods consumed. The objective of the present study, based on the NutriNet-Santé cohort, was to investigate the relationship between a provegetarian score and diet-related environmental impacts. We also evaluated potential effect modifications on the association between a provegetarian score and the environmental impacts of organic food consumption. Food intake and organic food consumption ratios were obtained from 34,442 French adults using a food frequency questionnaire, which included information on organic food consumption for each group. To characterize the overall structure of the diets, a provegetarian score was used to identify preferences for plant-based products as opposed to animal-based products. Moreover, three environmental indicators were used to assess diet-related environmental impacts: greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, cumulative energy demand (CED), and land occupation. Environmental impacts were assessed using production life cycle assessment (LCA) at the farm level. Associations between provegetarian score quintiles, the level of organic food consumption, and environmental indicators were analyzed using ANCOVAs adjusted for energy, sex, and age. Participants with diets rich in plant-based foods (fifth quintile) were more likely to be older urban dwellers, to hold a higher degree in education, and to be characterized by an overall healthier lifestyle and diet. A higher provegetarian score was associated with lower environmental impacts (GHG emissions Q5vsQ1  = 838/1,664 kg CO 2eq /year, -49.6%, P  < 0.0001; CED Q5vsQ1  = 4,853/6,775 MJ/year, -26.9%, P  < 0.0001; land occupation Q5vsQ1  = 2,420/4,138 m 2 /year, -41.5%, P  < 0.0001). Organic food consumption was also an important modulator of the relationship between provegetarian dietary patterns and environmental impacts but only among participants with diets rich in plant-based products. Future field studies should endeavor to integrate all the components of a sustainable diet, i.e., both diet composition and production methods.

Utilizing steel slag in environmental application - An overview

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lim, J. W.; Chew, L. H.; Choong, T. S. Y.; Tezara, C.; Yazdi, M. H.

2016-06-01

Steel slags are generated as waste material or byproduct every day from steel making industries.The potential environmental issues which are related with the slag dump or reprocessing for metal recovery are generally being focused in the research. However the chemistry and mineralogy of slag depends on metallurgical process which is able to determine whether the steel slag can be the reusable products or not. Nowadays, steel slag are well characterized by using several methods, such as X-ray Diffraction, ICP-OES, leaching test and many more. About the industrial application, it is mainly reused as aggregate for road construction, as armour stones for hydraulic engineering constructions and as fertilizers for agricultural purposes. To ensure the quality of steel slag for the end usage, several test methods are developed for evaluating the technical properties of steel slag, especially volume stability and environmental behaviour. In order to determine its environmental behaviour, leaching tests have been developed. The focus of this paper however is on those applications that directly affect environmental issues including remediation, and mitigation of activities that negatively impact the environment.

Vulnerability of point-of-care test reagents and instruments to environmental stresses: implications for health professionals and developers.

PubMed

Louie, Richard F; Ferguson, William J; Curtis, Corbin M; Vy, John H; Kost, Gerald J

2014-03-01

Strategic integration of point-of-care (POC) diagnostic tools during crisis response can accelerate triage and improve management of victims. Timely differential diagnosis is essential wherever care is provided to rule out or rule in disease, expedite life-saving treatment, and improve utilization of limited resources. POC testing needs to be accurate in any environment in which it is used. Devices are exposed to potentially adverse storage and operating conditions, such as high/low temperature and humidity during emergencies and field rescues. Therefore, characterizing environmental conditions allows technology developers, operators, and responders to understand the broad operational requirements of test reagents, instruments, and equipment in order to improve the quality and delivery of care in complex emergencies, disasters, and austere environmental settings. This review aims to describe the effects of environmental stress on POC testing performance and its impact on decision-making, to describe how to study the effects, and to summarize ways to mitigate the effects of environmental stresses through good laboratory practice, development of robust reagents, and novel thermal packaging solutions.

Environmental Site Characterization for the Wide Area Mine Sensor Demonstration, Aberdeen Proving Ground, October 1988

DTIC Science & Technology

1991-05-01

AD-A237 045 MP I ENVIRONMENTAL SITE CHARACTERIZATION of EFOR THE WIDE AREA MINE SENSOR DEMONSTRATION, ABERDEEN PROVING GROUND , OCTOBER 1988 T- by...Wide Area Mine Sensor Demonstration, Aberdeen Proving Ground , October 1988 6. AUTHOR(S) Bruce M. Sabol, Thomas E. Berry, Ben L. Garnes 7. PERFORMING... Proving Ground (APG), Maryland. This report presents data that characterize terrain and environmental factors expected to affect WAN sensor performance

Novel Transformations of Trenbolone Acetate Metabolites Suggest Incomplete Environmental Risk Assessment for Trenbolone

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kolodziej, E. P.; Jones, G.; Cwiertny, D. M.; Qu, S.

2013-12-01

In general, the existing regulatory and risk assessment paradigm for veterinary pharmaceuticals and other potential environmental contaminants is relatively simplistic as it equates contaminant degradation with significant reduction in associated ecological risk. However, it is becoming clear that there exist a number of environmental contaminants whose behaviors in the environment confound this assessment paradigm and whose environmental risk cannot be accurately assessed by laboratory studies demonstrating degradation or attenuation of compound concentrations in model environmental systems. For example, trenbolone acetate (TBA) is an androgenic growth promoting steroid used widely in animal agriculture in the United States, with the vast majority of U.S. beef cattle receiving TBA implants. Despite their significant economic value ( $1 billion annually), TBA metabolites can be potent endocrine disrupting compounds for sensitive species of aquatic organisms, capable of endocrine disruption at low ng/L concentrations. TBA metabolites are often considered rather reactive and prone to degradation, and risk assessment studies specifically point to their rapid degradation as evidence for limited ecological risks. However, we have recently demonstrated a most unexpected observation for TBA metabolite fate in environmental systems: namely that product-to-parent reversion is possible for certain TBA metabolites. Also, a variety of structural analogs and stereoisomers can arise from environmental transformation processes of TBA metabolites, potentially yielding a range of uncharacterized steroid structures capable of receptor interactions. None of these possibilities are accounted for in current risk assessment approaches for trenbolone or any other veterinary pharmaceutical. These observations confound most all current environmental risk assessment and contaminant fate models, and therefore improving our approach to environmental risk assessment needs to specifically account for these possibilities. The implications of this data suggest that improved environmental risk assessment should include a more complete characterization of transformation products and identification of possible non-target receptor interactions as part of exposure assessment process.

Nevada Test Site Environmental Report 2007

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Cathy Wills

2008-09-01

The Nevada Test Site Environmental Report 2007 (NTSER) was prepared to meet the information needs of the public and the requirements and guidelines of the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) for annual site environmental reports. It was prepared by National Security Technologies, LLC (NSTec). This Executive Summary presents the purpose of the document, the major programs conducted at the Nevada Test Site (NTS), NTS key environmental initiatives, radiological releases and potential doses to the public resulting from site operations, a summary of nonradiological releases, implementation status of the NTS Environmental Management System, a summary of compliance with environmental regulations, pollutionmore » prevention and waste minimization accomplishments, and significant environmental accomplishments. Much of the content of this Executive Summary is also presented in a separate stand-alone pamphlet titled Nevada Test Site Environmental Report Summary 2007. This NTSER was prepared to satisfy DOE Order 231.1A, Environment, Safety and Health Reporting. Its purpose is to (1) report compliance status with environmental standards and requirements, (2) present results of environmental monitoring of radiological and nonradiological effluents, (3) report estimated radiological doses to the public from releases of radioactive material, (4) summarize environmental incidents of noncompliance and actions taken in response to them, (5) describe the NTS Environmental Management System and characterize its performance, and (6) highlight significant environmental programs and efforts. This report meets these objectives for the NTS and three offsite Nevada facilities mentioned in this report.« less

Can cloud point-based enrichment, preservation, and detection methods help to bridge gaps in aquatic nanometrology?

PubMed

Duester, Lars; Fabricius, Anne-Lena; Jakobtorweihen, Sven; Philippe, Allan; Weigl, Florian; Wimmer, Andreas; Schuster, Michael; Nazar, Muhammad Faizan

2016-11-01

Coacervate-based techniques are intensively used in environmental analytical chemistry to enrich and extract different kinds of analytes. Most methods focus on the total content or the speciation of inorganic and organic substances. Size fractionation is less commonly addressed. Within coacervate-based techniques, cloud point extraction (CPE) is characterized by a phase separation of non-ionic surfactants dispersed in an aqueous solution when the respective cloud point temperature is exceeded. In this context, the feature article raises the following question: May CPE in future studies serve as a key tool (i) to enrich and extract nanoparticles (NPs) from complex environmental matrices prior to analyses and (ii) to preserve the colloidal status of unstable environmental samples? With respect to engineered NPs, a significant gap between environmental concentrations and size- and element-specific analytical capabilities is still visible. CPE may support efforts to overcome this "concentration gap" via the analyte enrichment. In addition, most environmental colloidal systems are known to be unstable, dynamic, and sensitive to changes of the environmental conditions during sampling and sample preparation. This delivers a so far unsolved "sample preparation dilemma" in the analytical process. The authors are of the opinion that CPE-based methods have the potential to preserve the colloidal status of these instable samples. Focusing on NPs, this feature article aims to support the discussion on the creation of a convention called the "CPE extractable fraction" by connecting current knowledge on CPE mechanisms and on available applications, via the uncertainties visible and modeling approaches available, with potential future benefits from CPE protocols.

Potential Application of Environmental Noise Recordings in Geoarchaeological Site Characterization

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Di Luzio, E.

2015-12-01

Environmental noise recordings are commonly applied in seismic microzonation studies. By calculating the H/V spectral ratio, the fundamental frequency of soft terrains overlying a rigid bedrock can be determined (Nakamura (1989). In such a simple two-layer system, equation f = n Vs/4H (1) links the resonance frequency "f" to the thickness "H" and shear waves velocity "Vs "of the resonating layer. In recent years, this methodology has been applied generally to obtain information on the seismostratigraphy of an investigated site in different environmental context. In this work, its potential application in the characterization of archaeological features hosted in shallow geological levels is discussed. Field cases are identified in the Appia Antica archaeological site which is placed in central Italy. Here, acknowledged targets correspond to: i) empty tanks carved by the Romans into Cretaceous limestone in the IV-III cen. BC and ii): the basaltic stone paving of the ancient road track which is locally buried beneath colluvial deposits. Narrowly-spaced recordings of environmental noise were carried using a portable digital seismograph equipped with three electrodynamic orthogonal sensors (velocimeters) responding in the band 0.1 ÷1024 Hz and adopting a sampling frequency of 256 Hz.. Results are discussed in terms of absolute H/V values and related distribution maps in the very high-frequency interval of 10-40Hz. In the tanks hosting area, interpolation of H/V maximum values around 13Hz matches caves location and alignment, which is also evidenced by clear inversions (H/V<1) at lower frequencies (10-1Hz). Correlation between H/V peaks and the top surface of the buried stone paving along the prosecution of the road track is even more straightforward. Finally, the depth variations of the tank roofs and the basaltic paving were reconstructed combining in equation (1) results of noise recordings with borehole data and geophysical surveys (SASW analysis).

Biodegradation of potential diesel oxygenate additives: dibutyl maleate (DBM), and tripropylene glycol methyl ether (TGME).

PubMed

Marchetti, Alfredo A; Knize, Mark G; Chiarappa-Zucca, Marina L; Pletcher, Ronald J; Layton, David W

2003-08-01

The addition of oxygen-bearing compounds to diesel fuel considerably reduces particulate emissions. TGME and DBM have been identified as possible diesel additives based on their physicochemical characteristics and performance in engine tests. Although these compounds will reduce particulate emissions, their potential environmental impacts are unknown. As a means of characterizing their persistence in environmental media such as soil and groundwater, we conducted a series of biodegradation tests of DBM and TGME. Benzene and methyl tertiary butyl ether (MTBE) were also tested as reference compounds. Primary degradation of DBM fully occurred within 3 days, while TGME presented a lag phase of approximately 8 days and was not completely degraded by day 28. Benzene primary degradation occurred completely by day 3 and MTBE did not degrade at all. The total mineralized fractions of DBM and TGME achieved constant values as a function of time of approximately 65% and approximately 40%, respectively. Transport predictions show that, released to the environment, DBM and TGME would concentrate mostly in soils and waters with minimal impact to air. From an environmental standpoint, these results combined with the transport predictions indicate that DBM is a better choice than TGME as a diesel additive.

Binucleation to breed new plant species adaptable to their environments

PubMed Central

Moustafa, Khaled

2015-01-01

Classical plant breeding approaches may fall short to breed new plant species of high environmental and ecological interests. Biotechnological and genetic manipulations, on the other hand, may hold more effective capabilities to circumvent the limitations of sexual incompatibility and conventional breeding programs. Given that plant cells encompass multiple copies of organellar genomes (mitochondrial and plastidial genomes), an important question could be raised about whether an artificial attempt to duplicate the nuclear genome might also be conceivable through a binucleation approach (generating plant cells with 2 nuclei from 2 different plant species) for potential production of new polyploidies that would characterize new plant species. Since the complexities of plant genomes are the result of multiple genome duplications, an artificial binucleation approach would thus be of some interest to eventually varying plant genomes and producing new polyploidy from related or distal plant species. Here, I discuss the potentiality of such an approach to engineer binucleated plant cells as a germ of new plant species to fulfill some environmental applications such as increasing the biodiversity and breeding new species adaptable to harsh environmental stresses and increasing green surfaces to reduce atmospheric pollutions in arid lands with poor vegetation. PMID:26322577

Isolation and Characterization of Thermophilic Bacteria from Jordanian Hot Springs: Bacillus licheniformis and Thermomonas hydrothermalis Isolates as Potential Producers of Thermostable Enzymes.

PubMed

Mohammad, Balsam T; Al Daghistani, Hala I; Jaouani, Atef; Abdel-Latif, Saleh; Kennes, Christian

2017-01-01

The aim of this study was the isolation and characterization of thermophilic bacteria from hot springs in Jordan. Ten isolates were characterized by morphological, microscopic, biochemical, molecular, and physiological characteristics. Sequencing of the 16S rDNA of the isolates followed by BLAST search revealed that nine strains could be identified as Bacillus licheniformis and one isolate as Thermomonas hydrothermalis . This is the first report on the isolation of Thermomonas species from Jordanian hot springs. The isolates showed an ability to produce some thermostable enzymes such as amylase, protease, cellulose, gelatins, and lecithin. Moreover, the UPGMA dendrogram of the enzymatic characteristics of the ten isolates was constructed; results indicated a high phenotypic diversity, which encourages future studies to explore further industrial and environmental applications.

Portable Bio/Chemosensoristic Devices: Innovative Systems for Environmental Health and Food Safety Diagnostics

PubMed Central

Dragone, Roberto; Grasso, Gerardo; Muccini, Michele; Toffanin, Stefano

2017-01-01

This mini-review covers the newly developed biosensoristic and chemosensoristic devices described in recent literature for detection of contaminants in both environmental and food real matrices. Current needs in environmental and food surveillance of contaminants require new simplified, sensitive systems, which are portable and allow for rapid and on-site monitoring and diagnostics. Here, we focus on optical and electrochemical bio/chemosensoristic devices as promising tools with interesting analytical features that can be potentially exploited for innovative on-site and real-time applications for diagnostics and monitoring of environmental and food matrices (e.g., agricultural waters and milk). In near future, suitably developed and implemented bio/chemosensoristic devices will be a new and modern technological solution for the identification of new quality and safety marker indexes as well as for a more proper and complete characterization of abovementioned environmental and food matrices. Integrated bio/chemosensoristic devices can also allow an “holistic approach” that may prove to be more suitable for diagnostics of environmental and food real matrices, where the copresence of more bioactive substances is frequent. Therefore, this approach can be focused on the determination of net effect (mixture effect) of bioactive substances present in real matrices. PMID:28529937

Portable Bio/Chemosensoristic Devices: Innovative Systems for Environmental Health and Food Safety Diagnostics.

PubMed

Dragone, Roberto; Grasso, Gerardo; Muccini, Michele; Toffanin, Stefano

2017-01-01

This mini-review covers the newly developed biosensoristic and chemosensoristic devices described in recent literature for detection of contaminants in both environmental and food real matrices. Current needs in environmental and food surveillance of contaminants require new simplified, sensitive systems, which are portable and allow for rapid and on-site monitoring and diagnostics. Here, we focus on optical and electrochemical bio/chemosensoristic devices as promising tools with interesting analytical features that can be potentially exploited for innovative on-site and real-time applications for diagnostics and monitoring of environmental and food matrices (e.g., agricultural waters and milk). In near future, suitably developed and implemented bio/chemosensoristic devices will be a new and modern technological solution for the identification of new quality and safety marker indexes as well as for a more proper and complete characterization of abovementioned environmental and food matrices. Integrated bio/chemosensoristic devices can also allow an "holistic approach" that may prove to be more suitable for diagnostics of environmental and food real matrices, where the copresence of more bioactive substances is frequent. Therefore, this approach can be focused on the determination of net effect (mixture effect) of bioactive substances present in real matrices.

From Content Knowledge to Community Change: A Review of Representations of Environmental Health Literacy

PubMed Central

Gray, Kathleen M.

2018-01-01

Environmental health literacy (EHL) is a relatively new framework for conceptualizing how people understand and use information about potentially harmful environmental exposures and their influence on health. As such, information on the characterization and measurement of EHL is limited. This review provides an overview of EHL as presented in peer-reviewed literature and aggregates studies based on whether they represent individual level EHL or community level EHL or both. A range of assessment tools has been used to measure EHL, with many studies relying on pre-/post-assessment; however, a broader suite of assessment tools may be needed to capture community-wide outcomes. This review also suggests that the definition of EHL should explicitly include community change or collective action as an important longer-term outcome and proposes a refinement of previous representations of EHL as a theoretical framework, to include self-efficacy. PMID:29518955

Polymer functionalized nanocomposites for metals removal from water and wastewater: An overview.

PubMed

Lofrano, Giusy; Carotenuto, Maurizio; Libralato, Giovanni; Domingos, Rute F; Markus, Arjen; Dini, Luciana; Gautam, Ravindra Kumar; Baldantoni, Daniela; Rossi, Marco; Sharma, Sanjay K; Chattopadhyaya, Mahesh Chandra; Giugni, Maurizio; Meric, Sureyya

2016-04-01

Pollution by metal and metalloid ions is one of the most widespread environmental concerns. They are non-biodegradable, and, generally, present high water solubility facilitating their environmental mobilisation interacting with abiotic and biotic components such as adsorption onto natural colloids or even accumulation by living organisms, thus, threatening human health and ecosystems. Therefore, there is a high demand for effective removal treatments of heavy metals, making the application of adsorption materials such as polymer-functionalized nanocomposites (PFNCs), increasingly attractive. PFNCs retain the inherent remarkable surface properties of nanoparticles, while the polymeric support materials provide high stability and processability. These nanoparticle-matrix materials are of great interest for metals and metalloids removal thanks to the functional groups of the polymeric matrixes that provide specific bindings to target pollutants. This review discusses PFNCs synthesis, characterization and performance in adsorption processes as well as the potential environmental risks and perspectives. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Environmental genotoxicity: Probing the underlying mechanisms

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Shugart, L.; Theodorakis, C.

1993-12-31

Environmental pollution is a complex issue because of the diversity of anthropogenic agents, both chemical and physical, that have been detected and catalogued. The consequences to biota from exposure to genotoxic agents present an additional problem because of the potential for these agents to produce adverse change at the cellular and organismal levels. Past studies in genetic toxicology at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory have focused on structural damage to the DNA of environmental species that may occur after exposure to genotoxic agents and the use of this information to document exposure and to monitor remediation. In an effort tomore » predict effects at the population, community and ecosystem levels, current studies in genetic ecotoxicology are attempting to characterize the biological mechanisms at the gene level that regulate and limit the response of an individual organism to genotoxic factors in their environment.« less

Molecular characterization of lake sediment WEON by Fourier transform ion cyclotron resonance mass spectrometry and its environmental implications.

PubMed

Zhang, Li; Wang, Shengrui; Xu, Yisheng; Shi, Quan; Zhao, Haichao; Jiang, Bin; Yang, Jiachun

2016-12-01

The compositional properties of water-extractable organic nitrogen (WEON) affect its behavior in lake ecosystems. This work is the first comprehensive study using Fourier transform ion cyclotron resonance mass spectrometry (FT-ICR MS) for the characterization of the molecular composition of WEON in lake sediment. In sediments of Erhai Lake in China, this study found complex WEON species, with N-containing compounds in the northern, central, and southern regions contributing 34.47%, 42.44%, and 40.6%, respectively, of total compounds. Additionally, a van Krevelen diagram revealed that lignin components were dominant in sediment WEON structures (68% of the total), suggesting terrestrial sources. Furthermore, this study applied ESI-FT-ICR-MS to the examination of the environmental processes of lake sediment WEON on a molecular level. The results indicated that sediment depth impacted WEON composition and geochemical processes. Compared with other ecosystems, the double bond equivalent (DBE) value was apparently lower in Erhai sediment, indicating the presence of relatively fewer and smaller aromatic compounds. In addition, the presence of a large number of N-containing species and abundant oxidized nitrogen functional compounds that were likely to biodegrade may have further increased the potential releasing risk of WEON from Erhai sediment under certain environmental conditions. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

SOCIODEMOGRAPHIC DATA USED FOR IDENTIFYING ...

EPA Pesticide Factsheets

Due to unique social and demographic characteristics, various segments of the population may experience exposures different from those of the general population, which, in many cases, may be greater. When risk assessments do not characterize subsets of the general population, the populations that may experience the greatest risk remain unidentified. When such populations are not identified, the social and demographic data relevant to these populations is not considered when preparing exposure estimates, which can underestimate exposure and risk estimates for at-risk populations. Thus, it is necessary for risk or exposure assessors characterizing a diverse population, to first identify and then enumerate certain groups within the general population who are at risk for greater contaminant exposures. The document entitled Sociodemographic Data Used for Identifying Potentially Highly Exposed Populations (also referred to as the Highly Exposed Populations document), assists assessors in identifying and enumerating potentially highly exposed populations. This document presents data relating to factors which potentially impact an individual or group's exposure to environmental contaminants based on activity patterns (how time is spent), microenvironments (locations where time is spent), and other socio-demographic data such as age, gender, race and economic status. Populations potentially more exposed to various chemicals of concern, relative to the general population

Disconnect of microbial structure and function: enzyme activities and bacterial communities in nascent stream corridors.

PubMed

Frossard, Aline; Gerull, Linda; Mutz, Michael; Gessner, Mark O

2012-03-01

A fundamental issue in microbial and general ecology is the question to what extent environmental conditions dictate the structure of communities and the linkages with functional properties of ecosystems (that is, ecosystem function). We approached this question by taking advantage of environmental gradients established in soil and sediments of small stream corridors in a recently created, early successional catchment. Specifically, we determined spatial and temporal patterns of bacterial community structure and their linkages with potential microbial enzyme activities along the hydrological flow paths of the catchment. Soil and sediments were sampled in a total of 15 sites on four occasions spread throughout a year. Denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis (DGGE) was used to characterize bacterial communities, and substrate analogs linked to fluorescent molecules served to track 10 different enzymes as specific measures of ecosystem function. Potential enzyme activities varied little among sites, despite contrasting environmental conditions, especially in terms of water availability. Temporal changes, in contrast, were pronounced and remarkably variable among the enzymes tested. This suggests much greater importance of temporal dynamics than spatial heterogeneity in affecting specific ecosystem functions. Most strikingly, bacterial community structure revealed neither temporal nor spatial patterns. The resulting disconnect between bacterial community structure and potential enzyme activities indicates high functional redundancy within microbial communities even in the physically and biologically simplified stream corridors of early successional landscapes.

RCRA Facility Investigation report for Waste Area Grouping 6 at Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, Tennessee. Volume 1. Sections 1 through 3

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

None

1991-09-01

WAG 6 comprises a shallow land burial facility used for disposal of low-level radioactive wastes (LLW) and, until recently, chemical wastes. As such, the site is subject to regulation under RCRA and the Comprehensive Environmental Response Compensation and Liability Act (CERCLA). To comply with these regulations, DOE, in conjunction with the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation (TDEC), developed a strategy for closure and remediation of WAG 6 by 1997. A key component of this strategy was to complete an RFI by September 1991. The primary objectives of the RFI were to evaluate themore » site's potential human health and environmental impacts and to develop a preliminary list of alternatives to mitigate these impacts. The WAG 6 one of three solid waste management units evaluated Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) existing waste disposal records and sampling data and performed the additional sampling and analysis necessary to: describe the nature and extent of contamination; characterize key contaminant transport pathways; and assess potential risks to human health and the environment by developing and evaluating hypothetical receptor scenarios. Estimated excess lifetime cancer risks as a result for exposure to radionuclides and chemicals were quantified for each hypothetical human receptor. For environmental receptors, potential impacts were qualitatively assessed. Taking into account regulatory requirements and base line risk assessment results, preliminary site closure and remediation objectives were identified, and a preliminary list of alternatives for site closure and remediation was developed.« less

Environmental Analysis of Endocrine Disrupting Effects from Hydrocarbon Contaminants in the Ecosystem - Final Report - 09/15/1996 - 09/14/2000

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

McLachlan, John A.

The three major components of the research included: (a) a biotechnology based screening system to identify potential hormone mimics and antagonists (b) an animal screening system to identify biomarkers of endocrine effects and (c) a literature review to identify compounds at various DOE sites that are potential endocrine disruptors. Species of particular interest in this study were those that can serve as sentinel species (e.g., amphibians) and thus provide early warning signals for more widespread impacts on an ecosystem and its wildlife and human inhabitants. The objective of this basic research is to characterize the potential of common hydrocarbon contaminantsmore » in ecosystems to act as endocrine disruptors. Although the endocrine disrupting effects of contaminants such as dioxin and PCBs have been well characterized in both animals and humans, little is known about the capacities of other hydrocarbon contaminants to act as endocrine disruptors. Results obtained from this research project have provided information on endocrine disrupting contaminants for consideration in DOE's risk analyses for determining clean-up levels and priorities at contaminated DOE sites.« less

Investigation of Hygro-Thermal Aging on Carbon/Epoxy Materials for Jet Engine Fan Sections

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Kohlman, Lee W.; Roberts, Gary D.; Miller, Sandi G.; Pereira, J. Michael

2011-01-01

This poster summarizes 2 years of aging on E862 epoxy and E862 epoxy with triaxial braided T700s carbon fiber composite. Several test methods were used to characterize chemical, physical, and mechanical properties of both the resin and composite materials. The aging cycle that was used included varying temperature and humidity exposure. The goal was to evaluate the environmental effects on a potential jet engine fan section material. Some changes were noted in the resin which resulted in increased brittleness, though this did not significantly affect the tensile and impact test results. A potential decrease in compression strength requires additional investigation.

A characterization of the ZFL cell line and primary hepatocytes as in vitro liver cell models for the zebrafish (Danio rerio).

PubMed

Eide, Marta; Rusten, Marte; Male, Rune; Jensen, Knut Helge Midtbø; Goksøyr, Anders

2014-02-01

The zebrafish (Danio rerio) is a widely used model species in biomedical research. The ZFL cell line, established from zebrafish liver, and freshly isolated primary hepatocytes from zebrafish have been used in several toxicological studies. However, no previous report has compared and characterized these two systems at the level of gene expression. The aim of this study was to evaluate the ZFL cell line in comparison to primary hepatocytes as in vitro models for studying effects of environmental contaminants in zebrafish liver. Using quantitative real-time PCR, the basal level and transcriptional induction potential of key genes involved in toxic responses in the ZFL cell line, primary hepatocytes and whole liver from zebrafish were compared. The study showed that the ZFL cells have lower levels of mRNA of most selected genes compared to zebrafish liver. The induced gene transcription following exposure to ligand was much lower in ZFL cells compared to zebrafish primary hepatocytes at the doses tested. Importantly, oestrogen receptor and vitellogenin genes showed low basal transcription and no induction response in the ZFL cell line. In conclusion, it appears that primary hepatocytes are well suited for studying environmental contaminants including xenoestrogens, but may show large sex-dependent differences in gene transcription. The ZFL cell line shows potential in toxicological studies involving the aryl hydrocarbon receptor pathway. However, low potential for transcriptional induction of genes in general should be expected, especially notable when studying estrogenic responses. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Properties of biochar derived from wood and high-nutrient biomasses with the aim of agronomic and environmental benefits.

PubMed

Domingues, Rimena R; Trugilho, Paulo F; Silva, Carlos A; Melo, Isabel Cristina N A de; Melo, Leônidas C A; Magriotis, Zuy M; Sánchez-Monedero, Miguel A

2017-01-01

Biochar production and use are part of the modern agenda to recycle wastes, and to retain nutrients, pollutants, and heavy metals in the soil and to offset some greenhouse gas emissions. Biochars from wood (eucalyptus sawdust, pine bark), sugarcane bagasse, and substances rich in nutrients (coffee husk, chicken manure) produced at 350, 450 and 750°C were characterized to identify agronomic and environmental benefits, which may enhance soil quality. Biochars derived from wood and sugarcane have greater potential for improving C storage in tropical soils due to a higher aromatic character, high C concentration, low H/C ratio, and FTIR spectra features as compared to nutrient-rich biochars. The high ash content associated with alkaline chemical species such as KHCO3 and CaCO3, verified by XRD analysis, made chicken manure and coffee husk biochars potential liming agents for remediating acidic soils. High Ca and K contents in chicken manure and coffee husk biomass can significantly replace conventional sources of K (mostly imported in Brazil) and Ca, suggesting a high agronomic value for these biochars. High-ash biochars, such as chicken manure and coffee husk, produced at low-temperatures (350 and 450°C) exhibited high CEC values, which can be considered as a potential applicable material to increase nutrient retention in soil. Therefore, the agronomic value of the biochars in this study is predominantly regulated by the nutrient richness of the biomass, but an increase in pyrolysis temperature to 750°C can strongly decrease the adsorptive capacities of chicken manure and coffee husk biochars. A diagram of the agronomic potential and environmental benefits is presented, along with some guidelines to relate biochar properties with potential agronomic and environmental uses. Based on biochar properties, research needs are identified and directions for future trials are delineated.

Properties of biochar derived from wood and high-nutrient biomasses with the aim of agronomic and environmental benefits

PubMed Central

Trugilho, Paulo F.; Silva, Carlos A.; de Melo, Isabel Cristina N. A.; Melo, Leônidas C. A.; Magriotis, Zuy M.; Sánchez-Monedero, Miguel A.

2017-01-01

Biochar production and use are part of the modern agenda to recycle wastes, and to retain nutrients, pollutants, and heavy metals in the soil and to offset some greenhouse gas emissions. Biochars from wood (eucalyptus sawdust, pine bark), sugarcane bagasse, and substances rich in nutrients (coffee husk, chicken manure) produced at 350, 450 and 750°C were characterized to identify agronomic and environmental benefits, which may enhance soil quality. Biochars derived from wood and sugarcane have greater potential for improving C storage in tropical soils due to a higher aromatic character, high C concentration, low H/C ratio, and FTIR spectra features as compared to nutrient-rich biochars. The high ash content associated with alkaline chemical species such as KHCO3 and CaCO3, verified by XRD analysis, made chicken manure and coffee husk biochars potential liming agents for remediating acidic soils. High Ca and K contents in chicken manure and coffee husk biomass can significantly replace conventional sources of K (mostly imported in Brazil) and Ca, suggesting a high agronomic value for these biochars. High-ash biochars, such as chicken manure and coffee husk, produced at low-temperatures (350 and 450°C) exhibited high CEC values, which can be considered as a potential applicable material to increase nutrient retention in soil. Therefore, the agronomic value of the biochars in this study is predominantly regulated by the nutrient richness of the biomass, but an increase in pyrolysis temperature to 750°C can strongly decrease the adsorptive capacities of chicken manure and coffee husk biochars. A diagram of the agronomic potential and environmental benefits is presented, along with some guidelines to relate biochar properties with potential agronomic and environmental uses. Based on biochar properties, research needs are identified and directions for future trials are delineated. PMID:28493951

Systematic Proteomic Approach to Characterize the Impacts of Chemical Interactions on Protein and Cytotoxicity Responses to Metal Mixture Exposures

EPA Science Inventory

Chemical interactions have posed a big challenge in toxicity characterization and human health risk assessment of environmental mixtures. To characterize the impacts of chemical interactions on protein and cytotoxicity responses to environmental mixtures, we established a systems...

Chemical characterization and ecotoxicity of three soil foaming agents used in mechanized tunneling.

PubMed

Baderna, Diego; Lomazzi, Eleonora; Passoni, Alice; Pogliaghi, Alberto; Petoumenou, Maria Ifigeneia; Bagnati, Renzo; Lodi, Marco; Viarengo, Aldo; Sforzini, Susanna; Benfenati, Emilio; Fanelli, Roberto

2015-10-15

The construction of tunnels and rocks with mechanized drills produces several tons of rocky debris that are today recycled as construction material or as soil replacement for covering rocky areas. The lack of accurate information about the environmental impact of these excavated rocks and foaming agents added during the excavation process has aroused increasing concern for ecosystems and human health. The present study proposes an integrated approach to the assessment of the potential environmental impact of three foaming agents containing different anionic surfactants and other polymers currently on the market and used in tunnel boring machines. The strategy includes chemical characterization with high resolution mass spectrometry techniques to identify the components of each product, the use of in silico tools to perform a similarity comparison among these compounds and some pollutants already listed in regulatory frameworks to identify possible threshold concentrations of contamination, and the application of a battery of ecotoxicological assays to investigate the impact of each foaming mixture on model organisms of soil (higher plants and Eisenia andrei) and water communities (Daphnia magna). The study identified eleven compounds not listed on the material safety data sheets for which we have identified possible concentrations of contamination based on existing regulatory references. The bioassays allowed us to determine the no effect concentrations (NOAECs) of the three mixtures, which were subsequently used as threshold concentration for the product in its entirety. The technical mixtures used in this study have a different degree of toxicity and the predicted environmental concentrations based on the conditions of use are lower than the NOAEC for soils but higher than the NOAEC for water, posing a potential risk to the waters due to the levels of foaming agents in the muck. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Radium geochemical monitoring in well waters at regional and local scales: an environmental impact indicator-based approach.

PubMed

Lagacé, François; Foucher, Delphine; Surette, Céline; Clarisse, Olivier

2018-04-18

To assess radium ( 226 Ra) as a potential indicator of impact in well waters, we investigated its behavior under natural conditions using a case study approach. 226 Ra geochemistry was investigated in 67 private wells of southeastern New Brunswick, Canada, a region targeted for potential shale gas exploitation. Objectives were to i) establish 226 Ra baseline in groundwater; ii) characterize 226 Ra spatial distribution and temporal variability; iii) characterize 226 Ra partitioning between dissolved phase and particulate forms in well waters; and iv) understand the mechanisms controlling 226 Ra mobility under natural environmental settings. 226 Ra levels were generally low (median = 0.061 pg L -1 , or 2.2 mBq L -1 ), stable over time, and randomly distributed. A principal component analysis revealed that concentrations of 226 Ra were controlled by key water geochemistry factors: the highest levels were observed in waters with high hardness, and/or high concentrations of individual alkaline earth elements (i.e. Mg, Ca, Sr, Ba), high concentrations of Mn and Fe, and low pH. As for partitioning, 226 Ra was essentially observed in the dissolved phase (106 ± 19%) suggesting that the geochemical conditions of groundwater in the studied regions are prone to limit 226 Ra sorption, enhancing its mobility. Overall, this study provided comprehensive knowledge on 226 Ra background distribution at local and regional scales. Moreover, it provided a framework to establish 226 Ra baselines and determine which geochemical conditions to monitor in well waters in order to use this radionuclide as an indicator of environmental impact caused by anthropogenic activities (e.g. unconventional shale gas exploitation, uranium mining, or nuclear generating power plants). Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Characterization of Environmental Sources of the Human and Animal Pathogen Cryptococcus gattii in British Columbia, Canada, and the Pacific Northwest of the United States▿

PubMed Central

Kidd, Sarah E.; Chow, Yat; Mak, Sunny; Bach, Paxton J.; Chen, Huiming; Hingston, Adrian O.; Kronstad, James W.; Bartlett, Karen H.

2007-01-01

Cryptococcus gattii has recently emerged as a primary pathogen of humans and wild and domesticated animals in British Columbia, particularly on Vancouver Island. C. gattii infections are typically infections of the pulmonary and/or the central nervous system, and the incidence of infection in British Columbia is currently the highest reported globally. Prior to this emergence, the environmental distribution of and the extent of colonization by C. gattii in British Columbia were unknown. We characterized the environmental sources and potential determinants of colonization in British Columbia. C. gattii was isolated from tree surfaces, soil, air, freshwater, and seawater, and no seasonal prevalence was observed. The C. gattii concentrations in air samples were significantly higher during the warm, dry summer months, although potentially infectious propagules (<3.3 μm in diameter) were present throughout the year. Positive samples were obtained from many different areas of British Columbia, and some locations were colonization “hot spots.” C. gattii was generally isolated from acidic soil, and geographic differences in soil pH may influence the extent of colonization. C. gattii soil colonization also was associated with low moisture and low organic carbon contents. Most of the C. gattii isolates recovered belonged to the VGIIa genetic subtype; however, sympatric colonization by the VGIIb strain was observed at most locations. At one sampling site, VGIIa, VGIIb, VGI, and the Cryptococcus neoformans serotype AD hybrid all were coisolated. Our findings indicate extensive colonization by C. gattii within British Columbia and highlight an expansion of the ecological niche of this pathogen. PMID:17194837

A Model For Change: An Approach for Forecasting Well-Being ...

EPA Pesticide Factsheets

Every community decision incorporates a "forecasting" strategy (whether formal or implicit) to help visualize expected results and evaluate the potential “feelings” that people living in that community may have about those results. With more communities seeking to make decisions based on sustainable alternatives, forecasting efforts that examine potential impacts of decisions on overall community well-being may prove to be valuable for not only gaging future benefits and trade-offs, but also for recognizing a community’s affective response to the outcomes of those decisions. This paper describes a forecasting approach based on concepts introduced in the development of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (US EPA) Human Well-Being Index (HWBI) (Smith, et. al. 2014; Summers et al. 2014). The approach examines the relationships among selected economic, environmental and social services that can be directly impacted by community decisions and eight domains of human well-being. Using models developed from constructed- or fixed-effect step-wise and multiple regressions and eleven years of data (2000-2010), these relationship functions may be used to characterize likely direct impacts of decisions on future well-being as well as the possible intended and unintended secondary and tertiary effects relative to any main decision effects. This paper describes an approach to using HWBI in decision making models to characterize likely impacts of decisions on fut

Quantitative and nutritional characterization of fruit and vegetable waste from marketplace: a potential use as bovine feedstuff?

PubMed

Angulo, Joaquin; Mahecha, Liliana; Yepes, Sergio A; Yepes, Angela M; Bustamante, Gilberto; Jaramillo, Harold; Valencia, Edward; Villamil, Tomás; Gallo, Jorge

2012-03-01

There are different sources for the generation of solid waste, and marketplaces are considered one of them. Fruit and vegetable waste (FV) from a marketplace in Colombia was quantitatively and nutritionally characterized to contribute to its use in bovine feeding and to contribute minimizing its environmental impact. The evaluation was carried out 7 days per week during 4 periods of the year. FV was grouped by cluster analysis using SAS(®) 2006. FV was composed of 43% fruit, 30% vegetables and 27% stems, leaves, leaf wrappers, corncobs, roots, refuse and others. FV was defined in four main groups. On average, FV contained 10% crude protein (CP), 36.6% neutral detergent fiber (NDF), 29.6% acid detergent fiber (ADF), 87.8% ruminal degradability at 24 h, 3657 kcal/kg, 0.59% calcium (Ca(+2)), and 0.21% phosphorous (P). There were no statistical differences between days or between periods of evaluation (p > 0.05) for CP or for Ca(+2). As for NDF and ADF, there were statistically significant differences between periods but not between days. The microbiological parameters only increased when the humidity was up to 12%. FV represents a potential feedstuff for bovine feeding, and its recycling could avoid the discharge of a large amount of waste to landfills, which would minimize its environmental impact. Copyright © 2010. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

Deployment Effects of Marin Renewable Energy Technologies

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Brian Polagye; Mirko Previsic

2010-06-17

Given proper care in siting, design, deployment, operation and maintenance, marine and hydrokinetic technologies could become one of the more environmentally benign sources of electricity generation. In order to accelerate the adoption of these emerging hydrokinetic and marine energy technologies, navigational and environmental concerns must be identified and addressed. All developing hydrokinetic projects involve a wide variety of stakeholders. One of the key issues that site developers face as they engage with this range of stakeholders is that many of the possible conflicts (e.g., shipping and fishing) and environmental issues are not well-understood, due to a lack of technical certainty.more » In September 2008, re vision consulting, LLC was selected by the Department of Energy (DoE) to apply a scenario-based approach to the emerging wave and tidal technology sectors in order to evaluate the impact of these technologies on the marine environment and potentially conflicting uses. The project’s scope of work includes the establishment of baseline scenarios for wave and tidal power conversion at potential future deployment sites. The scenarios will capture variations in technical approaches and deployment scales to properly identify and characterize environmental impacts and navigational effects. The goal of the project is to provide all stakeholders with an improved understanding of the potential effects of these emerging technologies and focus all stakeholders onto the critical issues that need to be addressed. This groundwork will also help in streamlining siting and associated permitting processes, which are considered key hurdles for the industry’s development in the U.S. today. Re vision is coordinating its efforts with two other project teams funded by DoE which are focused on regulatory and navigational issues. The results of this study are structured into three reports: 1. Wave power scenario description 2. Tidal power scenario description 3. Framework for Identifying Key Environmental Concerns This is the second report in the sequence and describes the results of conceptual feasibility studies of tidal power plants deployed in Tacoma Narrows, Washington. The Narrows contain many of the same competing stakeholder interactions identified at other tidal power sites and serves as a representative case study. Tidal power remains at an early stage of development. As such, a wide range of different technologies are being pursued by different manufacturers. In order to properly characterize impacts, it is useful to characterize the range of technologies that could be deployed at the site of interest. An industry survey informs the process of selecting representative tidal power devices. The selection criteria is that such devices are at an advanced stage of development to reduce technical uncertainties and that enough data are available from the manufacturers to inform the conceptual design process of this study. Further, an attempt is made to cover the range of different technologies under development to capture variations in potential environmental effects. A number of other developers are also at an advanced stage of development including Verdant Power, which has demonstrated an array of turbines in the East River of New York, Clean Current, which has demonstrated a device off Race Rocks, BC, and OpenHydro, which has demonstrated a device at the European Marine Energy Test Center and is on the verge of deploying a larger device in the Bay of Fundy. MCT demonstrated their device both at Devon (UK) and Strangford Narrows (Northern Ireland). Furthermore OpenHydro, CleanCurrent, and MCT are the three devices being installed at the Minas Passage (Canada). Environmental effects will largely scale with the size of tidal power development. In many cases, the effects of a single device may not be measurable, while larger scale device arrays may have cumulative impacts that differ significantly from smaller scale deployments. In order to characterize these effects, scenarios are established at three deployment scales which nominally represent (1) a small pilot deployment, (2) an early, small commercial deployment, and (3) a large commercial scale plant. For the three technologies and scales at the selected site, this results in a total of nine deployment scenarios outlined in the report.« less

Using structural equation modeling to investigate relationships among ecological variables

USGS Publications Warehouse

Malaeb, Z.A.; Kevin, Summers J.; Pugesek, B.H.

2000-01-01

Structural equation modeling is an advanced multivariate statistical process with which a researcher can construct theoretical concepts, test their measurement reliability, hypothesize and test a theory about their relationships, take into account measurement errors, and consider both direct and indirect effects of variables on one another. Latent variables are theoretical concepts that unite phenomena under a single term, e.g., ecosystem health, environmental condition, and pollution (Bollen, 1989). Latent variables are not measured directly but can be expressed in terms of one or more directly measurable variables called indicators. For some researchers, defining, constructing, and examining the validity of latent variables may be the end task of itself. For others, testing hypothesized relationships of latent variables may be of interest. We analyzed the correlation matrix of eleven environmental variables from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's (USEPA) Environmental Monitoring and Assessment Program for Estuaries (EMAP-E) using methods of structural equation modeling. We hypothesized and tested a conceptual model to characterize the interdependencies between four latent variables-sediment contamination, natural variability, biodiversity, and growth potential. In particular, we were interested in measuring the direct, indirect, and total effects of sediment contamination and natural variability on biodiversity and growth potential. The model fit the data well and accounted for 81% of the variability in biodiversity and 69% of the variability in growth potential. It revealed a positive total effect of natural variability on growth potential that otherwise would have been judged negative had we not considered indirect effects. That is, natural variability had a negative direct effect on growth potential of magnitude -0.3251 and a positive indirect effect mediated through biodiversity of magnitude 0.4509, yielding a net positive total effect of 0.1258. Natural variability had a positive direct effect on biodiversity of magnitude 0.5347 and a negative indirect effect mediated through growth potential of magnitude -0.1105 yielding a positive total effects of magnitude 0.4242. Sediment contamination had a negative direct effect on biodiversity of magnitude -0.1956 and a negative indirect effect on growth potential via biodiversity of magnitude -0.067. Biodiversity had a positive effect on growth potential of magnitude 0.8432, and growth potential had a positive effect on biodiversity of magnitude 0.3398. The correlation between biodiversity and growth potential was estimated at 0.7658 and that between sediment contamination and natural variability at -0.3769.

Regionalization of land use impact models for life cycle assessment: Recommendations for their use on the global scale and their applicability to Brazil

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Pavan, Ana Laura Raymundo, E-mail: laurarpavan@gmail.com; Ometto, Aldo Roberto; Department of Production Engineering, São Carlos School of Engineering, University of São Paulo, Av. Trabalhador São-Carlense 400, São Carlos 13566-590, SP

Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) is the main technique for evaluate the environmental impacts of product life cycles. A major challenge in the field of LCA is spatial and temporal differentiation in Life Cycle Impact Assessment (LCIA) methods, especially impacts resulting from land occupation and land transformation. Land use characterization modeling has advanced considerably over the last two decades and many approaches have recently included crucial aspects such as geographic differentiation. Nevertheless, characterization models have so far not been systematically reviewed and evaluated to determine their applicability to South America. Given that Brazil is the largest country in South America, thismore » paper analyzes the main international characterization models currently available in the literature, with a view to recommending regionalized models applicable on a global scale for land use life cycle impact assessments, and discusses their feasibility for regionalized assessment in Brazil. The analytical methodology involves classification based on the following criteria: midpoint/endpoint approach, scope of application, area of data collection, biogeographical differentiation, definition of recovery time and reference situation; followed by an evaluation of thirteen scientific robustness and environmental relevance subcriteria. The results of the scope of application are distributed among 25% of the models developed for the European context, and 50% have a global scope. There is no consensus in the literature about the definition of parameters such biogeographical differentiation and reference situation, and our review indicates that 35% of the models use ecoregion division while 40% use the concept of potential natural vegetation. Four characterization models show high scores in terms of scientific robustness and environmental relevance. These models are recommended for application in land use life cycle impact assessments, and also to serve as references for the development or adaptation of regional methodological procedures for Brazil. - Highlights: • A discussion is made on performing regionalized impact assessments using spatial differentiation in LCA. • A review is made of 20 characterization models for land use impacts in Life Cycle Impact Assessment. • Four characterization models are recommended according to different land use impact pathways for application in Brazil.« less

Mineral-microbe interactions: biotechnological potential of bioweathering.

PubMed

Mapelli, Francesca; Marasco, Ramona; Balloi, Annalisa; Rolli, Eleonora; Cappitelli, Francesca; Daffonchio, Daniele; Borin, Sara

2012-02-20

Mineral-microbe interaction has been a key factor shaping the lithosphere of our planet since the Precambrian. Detailed investigation has been mainly focused on the role of bioweathering in biomining processes, leading to the selection of highly efficient microbial inoculants for the recovery of metals. Here we expand this scenario, presenting additional applications of bacteria and fungi in mineral dissolution, a process with novel biotechnological potential that has been poorly investigated. The ability of microorganisms to trigger soil formation and to sustain plant establishment and growth are suggested as invaluable tools to counteract the expansion of arid lands and to increase crop productivity. Furthermore, interesting exploitations of mineral weathering microbes are represented by biorestoration and bioremediation technologies, innovative and competitive solutions characterized by economical and environmental advantages. Overall, in the future the study and application of the metabolic properties of microbial communities capable of weathering can represent a driving force in the expanding sector of environmental biotechnology. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

The N2-P3 complex of the evoked potential and human performance

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Odonnell, Brian F.; Cohen, Ronald A.

1988-01-01

The N2-P3 complex and other endogenous components of human evoked potential provide a set of tools for the investigation of human perceptual and cognitive processes. These multidimensional measures of central nervous system bioelectrical activity respond to a variety of environmental and internal factors which have been experimentally characterized. Their application to the analysis of human performance in naturalistic task environments is just beginning. Converging evidence suggests that the N2-P3 complex reflects processes of stimulus evaluation, perceptual resource allocation, and decision making that proceed in parallel, rather than in series, with response generation. Utilization of these EP components may provide insights into the central nervous system mechanisms modulating task performance unavailable from behavioral measures alone. The sensitivity of the N2-P3 complex to neuropathology, psychopathology, and pharmacological manipulation suggests that these components might provide sensitive markers for the effects of environmental stressors on the human central nervous system.

Development of a statistical oil spill model for risk assessment.

PubMed

Guo, Weijun

2017-11-01

To gain a better understanding of the impacts from potential risk sources, we developed an oil spill model using probabilistic method, which simulates numerous oil spill trajectories under varying environmental conditions. The statistical results were quantified from hypothetical oil spills under multiple scenarios, including area affected probability, mean oil slick thickness, and duration of water surface exposed to floating oil. The three sub-indices together with marine area vulnerability are merged to compute the composite index, characterizing the spatial distribution of risk degree. Integral of the index can be used to identify the overall risk from an emission source. The developed model has been successfully applied in comparison to and selection of an appropriate oil port construction location adjacent to a marine protected area for Phoca largha in China. The results highlight the importance of selection of candidates before project construction, since that risk estimation from two adjacent potential sources may turn out to be significantly different regarding hydrodynamic conditions and eco-environmental sensitivity. Copyright © 2017. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

Urban Power Line Corridors as Novel Habitats for Grassland and Alien Plant Species in South-Western Finland

PubMed Central

Lampinen, Jussi; Ruokolainen, Kalle; Huhta, Ari-Pekka

2015-01-01

Regularly managed electric power line corridors may provide habitats for both early-successional grassland plant species and disturbance-dependent alien plant species. These habitats are especially important in urban areas, where they can help conserve native grassland species and communities in urban greenspace. However, they can also provide further footholds for potentially invasive alien species that already characterize urban areas. In order to implement power line corridors into urban conservation, it is important to understand which environmental conditions in the corridors favor grassland species and which alien species. Likewise it is important to know whether similar environmental factors in the corridors control the species composition of the two groups. We conducted a vegetation study in a 43 kilometer long urban power line corridor network in south-western Finland, and used generalized linear models and distance-based redundancy analysis to determine which environmental factors best predict the occurrence and composition of grassland and alien plant species in the corridors. The results imply that old corridors on dry soils and steep slopes characterized by a history as open areas and pastures are especially suitable for grassland species. Corridors suitable for alien species, in turn, are characterized by productive soils and abundant light and are surrounded by a dense urban fabric. Factors controlling species composition in the two groups are somewhat correlated, with the most important factors including light abundance, soil moisture, soil calcium concentration and soil productivity. The results have implications for grassland conservation and invasive alien species control in urban areas. PMID:26565700

Urban Power Line Corridors as Novel Habitats for Grassland and Alien Plant Species in South-Western Finland.

PubMed

Lampinen, Jussi; Ruokolainen, Kalle; Huhta, Ari-Pekka

2015-01-01

Regularly managed electric power line corridors may provide habitats for both early-successional grassland plant species and disturbance-dependent alien plant species. These habitats are especially important in urban areas, where they can help conserve native grassland species and communities in urban greenspace. However, they can also provide further footholds for potentially invasive alien species that already characterize urban areas. In order to implement power line corridors into urban conservation, it is important to understand which environmental conditions in the corridors favor grassland species and which alien species. Likewise it is important to know whether similar environmental factors in the corridors control the species composition of the two groups. We conducted a vegetation study in a 43 kilometer long urban power line corridor network in south-western Finland, and used generalized linear models and distance-based redundancy analysis to determine which environmental factors best predict the occurrence and composition of grassland and alien plant species in the corridors. The results imply that old corridors on dry soils and steep slopes characterized by a history as open areas and pastures are especially suitable for grassland species. Corridors suitable for alien species, in turn, are characterized by productive soils and abundant light and are surrounded by a dense urban fabric. Factors controlling species composition in the two groups are somewhat correlated, with the most important factors including light abundance, soil moisture, soil calcium concentration and soil productivity. The results have implications for grassland conservation and invasive alien species control in urban areas.

The Molecular Ecology of Guerrero Negro: Justifying the Need for Environmental Genomics

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Smith, Jason M.; Green, Stefan J.; Moisander, Pia; Roberts, Kathryn J.; Francis, Chris; Prufert-Bebout, Leslie; Bebout, Brad M.

2006-01-01

The record of life on the only planet where it is known to exist is contained in the biogeochemical processes that organisms catalyze for their survival, in the compounds that they produce, and in their phylogenetic (evolutionary) relationships to each other. We manipulated sulfate and nutrient concentrations in intact microbial mats over periods of time up to a year. The objectives of the manipulations were: 1) characterize the diversity of process-associated functional genes; 2) understand environmental conditions leading to shifts in microbial guilds; 3) monitor/identify competitive responses of organisms sharing a metabolic niche. Characterization of functional genes associated with carbon (mcrA), nitrogen (nifH, nirK) and sulfur (dsrkB) cycling performed to date provided insight into the diversity and metabolic potential of the system; however, we only identified broad scale correlations between gene abundances and changes in mat physiology. For instance, increases in methane production by mats subjected to lowered sulfate and salinity concentrations were correlated with an observed increase in abundance of hydrogenotroph-like mcrA genes. However, due to low sequence similarity to any cultured isolates, phylogenetic associations only allow order level taxonomic commentary, preventing any associations being made on the cellular level. In each of the genes characterized from these experiments, a significant portion of sequences recovered show minimal phylogenetic affiliation to cultured organisms, preventing any understanding of inter-community dynamics and the functional capacities of these unknown organisms. Environmental genomics may provide insight into mat systems by allowing the correlation of functional genes with phylogenetic markers.

Effect of environmental conditions on the relationship between solar-induced fluorescence and gross primary productivity at an OzFlux grassland site

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Verma, Manish; Schimel, David; Evans, Bradley; Frankenberg, Christian; Beringer, Jason; Drewry, Darren T.; Magney, Troy; Marang, Ian; Hutley, Lindsay; Moore, Caitlin; Eldering, Annmarie

2017-03-01

Recent studies have utilized coarse spatial and temporal resolution remotely sensed solar-induced fluorescence (SIF) for modeling terrestrial gross primary productivity (GPP) at regional scales. Although these studies have demonstrated the potential of SIF, there have been concerns about the ecophysiological basis of the relationship between SIF and GPP in different environmental conditions. Launched in 2014, the Orbiting Carbon Observatory-2 (OCO-2) has enabled fine-scale (1.3 by 2.5 km) retrievals of SIF that are comparable with measurements recorded at eddy covariance towers. In this study, we examine the effect of environmental conditions on the relationship of OCO-2 SIF with tower GPP over the course of a growing season at a well-characterized natural grassland site. Combining OCO-2 SIF and eddy covariance tower data with a canopy radiative transfer and an ecosystem model, we also assess the potential of OCO-2 SIF to constrain the estimates of Vcmax, one of the most important parameters in ecosystem models. Based on the results, we suggest that although environmental conditions play a role in determining the nature of relationship between SIF and GPP, overall, the linear relationship is more robust at ecosystem scale than the theory based on leaf-level processes might suggest. Our study also shows that the ability of SIF to constrain Vcmax is weak at the selected site.

Isolation and genotyping of free-living environmental isolates of Acanthamoeba spp. from bromeliads in Southern Brazil.

PubMed

Landell, Melissa Fontes; Salton, Juliana; Caumo, Karin; Broetto, Leonardo; Rott, Marilise B

2013-07-01

Species of Acanthamoeba are frequently isolated from distinct environmental sources such as water, soil, dust and air. They are responsible to cause infections and disease in humans and animals. In addition, Acanthamoeba sp. are considered an important reservoir of bacteria, virus and fungi, which act as "Trojan horses" to protect these microorganisms of harsh environmental conditions. In this study, nine Acanthamoeba isolates from bromeliads phylloplane were identified based on the morphology of cyst and trophozoite forms. The genotype level was accessed by the sequence analysis of Acanthamoeba small-subunit rRNA gene. Genotypic characterization grouped five isolates in the genotype T2/T6, three in the T4 genotype and one in the genotype T16. The results obtained indicate that the genotype T2/T6 is common on phylloplane. To predict the pathogenic potential of the Acanthamoeba isolates, thermo and osmotolerance assays were employed, although all isolates were capable of surviving at temperatures of 37°C, other tests will be conducted in the future to determine the potential pathogenic of the isolates. Altogether, our results revealed the importance of the presence of Acanthamoeba associated with bromeliads in Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil, and the necessity for further studies to determine the environmental distribution and the role of these species. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Fast degradation of dyes in water using manganese-oxide-coated diatomite for environmental remediation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Dang, Trung-Dung; Banerjee, Arghya Narayan; Tran, Quang-Tung; Roy, Sudipta

2016-11-01

By a simple wet-chemical procedure using a permanganate in the acidic medium, diatomite coated with amorphous manganese oxide nanoparticles was synthesized. The structural, microstructural and morphological characterizations of the as-synthesized catalysts confirmed the nanostructure of MnO2 and its stabilization on the support - diatomite. The highly efficient and rapid degradation of methylene blue and methyl orange over synthesized MnO2 coated Diatomite has been carried out. The results revealed considerably faster degradation of the dyes against the previously reported data. The proposed mechanism of the dye-degradation is considered to be a combinatorial effect of chemical, physicochemical and physical processes. Therefore, the fabricated catalysts have potential application in waste water treatment, and pollution degradation for environmental remediation.

Synthesis and properties of amphiphilic hyperbranched polyethers as pigment dispersant

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Xu, Q.; Zhou, Y. J.; Long, S. J.; Liu, Y. G.; Li, J. H.

2018-01-01

Hyperbranched polymers possess prominent properties such as low viscosity, good solubility, high rheological property, environmental non-toxic, and so on, which have potential applications in coatings. In this study, the amphiphilic hyperbranched polyethers (AHPs) consisting of hydrophobic hyperbranched polyethers core and hydrophilic poly (ethylene glycol) arms with different degree of branching (DB) under various reaction temperatures was prepared by the cation ring-opening polymerization. Their structures were characterized by IR, 13CNMR and GPC. Their dispersion properties for pigment particles were investigated. The AHP47 with 0.47 DB was found to have good dispersion properties for Yellow HGR. This work would provide experimental data and theoretical foundation for the application of hyperbranched polyethers in environmental protection coating.

Perspectives on Carbon Capture and Sequestration in the United States

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wong-Parodi, Gabrielle Mei-Ling

Overall, this dissertation examines a sequence of important interconnected issues: the perspectives of potential and actual CCS host communities, the perspectives of the environmental community on the rationality of CCS as viable mitigation solution for the United States, and strategies for engaging with the public on CCS. Much of the research in this dissertation is original work addressing major interdisciplinary gaps in existing literature as well as in industry and government public engagement practice. Each of the chapters is a stand-alone paper that provides a unique contribution to a series of different types of carbon management technologies and academic disciplines. They are assembled together to provide a unique integrated evaluation of these related problems. Collectively, these chapters capture some of the major challenges facing mitigation technology engagement from the potentially time consuming need for careful social site characterization to the opportunities for using citizen-guided marketing methods to identify factors that may enhance effective public engagement. Chapters 2 and 3 are essays on the perspectives of potential and actual CCS host communities. Chapter 2 finds that host communities in California's Central Valley are more concerned with the social risks of hosting a CCS project (e.g. fear of neglect should something go wrong) rather than with the technical risks of the technology. Chapter 3 finds that host communities across the US are more concerned with social risks, and want a say in how those risks should be mitigated. This Chapter concludes with a discussion of how a 'social site characterization' conducted along side a traditional site characterization when evaluating the potential for a CCS project may be a good way to both encourage positive relationships with community members and mitigate potential concerns. Chapter 4 is an essay on the perspectives of the environmental community towards the potential of CCS as a viable mitigation solution in the US. This Chapter shows that environmental non-governmental organizations' position on CCS falls into one of four camps who believe: CCS should be developed and deployed in the near-term (Enthusiasts), CCS should be studied (Prudents), CCS will likely need to be deployed but only as a last resort (Reluctants), and CCS should not be deployed (Opponents). This Chapter finds that only Enthusiasts plan on educating the public about the technology in the near-term, however their ability to influence the public may be limited because they are more adept at targeting policymakers (not as experienced with the public) and receive much of their funding from industry (not seen as particularly trustworthy). In this dissertation, Chapter 5 is an essay on using citizen-guided emotional messages about CCS as a way to effectively communicate with the energy veteran public. This Chapter finds that Wyoming citizens believe information about CCS presented within an emotionally self-referent framework is likely to be a more persuasive way to garner support for or rejection of the technology amongst the Wyoming public than just the presentation of the same information alone.

The zeta potential of extended dielectrics and conductors in terms of streaming potential and streaming current measurements.

PubMed

Gallardo-Moreno, Amparo M; Vadillo-Rodríguez, Virginia; Perera-Núñez, Julia; Bruque, José M; González-Martín, M Luisa

2012-07-21

The electrical characterization of surfaces in terms of the zeta potential (ζ), i.e., the electric potential contributing to the interaction potential energy, is of major importance in a wide variety of industrial, environmental and biomedical applications in which the integration of any material with the surrounding media is initially mediated by the physico-chemical properties of its outer surface layer. Among the different existing electrokinetic techniques for obtaining ζ, streaming potential (V(str)) and streaming current (I(str)) are important when dealing with flat-extended samples. Mostly dielectric materials have been subjected to this type of analysis and only a few papers can be found in the literature regarding the electrokinetic characterization of conducting materials. Nevertheless, a standardized procedure is typically followed to calculate ζ from the measured data and, importantly, it is shown in this paper that such a procedure leads to incorrect zeta potential values when conductors are investigated. In any case, assessment of a reliable numerical value of ζ requires careful consideration of the origin of the input data and the characteristics of the experimental setup. In particular, it is shown that the cell resistance (R) typically obtained through a.c. signals (R(a.c.)), and needed for the calculations of ζ, always underestimates the zeta potential values obtained from streaming potential measurements. The consideration of R(EK), derived from the V(str)/I(str) ratio, leads to reliable values of ζ when dielectrics are investigated. For metals, the contribution of conductivity of the sample to the cell resistance provokes an underestimation of R(EK), which leads to unrealistic values of ζ. For the electrical characterization of conducting samples I(str) measurements constitute a better choice. In general, the findings gathered in this manuscript establish a measurement protocol for obtaining reliable zeta potentials of dielectrics and conductors based on the intrinsic electrokinetic behavior of both types of samples.

Physical and chemical characterization of waste wood derived biochars.

PubMed

Yargicoglu, Erin N; Sadasivam, Bala Yamini; Reddy, Krishna R; Spokas, Kurt

2015-02-01

Biochar, a solid byproduct generated during waste biomass pyrolysis or gasification in the absence (or near-absence) of oxygen, has recently garnered interest for both agricultural and environmental management purposes owing to its unique physicochemical properties. Favorable properties of biochar include its high surface area and porosity, and ability to adsorb a variety of compounds, including nutrients, organic contaminants, and some gases. Physical and chemical properties of biochars are dictated by the feedstock and production processes (pyrolysis or gasification temperature, conversion technology and pre- and post-treatment processes, if any), which vary widely across commercially produced biochars. In this study, several commercially available biochars derived from waste wood are characterized for physical and chemical properties that can signify their relevant environmental applications. Parameters characterized include: physical properties (particle size distribution, specific gravity, density, porosity, surface area), hydraulic properties (hydraulic conductivity and water holding capacity), and chemical and electrochemical properties (organic matter and organic carbon contents, pH, oxidation-reduction potential and electrical conductivity, zeta potential, carbon, nitrogen and hydrogen (CHN) elemental composition, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), heavy metals, and leachable PAHs and heavy metals). A wide range of fixed carbon (0-47.8%), volatile matter (28-74.1%), and ash contents (1.5-65.7%) were observed among tested biochars. A high variability in surface area (0.1-155.1g/m(2)) and PAH and heavy metal contents of the solid phase among commercially available biochars was also observed (0.7-83 mg kg(-1)), underscoring the importance of pre-screening biochars prior to application. Production conditions appear to dictate PAH content--with the highest PAHs observed in biochar produced via fast pyrolysis and lowest among the gasification-produced biochars. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

A New Approach to Predict Microbial Community Assembly and Function Using a Stochastic, Genome-Enabled Modeling Framework

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

King, E.; Brodie, E.; Anantharaman, K.; Karaoz, U.; Bouskill, N.; Banfield, J. F.; Steefel, C. I.; Molins, S.

2016-12-01

Characterizing and predicting the microbial and chemical compositions of subsurface aquatic systems necessitates an understanding of the metabolism and physiology of organisms that are often uncultured or studied under conditions not relevant for one's environment of interest. Cultivation-independent approaches are therefore important and have greatly enhanced our ability to characterize functional microbial diversity. The capability to reconstruct genomes representing thousands of populations from microbial communities using metagenomic techniques provides a foundation for development of predictive models for community structure and function. Here, we discuss a genome-informed stochastic trait-based model incorporated into a reactive transport framework to represent the activities of coupled guilds of hypothetical microorganisms. Metabolic pathways for each microbe within a functional guild are parameterized from metagenomic data with a unique combination of traits governing organism fitness under dynamic environmental conditions. We simulate the thermodynamics of coupled electron donor and acceptor reactions to predict the energy available for cellular maintenance, respiration, biomass development, and enzyme production. While `omics analyses can now characterize the metabolic potential of microbial communities, it is functionally redundant as well as computationally prohibitive to explicitly include the thousands of recovered organisms into biogeochemical models. However, one can derive potential metabolic pathways from genomes along with trait-linkages to build probability distributions of traits. These distributions are used to assemble groups of microbes that couple one or more of these pathways. From the initial ensemble of microbes, only a subset will persist based on the interaction of their physiological and metabolic traits with environmental conditions, competing organisms, etc. Here, we analyze the predicted niches of these hypothetical microbes and assess the ability of a stochastically assembled community of organisms to predict subsurface biogeochemical dynamics.

Green Synthesis, Characterization and Application of Proanthocyanidins-Functionalized Gold Nanoparticles

PubMed Central

Biao, Linhai; Tan, Shengnan; Meng, Qinghuan; Gao, Jing; Zhang, Xuewei; Liu, Zhiguo; Fu, Yujie

2018-01-01

Green synthesis of gold nanoparticles using plant extracts is one of the more promising approaches for obtaining environmentally friendly nanomaterials for biological applications and environmental remediation. In this study, proanthocyanidins-functionalized gold nanoparticles were synthesized via a hydrothermal method. The obtained gold nanoparticles were characterized by ultraviolet and visible spectrophotometry (UV-Vis), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and X-ray diffraction (XRD) measurements. UV-Vis and FTIR results indicated that the obtained products were mainly spherical in shape, and that the phenolic hydroxyl of proanthocyanidins had strong interactions with the gold surface. TEM and XRD determination revealed that the synthesized gold nanoparticles had a highly crystalline structure and good monodispersity. The application of proanthocyanidins-functionalized gold nanoparticles for the removal of dyes and heavy metal ions Ni2+, Cu2+, Cd2+ and Pb2+ in an aqueous solution was investigated. The primary results indicate that proanthocyanidins-functionalized gold nanoparticles had high removal rates for the heavy metal ions and dye, which implies that they have potential applications as a new kind of adsorbent for the removal of contaminants in aqueous solution. PMID:29361727

Removal of estrogens through water disinfection processes and formation of by-products.

PubMed

Pereira, Renata Oliveira; Postigo, Cristina; de Alda, Miren López; Daniel, Luiz Antonio; Barceló, Damià

2011-02-01

Estrogens constitute a recognized group of environmental emerging contaminants which have been proven to induce estrogenic effects in aquatic organisms exposed to them. Low removal efficiency in wastewater treatment plants results in the presence of this type of contaminants in surface waters and also even in finished drinking water. This manuscript reviews the environmental occurrence of natural (estrone, estradiol and estriol) and synthetic (ethynyl estradiol) estrogens in different water matrices (waste, surface, ground and drinking water), and their removal mainly via chemical oxidative processes. Oxidative treatments have been observed to be very efficient in eliminating estrogens present in water; however, disinfection by-products (DBPs) are generated during the process. Characterization of these DBPs is essential to assess the risk that drinking water may potentially pose to human health since these DBPs may also have endocrine disrupting properties. This manuscript reviews the DBPs generated during oxidative processes identified so far in the literature and the estrogenicity generated by the characterized DBPs and/or by the applied disinfection technology. Copyright © 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Microbial P450 Enzymes in Bioremediation and Drug Discovery: Emerging Potentials and Challenges.

PubMed

Bhattacharya, Sukanta S; Yadav, Jagjit S

2018-01-01

Cytochrome P450 enzymes are a structurally conserved but functionally diverse group of heme-containing mixed function oxidases found across both prokaryotic and eukaryotic forms of the microbial world. Microbial P450s are known to perform diverse functions ranging from the synthesis of cell wall components to xenobiotic/drug metabolism to biodegradation of environmental chemicals. Conventionally, many microbial systems have been reported to mimic mammalian P450-like activation of drugs and were proposed as the in-vitro models of mammalian drug metabolism. Recent reports suggest that native or engineered forms of specific microbial P450s from these and other microbial systems could be employed for desired specific biotransformation reactions toward natural and synthetic (drug) compounds underscoring their emerging potential in drug improvement and discovery. On the other hand, microorganisms particularly fungi and actinomycetes have been shown to possess catabolic P450s with unusual potential to degrade toxic environmental chemicals including persistent organic pollutants (POPs). Wood-rotting basidiomycete fungi in particular have revealed the presence of exceptionally large P450 repertoire (P450ome) in their genomes, majority of which are however orphan (with no known function). Our pre- and post-genomic studies have led to functional characterization of several fungal P450s inducible in response to exposure to several environmental toxicants and demonstration of their potential in bioremediation of these chemicals. This review is an attempt to summarize the postgenomic unveiling of this versatile enzyme superfamily in microbial systems and investigation of their potential to synthesize new drugs and degrade persistent pollutants, among other biotechnological applications. Copyright© Bentham Science Publishers; For any queries, please email at epub@benthamscience.org.

Characterizing incentives: an investigation of wildfire response and environmental entry policy

Treesearch

Jude Bayham

2013-01-01

Policy makers face complex situations involving the analysis and weighting of multiple incentives that complicate the design of natural resource and environmental policy. The objective of this dissertation is to characterize policy makers’ incentives, and to investigate the consequences of those incentives on environmental and economic outcomes in the context of...

Toxicity potentials from waste cellular phones, and a waste management policy integrating consumer, corporate, and government responsibilities

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Lim, Seong-Rin; Schoenung, Julie M., E-mail: jmschoenung@ucdavis.ed

Cellular phones have high environmental impact potentials because of their heavy metal content and current consumer attitudes toward purchasing new phones with higher functionality and neglecting to return waste phones into proper take-back systems. This study evaluates human health and ecological toxicity potentials from waste cellular phones; highlights consumer, corporate, and government responsibilities for effective waste management; and identifies key elements needed for an effective waste management strategy. The toxicity potentials are evaluated by using heavy metal content, respective characterization factors, and a pathway and impact model for heavy metals that considers end-of-life disposal in landfills or by incineration. Cancermore » potentials derive primarily from Pb and As; non-cancer potentials primarily from Cu and Pb; and ecotoxicity potentials primarily from Cu and Hg. These results are not completely in agreement with previous work in which leachability thresholds were the metric used to establish priority, thereby indicating the need for multiple or revised metrics. The triple bottom line of consumer, corporate, and government responsibilities is emphasized in terms of consumer attitudes, design for environment (DfE), and establishment and implementation of waste management systems including recycling streams, respectively. The key strategic elements for effective waste management include environmental taxation and a deposit-refund system to motivate consumer responsibility, which is linked and integrated with corporate and government responsibilities. The results of this study can contribute to DfE and waste management policy for cellular phones.« less

Toxicity potentials from waste cellular phones, and a waste management policy integrating consumer, corporate, and government responsibilities.

PubMed

Lim, Seong-Rin; Schoenung, Julie M

2010-01-01

Cellular phones have high environmental impact potentials because of their heavy metal content and current consumer attitudes toward purchasing new phones with higher functionality and neglecting to return waste phones into proper take-back systems. This study evaluates human health and ecological toxicity potentials from waste cellular phones; highlights consumer, corporate, and government responsibilities for effective waste management; and identifies key elements needed for an effective waste management strategy. The toxicity potentials are evaluated by using heavy metal content, respective characterization factors, and a pathway and impact model for heavy metals that considers end-of-life disposal in landfills or by incineration. Cancer potentials derive primarily from Pb and As; non-cancer potentials primarily from Cu and Pb; and ecotoxicity potentials primarily from Cu and Hg. These results are not completely in agreement with previous work in which leachability thresholds were the metric used to establish priority, thereby indicating the need for multiple or revised metrics. The triple bottom line of consumer, corporate, and government responsibilities is emphasized in terms of consumer attitudes, design for environment (DfE), and establishment and implementation of waste management systems including recycling streams, respectively. The key strategic elements for effective waste management include environmental taxation and a deposit-refund system to motivate consumer responsibility, which is linked and integrated with corporate and government responsibilities. The results of this study can contribute to DfE and waste management policy for cellular phones. 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Electroanalytical Evaluation of Nanoparticles by Nano-impact Electrochemistry

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Karimi, Anahita

Applications of engineered nanoparticles in electronics, catalysis, solid oxide fuel cells, medicine and sensing continue to increase. Traditionally, nanoparticle systems are characterized by spectroscopic and microscopic techniques. These methods are cumbersome and expensive, which limit their routine use for screening purposes. Electrochemistry is a powerful, yet underutilized tool, for the detection and classification of nanoparticles. The first part of this dissertation investigates a recently developed electrochemical method -- nanoparticle collision electrochemistry -- for detection and characterization of nanoparticles. Three independent projects have been described to evaluate the use of this technique for characterizing nanoparticle based systems including: conjugation with biomolecules, interaction with environmental contaminants and fundamental investigation of conformational changes of nanoparticle capping ligands. The thesis reports the first use of nano-impact electrochemistry to quantitatively investigate bioconjugation and biomolecular recognition at conductive nanoparticles. Furthermore, we also demonstrate the potential of this method as a single step, reagentless and label-free technique for the ultra-sensitive detection of biomolecular targets. A fundamental study of biorecognition is important for the development of therapeutics and molecular diagnosis probes in the biomedical, biosensing and biotechnology fields. The second project describes the use of this method as a screening tool of particle reactivity. We study the interaction and adsorption of a toxic environmental metalloid (Arsenic) with metal oxide nanoparticles to extract mechanistic, speciation and loading information. We discuss the potential of this approach to complement or replace costly characterization techniques and enable routine study of nanoparticles and their reactivity. In the third project, we use the nano-impact method to study the pH-dependent conformational changes of polymeric capping agents on the surface of silver nanoparticles. Nano-impact elecrochemistry has demonstrated promising results for studying functionality, stability and conformational changes of stabilizing agents. The second part of this thesis explores the use of carbon nanomaterials such as graphene and Pt-doped CeO2 for the rational design of enzyme-conjugated nanostructures for biosensing applications. The dissertation reports fabrication, characterization and properties of hybrid CeO2-based bioelectrocatalytic nanostructure material with PEDOT:PSS [poly(3,4ethylenedioxythiophene):poly-styrene-sulfonic acid] on porous carbon materials as novel materials for designing high performance laccase (Lac) biocathodes and biofuel cells.

Silica nanoparticles capture atmospheric lead: implications in the treatment of environmental heavy metal pollution.

PubMed

Yang, Xifei; Shen, Zhiguo; Zhang, Bing; Yang, Jianping; Hong, Wen-Xu; Zhuang, Zhixiong; Liu, Jianjun

2013-01-01

Lead (Pb) contamination in the air is a severe global problem, most notably in China. Removal of Pb from polluted air remains a significant challenge. It is unclear what potential effects silica nanoparticles (SiNPs) exposure can have on atmospheric Pb. Here we first characterized the features of SiNPs by measuring the particle size, zeta potential and the specific surface area of SiO(2) particles using a Nicomp 380/ZLS submicron particle sizer, the Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET) method and transmission electronic microscopy (TEM). We measured the content of the metal Pb adsorbed by SiNPs exposed to two Pb polluted electric battery plants using inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS). It is found that SiNPs exposed to two Pb polluted electric battery plants absorb more atmospheric Pb compared to either blank control or micro-sized SiO(2) particles in a time-dependent manner. This is the first study demonstrating that SiNPs exposure can absorb atmospheric Pb in the polluted environment. These novel findings indicate that SiNPs have potential to serve as a significant adsorbent of Pb from industrial pollution, implicating a potentially novel application of SiNPs in the treatment of environmental heavy metal pollution. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Microstructural characterization of catalysis product of nanocement based materials: A review

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sutan, Norsuzailina Mohamed; Izaitul Akma Ideris, Nur; Taib, Siti Noor Linda; Lee, Delsye Teo Ching; Hassan, Alsidqi; Kudnie Sahari, Siti; Mohamad Said, Khairul Anwar; Rahman Sobuz, Habibur

2018-03-01

Cement as an essential element for cement-based products contributed to negative environmental issues due to its high energy consumption and carbon dioxide emission during its production. These issues create the need to find alternative materials as partial cement replacement where studies on the potential of utilizing silica based materials as partial cement replacement come into picture. This review highlights the effectiveness of microstructural characterization techniques that have been used in the studies that focus on characterization of calcium hydroxide (CH) and calcium silicate hydrate (C-S-H) formation during hydration process of cement-based product incorporating nano reactive silica based materials as partial cement replacement. Understanding the effect of these materials as cement replacement in cement based product focusing on the microstructural development will lead to a higher confidence in the use of industrial waste as a new non-conventional material in construction industry that can catalyse rapid and innovative advances in green technology.

Integrating ecology into biotechnology.

PubMed

McMahon, Katherine D; Martin, Hector Garcia; Hugenholtz, Philip

2007-06-01

New high-throughput culture-independent molecular tools are allowing the scientific community to characterize and understand the microbial communities underpinning environmental biotechnology processes in unprecedented ways. By creatively leveraging these new data sources, microbial ecology has the potential to transition from a purely descriptive to a predictive framework, in which ecological principles are integrated and exploited to engineer systems that are biologically optimized for the desired goal. But to achieve this goal, ecology, engineering and microbiology curricula need to be changed from the very root to better promote interdisciplinarity.

Nopal cactus film

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Toxqui-López, S.; Olivares-Pérez, A.; Fuentes-Tapia, I.; Conde-Cuatzo, María. G.

2017-03-01

Nopal mucilage potentially has certain properties required for the preparation biofilms which can be used as holographic replication recording medium. In this study, mucilage from nopal was extracted and characterized by its ability to form films under different concentration with polyvinyl alcohol. The transmission holographic diffraction gratings (master) were replicated into nopal films. The results showed good diffraction efficiencies. Mucilage from nopal could represent a good option for the development of films to replication holographic, owing to; its low cost and its compatibility with the environmental.

[Fetal programming and the etiology of osteoporosis].

PubMed

Pieńkowski, Wojciech; Wolski, Hubert; Drews, Krzysztof; Seremak-Mrozikiewicz, Agnieszka

2015-08-01

Osteoporosis is a multifactorial skeletal disorder characterized by low bone mass and microarchitectural deterioration of bone tissue, resulting in increased risk of fracture. Peak bone mass is an important predictor of later risk of osteoporosis. Epidemiological studies revealed that the risk of osteoporosis might be modified by exposure to environmental factors during intrauterine life and early postnatal period. This review summarizes the influence of fetal programming on the development of osteoporosis based on the epidemiological studies and potential mechanisms of epigenetic regulation of gene expression.

Biosynthesis of silver nanoparticles by Pseudomonas spp. isolated from effluent of an electroplating industry.

PubMed

Punjabi, Kapil; Yedurkar, Snehal; Doshi, Sejal; Deshapnde, Sunita; Vaidya, Shashikant

2017-08-01

The aim of this study was to isolate and screen bacteria from soil and effluent of electroplating industries for the synthesis of silver nanoparticles and characterize the potential isolate. Soil and effluent of electroplating industries from Mumbai were screened for bacteria capable of synthesizing silver nanoparticles. From two soils and eight effluent samples 20 bacterial isolates were obtained, of these, one was found to synthesize silver nanoparticles. Synthesis of silver nanoparticle by bacteria was confirmed by undertaking characterization studies of nanoparticles that involved spectroscopy and electron microscopic techniques. The potential bacteria was found to be Gram-negative short rods with its biochemical test indicating Pseudomonas spp . Molecular characterization of the isolate by 16S r DNA sequencing was carried out which confirmed its relation to Pseudomonas hibiscicola ATCC 19867. Stable nanoparticles synthesized were 50 nm in size and variable shapes as seen in SEM micrographs. The XRD and FTIR confirmed the crystalline structure of nanoparticles and presence of biomolecules mainly proteins as agents for reduction and capping of nanoparticles. The study demonstrates synthesis of nanoparticles by bacteria from effluent of electroplating industry. This can be used for large scale synthesis of nanoparticles by cost effective and environmentally benign mode of synthesis.

The use of drilling by the U.S. Antarctic program

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Wade, M.C.; Webb, J.W.; Hedberg, W.H.

1994-08-01

This report on drilling in the Antarctic has been prepared by the U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF) to assist principal investigators and others in complying with the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) and the Antarctic Treaty of 1961. Implementing regulations for NEPA are spelled out in 40 CFR 1500-1508. Environmental protection under the Antarctic Treaty is addressed in the Protocol on Environmental Protection to the Antarctic Treaty (hereafter referred to as the Protocol), which was adopted by 26 countries in 1991. In the United States, responsibility for compliance with these requirements rests with the NSF Office of Polar Programs (OPP),more » which manages the U.S. Antarctic Program (USAP). The USAP recognizes the potentially profound impacts that its presence and activities can have on the antarctic environment. In its extensive support of operations and research in Antarctica, the USAP uses all practical means to foster and maintain natural conditions while supporting scientific endeavors in a safe and healthful manner. Reducing human impacts on the antarctic environment is a major goal of the USAP. The USAP`s operating philosophy is based on broad yet reasonable and practical assumptions concerning environmental protection. The USAP maintains three year-round stations on the continent to support scientific research. Research and associated support operations at these stations and camps sometimes involve drilling into ice, soil, or ocean sediments. In order to comply with NEPA and the Protocol, it is necessary for principal investigators and others to assess the environmental effects of drilling. This report has been prepared to assist in this process by describing various drilling technologies currently available for use in Antarctica, generally characterizing the potential environmental impacts associated with these drilling techniques, and identifying possible mitigation measures to reduce impacts.« less

Preparation and physico-chemical characterization of β-cyclodextrin incorporated chitosan biosorbent beads with potential environmental applications

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Munim, Somayyah Abdul; Tahir Saddique, Muhammad; Raza, Zulfiqar Ali; Majeed, Muhammad Irfan

2018-06-01

Biosorption is one of the most efficient and feasible methods for eliminating noxious wastes from the aqueous systems. The use of non-hazardous, low-cost and biodegradable chitosan as a biosorbent is of significant importance in the above context. Present study was aimed to develop a β-cyclodextrin (β-CD) incorporated chitosan biosorbent in the form of beads. The prepared biosorbent beads were characterized using scanning electron microscopy (SEM), Fourier transform infrared (FTIR), x-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis, and thermo gravimetric analysis (TGA). The values of point of zero charge (PZC) of chitosan and β-CD incorporated chitosan beads were determined in the presence of an electrolyte by means of different methods including mass titration, salt addition and zeta potential ones. The SEM images exhibited roughened and porous morphologies which could enhance the adsorption of metal ions. The values of PZC of chitosan and β-CD incorporated chitosan biosorbent beads were found to be 6.38 and 7.12, respectively.

Analyzing coastal turbidity under complex terrestrial loads characterized by a 'stress connectivity matrix' with an atmosphere-watershed-coastal ocean coupled model

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yamamoto, Takahiro; Nadaoka, Kazuo

2018-04-01

Atmospheric, watershed and coastal ocean models were integrated to provide a holistic analysis approach for coastal ocean simulation. The coupled model was applied to coastal ocean in the Philippines where terrestrial sediment loads provided from several adjacent watersheds play a major role in influencing coastal turbidity and are partly responsible for the coastal ecosystem degradation. The coupled model was validated using weather and hydrologic measurement to examine its potential applicability. The results revealed that the coastal water quality may be governed by the loads not only from the adjacent watershed but also from the distant watershed via coastal currents. This important feature of the multiple linkages can be quantitatively characterized by a "stress connectivity matrix", which indicates the complex underlying structure of environmental stresses in coastal ocean. The multiple stress connectivity concept shows the potential advantage of the integrated modelling approach for coastal ocean assessment, which may also serve for compensating the lack of measured data especially in tropical basins.

Integrating mechanistic and polymorphism data to characterize human genetic susceptibility for environmental chemical risk assessment in the 21st century

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Mortensen, Holly M., E-mail: mortensen.holly@epa.gov; Euling, Susan Y.

Response to environmental chemicals can vary widely among individuals and between population groups. In human health risk assessment, data on susceptibility can be utilized by deriving risk levels based on a study of a susceptible population and/or an uncertainty factor may be applied to account for the lack of information about susceptibility. Defining genetic susceptibility in response to environmental chemicals across human populations is an area of interest in the NAS' new paradigm of toxicity pathway-based risk assessment. Data from high-throughput/high content (HT/HC), including -omics (e.g., genomics, transcriptomics, proteomics, metabolomics) technologies, have been integral to the identification and characterization ofmore » drug target and disease loci, and have been successfully utilized to inform the mechanism of action for numerous environmental chemicals. Large-scale population genotyping studies may help to characterize levels of variability across human populations at identified target loci implicated in response to environmental chemicals. By combining mechanistic data for a given environmental chemical with next generation sequencing data that provides human population variation information, one can begin to characterize differential susceptibility due to genetic variability to environmental chemicals within and across genetically heterogeneous human populations. The integration of such data sources will be informative to human health risk assessment.« less

Chemical characterization of selected LDEF polymeric materials

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Young, Philip R.; Slemp, Wayne S.

1991-01-01

Chemical characterization of selected polymeric materials which received exposure on the Long Duration Exposure Facility (LDEF) is reported. The specimens examined include silvered fluorinated ethylene propylene Teflon thermal blanket material, polysulfone, epoxy, polyimide matrix resin/graphite fiber reinforced composites, and several high performance polymer films. These specimens came from numerous LDEF locations, and thus received different environmental exposures. The results to date show no significant change at the molecular level in the polymer that survived exposure. Scanning electron and scanning tunneling microscopes show resin loss and a texturing of some specimens which resulted in a change in optical properties. The potential effect of a silicon-containing molecular contamination on these materials is addressed. The possibility of continued post-exposure degradation of some polymeric films is also proposed.

Characterization of Polymer-Coated MEMS Humidity Sensors for Flight Applications

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Shams, Qamar A.; Burkett, Cecil G., Jr.; Daniels, Taumi S.; Tsoucalas, George; Comeaux, Toby; Sealey, Bradley S.; Fox, Melanie L.

2005-01-01

Under NASA's Aviation Safety Program (AvSP), in addition to wind velocity and temperature, water vapor is considered one key factor in determining aviation weather, which is a substantial contributor to many general aviation (GA) accidents. The conventional and reliable humidity measuring methods such as radiation reflection or absorption have relatively high cost in addition to highly specialized operating and maintenance characteristics. This paper presents characterizations of inexpensive MEMS and capacitance type humidity sensors for their potential use on aircraft. If installed, these sensors are subjected to ambient environmental conditions as well as to different chemicals and deicing fluids used on aircraft. This paper reports the effect of different deicing fluids and chemicals on these inexpensive humidity sensors.

Characterization of a Latent Virus-Like Infection of Symbiotic Zooxanthellae▿

PubMed Central

Lohr, Jayme; Munn, Colin B.; Wilson, William H.

2007-01-01

A latent virus-like agent, which we designated zooxanthella filamentous virus 1 (ZFV1), was isolated from Symbiodinium sp. strain CCMP 2465 and characterized. Transmission electron microscopy and analytical flow cytometry revealed the presence of a new group of distinctive filamentous virus-like particles after exposure of the zooxanthellae to UV light. Examination of thin sections of the zooxanthellae revealed the formation and proliferation of filamentous virus-like particles in the UV-induced cells. Assessment of Symbiodinium sp. cultures was used here as a model to show the effects of UV irradiance and induction of potential latent viruses. The unique host-virus system described here provides insight into the role of latent infections in zooxanthellae through environmentally regulated viral induction mechanisms. PMID:17351090

Characterization of a latent virus-like infection of symbiotic zooxanthellae.

PubMed

Lohr, Jayme; Munn, Colin B; Wilson, William H

2007-05-01

A latent virus-like agent, which we designated zooxanthella filamentous virus 1 (ZFV1), was isolated from Symbiodinium sp. strain CCMP 2465 and characterized. Transmission electron microscopy and analytical flow cytometry revealed the presence of a new group of distinctive filamentous virus-like particles after exposure of the zooxanthellae to UV light. Examination of thin sections of the zooxanthellae revealed the formation and proliferation of filamentous virus-like particles in the UV-induced cells. Assessment of Symbiodinium sp. cultures was used here as a model to show the effects of UV irradiance and induction of potential latent viruses. The unique host-virus system described here provides insight into the role of latent infections in zooxanthellae through environmentally regulated viral induction mechanisms.

2016 Billion-Ton Report: Advancing Domestic Resources for a Thriving Bioeconomy, Volume 2: Environmental Sustainability Effects of Select Scenarios from Volume 1

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Efroymson, Rebecca Ann; Langholtz, Matthew H.; Johnson, Kristen

With the goal of understanding environmental effects of a growing bioeconomy, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), national laboratories, and U.S. Forest Service research laboratories, together with academic and industry collaborators, undertook a study to estimate environmental effects of potential biomass production scenarios in the United States, with an emphasis on agricultural and forest biomass. Potential effects investigated include changes in soil organic carbon (SOC), greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, water quality and quantity, air emissions, and biodiversity. Effects of altered land-management regimes were analyzed based on select county-level biomass-production scenarios for 2017 and 2040 taken from the 2016 Billion-Ton Report:more » Advancing Domestic Resources for a Thriving Bioeconomy (BT16), volume 1, which assumes that the land bases for agricultural and forestry would not change over time. The scenarios reflect constraints on biomass supply (e.g., excluded areas; implementation of management practices; and consideration of food, feed, forage, and fiber demands and exports) that intend to address sustainability concerns. Nonetheless, both beneficial and adverse environmental effects might be expected. To characterize these potential effects, this research sought to estimate where and under what modeled scenarios or conditions positive and negative environmental effects could occur nationwide. The report also includes a discussion of land-use change (LUC) (i.e., land management change) assumptions associated with the scenario transitions (but not including analysis of indirect LUC [ILUC]), analyses of climate sensitivity of feedstock productivity under a set of potential scenarios, and a qualitative environmental effects analysis of algae production under carbon dioxide (CO 2) co-location scenarios. Because BT16 biomass supplies are simulated independent of a defined end use, most analyses do not include benefits from displacing fossil fuels or other products, with the exception of including a few illustrative cases on potential reductions in GHG emissions and fossil energy consumption associated with using biomass supplies for fuel, power, heat, and chemicals. Most analyses in volume 2 show potential for a substantial increase in biomass production with minimal or negligible environmental effects under the biomass supply constraints assumed in BT16. Although corn ethanol has been shown to achieve GHG emissions improvements over fossil fuels, cellulosic biomass shows further improvements in certain environmental indicators covered in this report. The harvest of agricultural and forestry residues generally shows the smallest contributions to changes in certain environmental indicators investigated. The scenarios show national-level net SOC gains. When expanding the system boundary in illustrative cases that consider biomass end use, reductions in GHG emissions are estimated for scenarios in which biomass—rather than oil, coal, and natural gas—is used to produce fuel, power, heat, and chemicals. Analyses of water quality reveal that there could be tradeoffs between biomass productivity and some water quality indicators, but better outcomes for both biomass productivity and water quality can be achieved with selected conservation practices. Biodiversity analyses show possible habitat benefits to some species, with other species showing potential adverse effects that may require additional safeguards. Increasing productivity of algae can reduce GHG emissions and water consumption associated with producing algal biomass, though the effects of water consumption are likely of greater concern in some regions than in others. Moreover, the effects of climate change on potential biomass production show gains and losses in yield among feedstocks across the continental United States. Key research gaps and priorities include actions that can enhance benefits and reduce potential for negative effects of increased biomass production. The results from this report will help DOE, the bioenergy industry, and other institutions continue important discussions on environmental effects and will help chart a path toward a more environmentally sustainable bioeconomy.« less

Toxicity and environmental and economic performance of fly ash and recycled concrete aggregates use in concrete: A review.

PubMed

Kurda, Rawaz; Silvestre, José D; de Brito, Jorge

2018-04-01

This paper presents an overview of previous studies on the environmental impact (EI) and toxicity of producing recycled concrete aggregates (RCA), fly ash (FA), cement, superplasticizer, and water as raw materials, and also on the effect of replacing cement and natural aggregates (NA) with FA and RCA, respectively, on the mentioned aspects. EI and toxicity were analysed simultaneously because considering concrete with alternative materials as sustainable depends on whether their risk assessment is high. Therefore, this study mainly focuses on the cradle-to-gate EI of one cubic meter of concrete, namely abiotic depletion potential (ADP), global warming potential (GWP), ozone depletion potential (ODP), photochemical ozone creation (POCP), acidification potential (AP), eutrophication potential (EP), non-renewable energy (PE-NRe) and renewable energy (PE-Re). In terms of toxicity, leachability (chemical and ecotoxicological characterization) was considered. The results also include the economic performance of these materials, and show that the incorporation of FA in concrete significantly decreases the EI and cost of concrete. Thus, the simultaneous incorporation of FA and RCA decrease the EI, cost, use of landfill space and natural resources extraction. Nonetheless, the leaching metals of FA decrease when they are incorporated in concrete. Relative to FA, the incorporation of RCA does not significantly affect the EI and cost of concrete, but it significantly reduces the use of landfill space and the need of virgin materials.

Allele-specific gene expression in a wild nonhuman primate population

PubMed Central

Tung, J.; Akinyi, M. Y.; Mutura, S.; Altmann, J.; Wray, G. A.; Alberts, S. C.

2015-01-01

Natural populations hold enormous potential for evolutionary genetic studies, especially when phenotypic, genetic and environmental data are all available on the same individuals. However, untangling the genotype-phenotype relationship in natural populations remains a major challenge. Here, we describe results of an investigation of one class of phenotype, allele-specific gene expression (ASGE), in the well-studied natural population of baboons of the Amboseli basin, Kenya. ASGE measurements identify cases in which one allele of a gene is overexpressed relative to the alternative allele of the same gene, within individuals, thus providing a control for background genetic and environmental effects. Here, we characterize the incidence of ASGE in the Amboseli baboon population, focusing on the genetic and environmental contributions to ASGE in a set of eleven genes involved in immunity and defence. Within this set, we identify evidence for common ASGE in four genes. We also present examples of two relationships between cis-regulatory genetic variants and the ASGE phenotype. Finally, we identify one case in which this relationship is influenced by a novel gene-environment interaction. Specifically, the dominance rank of an individual’s mother during its early life (an aspect of that individual’s social environment) influences the expression of the gene CCL5 via an interaction with cis-regulatory genetic variation. These results illustrate how environmental and ecological data can be integrated into evolutionary genetic studies of functional variation in natural populations. They also highlight the potential importance of early life environmental variation in shaping the genetic architecture of complex traits in wild mammals. PMID:21226779

Mass Extinctions and Biosphere-Geosphere Stability

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rothman, Daniel; Bowring, Samuel

2015-04-01

Five times in the past 500 million years, mass extinctions have resulted in the loss of greater than three-fourths of living species. Each of these events is associated with significant environmental change recorded in the carbon-isotopic composition of sedimentary rocks. There are also many such environmental events in the geologic record that are not associated with mass extinctions. What makes them different? Two factors appear important: the size of the environmental perturbation, and the time scale over which it occurs. We show that the natural perturbations of Earth's carbon cycle during the past 500 million years exhibit a characteristic rate of change over two orders of magnitude in time scale. This characteristic rate is consistent with the maximum rate that limits quasistatic (i.e., near steady-state) evolution of the carbon cycle. We identify this rate with marginal stability, and show that mass extinctions occur on the fast, unstable side of the stability boundary. These results suggest that the great extinction events of the geologic past, and potentially a "sixth extinction" associated with modern environmental change, are characterized by common mechanisms of instability.

Conversion Coatings for Aluminum Alloys by Chemical Vapor Deposition Mechanisms

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Reye, John T.; McFadden, Lisa S.; Gatica, Jorge E.; Morales, Wilfredo

2004-01-01

With the rise of environmental awareness and the renewed importance of environmentally friendly processes, the United States Environmental Protection Agency has targeted surface pre-treatment processes based on chromates. Indeed, this process has been subject to regulations under the Clean Water Act as well as other environmental initiatives, and there is today a marked movement to phase the process out in the near future. Therefore, there is a clear need for new advances in coating technology that could provide practical options for replacing present industrial practices. Depending on the final application, such coatings might be required to be resistant to corrosion, act as chemically resistant coatings, or both. This research examined a chemical vapor deposition (CVD) mechanism to deposit uniform conversion coatings onto aluminum alloy substrates. Robust protocols based on solutions of aryl phosphate ester and multi-oxide conversion coating (submicron) films were successfully grown onto the aluminum alloy samples. These films were characterized by X-ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy (XPS). Preliminary results indicate the potential of this technology to replace aqueous-based chromate processes.

Exploring REACH as a potential data source for characterizing ecotoxicity in life cycle assessment.

PubMed

Müller, Nienke; de Zwart, Dick; Hauschild, Michael; Kijko, Gaël; Fantke, Peter

2017-02-01

Toxicity models in life cycle impact assessment (LCIA) currently only characterize a small fraction of marketed substances, mostly because of limitations in the underlying ecotoxicity data. One approach to improve the current data situation in LCIA is to identify new data sources, such as the European Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation, and Restriction of Chemicals (REACH) database. The present study explored REACH as a potential data source for LCIA based on matching reported ecotoxicity data for substances that are currently also included in the United Nations Environment Programme/Society for Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry (UNEP/SETAC) scientific consensus model USEtox for characterizing toxicity impacts. Data are evaluated with respect to number of data points, reported reliability, and test duration, and are compared with data listed in USEtox at the level of hazardous concentration for 50% of the covered species per substance. The results emphasize differences between data available via REACH and in USEtox. The comparison of ecotoxicity data from REACH and USEtox shows potential for using REACH ecotoxicity data in LCIA toxicity characterization, but also highlights issues related to compliance of submitted data with REACH requirements as well as different assumptions underlying regulatory risk assessment under REACH versus data needed for LCIA. Thus, further research is required to address data quality, pre-processing, and applicability, before considering data submitted under REACH as a data source for use in LCIA, and also to explore additionally available data sources, published studies, and reports. Environ Toxicol Chem 2017;36:492-500. © 2016 SETAC. © 2016 SETAC.

Linking genetic and environmental factors in amphibian disease risk

PubMed Central

Savage, Anna E; Becker, Carlos G; Zamudio, Kelly R

2015-01-01

A central question in evolutionary biology is how interactions between organisms and the environment shape genetic differentiation. The pathogen Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis (Bd) has caused variable population declines in the lowland leopard frog (Lithobates yavapaiensis); thus, disease has potentially shaped, or been shaped by, host genetic diversity. Environmental factors can also influence both amphibian immunity and Bd virulence, confounding our ability to assess the genetic effects on disease dynamics. Here, we used genetics, pathogen dynamics, and environmental data to characterize L. yavapaiensis populations, estimate migration, and determine relative contributions of genetic and environmental factors in predicting Bd dynamics. We found that the two uninfected populations belonged to a single genetic deme, whereas each infected population was genetically unique. We detected an outlier locus that deviated from neutral expectations and was significantly correlated with mortality within populations. Across populations, only environmental variables predicted infection intensity, whereas environment and genetics predicted infection prevalence, and genetic diversity alone predicted mortality. At one locality with geothermally elevated water temperatures, migration estimates revealed source–sink dynamics that have likely prevented local adaptation. We conclude that integrating genetic and environmental variation among populations provides a better understanding of Bd spatial epidemiology, generating more effective conservation management strategies for mitigating amphibian declines. PMID:26136822

Black-bellied whistling duck (Dendrocygna autumnalis) brain cholinesterase characterization and diagnosis of anticholinesterase pesticide exposure in wild populations from Mexico.

PubMed

Osten, Jaime Rendón-von; Soares, Amadeu M V M; Guilhermino, Lucia

2005-02-01

Rice is the main crop in the subbasin of the fluvial lagoon system of Palizada River (FLSPR) in the state of Campeche, Mexico. The pesticides used to control pests of this crop mainly are carbofuran, chlorpyrifos, and glyphosate. Black-bellied whistling duck (Dendrocygna autumnalis) is an ecologically and economically important species in the area. This duck is consumed by local inhabitants throughout the year, despite its potential exposure to pesticides. Due to its feeding habits, abundance, and nutritional value, D. autumnalis is a good indicator of environmental contamination and a potential route of human exposure to organophosphate and carbamate pesticides. In this study, the brain cholinesterase (ChE) in the frontal cerebral cortex of autochthonous ducks was characterized. In addition, the potential of the three locally used pesticides and mixtures to inhibit ChE activity was investigated and the exposure of the wild duck population during intensive pesticide applications in rice fields was evaluated. We found that acetylcholinesterase (AChE) seems to be the predominant ChE form in the biological fraction analyzed. Carbofuran was the most potent ChE inhibitor of D. autumnalis brain ChE activity from the three pesticides analyzed. Cholinesterase inhibition after exposure to pesticide mixtures predominantly was due to carbofuran. A decrease (p < 0.05) in AChE activity (>30%) was apparent in wild ducks compared to reference ducks, with recovery of ChE inhibition in wild ducks occurring months later when no pesticides were applied in the field. Dendrocygna autumnalis brain ChE is a suitable parameter for inclusion in biomonitoring programs for both environmental protection and human safety.

Metabolic characteristics of dominant microbes and key rare species from an acidic hot spring in Taiwan revealed by metagenomics

DOE PAGES

Lin, Kuei -Han; Liao, Ben -Yang; Chang, Hao -Wei; ...

2015-12-03

Microbial diversity and community structures in acidic hot springs have been characterized by 16S rRNA gene-based diversity surveys. However, our understanding regarding the interactions among microbes, or between microbes and environmental factors, remains limited. In the present study, a metagenomic approach, followed by bioinformatics analyses, were used to predict interactions within the microbial ecosystem in Shi-Huang-Ping (SHP), an acidic hot spring in northern Taiwan. Characterizing environmental parameters and potential metabolic pathways highlighted the importance of carbon assimilatory pathways. Four distinct carbon assimilatory pathways were identified in five dominant genera of bacteria. Of those dominant carbon fixers, Hydrogenobaculum bacteria outcompeted othermore » carbon assimilators and dominated the SHP, presumably due to their ability to metabolize hydrogen and to withstand an anaerobic environment with fluctuating temperatures. Furthermore, most dominant microbes were capable of metabolizing inorganic sulfur-related compounds (abundant in SHP). However, Acidithiobacillus ferrooxidans was the only species among key rare microbes with the capability to fix nitrogen, suggesting a key role in nitrogen cycling. In addition to potential metabolic interactions, based on the 16S rRNAs gene sequence of Nanoarchaeum-related and its potential host Ignicoccus-related archaea, as well as sequences of viruses and CRISPR arrays, we inferred that there were complex microbe-microbe interactions. In conclusion, our study provided evidence that there were numerous microbe-microbe and microbe-environment interactions within the microbial community in an acidic hot spring. We proposed that Hydrogenobaculum bacteria were the dominant microbial genus, as they were able to metabolize hydrogen, assimilate carbon and live in an anaerobic environment with fluctuating temperatures.« less

Metabolic characteristics of dominant microbes and key rare species from an acidic hot spring in Taiwan revealed by metagenomics

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Lin, Kuei -Han; Liao, Ben -Yang; Chang, Hao -Wei

Microbial diversity and community structures in acidic hot springs have been characterized by 16S rRNA gene-based diversity surveys. However, our understanding regarding the interactions among microbes, or between microbes and environmental factors, remains limited. In the present study, a metagenomic approach, followed by bioinformatics analyses, were used to predict interactions within the microbial ecosystem in Shi-Huang-Ping (SHP), an acidic hot spring in northern Taiwan. Characterizing environmental parameters and potential metabolic pathways highlighted the importance of carbon assimilatory pathways. Four distinct carbon assimilatory pathways were identified in five dominant genera of bacteria. Of those dominant carbon fixers, Hydrogenobaculum bacteria outcompeted othermore » carbon assimilators and dominated the SHP, presumably due to their ability to metabolize hydrogen and to withstand an anaerobic environment with fluctuating temperatures. Furthermore, most dominant microbes were capable of metabolizing inorganic sulfur-related compounds (abundant in SHP). However, Acidithiobacillus ferrooxidans was the only species among key rare microbes with the capability to fix nitrogen, suggesting a key role in nitrogen cycling. In addition to potential metabolic interactions, based on the 16S rRNAs gene sequence of Nanoarchaeum-related and its potential host Ignicoccus-related archaea, as well as sequences of viruses and CRISPR arrays, we inferred that there were complex microbe-microbe interactions. In conclusion, our study provided evidence that there were numerous microbe-microbe and microbe-environment interactions within the microbial community in an acidic hot spring. We proposed that Hydrogenobaculum bacteria were the dominant microbial genus, as they were able to metabolize hydrogen, assimilate carbon and live in an anaerobic environment with fluctuating temperatures.« less

Insights from a Systematic Search for Information on Designs, Costs, and Effectiveness of Poliovirus Environmental Surveillance Systems.

PubMed

Duintjer Tebbens, Radboud J; Zimmermann, Marita; Pallansch, Mark A; Thompson, Kimberly M

2017-12-01

Poliovirus surveillance plays a critical role in achieving and certifying eradication and will play a key role in the polio endgame. Environmental surveillance can provide an opportunity to detect circulating polioviruses prior to the observation of any acute flaccid paralysis cases. We completed a systematic review of peer-reviewed publications on environmental surveillance for polio including the search terms "environmental surveillance" or "sewage," and "polio," "poliovirus," or "poliomyelitis," and compared characteristics of the resulting studies. The review included 146 studies representing 101 environmental surveillance activities from 48 countries published between 1975 and 2016. Studies reported taking samples from sewage treatment facilities, surface waters, and various other environmental sources, although they generally did not present sufficient details to thoroughly evaluate the sewage systems and catchment areas. When reported, catchment areas varied from 50 to over 7.3 million people (median of 500,000 for the 25% of activities that reported catchment areas, notably with 60% of the studies not reporting this information and 16% reporting insufficient information to estimate the catchment area population size). While numerous studies reported the ability of environmental surveillance to detect polioviruses in the absence of clinical cases, the review revealed very limited information about the costs and limited information to support quantitative population effectiveness of conducting environmental surveillance. This review motivates future studies to better characterize poliovirus environmental surveillance systems and the potential value of information that they may provide in the polio endgame.

Characterizing large river sounds: Providing context for understanding the environmental effects of noise produced by hydrokinetic turbines

DOE PAGES

Bevelhimer, Mark S.; Deng, Z. Daniel; Scherelis, Constantin C.

2016-01-06

Underwaternoise associated with the installation and operation of hydrokinetic turbines in rivers and tidal zones presents a potential environmental concern for fish and marine mammals. Comparing the spectral quality of sounds emitted by hydrokinetic turbines to natural and other anthropogenic sound sources is an initial step at understanding potential environmental impacts. Underwater recordings were obtained from passing vessels and natural underwater sound sources in static and flowing waters. Static water measurements were taken in a lake with minimal background noise. Flowing water measurements were taken at a previously proposed deployment site for hydrokinetic turbines on the Mississippi River, where soundsmore » created by flowing water are part of all measurements, both natural ambient and anthropogenic sources. Vessel sizes ranged from a small fishing boat with 60 hp outboard motor to an 18-unit barge train being pushed upstream by tugboat. As expected, large vessels with large engines created the highest sound levels, which were, on average, 40 dB greater than the sound created by an operating hydrokinetic turbine. As a result, a comparison of sound levels from the same sources at different distances using both spherical and cylindrical sound attenuation functions suggests that spherical model results more closely approximate observed sound attenuation.« less

Ecdysone receptor agonism leading to lethal molting ...

EPA Pesticide Factsheets

Molting is a key biological process in growth, development, reproduction and survival in arthropods. Complex neuroendocrine pathways are involved in the regulation of molting and may potentially become targets of environmental endocrine disrupting compounds (EDCs). For example, several classes of pesticides used in agriculture and aquaculture specifically target key endocrine regulators of the molting process. These chemicals may also pose hazards to non-target species by causing molting defects, thus affecting the health of the ecosystems. The present review summarized the available knowledge on molting-related endocrine regulation and disruption in arthropods (with special focus on insects and crustaceans), in order to identify research gaps and develop a toxicity mechanism-based model for environmental hazard and risk assessment. Based on the review, multiple targets in the molting processes that EDCs can interact with were characterized to inform future studies. An adverse outcome pathway (AOP) describing ecdysone receptor agonism leading to incomplete ecdysis associated mortality was developed according to the OECD guideline and evaluated for weight of evidence using the Evolved Bradford Hill Criteria. This review proposed the first invertebrate endocrine disruption AOP and may serve as a knowledge foundation for future environmental studies and AOP development. Development of high throughput toxicology (HTT) programs (e.g., ToxCast, Tox21) and potential a

Characterizing large river sounds: Providing context for understanding the environmental effects of noise produced by hydrokinetic turbines

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Bevelhimer, Mark S.; Deng, Z. Daniel; Scherelis, Constantin

2016-01-01

Underwater noise associated with the installation and operation of hydrokinetic turbines in rivers and tidal zones presents a potential environmental concern for fish and marine mammals. Comparing the spectral quality of sounds emitted by hydrokinetic turbines to natural and other anthropogenic sound sources is an initial step at understanding potential environmental impacts. Underwater recordings were obtained from passing vessels of different sizes and other underwater sound sources in both static and flowing waters. Static water measurements were taken in a lake with minimal background noise. Flowing water measurements were taken at a previously proposed deployment site for hydrokinetic turbines onmore » the Mississippi River, where the sound of flowing water is included in background measurements. The size of vessels measured ranged from a small fishing boat with a 60 HP outboard motor to an 18-unit barge train being pushed upstream by tugboat. As expected, large vessels with large engines created the highest sound levels, and when compared to the sound created by an operating HK turbine were many times greater. A comparison of sound levels from the same sources at different distances using both spherical and cylindrical sound attenuation functions suggests that spherical model results more closely approximate observed values.« less

Thermotaxis, circadian rhythms, and TRP channels in Drosophila

PubMed Central

Bellemer, Andrew

2015-01-01

The fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster is a poikilothermic organism that must detect and respond to both fine and coarse changes in environmental temperature in order maintain optimal body temperature, synchronize behavior to daily temperature fluctuations, and to avoid potentially injurious environmental hazards. Members of the Transient Receptor Potential (TRP) family of cation channels are well known for their activation by changes in temperature and their essential roles in sensory transduction in both invertebrates and vertebrates. The Drosophila genome encodes 13 TRP channels, and several of these have key sensory transduction and modulatory functions in allowing larval and adult flies to make fine temperature discriminations to attain optimal body temperature, detect and avoid large environmental temperature fluctuations, and make rapid escape responses to acutely noxious stimuli. Drosophila use multiple, redundant signaling pathways and neural circuits to execute these behaviors in response to both increases and decreases in temperature of varying magnitudes and time scales. A plethora of powerful molecular and genetic tools and the fly's simple, well-characterized nervous system have given Drosophila neurobiologists a powerful platform to study the cellular and molecular mechanisms of TRP channel function and how these mechanisms are conserved in vertebrates, as well as how these channels function within sensorimotor circuits to generate both simple and complex thermosensory behaviors. PMID:27227026

Landscape genomics of Sphaeralcea ambigua in the Mojave Desert: a multivariate, spatially-explicit approach to guide ecological restoration

USGS Publications Warehouse

Shryock, Daniel F.; Havrilla, Caroline A.; DeFalco, Lesley; Esque, Todd C.; Custer, Nathan; Wood, Troy E.

2015-01-01

Local adaptation influences plant species’ responses to climate change and their performance in ecological restoration. Fine-scale physiological or phenological adaptations that direct demographic processes may drive intraspecific variability when baseline environmental conditions change. Landscape genomics characterize adaptive differentiation by identifying environmental drivers of adaptive genetic variability and mapping the associated landscape patterns. We applied such an approach to Sphaeralcea ambigua, an important restoration plant in the arid southwestern United States, by analyzing variation at 153 amplified fragment length polymorphism loci in the context of environmental gradients separating 47 Mojave Desert populations. We identified 37 potentially adaptive loci through a combination of genome scan approaches. We then used a generalized dissimilarity model (GDM) to relate variability in potentially adaptive loci with spatial gradients in temperature, precipitation, and topography. We identified non-linear thresholds in loci frequencies driven by summer maximum temperature and water stress, along with continuous variation corresponding to temperature seasonality. Two GDM-based approaches for mapping predicted patterns of local adaptation are compared. Additionally, we assess uncertainty in spatial interpolations through a novel spatial bootstrapping approach. Our study presents robust, accessible methods for deriving spatially-explicit models of adaptive genetic variability in non-model species that will inform climate change modelling and ecological restoration.

Characterizing large river sounds: Providing context for understanding the environmental effects of noise produced by hydrokinetic turbines.

PubMed

Bevelhimer, Mark S; Deng, Z Daniel; Scherelis, Constantin

2016-01-01

Underwater noise associated with the installation and operation of hydrokinetic turbines in rivers and tidal zones presents a potential environmental concern for fish and marine mammals. Comparing the spectral quality of sounds emitted by hydrokinetic turbines to natural and other anthropogenic sound sources is an initial step at understanding potential environmental impacts. Underwater recordings were obtained from passing vessels and natural underwater sound sources in static and flowing waters. Static water measurements were taken in a lake with minimal background noise. Flowing water measurements were taken at a previously proposed deployment site for hydrokinetic turbines on the Mississippi River, where sounds created by flowing water are part of all measurements, both natural ambient and anthropogenic sources. Vessel sizes ranged from a small fishing boat with 60 hp outboard motor to an 18-unit barge train being pushed upstream by tugboat. As expected, large vessels with large engines created the highest sound levels, which were, on average, 40 dB greater than the sound created by an operating hydrokinetic turbine. A comparison of sound levels from the same sources at different distances using both spherical and cylindrical sound attenuation functions suggests that spherical model results more closely approximate observed sound attenuation.

Response of Aquatic Bacterial Communities to Hydraulic Fracturing in Northwestern Pennsylvania: A Five-Year Study.

PubMed

Ulrich, Nikea; Kirchner, Veronica; Drucker, Rebecca; Wright, Justin R; McLimans, Christopher J; Hazen, Terry C; Campa, Maria F; Grant, Christopher J; Lamendella, Regina

2018-04-09

Horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing extraction procedures have become increasingly present in Pennsylvania where the Marcellus Shale play is largely located. The potential for long-term environmental impacts to nearby headwater stream ecosystems and aquatic bacterial assemblages is still incompletely understood. Here, we perform high-throughput sequencing of the 16 S rRNA gene to characterize the bacterial community structure of water, sediment, and other environmental samples (n = 189) from 31 headwater stream sites exhibiting different histories of fracking activity in northwestern Pennsylvania over five years (2012-2016). Stream pH was identified as a main driver of bacterial changes within the streams and fracking activity acted as an environmental selector for certain members at lower taxonomic levels within stream sediment. Methanotrophic and methanogenic bacteria (i.e. Methylocystaceae, Beijerinckiaceae, and Methanobacterium) were significantly enriched in sites exhibiting Marcellus shale activity (MSA+) compared to MSA- streams. This study highlighted potential sentinel taxa associated with nascent Marcellus shale activity and some of these taxa remained as stable biomarkers across this five-year study. Identifying the presence and functionality of specific microbial consortia within fracking-impacted streams will provide a clearer understanding of the natural microbial community's response to fracking and inform in situ remediation strategies.

Environmental Designer Drugs: When Transformation May Not Eliminate Risk

PubMed Central

2015-01-01

Environmental transformation processes, including those occurring in natural and engineered systems, do not necessarily drastically alter molecular structures of bioactive organic contaminants. While the majority of generated transformation products are likely benign, substantial conservation of structure in transformation products can imply conservation or even creation of bioactivity across multiple biological end points and thus incomplete mitigation of ecological risk. Therefore, focusing solely on parent compound removal for contaminants of higher relative risk, the most common approach to fate characterization, provides no mechanistic relationship to potential biological effects and is inadequate as a comprehensive metric for reduction of ecological risks. Here, we explore these phenomena for endocrine-active steroid hormones, focusing on examples of conserved bioactivity and related implications for fate assessment, regulatory approaches, and research opportunities. PMID:25216024

Applicability of ERTS to Antarctic iceberg resources. [harvesting icebergs for fresh water

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Hult, J. L.; Ostrander, N. C.

1974-01-01

This investigation explores the applicability of ERTS to: (1) determine the Antarctic sea ice and environmental behavior that may influence the harvesting of icebergs, and (2) monitor iceberg locations, characteristics, and evolution. Imagery sampling in the western Antarctic between the Peninsula and the Ross Sea is used in the analysis. It is found that the potential applicability of ERTS to the research, planning, and harvesting operations can contribute importantly to the glowing promise derived from broader scope studies for the use of Antarctic icebergs to relieve a growing global thirst for fresh water. Several years of comprehensive monitoring will be necessary to characterize sea-ice and environmental behavior and iceberg evolution. Live ERTS services will assist harvesting control and claiming operations and offer a means for harmonizing entitlements to iceberg resources.

The cancer theory of pulmonary arterial hypertension

PubMed Central

Boucherat, Olivier; Vitry, Geraldine; Trinh, Isabelle; Paulin, Roxane; Provencher, Steeve; Bonnet, Sebastien

2017-01-01

Pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) remains a mysterious killer that, like cancer, is characterized by tremendous complexity. PAH development occurs under sustained and persistent environmental stress, such as inflammation, shear stress, pseudo-hypoxia, and more. After inducing an initial death of the endothelial cells, these environmental stresses contribute with time to the development of hyper-proliferative and apoptotic resistant clone of cells including pulmonary artery smooth muscle cells, fibroblasts, and even pulmonary artery endothelial cells allowing vascular remodeling and PAH development. Molecularly, these cells exhibit many features common to cancer cells offering the opportunity to exploit therapeutic strategies used in cancer to treat PAH. In this review, we outline the signaling pathways and mechanisms described in cancer that drive PAH cells’ survival and proliferation and discuss the therapeutic potential of antineoplastic drugs in PAH. PMID:28597757

When chocolate seeking becomes compulsion: gene-environment interplay.

PubMed

Patrono, Enrico; Di Segni, Matteo; Patella, Loris; Andolina, Diego; Valzania, Alessandro; Latagliata, Emanuele Claudio; Felsani, Armando; Pompili, Assunta; Gasbarri, Antonella; Puglisi-Allegra, Stefano; Ventura, Rossella

2015-01-01

Eating disorders appear to be caused by a complex interaction between environmental and genetic factors, and compulsive eating in response to adverse circumstances characterizes many eating disorders. We compared compulsion-like eating in the form of conditioned suppression of palatable food-seeking in adverse situations in stressed C57BL/6J and DBA/2J mice, two well-characterized inbred strains, to determine the influence of gene-environment interplay on this behavioral phenotype. Moreover, we tested the hypothesis that low accumbal D2 receptor (R) availability is a genetic risk factor of food compulsion-like behavior and that environmental conditions that induce compulsive eating alter D2R expression in the striatum. To this end, we measured D1R and D2R expression in the striatum and D1R, D2R and α1R levels in the medial prefrontal cortex, respectively, by western blot. Exposure to environmental conditions induces compulsion-like eating behavior, depending on genetic background. This behavioral pattern is linked to decreased availability of accumbal D2R. Moreover, exposure to certain environmental conditions upregulates D2R and downregulates α1R in the striatum and medial prefrontal cortex, respectively, of compulsive animals. These findings confirm the function of gene-environment interplay in the manifestation of compulsive eating and support the hypothesis that low accumbal D2R availability is a "constitutive" genetic risk factor for compulsion-like eating behavior. Finally, D2R upregulation and α1R downregulation in the striatum and medial prefrontal cortex, respectively, are potential neuroadaptive responses that parallel the shift from motivated to compulsive eating.

Computational Metabolomics: A Framework for the Million Metabolome

PubMed Central

Uppal, Karan; Walker, Douglas I.; Liu, Ken; Li, Shuzhao; Go, Young-Mi; Jones, Dean P.

2017-01-01

“Sola dosis facit venenum.” These words of Paracelsus, “the dose makes the poison”, can lead to a cavalier attitude concerning potential toxicities of the vast array of low abundance environmental chemicals to which humans are exposed. Exposome research teaches that 80–85% of human disease is linked to environmental exposures. The human exposome is estimated to include >400,000 environmental chemicals, most of which are uncharacterized with regard to human health. In fact, mass spectrometry measures >200,000 m/z features (ions) in microliter volumes derived from human samples; most are unidentified. This crystallizes a grand challenge for chemical research in toxicology: to develop reliable and affordable analytical methods to understand health impacts of the extensive human chemical experience. To this end, there appears to be no choice but to abandon the limitations of measuring one chemical at a time. The present review looks at progress in computational metabolomics to provide probability based annotation linking ions to known chemicals and serve as a foundation for unambiguous designation of unidentified ions for toxicologic study. We review methods to characterize ions in terms of accurate mass m/z, chromatographic retention time, correlation of adduct, isotopic and fragment forms, association with metabolic pathways and measurement of collision-induced dissociation products, collision cross section, and chirality. Such information can support a largely unambiguous system for documenting unidentified ions in environmental surveillance and human biomonitoring. Assembly of this data would provide a resource to characterize and understand health risks of the array of low-abundance chemicals to which humans are exposed. PMID:27629808

Mismatch between perceived and objectively measured environmental obesogenic features in European neighbourhoods.

PubMed

Roda, C; Charreire, H; Feuillet, T; Mackenbach, J D; Compernolle, S; Glonti, K; Ben Rebah, M; Bárdos, H; Rutter, H; McKee, M; De Bourdeaudhuij, I; Brug, J; Lakerveld, J; Oppert, J-M

2016-01-01

Findings from research on the association between the built environment and obesity remain equivocal but may be partly explained by differences in approaches used to characterize the built environment. Findings obtained using subjective measures may differ substantially from those measured objectively. We investigated the agreement between perceived and objectively measured obesogenic environmental features to assess (1) the extent of agreement between individual perceptions and observable characteristics of the environment and (2) the agreement between aggregated perceptions and observable characteristics, and whether this varied by type of characteristic, region or neighbourhood. Cross-sectional data from the SPOTLIGHT project (n = 6037 participants from 60 neighbourhoods in five European urban regions) were used. Residents' perceptions were self-reported, and objectively measured environmental features were obtained by a virtual audit using Google Street View. Percent agreement and Kappa statistics were calculated. The mismatch was quantified at neighbourhood level by a distance metric derived from a factor map. The extent to which the mismatch metric varied by region and neighbourhood was examined using linear regression models. Overall, agreement was moderate (agreement < 82%, kappa < 0.3) and varied by obesogenic environmental feature, region and neighbourhood. Highest agreement was found for food outlets and outdoor recreational facilities, and lowest agreement was obtained for aesthetics. In general, a better match was observed in high-residential density neighbourhoods characterized by a high density of food outlets and recreational facilities. Future studies should combine perceived and objectively measured built environment qualities to better understand the potential impact of the built environment on health, particularly in low residential density neighbourhoods. © 2016 World Obesity.

Characterization and interplay of bacteriocin and exopolysaccharide-mediated silver nanoparticles as an antibacterial agent.

PubMed

Ansari, Asma; Pervez, Sidra; Javed, Urooj; Abro, Muhammad Ishaque; Nawaz, Muhammad Asif; Qader, Shah Ali Ul; Aman, Afsheen

2018-04-22

Metallic nanoparticles have a substantial scientific interest because of their distinctive physicochemical and antimicrobial properties and the emergence of multidrug resistant pathogens could unlock the potential of nanoparticles to combat infectious diseases. The aim of the current study is to enhance the antibacterial potential of purified bacteriocin by combining bacteriocin and antibacterial silver nanoparticles (AgNPs). Hence, the interaction of natural antimicrobial compounds and antibacterial nanoparticles can be used as a potential tool for combating infectious diseases. In this study, a green, simple and effective approach is used to synthesize antibacterial AgNPs using fungal exopolysaccharide as both a reducing and stabilizing agent. The AgNPs were characterized by spectroscopic analysis, Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM), Energy Dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX) and Dynamic Light Scattering (DLS). Furthermore, the synergistic effect of bacteriocin-AgNPs was determined against pathogenic strains. The histogram of AgNPs indicated well-dispersed, stabilized and negatively charged particles with variable size distribution. The combination of bacteriocin with nanoparticles found to be more effective due to broad antibacterial potential with possibly lower doses. The current study is imperative to provide an alternative for the chemical synthesis of silver nanoparticles. It showed environmental friendly and cost effective green synthesis of antibacterial nanoparticles. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Characterization factors for land use impacts on biodiversity in life cycle assessment based on direct measures of plant species richness in European farmland in the 'Temperate Broadleaf and Mixed Forest' biome.

PubMed

Knudsen, Marie Trydeman; Hermansen, John E; Cederberg, Christel; Herzog, Felix; Vale, Jim; Jeanneret, Philippe; Sarthou, Jean-Pierre; Friedel, Jürgen K; Balázs, Katalin; Fjellstad, Wendy; Kainz, Max; Wolfrum, Sebastian; Dennis, Peter

2017-02-15

Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) is a widely used tool to assess environmental sustainability of products. The LCA should optimally cover the most important environmental impact categories such as climate change, eutrophication and biodiversity. However, impacts on biodiversity are seldom included in LCAs due to methodological limitations and lack of appropriate characterization factors. When assessing organic agricultural products the omission of biodiversity in LCA is problematic, because organic systems are characterized by higher species richness at field level compared to the conventional systems. Thus, there is a need for characterization factors to estimate land use impacts on biodiversity in life cycle assessment that are able to distinguish between organic and conventional agricultural land use that can be used to supplement and validate the few currently suggested characterization factors. Based on a unique dataset derived from field recording of plant species diversity in farmland across six European countries, the present study provides new midpoint occupation Characterization Factors (CF) expressing the Potentially Disappeared Fraction (PDF) to estimate land use impacts on biodiversity in the 'Temperate Broadleaf and Mixed Forest' biome in Europe. The method is based on calculation of plant species on randomly selected test sites in the biome and enables the calculation of characterization factors that are sensitive to particular types of management. While species richness differs between countries, the calculated CFs are able to distinguish between different land use types (pastures (monocotyledons or mixed), arable land and hedges) and management practices (organic or conventional production systems) across countries. The new occupation CFs can be used to supplement or validate the few current CF's and can be applied in LCAs of agricultural products to assess land use impacts on species richness in the 'Temperate Broadleaf and Mixed Forest' biome. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Continental divide: Predicting climate-mediated fragmentation and biodiversity loss in the boreal forest

PubMed Central

Murray, Dennis L.; Peers, Michael J. L.; Majchrzak, Yasmine N.; Wehtje, Morgan; Ferreira, Catarina; Pickles, Rob S. A.; Row, Jeffrey R.; Thornton, Daniel H.

2017-01-01

Climate change threatens natural landscapes through shifting distribution and abundance of species and attendant change in the structure and function of ecosystems. However, it remains unclear how climate-mediated variation in species’ environmental niche space may lead to large-scale fragmentation of species distributions, altered meta-population dynamics and gene flow, and disrupted ecosystem integrity. Such change may be especially relevant when species distributions are restricted either spatially or to a narrow environmental niche, or when environments are rapidly changing. Here, we use range-wide environmental niche models to posit that climate-mediated range fragmentation aggravates the direct effects of climate change on species in the boreal forest of North America. We show that climate change will directly alter environmental niche suitability for boreal-obligate species of trees, birds and mammals (n = 12), with most species ranges becoming smaller and shifting northward through time. Importantly, species distributions will become increasingly fragmented, as characterized by smaller mean size and greater isolation of environmentally-suitable landscape patches. This loss is especially pronounced along the Ontario-Québec border, where the boreal forest is narrowest and roughly 78% of suitable niche space could disappear by 2080. Despite the diversity of taxa surveyed, patterns of range fragmentation are remarkably consistent, with our models predicting that spruce grouse (Dendragapus canadensis), boreal chickadee (Poecile hudsonicus), moose (Alces americanus) and caribou (Rangifer tarandus) could have entirely disjunct east-west population segments in North America. These findings reveal potentially dire consequences of climate change on population continuity and species diversity in the boreal forest, highlighting the need to better understand: 1) extent and primary drivers of anticipated climate-mediated range loss and fragmentation; 2) diversity of species to be affected by such change; 3) potential for rapid adaptation in the most strongly-affected areas; and 4) potential for invasion by replacement species. PMID:28505173

Continental divide: Predicting climate-mediated fragmentation and biodiversity loss in the boreal forest.

PubMed

Murray, Dennis L; Peers, Michael J L; Majchrzak, Yasmine N; Wehtje, Morgan; Ferreira, Catarina; Pickles, Rob S A; Row, Jeffrey R; Thornton, Daniel H

2017-01-01

Climate change threatens natural landscapes through shifting distribution and abundance of species and attendant change in the structure and function of ecosystems. However, it remains unclear how climate-mediated variation in species' environmental niche space may lead to large-scale fragmentation of species distributions, altered meta-population dynamics and gene flow, and disrupted ecosystem integrity. Such change may be especially relevant when species distributions are restricted either spatially or to a narrow environmental niche, or when environments are rapidly changing. Here, we use range-wide environmental niche models to posit that climate-mediated range fragmentation aggravates the direct effects of climate change on species in the boreal forest of North America. We show that climate change will directly alter environmental niche suitability for boreal-obligate species of trees, birds and mammals (n = 12), with most species ranges becoming smaller and shifting northward through time. Importantly, species distributions will become increasingly fragmented, as characterized by smaller mean size and greater isolation of environmentally-suitable landscape patches. This loss is especially pronounced along the Ontario-Québec border, where the boreal forest is narrowest and roughly 78% of suitable niche space could disappear by 2080. Despite the diversity of taxa surveyed, patterns of range fragmentation are remarkably consistent, with our models predicting that spruce grouse (Dendragapus canadensis), boreal chickadee (Poecile hudsonicus), moose (Alces americanus) and caribou (Rangifer tarandus) could have entirely disjunct east-west population segments in North America. These findings reveal potentially dire consequences of climate change on population continuity and species diversity in the boreal forest, highlighting the need to better understand: 1) extent and primary drivers of anticipated climate-mediated range loss and fragmentation; 2) diversity of species to be affected by such change; 3) potential for rapid adaptation in the most strongly-affected areas; and 4) potential for invasion by replacement species.

Morphology, Spatial Distribution, and Concentration of Flame Retardants in Consumer Products and Environmental Dusts using Scanning Electron Microscopy and Raman Micro-spectroscopy

PubMed Central

WAGNER, JEFF; GHOSAL, SUTAPA; WHITEHEAD, TODD; METAYER, CATHERINE

2013-01-01

We characterized flame retardant (FR) morphologies and spatial distributions in 7 consumer products and 7 environmental dusts to determine their implications for transfer mechanisms, human exposure, and the reproducibility of gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) dust measurements. We characterized individual particles using scanning electron microscopy / energy dispersive x-ray spectroscopy (SEM/EDS) and Raman micro-spectroscopy (RMS). Samples were screened for the presence of 3 FR constituents (bromine, phosphorous, non-salt chlorine) and 2 metal synergists (antimony and bismuth). Subsequent analyses of select samples by RMS enabled molecular identification of the FR compounds and matrix materials. The consumer products and dust samples possessed FR elemental weight percents of up to 36% and 31%, respectively. We identified 24 FR-containing particles in the dust samples and classified them into 9 types based on morphology and composition. We observed a broad range of morphologies for these FR-containing particles, suggesting FR transfer to dust via multiple mechanisms. We developed an equation to describe the heterogeneity of FR-containing particles in environmental dust samples. The number of individual FR-containing particles expected in a 1-mg dust sample with a FR concentration of 100 ppm ranged from <1 to >1000 particles. The presence of rare, high-concentration bromine particles was correlated with decabromodiphenyl ether concentrations obtained via GC-MS. When FRs are distributed heterogeneously in highly concentrated dust particles, human exposure to FRs may be characterized by high transient exposures interspersed by periods of low exposure, and GC-MS FR concentrations may exhibit large variability in replicate subsamples. Current limitations of this SEM/EDS technique include potential false negatives for volatile and chlorinated FRs and greater quantitation uncertainty for brominated FR in aluminum-rich matrices. PMID:23739093

Isolation, selection and characterization of root-associated growth promoting bacteria in Brazil Pine (Araucaria angustifolia).

PubMed

Ribeiro, Carlos Marcelo; Cardoso, Elke Jurandy Bran Nogueira

2012-01-20

Araucaria angustifolia, a unique species of this genus that occurs naturally in Brazil, has a high socio-economic and environmental value and is critically endangered of extinction, since it has been submitted to intense predatory exploitation during the last century. Root-associated bacteria from A. angustifolia were isolated, selected and characterized for their biotechnological potential of growth promotion and biocontrol of plant pathogenic fungi. Ninety-seven strains were isolated and subjected to chemical tests. All isolates presented at least one positive feature, characterizing them as potential PGPR. Eighteen isolates produced indole-3-acetic acid (IAA), 27 were able to solubilize inorganic phosphate, 21 isolates were presumable diazotrophs, with pellicle formation in nitrogen-free culture medium, 83 were phosphatases producers, 37 were positive for siderophores and 45 endospore-forming isolates were antagonistic to Fusarium oxysporum, a pathogen of conifers. We also observed the presence of bacterial strains with multiple beneficial mechanisms of action. Analyzing the fatty acid methyl ester (FAME) and partial sequencing of the 16S rRNA gene of these isolates, it was possible to characterize the most effective isolates as belonging to Bacillaceae (9 isolates), Enterobacteriaceae (11) and Pseudomonadaceae (1). As far as we know, this is the first study to include the species Ewingella americana as a PGPR. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier GmbH. All rights reserved.

Characterizing the Leaching Behavior of Coal Combustion Residues using the Leaching Environmental Assessment Framework (LEAF) to Inform Future Management Decisions

EPA Science Inventory

Abstract for presentation on Characterizing the Leaching Behavior of Coal Combustion Residues using the Leaching Environmental Assessment Framework (LEAF) to Inform Future Management Decisions. The abstract is attached.

Current and future needs for developmental toxicity testing.

PubMed

Makris, Susan L; Kim, James H; Ellis, Amy; Faber, Willem; Harrouk, Wafa; Lewis, Joseph M; Paule, Merle G; Seed, Jennifer; Tassinari, Melissa; Tyl, Rochelle

2011-10-01

A review is presented of the use of developmental toxicity testing in the United States and international regulatory assessment of human health risks associated with exposures to pharmaceuticals (human and veterinary), chemicals (agricultural, industrial, and environmental), food additives, cosmetics, and consumer products. Developmental toxicology data are used for prioritization and screening of pharmaceuticals and chemicals, for evaluating and labeling of pharmaceuticals, and for characterizing hazards and risk of exposures to industrial and environmental chemicals. The in vivo study designs utilized in hazard characterization and dose-response assessment for developmental outcomes have not changed substantially over the past 30 years and have served the process well. Now there are opportunities to incorporate new technologies and approaches to testing into the existing assessment paradigm, or to apply innovative approaches to various aspects of risk assessment. Developmental toxicology testing can be enhanced by the refinement or replacement of traditional in vivo protocols, including through the use of in vitro assays, studies conducted in alternative nonmammalian species, the application of new technologies, and the use of in silico models. Potential benefits to the current regulatory process include the ability to screen large numbers of chemicals quickly, with the commitment of fewer resources than traditional toxicology studies, and to refine the risk assessment process through an enhanced understanding of the mechanisms of developmental toxicity and their relevance to potential human risk. As the testing paradigm evolves, the ability to use developmental toxicology data to meet diverse critical regulatory needs must be retained. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Life-Long Implications of Developmental Exposure to Environmental Stressors: New Perspectives.

PubMed

Grandjean, Philippe; Barouki, Robert; Bellinger, David C; Casteleyn, Ludwine; Chadwick, Lisa H; Cordier, Sylvaine; Etzel, Ruth A; Gray, Kimberly A; Ha, Eun-Hee; Junien, Claudine; Karagas, Margaret; Kawamoto, Toshihiro; Paige Lawrence, B; Perera, Frederica P; Prins, Gail S; Puga, Alvaro; Rosenfeld, Cheryl S; Sherr, David H; Sly, Peter D; Suk, William; Sun, Qi; Toppari, Jorma; van den Hazel, Peter; Walker, Cheryl L; Heindel, Jerrold J

2015-10-01

The Developmental Origins of Health and Disease (DOHaD) paradigm is one of the most rapidly expanding areas of biomedical research. Environmental stressors that can impact on DOHaD encompass a variety of environmental and occupational hazards as well as deficiency and oversupply of nutrients and energy. They can disrupt early developmental processes and lead to increased susceptibility to disease/dysfunctions later in life. Presentations at the fourth Conference on Prenatal Programming and Toxicity in Boston, in October 2014, provided important insights and led to new recommendations for research and public health action. The conference highlighted vulnerable exposure windows that can occur as early as the preconception period and epigenetics as a major mechanism than can lead to disadvantageous "reprogramming" of the genome, thereby potentially resulting in transgenerational effects. Stem cells can also be targets of environmental stressors, thus paving another way for effects that may last a lifetime. Current testing paradigms do not allow proper characterization of risk factors and their interactions. Thus, relevant exposure levels and combinations for testing must be identified from human exposure situations and outcome assessments. Testing of potential underpinning mechanisms and biomarker development require laboratory animal models and in vitro approaches. Only few large-scale birth cohorts exist, and collaboration between birth cohorts on a global scale should be facilitated. DOHaD-based research has a crucial role in establishing factors leading to detrimental outcomes and developing early preventative/remediation strategies to combat these risks.

Rational selection of alternative, environmentally compatible surfactants for biotechnological production of pharmaceuticals--a step toward green biotechnology.

PubMed

Straub, Jürg Oliver; Shearer, Russel; Studer, Martin

2014-09-01

The biotechnological production of pharmaceutical active substances needs ancillary substances. Surfactants are used at the end of the cell culture as a protection against potential viral or bacterial contamination and to lyse the producing cells for isolation and purification of the products. To find a replacement for a surfactant that had raised environmental concern, environmentally relevant data for potential alternatives were searched for in the literature. Significant data gaps were filled with additional tests: biodegradability, algal growth inhibition, acute daphnid immobilization and chronic daphnid reproduction toxicity, acute fish toxicity, and activated sludge respiration inhibition. The results were used to model removal in the wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) serving 3 biotechnological production sites in the Roche Group. Predicted environmental concentrations (PECs) were calculated using realistic amounts of surfactants and site-specific wastewater fluxes, modeled removals for the WWTPs and dilution factors by the respective receiving waters. Predicted no-effect concentrations (PNECs) were derived for WWTPs and for both fresh and marine receiving waters as the treated wastewater of 1 production site is discharged into a coastal water. This resulted in a spreadsheet showing PECs, PNECs, and PEC ÷ PNEC risk characterization ratios for the WWTPs and receiving waters for all investigated surfactants and all 3 sites. This spreadsheet now serves as a selection support for the biotechnological developers. This risk-based prioritization of surfactants is a step toward green biotechnological production. © 2014 SETAC.

Mycobacteria, an environmental enhancer of lupus nephritis in a mouse model of systemic lupus erythematosus

PubMed Central

Hawke, Christine G; Painter, Dorothy M; Kirwan, Paul D; Van Driel, Rosemary R; Baxter, Alan G

2003-01-01

Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is a chronic systemic autoimmune disease characterized by the production of antibodies directed against self antigens. Immune complex glomerulonephritis (GN) is one of the most serious complications of this disorder and can lead to potentially fatal renal failure. The aetiology of SLE is complex and multifactorial, characterized by interacting environmental and genetic factors. Here we examine the nature of the renal pathology in mycobacteria-treated non-obese diabetic (NOD) mice, in order to assess its suitability as a model for studying the aetiopathogenesis of, and possible treatment options for, lupus nephritis (LN) in humans. Both global and segmental proliferative lesions, characterized by increased mesangial matrix and cellularity, were demonstrated on light microscopy, and lesions varied in severity from very mild mesangiopathic GN through to obliteration of capillary lumina and glomerular sclerosis. Mixed isotype immune complexes (IC) consisting of immunoglobulin G (IgG), IgM, IgA and complement C3c were detected using direct immunofluorescence. They were deposited in multiple sites within the glomeruli, as confirmed by electron microscopy. The GN seen in mycobacteria-treated NOD mice therefore strongly resembles the pathology seen in human LN, including mesangiopathic, mesangiocapillary and membranous subclasses of LN. The development of spontaneous mixed isotype IC in the glomeruli of some senescent NOD mice suggests that mycobacterial exposure is accelerating, rather than inducing, the development of GN in this model. PMID:12519305

Product Carbon Footprints and Their Uncertainties in Comparative Decision Contexts

PubMed Central

Dao, Hai M.; Phan, Lam T.; de Snoo, Geert R.

2015-01-01

In response to growing awareness of climate change, requests to establish product carbon footprints have been increasing. Product carbon footprints are life cycle assessments restricted to just one impact category, global warming. Product carbon footprint studies generate life cycle inventory results, listing the environmental emissions of greenhouse gases from a product’s lifecycle, and characterize these by their global warming potentials, producing product carbon footprints that are commonly communicated as point values. In the present research we show that the uncertainties surrounding these point values necessitate more sophisticated ways of communicating product carbon footprints, using different sizes of catfish (Pangasius spp.) farms in Vietnam as a case study. As most product carbon footprint studies only have a comparative meaning, we used dependent sampling to produce relative results in order to increase the power for identifying environmentally superior products. We therefore argue that product carbon footprints, supported by quantitative uncertainty estimates, should be used to test hypotheses, rather than to provide point value estimates or plain confidence intervals of products’ environmental performance. PMID:25781175

Narrative persuasion, causality, complex integration, and support for obesity policy.

PubMed

Niederdeppe, Jeff; Shapiro, Michael A; Kim, Hye Kyung; Bartolo, Danielle; Porticella, Norman

2014-01-01

Narrative messages have the potential to convey causal attribution information about complex social issues. This study examined attributions about obesity, an issue characterized by interrelated biological, behavioral, and environmental causes. Participants were randomly assigned to read one of three narratives emphasizing societal causes and solutions for obesity or an unrelated story that served as the control condition. The three narratives varied in the extent to which the character in the story acknowledged personal responsibility (high, moderate, and none) for controlling her weight. Stories that featured no acknowledgment and moderate acknowledgment of personal responsibility, while emphasizing environmental causes and solutions, were successful at increasing societal cause attributions about obesity and, among conservatives, increasing support for obesity-related policies relative to the control group. The extent to which respondents were able to make connections between individual and environmental causes of obesity (complex integration) mediated the relationship between the moderate acknowledgment condition and societal cause attributions. We conclude with a discussion of the implications of this work for narrative persuasion theory and health communication campaigns.

Asturian mercury mining district (Spain) and the environment: a review.

PubMed

Ordóñez, A; Álvarez, R; Loredo, J

2013-11-01

Mercury is of particular concern amongst global environmental pollutants, with abundant contaminated sites worldwide, many of which are associated with mining activities. Asturias (Northwest of Spain) can be considered an Hg metallogenic province with abundant epithermal-type deposits, whose paragenetic sequences include also As-rich minerals. These mines were abandoned long before the introduction of any environmental regulations to control metal release from these sources. Consequently, the environment is globally affected, as high metal concentrations have been found in soils, waters, sediments, plants, and air. In this paper, a characterization of the environmental affection caused by Hg mining in nine Asturian mine sites is presented, with particular emphasis in Hg and As contents. Hg concentrations found in the studied milieu are similar and even higher than those reported in previous studies for other mercury mining districts (mainly Almadén and Idrija). Furthermore, the potential adverse health effects of exposure to these elements in the considered sites in this district have been assessed.

Fusion of SAR and Optical Imagery for Studying the Eco-Epidemiology of Vector-Borne Diseases in Tropical Countries

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Catry, Thibault; Li, Zhichao; Roux, Emmanuel; Herreteau, Vincent; Revillion, Christophe; Dessay, Nadine

2016-08-01

Vector-borne diseases like malaria represent a major public health issue worldwide. Other mosquito-borne diseases affect more and more countries and people, with effects on health which are not all identified yet. Recent developments in the field of remote-sensing allow to consider overriding the existing limits of studying such diseases in tropical regions, where cloud and vegetation cover often prevent to identify and characterize environmental features.We highlight the potential of SAR-optical fusion for the mapping of land cover, the identification of wetlands, and the monitoring of environmental changes in different habitats related to vector-borne diseases in the French Guiana - Brazil cross-border area. This study is the foundation of a landscape-based model of malaria transmission risk. Environmental factors, together with epidemiological, socio-economic, behavioral, demographics, and entomological ones, contribute to assess risks related to such pathologies and support disease control and decision-making by local public health actors.

Escherichia coli and selected veterinary and zoonotic pathogens isolated from environmental sites in companion animal veterinary hospitals in southern Ontario.

PubMed

Murphy, Colleen P; Reid-Smith, Richard J; Boerlin, Patrick; Weese, J Scott; Prescott, John F; Janecko, Nicol; Hassard, Lori; McEwen, Scott A

2010-09-01

Hospital-based infection control in veterinary medicine is emerging and the role of the environment in hospital-acquired infections (HAI) in veterinary hospitals is largely unknown. This study was initiated to determine the recovery of Escherichia coli and selected veterinary and zoonotic pathogens from the environments of 101 community veterinary hospitals. The proportion of hospitals with positive environmental swabs were: E. coli--92%, Clostridium difficile--58%, methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA)--9%, CMY-2 producing E. coli--9%, methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus pseudintermedius--7%, and Salmonella--2%. Vancomycin-resistant Enterococcus spp., canine parvovirus, and feline calicivirus were not isolated. Prevalence of antimicrobial resistance in E. coli isolates was low. Important potential veterinary and human pathogens were recovered including Canadian epidemic strains MRSA-2 and MRSA-5, and C. difficile ribotype 027. There is an environmental reservoir of pathogens in veterinary hospitals; therefore, additional studies are required to characterize risk factors associated with HAI in companion animals, including the role of the environment.

Product carbon footprints and their uncertainties in comparative decision contexts.

PubMed

Henriksson, Patrik J G; Heijungs, Reinout; Dao, Hai M; Phan, Lam T; de Snoo, Geert R; Guinée, Jeroen B

2015-01-01

In response to growing awareness of climate change, requests to establish product carbon footprints have been increasing. Product carbon footprints are life cycle assessments restricted to just one impact category, global warming. Product carbon footprint studies generate life cycle inventory results, listing the environmental emissions of greenhouse gases from a product's lifecycle, and characterize these by their global warming potentials, producing product carbon footprints that are commonly communicated as point values. In the present research we show that the uncertainties surrounding these point values necessitate more sophisticated ways of communicating product carbon footprints, using different sizes of catfish (Pangasius spp.) farms in Vietnam as a case study. As most product carbon footprint studies only have a comparative meaning, we used dependent sampling to produce relative results in order to increase the power for identifying environmentally superior products. We therefore argue that product carbon footprints, supported by quantitative uncertainty estimates, should be used to test hypotheses, rather than to provide point value estimates or plain confidence intervals of products' environmental performance.

Environmental impacts of precision feeding programs applied in pig production.

PubMed

Andretta, I; Hauschild, L; Kipper, M; Pires, P G S; Pomar, C

2017-12-04

This study was undertaken to evaluate the effect that switching from conventional to precision feeding systems during the growing-finishing phase would have on the potential environmental impact of Brazilian pig production. Standard life-cycle assessment procedures were used, with a cradle-to-farm gate boundary. The inputs and outputs of each interface of the life cycle (production of feed ingredients, processing in the feed industry, transportation and animal rearing) were organized in a model. Grain production was independently characterized in the Central-West and South regions of Brazil, whereas the pigs were raised in the South region. Three feeding programs were applied for growing-finishing pigs: conventional phase feeding by group (CON); precision daily feeding by group (PFG) (whole herd fed the same daily adjusted diet); and precision daily feeding by individual (PFI) (diets adjusted daily to match individual nutrient requirements). Raising pigs (1 t pig BW at farm gate) in South Brazil under the CON feeding program using grain cultivated in the same region led to emissions of 1840 kg of CO2-eq, 13.1 kg of PO4-eq and 32.2 kg of SO2-eq. Simulations using grain from the Central-West region showed a greater climate change impact. Compared with the previous scenario, a 17% increase in climate change impact was found when simulating with soybeans produced in Central-West Brazil, whereas a 28% increase was observed when simulating with corn and soybeans from Central-West Brazil. Compared with the CON feeding program, the PFG and PFI programs reduced the potential environmental impact. Applying the PFG program mitigated the potential climate change impact and eutrophication by up to 4%, and acidification impact by up to 3% compared with the CON program. Making a further adjustment by feeding pigs according to their individual nutrient requirements mitigated the potential climate change impact by up to 6% and the potential eutrophication and acidification impact by up to 5% compared with the CON program. The greatest environmental gains associated with the adoption of precision feeding were observed when the diet combined soybeans from Central-West Brazil with corn produced in Southern Brazil. The results clearly show that precision feeding is an effective approach for improving the environmental sustainability of Brazilian pig production.

Real-time subsecond voltammetric analysis of Pb in aqueous environmental samples.

PubMed

Yang, Yuanyuan; Pathirathna, Pavithra; Siriwardhane, Thushani; McElmurry, Shawn P; Hashemi, Parastoo

2013-08-06

Lead (Pb) pollution is an important environmental and public health concern. Rapid Pb transport during stormwater runoff significantly impairs surface water quality. The ability to characterize and model Pb transport during these events is critical to mitigating its impact on the environment. However, Pb analysis is limited by the lack of analytical methods that can afford rapid, sensitive measurements in situ. While electrochemical methods have previously shown promise for rapid Pb analysis, they are currently limited in two ways. First, because of Pb's limited solubility, test solutions that are representative of environmental systems are not typically employed in laboratory characterizations. Second, concerns about traditional Hg electrode toxicity, stability, and low temporal resolution have dampened opportunities for in situ analyses with traditional electrochemical methods. In this paper, we describe two novel methodological advances that bypass these limitations. Using geochemical models, we first create an environmentally relevant test solution that can be used for electrochemical method development and characterization. Second, we develop a fast-scan cyclic voltammetry (FSCV) method for Pb detection on Hg-free carbon fiber microelectrodes. We assess the method's sensitivity and stability, taking into account Pb speciation, and utilize it to characterize rapid Pb fluctuations in real environmental samples. We thus present a novel real-time electrochemical tool for Pb analysis in both model and authentic environmental solutions.

A "weight of evidence" approach for the integration of environmental "triad" data to assess ecological risk and biological vulnerability.

PubMed

Dagnino, Alessandro; Sforzini, Susanna; Dondero, Francesco; Fenoglio, Stefano; Bona, Elisa; Jensen, John; Viarengo, Aldo

2008-07-01

A new Expert Decision Support System (EDSS) that can integrate Triad data for assessing environmental risk and biological vulnerability at contaminated sites has been developed. Starting with ecosystem relevance, the EDSS assigns different weights to the results obtained from Triad disciplines. The following parameters have been employed: 1) chemical soil analyses (revealing the presence of potentially dangerous substances), 2) ecotoxicological bioassays (utilizing classical endpoints such as survival and reproduction rates), 3) biomarkers (showing sublethal pollutant effects), and 4) ecological parameters (assessing changes in community structure and functions). For each Triad discipline, the EDSS compares the data obtained at the studied field sites with reference values and calculates different 0-1 indexes (e.g., Chemical Risk Index, Ecotoxicological Risk Index, and Ecological Risk Index). The EDSS output consists of 3 indexes: 1) Environmental Risk index (EnvRI), quantifying the levels of biological damage at population-community level, 2) Biological Vulnerability Index (BVI), assessing the potential threats to biological equilibriums, and 3) Genotoxicity Index (GTI), screening genotoxicity effects. The EDSS has been applied in the integration of a battery of Triad data obtained during the European Union-funded Life Intervention in the Fraschetta Area (LINFA) project, which has been carried out in order to estimate the potential risk from soils of a highly anthropized area (Alessandria, Italy) mainly impacted by deposition of atmospheric pollutants. Results obtained during 4 seasonal sampling campaigns (2004-2005) show maximum values of EnvRI in sites A and B (characterized by industrial releases) and lower levels in site D (affected by vehicular traffic emissions). All 3 potentially polluted sites have shown high levels of BVI and GTI, suggesting a general change from reference conditions (site C).

Boron - A potential goiterogen?

PubMed

Popova, Elizaveta V; Tinkov, Alexey A; Ajsuvakova, Olga P; Skalnaya, Margarita G; Skalny, Anatoly V

2017-07-01

The iodine deficiency disorders (IDD) include a variety of disturbances such as decreased fertility, increased perinatal and infant mortality, impaired physical and intellectual development, mental retardation, cretinism, hypothyroidism, and endemic goiter (EG). The occurrence of the latter is determined by interplay between genetic and environmental factors. The major environmental factor is iodine status that is required for normal thyroid hormone synthesis. However, other factors like intake of micronutrients and goiterogens also have a significant impact. Essential and toxic trace elements both play a significant role in thyroid physiology. We hypothesize that in terms of overexposure boron may serve as a potential goiterogen. In particular, it is proposed that boron overload may impair thyroid physiology ultimately leading to goiter formation. Certain studies provide evidential support of the hypothesis. In particular, it has been demonstrated that serum and urinary B levels are characterized by a negative association with thyroid hormone levels in exposed subjects. Single indications on the potential efficiency of B in hypothyroidism also exist. Moreover, the levels of B were found to be interrelated with thyroid volume in children environmentally exposed to boron. Experimental studies also demonstrated a significant impact of boron on thyroid structure and hormone levels. Finally, the high rate of B cumulation in thyroid may also indicate that thyroid is the target for B activity. Chemical properties of iodine and boron also provide a background for certain competition. However, it is questionable whether these interactions may occur in the biological systems. Further clinical and experimental studies are required to support the hypothesis of the involvement of boron overexposure in goiter formation. If such association will be confirmed and the potential mechanisms elucidated, it will help to regulate the incidence of hypothyroidism and goiter in endemic regions with high boron levels in soil and water. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Investigating the Environmental Effects of Ocean Energy Generation (Invited)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Copping, A. E.; Anderson, R.; Schultz, I.; Woodruff, D.; Carlson, T.; Ward, J.; van Cleve, F.; Eere Mhk Environmental Effects

2010-12-01

The production of electricity from the moving waters of the ocean has the potential to be a viable addition to the portfolio of renewable energy sources worldwide. The marine and hydrokinetic (MHK) industry seeks to deploy and operate devices that harvest energy from the tides, waves, ocean currents and run of the river. Challenges facing the emerging industry include technology development, rigors of offshore deployments, and financing; however, the barrier most commonly cited by industry, regulators, and stakeholders is the uncertainty surrounding potential environmental effects of devices placed in the water and the permitting processes associated with those impacts. There is a need to evaluate the extensive list of potential interactions that may cause harm to marine organisms and ecosystems, to set priorities for regulatory triggers, and to direct future research. Project developers need information to understand how to minimize environmental effects; regulators need to know what monitoring targets are needed near ocean energy farms; and stakeholders need to know what mitigation strategies are effective in addressing unavoidable impacts. Scientists from Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) are developing an Environmental Risk Evaluation System (ERES) to assess environmental effects associated with MHK technologies and projects through a systematic analytical process, with specific input from key stakeholder groups. The ERES development process provides the scientific structure to support risk characterization, comparison of tradeoffs, and risk-informed decision-making by project and technology developers, regulatory agencies, and other interested stakeholders. The PNNL team will determine the range and severity of environmental effects of MHK development, leading to the development of mitigation strategies where residual risk remains. Input to ERES draws from a wide range of marine and freshwater studies to understand which marine receptors may suffer damage from specific portions of MHK devices, mooring systems, or electrical cabling. However little is known about the effects of certain MHK stressors such as electromagnetic fields (EMF) from underwater cables and machines, as well as acoustic outputs from rotating turbines. Laboratory investigations into the effects of EMF and acoustics on test organisms will be discussed, and preliminary results presented.

Evaluation of Composite-Hull Ships Operating in Arctic Ice

DTIC Science & Technology

2016-06-01

controller. During the time of thesis submission, public works closed the NPS tow tank spaces for environmental characterization of asbestos , as shown...environmental characterization of asbestos shut down the Halligan Hall tow tank spaces. This prevented the researcher to fully assemble the wave generating

SITE CHARACTERIZATION AND MONITORING TECHNOLOGY VERIFICATION: PROGRESS AND RESULTS

EPA Science Inventory

The Site Characterization and Monitoring Technology Pilot of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's Environmental Technology Verification Program (ETV) has been engaged in verification activities since the fall of 1994 (U.S. EPA, 1997). The purpose of the ETV is to promote th...

Atomic oxygen effects on thin film space coatings studied by spectroscopic ellipsometry, atomic force microscopy, and laser light scattering

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Synowicki, R. A.; Hale, Jeffrey S.; Woollam, John A.

1992-01-01

The University of Nebraska is currently evaluating Low Earth Orbit (LEO) simulation techniques as well as a variety of thin film protective coatings to withstand atomic oxygen (AO) degradation. Both oxygen plasma ashers and an electron cyclotron resonance (ECR) source are being used for LEO simulation. Thin film coatings are characterized by optical techniques including Variable Angle Spectroscopic Ellipsometry, Optical spectrophotometry, and laser light scatterometry. Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM) is also used to characterize surface morphology. Results on diamondlike carbon (DLC) films show that DLC degrades with simulated AO exposure at a rate comparable to Kapton polyimide. Since DLC is not as susceptible to environmental factors such as moisture absorption, it could potentially provide more accurate measurements of AO fluence on short space flights.

Biotechnological Production of Docosahexaenoic Acid Using Aurantiochytrium limacinum: Carbon Sources Comparison And Growth Characterization.

PubMed

Abad, Sergi; Turon, Xavier

2015-12-05

Aurantiochytrium limacinum, a marine heterotrophic protist/microalga has shown interesting yields of docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) when cultured with different carbon sources: glucose, pure and crude glycerol. A complete study in a lab-scale fermenter allowed for the characterization and comparison of the growth kinetic parameters corresponding to each carbon source. Artificial Marine Medium (AMM) with glucose, pure and crude glycerol offered similar biomass yields. The net growth rates (0.10-0.12 h(-1)), biomass (0.7-0.8 g cells/g Substrate) and product (0.14-0.15 g DHA/g cells) yields, as well as DHA productivity were similar using the three carbon sources. Viable potential applications to valorize crude glycerol are envisioned to avoid an environmental problem due to the excess of byproduct.

Studies on novel radiopaque methyl methacrylate: glycidyl methacrylate based polymer for biomedical applications.

PubMed

Dawlee, S; Jayakrishnan, A; Jayabalan, M

2009-12-01

A new class of radiopaque copolymer using methyl methacrylate (MMA) and glycidyl methacrylate (GMA) monomers was synthesized and characterized. The copolymer was made radiopaque by the epoxide ring opening of GMA using the catalyst o-phenylenediamine and the subsequent covalent attachment of elemental iodine. The copolymer was characterized by Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectra, energy dispersive X-ray analysis using environmental scanning electron microscope (EDAX), thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), and differential scanning calorimetry (DSC). X-ray visibility of the copolymer was checked by X-radiography. Blood compatibility and cytotoxicity of the newly synthesized copolymer were also evaluated. The iodinated copolymer was thermally stable, blood compatible, non-cytotoxic, and highly radiopaque. The presence of bulky iodine group created a new copolymer with modified properties for potential use in biomedical applications.

Antibacterial gold nanoparticles-biomass assisted synthesis and characterization.

PubMed

Badwaik, Vivek D; Willis, Chad B; Pender, Dillon S; Paripelly, Rammohan; Shah, Monic; Kherde, Yogesh A; Vangala, Lakshmisri M; Gonzalez, Matthew S; Dakshinamurthy, Rajalingam

2013-10-01

Xylose is a natural monosaccharide found in biomass such as straw, pecan shells, cottonseed hulls, and corncobs. Using this monosaccharide, we report the facile, green synthesis and characterization of stable xylose encapsulated gold nanoparticles (Xyl-GNPs) with potent antibacterial activity. Xyl-GNPs were synthesized using the reduction property of xylose in an aqueous solution containing choloraurate anions carried out at room temperature and atmospheric pressure. These nanoparticles were stable and near spherical in shape with an average diameter of 15 +/- 5 nm. Microbiological assay results showed the concentration dependent antibacterial activity of these particles against both Gram-negative (Escherichia coli) and Gram-positive (Staphylococcus epidermidis) bacteria. Thus the facile, environmentally friendly Xyl-GNPs have many potential applications in chemical and biomedical industries, particularly in the development of antibacterial agents in the field of biomedicine.

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Not Available

This symposium included five sessions. Session I dealt with the technology for contending with harmful effluents primarily from coal conversion processes. Session II was designed to address the need for the systematic application of existing capabilities to the collection and characterization of materials of importance to the life scientists. Session III had the underlying theme of the health effects research - biologists, chemists, and technologists working together to confront the problems of the emerging industries. Session IV provided the most recent data in the areas of atmospheric, solid, and liquid releases. Session V dealt with effects on humans and onmore » those people who may potentially be affected by the toxic material that they produce. In summary, the sessions were: technology, chemical, characterization, biological effects, environmental and ecological effects and occupational health effects. 29 pages were included.« less

Microbial Diversity in Extreme Marine Habitats and Their Biomolecules

PubMed Central

Poli, Annarita; Finore, Ilaria; Romano, Ida; Gioiello, Alessia; Lama, Licia; Nicolaus, Barbara

2017-01-01

Extreme marine environments have been the subject of many studies and scientific publications. For many years, these environmental niches, which are characterized by high or low temperatures, high-pressure, low pH, high salt concentrations and also two or more extreme parameters in combination, have been thought to be incompatible to any life forms. Thanks to new technologies such as metagenomics, it is now possible to detect life in most extreme environments. Starting from the discovery of deep sea hydrothermal vents up to the study of marine biodiversity, new microorganisms have been identified, and their potential uses in several applied fields have been outlined. Thermophile, halophile, alkalophile, psychrophile, piezophile and polyextremophile microorganisms have been isolated from these marine environments; they proliferate thanks to adaptation strategies involving diverse cellular metabolic mechanisms. Therefore, a vast number of new biomolecules such as enzymes, polymers and osmolytes from the inhabitant microbial community of the sea have been studied, and there is a growing interest in the potential returns of several industrial production processes concerning the pharmaceutical, medical, environmental and food fields. PMID:28509857

Environmental contaminants and microRNA regulation: Transcription factors as regulators of toxicant-altered microRNA expression

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Sollome, James; Martin, Elizabeth

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) regulate gene expression by binding mRNA and inhibiting translation and/or inducing degradation of the associated transcripts. Expression levels of miRNAs have been shown to be altered in response to environmental toxicants, thus impacting cellular function and influencing disease risk. Transcription factors (TFs) are known to be altered in response to environmental toxicants and play a critical role in the regulation of miRNA expression. To date, environmentally-responsive TFs that are important for regulating miRNAs remain understudied. In a state-of-the-art analysis, we utilized an in silico bioinformatic approach to characterize potential transcriptional regulators of environmentally-responsive miRNAs. Using the miRStart database,more » genomic sequences of promoter regions for all available human miRNAs (n = 847) were identified and promoter regions were defined as − 1000/+500 base pairs from the transcription start site. Subsequently, the promoter region sequences of environmentally-responsive miRNAs (n = 128) were analyzed using enrichment analysis to determine overrepresented TF binding sites (TFBS). While most (56/73) TFs differed across environmental contaminants, a set of 17 TFs was enriched for promoter binding among miRNAs responsive to numerous environmental contaminants. Of these, one TF was common to miRNAs altered by the majority of environmental contaminants, namely SWI/SNF-related, matrix-associated, actin-dependent regulator of chromatin, subfamily A, member 3 (SMARCA3). These identified TFs represent candidate common transcriptional regulators of miRNAs perturbed by environmental toxicants. - Highlights: • Transcription factors that regulate environmentally-modulated miRNA expression are understudied • Transcription factor binding sites (TFBS) located within DNA promoter regions of miRNAs were identified. • Specific transcription factors may serve as master regulators of environmentally-mediated microRNA expression.« less

AHR and CYP1A expression link historical contamination events to modern day developmental effects in the American alligator.

PubMed

Hale, Matthew D; Galligan, Thomas M; Rainwater, Thomas R; Moore, Brandon C; Wilkinson, Philip M; Guillette, Louis J; Parrott, Benjamin B

2017-11-01

The aryl hydrocarbon receptor (AHR) is a ligand-activated transcription factor that initiates a transcriptional pathway responsible for the expression of CYP1A subfamily members, key to the metabolism of xenobiotic compounds. Toxic planar halogenated aromatic hydrocarbons, including dioxin and PCBs, are capable of activating the AHR, and while dioxin and PCB inputs into the environment have been dramatically curbed following strict regulatory efforts in the United States, they persist in the environment and exposures remain relevant today. Little is known regarding the effects that long-term chronic exposures to dioxin or dioxin-like compounds might have on the development and subsequent health of offspring from exposed individuals, nor is much known regarding AHR expression in reptilians. Here, we characterize AHR and CYP1A gene expression in embryonic and juvenile specimen of a long-lived, apex predator, the American alligator (Alligator mississippiensis), and investigate variation in gene expression profiles in offspring collected from sites conveying differential exposures to environmental contaminants. Both age- and tissue-dependent patterning of AHR isoform expression are detected. We characterize two downstream transcriptional targets of the AHR, CYP1A1 and CYP1A2, and describe conserved elements of their genomic architecture. When comparisons across different sites are made, hepatic expression of CYP1A2, a direct target of the AHR, appears elevated in embryos from a site associated with a dioxin point source and previously characterized PCB contamination. Elevated CYP1A2 expression is not persistent, as site-specific variation was absent in juveniles originating from field-collected eggs but reared under lab conditions. Our results illustrate the patterning of AHR gene expression in a long-lived environmental model species, and indicate a potential contemporary influence of historical contamination. This research presents a novel opportunity to link contamination events to critical genetic pathways during embryonic development, and carries significant potential to inform our understanding of potential health effects in wildlife and humans. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Presence of antibiotic residues in various environmental compartments of Shandong province in eastern China: Its potential for resistance development and ecological and human risk.

PubMed

Hanna, Nada; Sun, Pan; Sun, Qiang; Li, Xuewen; Yang, Xiwei; Ji, Xiang; Zou, Huiyun; Ottoson, Jakob; Nilsson, Lennart E; Berglund, Björn; Dyar, Oliver James; Tamhankar, Ashok J; Stålsby Lundborg, Cecilia

2018-05-01

To investigate the occurrence of antibiotic residues in different types of environmental samples including water samples in rural Shandong province, China. Further, to characterize the potential ecological risk for development of antibiotic resistance in the environment, and the potential direct human health risk of exposure to antibiotics via drinking water and vegetables. Environmental samples (n = 214) (river water, waste water, drinking water, sediments, manure, soil and edible parts of vegetables) were collected in twelve villages in Shandong province in eastern China. High performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (HPLC-MS/MS) was used to determine the concentration of antibiotic residues. The ratio of the measured environmental concentrations (MEC) to the predicted no-effect concentrations (PNEC) was used to evaluate the ecological risk (risk quotient, RQ) for development of antibiotic resistance. The potential risks to human health through exposure to antibiotics in drinking water were assessed by comparing measured environmental concentrations (MEC) and predicted no-effect concentration in drinking water (PNEC DW ), and in vegetables by comparing estimated daily intake (EDI) to ADI. Sulfapyridine, sulfamethoxazole, ciprofloxacin, enrofloxacin, levofloxacin, norfloxacin, chloramphenicol, florfenicol, doxycycline, and metronidazole were detected at concentrations ranging between 0.3 and 3.9 ng/L in river water, 1.3 and 12.5 ng/L in waste water, 0.5 and 21.4 ng/L in drinking water, 0.31 and 1.21 μg/kg in river sediment, 0.82 and 1.91 μg/kg in pig manure, 0.1 and 11.68 μg/kg in outlet sediment, 0.5 and 2.5 μg/kg in soil, and 6.3 and 27.2 μg/kg in vegetables. The RQs for resistance development were >1 for enrofloxacin, levofloxacin, and ranged between 0.1 and 1 for ciprofloxacin. MECs/PNEC DW ratios were <1 from exposure to antibiotics through drinking water for both adults and children. EDI/ADI ratios were <0.1 from exposure to antibiotics by vegetable consumption. Antibiotic pollutants were ubiquitous in various environmental compartments of Shandong province of China. Risk estimates indicated a potential for the measured levels of enrofloxacin, levofloxacin and ciprofloxacin in waste water to pose an ecological risk for resistance selection, and further studies are needed to validate this finding. The investigated antibiotics did not appear to pose an appreciable direct human health risk from environmental exposure through drinking water or vegetables consumption. However, they might still pose a risk for resistance development. Copyright © 2018 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.

Characterizing and predicting species distributions across environments and scales: Argentine ant occurrences in the eye of the beholder

USGS Publications Warehouse

Menke, S.B.; Holway, D.A.; Fisher, R.N.; Jetz, W.

2009-01-01

Aim: Species distribution models (SDMs) or, more specifically, ecological niche models (ENMs) are a useful and rapidly proliferating tool in ecology and global change biology. ENMs attempt to capture associations between a species and its environment and are often used to draw biological inferences, to predict potential occurrences in unoccupied regions and to forecast future distributions under environmental change. The accuracy of ENMs, however, hinges critically on the quality of occurrence data. ENMs often use haphazardly collected data rather than data collected across the full spectrum of existing environmental conditions. Moreover, it remains unclear how processes affecting ENM predictions operate at different spatial scales. The scale (i.e. grain size) of analysis may be dictated more by the sampling regime than by biologically meaningful processes. The aim of our study is to jointly quantify how issues relating to region and scale affect ENM predictions using an economically important and ecologically damaging invasive species, the Argentine ant (Linepithema humile). Location: California, USA. Methods: We analysed the relationship between sampling sufficiency, regional differences in environmental parameter space and cell size of analysis and resampling environmental layers using two independently collected sets of presence/absence data. Differences in variable importance were determined using model averaging and logistic regression. Model accuracy was measured with area under the curve (AUC) and Cohen's kappa. Results: We first demonstrate that insufficient sampling of environmental parameter space can cause large errors in predicted distributions and biological interpretation. Models performed best when they were parametrized with data that sufficiently sampled environmental parameter space. Second, we show that altering the spatial grain of analysis changes the relative importance of different environmental variables. These changes apparently result from how environmental constraints and the sampling distributions of environmental variables change with spatial grain. Conclusions: These findings have clear relevance for biological inference. Taken together, our results illustrate potentially general limitations for ENMs, especially when such models are used to predict species occurrences in novel environments. We offer basic methodological and conceptual guidelines for appropriate sampling and scale matching. ?? 2009 The Authors Journal compilation ?? 2009 Blackwell Publishing.

UNITED STATES ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY RESEARCH ACTIVITIES TO CHARACTERIZE CHILDREN'S ENVIRONMENTAL EXPOSURES

EPA Science Inventory

Given the well-established vulnerability of children to the effects of environmental exposures and the array of environmental exposures that have not been studied, understanding the relationship between children's health outcomes and environmental exposures is critical for our ...

Pathfinder Technology Demonstrator: GlobalStar Testing and Results

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Kuroda, Vanessa; Limes, Gregory L.; Han, Shi Lei; Hanson, John Eric; Christa, Scott E.

2016-01-01

The communications subsystem of a spacecraft is typically a SWaP (size, weight, and power) intensive subsystem in a SWaP constrained environment such as a CubeSat. Use of a satellite-based communication system, such as GlobalStars duplex GSP-1720 radio is a low SWaP potentially game-changing low-cost communication subsystem solution that was evaluated for feasibility for the NASA Pathfinder Technology Demonstrator (PTD) project. The PTD project is a series of 6U CubeSat missions to flight demonstrate and characterize novel small satellite payloads in low Earth orbit. GlobalStar is a low Earth orbit satellite constellation for satellite phone and low-speed data communications, and the GSP-1720 is their single board duplex radio most commonly used in satellite phones and shipment tracking devices. The PTD project tested the GSP-1720 to characterize its viability for flight using NASA GEVS (General Environmental Verification Standard) vibration and thermal vacuum levels, as well as testing the uplink-downlink connectivity, data throughput, and file transfer capabilities. This presentation will present the results of the environmental and capability testing of the GSP-1720 performed at NASA Ames Research Center, as well as the viability for CubeSat use in LEO.

Characterization of Spirulina biomass for CELSS diet potential

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Tadros, Mahasin G.

1988-01-01

Spirulina sp. as a bioregenerative photosynthetic and an edible alga for space craft crew in a CELSS, was characterized for growth rate and biomass yield in batch cultures, under various environmental conditions. The cell characteristics were identified for two strains of Spirulina: S. maxima and S. plantensis. Fast growth rate and high yield of both strains were obtained under the following conditions: temperature (30 to 35 C), light irradiance (60 to 100 uE/m/s), nitrate (30 mM), phosphate (2 mM), aeration (300 ml/min), and ph (9 to 10). The partitioning of the assimalatory products (proteins, carbohydrates, lipids) were manipulated by varying the environmental growth conditions. The experiments with Spirulina demonstrated that under stress conditions (high light 120 uE/m/s, temperature 38 C, nitrogen or phosphate limitation; 0.1 M sodium chloride) carbohydrate increased at the expense of protein. In other experiments, where the growth media were sufficient in nutrients and incubated under optimum growth conditions, the total proteins were increased up to almost 70 percent of the organic weight. Conclusion: The nutritional quality of the alga could be manipulated by growth conditions, and therefore usful as a subsystem in CELSS.

Effect of nutrient pollution on dinoflagellate cyst assemblages ...

EPA Pesticide Factsheets

We analyzed surface sediments from 23 northeast USA estuaries, from Maine to Delaware, and nine estuaries from Prince Edward Island (PEI, Canada), to determine how dinoflagellate cyst assemblages varied with nutrient loading. Overall the abundance of cysts of heterotrophic dinoflagellates correlates with modeled nitrogen loading, but there were also regional signals. On PEI cysts of Gymnodinium microreticulatum characterized estuaries with high nitrogen loading while the sediments of eutrophic Boston Harbor were characterized by high abundances of Spiniferites spp. In Delaware Bay and the Delaware Inland Bays Polysphaeridium zoharyi correlated with higher temperatures and nutrient loading. This is the first study to document the dinoflagellate cyst eutrophication signal at such a large geographic scale in estuaries, thus confirming their value as indicators of water quality change and anthropogenic impact. Estuarine and coastal waters are important resources for US and Canadian citizens. This paper summarizes the use of biological indicators that provide information on the eutrophication status and impacts for estuaries along the NW Atlantic coast. These relatively new biological indicators, dinoflagellate cysts, have the potential to provide environmental managers information on recent and historical environmental conditions in estuaries. Together with information on drivers and pressures, dinoflagellate cysts can be used to develop driver-pressure-state-imp

Corrosion protection of reusable surgical instruments.

PubMed

Shah, Sadiq; Bernardo, Mildred

2002-01-01

To understand the corrosion properties of surgical scissors, 416 stainless steel disks and custom electrodes were used as simulated surfaces under various conditions. These simulated surfaces were exposed to tap water and 400-ppm synthetic hard water as Ca2CO3 under different conditions. The samples were evaluated by various techniques for corrosion potential and the impact of environmental conditions on the integrity of the passive film. The electrodes were used to monitor the corrosion behavior by potentiodynamic polarization technique in water both in the presence and absence of a cleaning product. The surface topography of the 416 stainless steel disks was characterized by visual observations and scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and the surface chemistry of the passive film on the surface of the scissors was characterized by x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). The results suggest that surgical instruments made from 416 stainless steel are not susceptible to uniform corrosion; however, they do undergo localized corrosion. The use of suitable cleaning products can offer protection against localized corrosion during the cleaning step. More importantly, the use of potentiodynamic polarization techniques allowed for a quick and convenient approach to evaluate the corrosion properties of surgical instruments under a variety of simulated-use environmental conditions.

Metabolomics applied to the pancreatic islet.

PubMed

Gooding, Jessica R; Jensen, Mette V; Newgard, Christopher B

2016-01-01

Metabolomics, the characterization of the set of small molecules in a biological system, is advancing research in multiple areas of islet biology. Measuring a breadth of metabolites simultaneously provides a broad perspective on metabolic changes as the islets respond dynamically to metabolic fuels, hormones, or environmental stressors. As a result, metabolomics has the potential to provide new mechanistic insights into islet physiology and pathophysiology. Here we summarize advances in our understanding of islet physiology and the etiologies of type-1 and type-2 diabetes gained from metabolomics studies. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Toward understanding and exploiting tumor heterogeneity.

PubMed

Alizadeh, Ash A; Aranda, Victoria; Bardelli, Alberto; Blanpain, Cedric; Bock, Christoph; Borowski, Christine; Caldas, Carlos; Califano, Andrea; Doherty, Michael; Elsner, Markus; Esteller, Manel; Fitzgerald, Rebecca; Korbel, Jan O; Lichter, Peter; Mason, Christopher E; Navin, Nicholas; Pe'er, Dana; Polyak, Kornelia; Roberts, Charles W M; Siu, Lillian; Snyder, Alexandra; Stower, Hannah; Swanton, Charles; Verhaak, Roel G W; Zenklusen, Jean C; Zuber, Johannes; Zucman-Rossi, Jessica

2015-08-01

The extent of tumor heterogeneity is an emerging theme that researchers are only beginning to understand. How genetic and epigenetic heterogeneity affects tumor evolution and clinical progression is unknown. The precise nature of the environmental factors that influence this heterogeneity is also yet to be characterized. Nature Medicine, Nature Biotechnology and the Volkswagen Foundation organized a meeting focused on identifying the obstacles that need to be overcome to advance translational research in and tumor heterogeneity. Once these key questions were established, the attendees devised potential solutions. Their ideas are presented here.

On the search for extant life on Mars

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Klein, H. P.

1996-01-01

Proposals for continuing the search for extant life on Mars are primarily predicated on the assumption that specialized environmental niches that could support a biota may exist on the planet. Before attempting any critical tests for extant organisms, either in situ or on returned samples, it is imperative to determine whether any such sites actually exist. If, through remote sensing and landed instrumentation, sites of potential biological interest are discovered and characterized, biological tests can then more effectively be planned to elicit the presence of organisms that are adapted to living in these particular environments.

Toward understanding and exploiting tumor heterogeneity

PubMed Central

Alizadeh, Ash A; Aranda, Victoria; Bardelli, Alberto; Blanpain, Cedric; Bock, Christoph; Borowski, Christine; Caldas, Carlos; Califano, Andrea; Doherty, Michael; Elsner, Markus; Esteller, Manel; Fitzgerald, Rebecca; Korbel, Jan O; Lichter, Peter; Mason, Christopher E; Navin, Nicholas; Pe’er, Dana; Polyak, Kornelia; Roberts, Charles W M; Siu, Lillian; Snyder, Alexandra; Stower, Hannah; Swanton, Charles; Verhaak, Roel G W; Zenklusen, Jean C; Zuber, Johannes; Zucman-Rossi, Jessica

2016-01-01

The extent of tumor heterogeneity is an emerging theme that researchers are only beginning to understand. How genetic and epigenetic heterogeneity affects tumor evolution and clinical progression is unknown. The precise nature of the environmental factors that influence this heterogeneity is also yet to be characterized. Nature Medicine, Nature Biotechnology and the Volkswagen Foundation organized a meeting focused on identifying the obstacles that need to be overcome to advance translational research in and tumor heterogeneity. Once these key questions were established, the attendees devised potential solutions. Their ideas are presented here. PMID:26248267

On the search for extant life on Mars.

PubMed

Klein, H P

1996-01-01

Proposals for continuing the search for extant life on Mars are primarily predicated on the assumption that specialized environmental niches that could support a biota may exist on the planet. Before attempting any critical tests for extant organisms, either in situ or on returned samples, it is imperative to determine whether any such sites actually exist. If, through remote sensing and landed instrumentation, sites of potential biological interest are discovered and characterized, biological tests can then more effectively be planned to elicit the presence of organisms that are adapted to living in these particular environments.

Arsenic, cadmium, lead, and mercury in surface soils, Pueblo, Colorado: Implications for population health risk

USGS Publications Warehouse

Diawara, D.M.; Litt, J.S.; Unis, D.; Alfonso, N.; Martinez, L.A.; Crock, J.G.; Smith, D.B.; Carsella, J.

2006-01-01

Decades of intensive industrial and agricultural practices as well as rapid urbanization have left communities like Pueblo, Colorado facing potential health threats from pollution of its soils, air, water and food supply. To address such concerns about environmental contamination, we conducted an urban geochemical study of the city of Pueblo to offer insights into the potential chemical hazards in soil and inform priorities for future health studies and population interventions aimed at reducing exposures to inorganic substances. The current study characterizes the environmental landscape of Pueblo in terms of heavy metals, and relates this to population distributions. Soil was sampled within the city along transects and analyzed for arsenic (As), cadmium (Cd), mercury (Hg) and lead (Pb). We also profiled Pueblo's communities in terms of their socioeconomic status and demographics. ArcGIS 9.0 was used to perform exploratory spatial data analysis and generate community profiles and prediction maps. The topsoil in Pueblo contains more As, Cd, Hg and Pb than national soil averages, although average Hg content in Pueblo was within reported baseline ranges. The highest levels of As concentrations ranged between 56.6 and 66.5 ppm. Lead concentrations exceeded 300 ppm in several of Pueblo's residential communities. Elevated levels of lead are concentrated in low-income Hispanic and African-American communities. Areas of excessively high Cd concentration exist around Pueblo, including low income and minority communities, raising additional health and environmental justice concerns. Although the distribution patterns vary by element and may reflect both industrial and non-industrial sources, the study confirms that there is environmental contamination around Pueblo and underscores the need for a comprehensive public health approach to address environmental threats in urban communities. ?? Springer 2006.

Environmental and Spatial Influences on Biogeography and Community Structure of Benthic Diatoms

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Plante, C.; Hill-Spanik, K.; Lowry, J.

2016-02-01

Several theoretical and practical reasons suggest that benthic microalgae could be useful bioindicators. For instance, an ideal indicator species or community would be associated with a given habitat due to local physical conditions or biotic interactions (i.e., `environmental filtering'), not due to dispersal limitation. Due to their small size, immense abundances, and reliance on passive dispersal, the popular notion about micro-organisms is that `Everything is everywhere, but, the environment selects' (Baas-Becking 1934). Although much recent research concerning planktonic bacteria and dispersal limitation has been conducted, very little in this regard is known about microeukaryotes, especially benthic microbes. The purpose of our study was to identify and compare spatial and environmental influences on benthic diatom community structure and biogeography. In summer 2015, sediment was sampled at various spatial scales from four barrier island beaches in South Carolina, USA, and high-throughput (Ion Torrent) DNA sequencing was used to characterize diatom assemblages. ANOSIM and principal coordinates analysis revealed that communities were statistically distinct on the four islands. Community dissimilarity was compared to both spatial distance and environmental differences to determine potential influences of these variables on community structure. We found that geographic distance had the strongest correlation with community similarity, with and without one anomalous location, while differences in temperature (air, water, and sediment), nutrients, organic matter, and turbidity also had significant but weaker relationships with community structure. Surprisingly, air temperature, which changes on very short time scales, appeared to be the environmental factor most strongly related to diatom species composition, potentially implicating some unmeasured variable (e.g., cloud cover). However, we also found that temperature and geographic distance were strongly correlated. Future research will expand the spatial scope of this preliminary study and employ techniques (partial Mantel tests) to control for co-variation among variables.

Characterization of Mycobacterium bohemicum Isolated from Human, Veterinary, and Environmental Sources

PubMed Central

Torkko, Pirjo; Suomalainen, Sini; Iivanainen, Eila; Suutari, Merja; Paulin, Lars; Rudbäck, Eeva; Tortoli, Enrico; Vincent, Véronique; Mattila, Rauni; Katila, Marja-Leena

2001-01-01

Chemotaxonomic and genetic properties were determined for 14 mycobacterial isolates identified as members of a newly described species Mycobacterium bohemicum. The isolates recovered from clinical, veterinary, and environmental sources were compared for lipid composition, biochemical test results, and sequencing of the 16S ribosomal DNA (rDNA) and the 16S-23S rDNA internal transcribed spacer (ITS) regions. The isolates had a lipid composition that was different from those of other known species. Though the isolates formed a distinct entity, some variations were detected in the features analyzed. Combined results of the phenotypic and genotypic analyses were used to group the isolates into three clusters. The major cluster (cluster A), very homogenous in all respects, comprised the M. bohemicum type strain, nine clinical and veterinary isolates, and two of the five environmental isolates. Three other environmental isolates displayed an insertion of 14 nucleotides in the ITS region; they also differed from cluster A in fatty alcohol composition and produced a positive result in the Tween 80 hydrolysis test. Among these three, two isolates were identical (cluster B), but one isolate (cluster C) had a unique high-performance liquid chromatography profile, and its gas liquid chromatography profile lacked 2-octadecanol, which was present in all other isolates analyzed. Thus, sequence variation in the 16S-23S ITS region was associated with interesting variations in lipid composition. Two of the isolates analyzed were regarded as potential inducers of human or veterinary infections. Each of the environmental isolates, all of which were unrelated to the cases presented, was cultured from the water of a different stream. Hence, natural waters are potential reservoirs of M. bohemicum. PMID:11136772

National Coal Utilization Assessment. a preliminary assessment of the health and environmental effects of coal utilization in the Midwest. Volume I. Energy scenarios, technology characterizations, air and water resource impacts, and health effects

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Not Available

1977-01-01

This report presents an initial evaluation of the major health and environmental issues associated with increased coal use in the six midwestern states of Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Ohio, and Wisconsin. Using an integrated assessment approach, the evaluation proceeds from a base-line scenario of energy demand and facility siting for 1975-2020. Emphasis is placed on impacts from coal extraction, land reclamation, coal combustion for electrical generation, and coal gasification. The range of potential impacts and constraints is illustrated by a second scenario that represents an expected upper limit for coal utilization in Illinois. The following are among the more significantmore » issues identified and evaluated in this study: If environmental and related issues can be resolved, coal will continue to be a major source of energy for the Midwest; existing sulfur emission constraints will increase use of western coal; the resource requirements and environmental impacts of coal utilization will require major significant environmental and economic tradeoffs in site selection; short-term (24-hr) ambient standards for sulfur dioxide will limit the sizes of coal facilities or require advanced control technologies; an impact on public health may result from long-range transport of airborne sulfur emissions from coal facilities in the Midwest; inadequately controlled effluents from coal gasification may cause violations of water-quality standards; the major ecological effects of coal extraction are from pre-mining and post-reclamation land use; and sulfur dioxide is the major potential contributor to effects on vegetation of atmospheric emissions from coal facilities.« less

Development of a novel in silico model of zeta potential for metal oxide nanoparticles: a nano-QSPR approach

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wyrzykowska, Ewelina; Mikolajczyk, Alicja; Sikorska, Celina; Puzyn, Tomasz

2016-11-01

Once released into the aquatic environment, nanoparticles (NPs) are expected to interact (e.g. dissolve, agglomerate/aggregate, settle), with important consequences for NP fate and toxicity. A clear understanding of how internal and environmental factors influence the NP toxicity and fate in the environment is still in its infancy. In this study, a quantitative structure-property relationship (QSPR) approach was employed to systematically explore factors that affect surface charge (zeta potential) under environmentally realistic conditions. The nano-QSPR model developed with multiple linear regression (MLR) was characterized by high robustness ({{{Q}}{{2}}}{{CV}}=0.90) and external predictivity ({{{Q}}{{2}}}{{EXT}}=0.93). The results clearly showed that zeta potential values varied markedly as functions of the ionic radius of the metal atom in the metal oxides, confirming that agglomeration and the extent of release of free MexOy largely depend on their intrinsic properties. A developed nano-QSPR model was successfully applied to predict zeta potential in an ionized solution of NPs for which experimentally determined values of response have been unavailable. Hence, the application of our model is possible when the values of zeta potential in the ionized solution for metal oxide nanoparticles are undetermined, without the necessity of performing more time consuming and expensive experiments. We believe that our studies will be helpful in predicting the conditions under which MexOy is likely to become problematic for the environment and human health.

Regeneration of high-quality silk fibroin fiber by wet spinning from CaCl2-formic acid solvent.

PubMed

Zhang, Feng; Lu, Qiang; Yue, Xiaoxiao; Zuo, Baoqi; Qin, Mingde; Li, Fang; Kaplan, David L; Zhang, Xueguang

2015-01-01

Silks spun by silkworms and spiders feature outstanding mechanical properties despite being spun under benign conditions. The superior physical properties of silk are closely related to its complicated hierarchical structures constructed from nanoscale building blocks, such as nanocrystals and nanofibrils. Here, we report a novel silk dissolution behavior, which preserved nanofibrils in CaCl2-formic acid solution, that enables spinning of high-quality fibers with a hierarchical structure. This process is characterized by simplicity, high efficiency, low cost, environmental compatibility and large-scale industrialization potential, as well as having utility and potential for the recycling of silk waste and the production of silk-based functional materials. Copyright © 2014. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

Phytoforensics—Using trees to find contamination

USGS Publications Warehouse

Wilson, Jordan L.

2017-09-28

The water we drink, air we breathe, and soil we come into contact with have the potential to adversely affect our health because of contaminants in the environment. Environmental samples can characterize the extent of potential contamination, but traditional methods for collecting water, air, and soil samples below the ground (for example, well drilling or direct-push soil sampling) are expensive and time consuming. Trees are closely connected to the subsurface and sampling tree trunks can indicate subsurface pollutants, a process called phytoforensics. Scientists at the Missouri Water Science Center were among the first to use phytoforensics to screen sites for contamination before using traditional sampling methods, to guide additional sampling, and to show the large cost savings associated with tree sampling compared to traditional methods. 

Growth oscillation in larger foraminifera.

PubMed

Briguglio, Antonino; Hohenegger, Johann

2014-01-01

This work shows the potential for applying three-dimensional biometry to studying cell growth in larger benthic foraminifera. The volume of each test chamber was measured from the three-dimensional model obtained by means of computed tomography. Analyses of cell growth based on the sequence of chamber volumes revealed constant and significant oscillations for all investigated specimens, characterized by periods of approximately 15, 30, 90, and 360 days. Possible explanations for these periods are connected to tides, lunar cycles, and seasonality. The potential to record environmental oscillations or fluctuations during the lifetime of larger foraminifera is pivotal for reconstructing short-term paleoenvironmental variations or for gaining insight into the influence of tides or tidal current on the shallow-water benthic fauna in both recent and fossil environments.

Halloysite clay nanotubes for controlled release of protective agents.

PubMed

Abdullayev, Elshad; Lvov, Yuri

2011-11-01

Halloysite is a naturally occurring clay mineral with submicron sized hollow cylindrical morphology. Halloysite morphology, structure and properties were characterized by using SEM, TEM, XRD, FT-IR spectroscopy, surface electrokinetic (zeta) potential and nitrogen adsorption isotherms. Comparison of the halloysite structure with imogolite was also provided. Halloysite toxicological studies revealed that it is environmentally friendly and biocompatible material. Due to its unique tubular shape and availability in thousands of tons halloysite has potential to be applied as nanocontainers for encapsulation of chemically and biologically active agents such as medicines, pharmaceuticals, antiseptics, corrosion inhibitors, antifouling agents, and doped with them plastics producing smart polymeric nanocomposites with improved mechanical strength. Finally possibility to synthesize metal nanorods within the halloysite lumen was demonstrated.

Characterization of the thermolysis products of Nafion membrane: A potential source of perfluorinated compounds in the environment

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Feng, Mingbao; Qu, Ruijuan; Wei, Zhongbo; Wang, Liansheng; Sun, Ping; Wang, Zunyao

2015-05-01

The thermal decomposition of Nafion N117 membrane, a typical perfluorosulfonic acid membrane that is widely used in various chemical technologies, was investigated in this study. Structural identification of thermolysis products in water and methanol was performed using liquid chromatography-electrospray ionization-tandem mass spectrometry (LC/ESI-MS/MS). The fluoride release was studied using an ion-chromatography system, and the membrane thermal stability was characterized by thermogravimetric analysis. Notably, several types of perfluorinated compounds (PFCs) including perfluorocarboxylic acids were detected and identified. Based on these data, a thermolysis mechanism was proposed involving cleavage of both the polymer backbone and its side chains by attack of radical species. This is the first systematic report on the thermolysis products of Nafion by simulating its high-temperature operation and disposal process via incineration. The results of this study indicate that Nafion is a potential environmental source of PFCs, which have attracted growing interest and concern in recent years. Additionally, this study provides an analytical justification of the LC/ESI-MS/MS method for characterizing the degradation products of polymer electrolyte membranes. These identifications can substantially facilitate an understanding of their decomposition mechanisms and offer insight into the proper utilization and effective management on these membranes.

A Review: Origins of the Dielectric Properties of Proteins and Potential Development as Bio-Sensors

PubMed Central

Bibi, Fabien; Villain, Maud; Guillaume, Carole; Sorli, Brice; Gontard, Nathalie

2016-01-01

Polymers can be classified as synthetic polymers and natural polymers, and are often characterized by their most typical functions namely their high mechanical resistivity, electrical conductivity and dielectric properties. This bibliography report consists in: (i) Defining the origins of the dielectric properties of natural polymers by reviewing proteins. Despite their complex molecular chains, proteins present several points of interest, particularly, their charge content conferring their electrical and dielectric properties; (ii) Identifying factors influencing the dielectric properties of protein films. The effects of vapors and gases such as water vapor, oxygen, carbon dioxide, ammonia and ethanol on the dielectric properties are put forward; (iii) Finally, potential development of protein films as bio-sensors coated on electronic devices for detection of environmental changes particularly humidity or carbon dioxide content in relation with dielectric properties variations are discussed. As the study of the dielectric properties implies imposing an electric field to the material, it was necessary to evaluate the impact of frequency on the polymers and subsequently on their structure. Characterization techniques, on the one hand dielectric spectroscopy devoted for the determination of the glass transition temperature among others, and on the other hand other techniques such as infra-red spectroscopy for structure characterization as a function of moisture content for instance are also introduced. PMID:27527179

ENVIRONMENTAL TECHNOLOGY VERIFICATION PROGRAM FOR MONITORING AND CHARACTERIZATION

EPA Science Inventory

The Environmental Technology Verification Program is a service of the Environmental Protection Agency designed to accelerate the development and commercialization of improved environmental technology through third party verification and reporting of performance. The goal of ETV i...

Environmental Electrometry with Luminescent Carbon Nanotubes.

PubMed

Noé, Jonathan C; Nutz, Manuel; Reschauer, Jonathan; Morell, Nicolas; Tsioutsios, Ioannis; Reserbat-Plantey, Antoine; Watanabe, Kenji; Taniguchi, Takashi; Bachtold, Adrian; Högele, Alexander

2018-06-25

We demonstrate that localized excitons in luminescent carbon nanotubes can be utilized to study electrostatic fluctuations in the nanotube environment with sensitivity down to the elementary charge. By monitoring the temporal evolution of the cryogenic photoluminescence from individual carbon nanotubes grown on silicon oxide and hexagonal boron nitride, we characterize the dynamics of charge trap defects for both dielectric supports. We find a one order of magnitude reduction in the photoluminescence spectral wandering for nanotubes on extended atomically flat terraces of hexagonal boron nitride. For nanotubes on hexagonal boron nitride with pronounced spectral fluctuations, our analysis suggests proximity to terrace ridges where charge fluctuators agglomerate to exhibit areal densities exceeding those of silicon oxide. Our results establish carbon nanotubes as sensitive probes of environmental charge fluctuations and highlight their potential for applications in electrometric nanodevices with all-optical readout.

Characterization of single-walled carbon nanotubes for environmental implications

USGS Publications Warehouse

Agnihotri, S.; Rostam-Abadi, M.; Rood, M.J.

2004-01-01

Adsorption capacities of N2 and various organic vapors (methyl-ethyl ketone (MEK), toluene, and cyclohexane) on select electric-arc and HiPco produced single walled carbon nanotubes (SWNT) were measured at 77 and 298 K, respectively. The amount of N2 adsorbed on a SWNT sample depended on the sample purity, methodology, and on the sample age. Adsorption capacities of organic vapors (100-1000 ppm vol) on SWNT in humid conditions were much higher than those for microporous activated carbons. These results established a foundation for additional studies related to potential environmental applications of SWNT. The MEK adsorption capacities of samples EA95 and CVD80 and mesoporous tire-derived activated carbon in humid conditions were lower than in dry conditions. This is an abstract of a paper presented at the AIChE Annual Meeting (Austin, TX 11/7-12/2004).

Manipulating cyanobacteria: Spirulina for potential CELSS diet

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Tadros, Mahasin G.; Smith, Woodrow; Mbuthia, Peter; Joseph, Beverly

1989-01-01

Spirulina sp. as a bioregenerative photosynthetic and an edible alga for spacecraft crew in a CELSS, was characterized for the biomass yield in batch cultures, under various environmental conditions. The partitioning of the assimalitory products (proteins, carbohydrates, lipids) were manipulated by varying the environmental growth conditions. Experiments with Spirulina have shown that under stress conditions (i.e., high light 160 uE/sq m/s, temperature 38 C, nitrogen or phosphate limitation; 0.1 M sodium chloride) carbohydrates increased at the expense of proteins. In other experiments, where the growth media were sufficient in nutrients and incubated under optimum growth conditions, the total of the algal could be manipulated by growth conditions. These results support the feasibility of considering Spirulina as a subsystem in CELSS because of the ease with which its nutrient content can be manipulated.

Evaluation of a GFP Report Gene Construct for Environmental Arsenic Detection

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Roberto, F.F.; Barnes, J.M.; Bruhn, D.F.

Detection of arsenic and other heavy metal contaminants in the environment is critical to ensuring safe drinking water and effective cleanup of historic activities that have led to widespread contamination of soil and groundwater. Biosensors have the potential to significantly reduce the costs associated with site characterization and long term environmental monitoring. By exploiting the highly selective and sensitive natural mechanisms by which bacteria and other living organisms respond to heavy metals, and fusing transcriptionally active components of these mechanisms to reporter genes, such as B-galactosidase, bacterial luciferase (lux), or green fluorescent protein (GFP) from marine jellyfish, it is possiblemore » to produce inexpensive, yet effective biosensors. This article describes the response to submicrogram quantities of arsenite and arsenate of a whole cell arsenic biosensor utilizing a GFP reporter gene.« less

Regenerative Life Support Systems Test Bed performance - Lettuce crop characterization

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Barta, Daniel J.; Edeen, Marybeth A.; Eckhardt, Bradley D.

1992-01-01

System performance in terms of human life support requirements was evaluated for two crops of lettuce (Lactuca sative cv. Waldmann's Green) grown in the Regenerative Life Support Systems Test Bed. Each crop, grown in separate pots under identical environmental and cultural conditions, was irrigated with half-strength Hoagland's nutrient solution, with the frequency of irrigation being increased as the crop aged over the 30-day crop tests. Averaging over both crop tests, the test bed met the requirements of 2.1 person-days of oxygen production, 2.4 person-days of CO2 removal, and 129 person-days of potential potable water production. Gains in the mass of water and O2 produced and CO2 removed could be achieved by optimizing environmental conditions to increase plant growth rate and by optimizing cultural management methods.

Integrating public commentary and participation into environmental decision-making: The implications of Ontario`s Environmental Bill of Rights, 1993

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

McRobert, D.

1995-12-31

In February 1994, the Environmental Bill of Rights, 1993 (EBR) was proclaimed into law by the Ontario government. The EBR is intended to promote a new era in environmental decision-making one characterized by enhanced public participation, citizen empowerment and greater accountability of decision makers. A key challenge in the implementation of the EBR is the change it will force in government decision-making. Historically, Ontario environmental regulation focused on the development of appropriate pollution control instruments, techniques and standards to control harmful environmental activity. Often the knowledge of outsiders, (i.e. the public), was considered inadequate or irrelevant to the regulatory process.more » In contrast, the EBR recognizes the relevance and validity of public knowledge, and is intended to encourage decision-makers to mesh public and scientific knowledge through a new regulatory approval system based on notice of new developments, approvals and laws on a province-wide electronic bulletin board service. The positive potential of the EBR is in its ability to promote social understanding of the issues and risks in environmental management. The EBR mandates open dialogue and proactive interaction between government, industry, environmental groups, citizen groups, and employees to explore new mechanisms in environmental decision making. In addition, the EBR seeks to enlist the cooperation of all sectors of society in addressing the complex issues posed by the environment so that not only problem solving but problem identification and prevention activities are conducted in the context of greater shared responsibility and accountability.« less

A socio-scientific analysis of the environmental and health benefits as well as potential risks of cassava production and consumption.

PubMed

Mombo, S; Dumat, C; Shahid, M; Schreck, E

2017-02-01

Due to its high adaptability, cassava (Manihot esculenta Crantz) is one of the world's most cultivated and consumed plants after maize and rice. However, there are relatively few scientific studies on this important crop. The objective of this review was therefore to summarize and discuss the available information on cassava cropping in order to promote sustainable practices in terms of production and consumption. Cassava cultivation has been expanding recently at the global scale and is widely consumed in most regions of South America, Africa, and Asia. However, it is also characterized by the presence in its roots of potentially toxic hydrocyanic acid. Furthermore, cassava can also absorb pollutants as it is currently cultivated near roads or factories and generally without consideration for potential sources of soil, water, or atmospheric pollution. Careful washing, peeling, and adequate preparation before eating are therefore crucial steps for reducing human exposure to both environmental pollutants and natural hydrocyanic acid. At present, there is not enough precise data available on this staple food crop. To improve our knowledge on the nutritive benefits versus health risks associated with cassava consumption, further research is necessary to compare cassava cultivars and precisely study the influence of preparation methods.

Assessment of potential biomarkers, metallothionein and vitellogenin mRNA expressions in various chemically exposed benthic Chironomus riparius larvae

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Park, Kiyun; Kwak, Inn-Sil

2012-12-01

The objective of this study was conducted to identify the possibility of using Chironomus metallothionein (MT) and vitellogenin (VTG) as biomarkers of stress caused by endocrinedisrupting chemicals (EDCs), heavy metals, herbicides and veterinary antibiotics. We characterized the MT and VTG cDNA in Chironomus riparius and evaluated their mRNA expression profiles following exposure to different environmental pollutants. The gene expression analysis showed that the MT mRNA levels increased significantly after long-term exposure to cadmium (Cd), copper (Cu), Lead (Pb), di(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate (DEHP), and 2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid (2,4-D). Moreover, the VTG mRNA expression increased significantly in C. riparius larvae exposed to BPA, NP, DEHP, Cd, 2,4-D and fenbendazole. Evaluation of the long-term effects of environmental pollutants revealed up regulation of Chironomus MT mRNA in response to DEHP exposure among EDCs, and the level of the VTG mRNA was increased significantly following treatment with Cd and herbicide 2,4-D at all concentrations in a dose-dependent manner. These results indicate that VTG could be used as a potential biomarker of herbicide and Cd as well as EDCs, while MT was a potential biomarker of heavy metals such as Cd, Cu, and Pb in aquatic environments.

A Framework for Assessing Health Risk of Environmental ...

EPA Pesticide Factsheets

EPA released the final report entitled, A Framework for Assessing Health Risk of Environmental Exposures to Children, which examines the impact of potential exposures during developmental lifestages and subsequent lifestages, while emphasizing the iterative nature of the analysis phase with a multidisciplinary team. Major findings and conclusions: This report outlines the framework in which mode of action(s) (MOA) can be considered across life stages. The framework is based upon existing approaches adopted in the Framework on Cumulative Risk Assessment and identifies existing guidance, guidelines and policy papers that relate to children's health risk assessment. It emphasizes the importance of an iterative approach between hazard, dose response, and exposure analyses. In addition, it includes discussion of principles for weight of evidence consideration across life stages for the hazard characterization database.Key science/assessment issues:This framework addresses the questions of why and how an improved children's health risk assessment will strengthen the overall risk assessment process across the Agency. This approach improves the scientific explanation of children's risk and will add value by: 1) providing for a more complete evaluation of the potential for vulnerability at different life stages, including a focus on the underlying biological events and critical developmental periods for incorporating MOA considerations; 2) evaluating of the potential fo

Bioassay criteria for environmental restoration workers

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Carbaugh, E.H.; Bihl, D.E.

1993-01-01

Environmental restoration (ER) work at the U. S. Department of Energy Hanford Site posed questions concerning when to perform bioassay monitoring of workers for potential intakes of radioactivity. Application of criteria originally developed for use inside radionuclide processing facilities to ER work resulted in overly restrictive bioassay requirements. ER work typically involves site characterization or, excavating large quantities of potentially contaminated soil, rather than working with concentrated quantities of radioactivity as in a processing facility. An improved approach, tailored to ER work, provided soil contamination concentrations above which worker bioassay would be required. Soil concentrations were derived assuming acute ormore » chronic intakes of 2% of an Annual Limit on Intake (ALI), or a potential committed effective dose equivalent of 100 mrem, and conservative dust loading of air from the work. When planning ER work, the anticipated soil concentration and corresponding need for bioassay could be estimated from work-site historical records. Once site work commenced, soil sampling and work-place surveys could be used to determine bioassay needs. This approach substantially reduced the required number of bioassay samples with corresponding reductions in analytical costs, schedules, and more flexible work-force management. (Work supported by the US Department of Energy under contract DOE-AC06-76RLO 1830.)« less

Environmental assessment: Richton Dome Site, Mississippi

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

none,

1986-05-01

In February 1983, the US Department of Energy (DOE) identified the Richton Dome site in Mississippi as one of the nine potentially acceptable sites for a mined geologic repository for spent nuclear fuel and high-level radioactive waste. To determine their suitability, the Richton Dome site and the eight other potentially acceptable sites have been evaluated in accordance with the DOE's General Guidelines for the Recommendation of Sites for the Nuclear Waste Repositories. These evaluations were reported in draft environmental assessments (EAs), which were issued for public review and comment. After considering the comments received on the draft EAs, the DOEmore » prepared the final EAs. The site is in the Gulf interior region, which is one of five distinct geohydrologic settings considered for the first repository. This setting contains two other potentially acceptable sites--the Cypress Creek Dome site in Mississippi and the Vacherie Dome site in Louisiana. Although the Cypress Creek Dome and the Vacherie Dome sites are suitable for site characterization, the DOE has concluded that the Richton Dome site is the preferred site in the Gulf interior region. On the basis of the evaluations reported in this EA, the DOE has found that the Richton Dome site is not disqualified under the guidelines.« less

Identification, Tissue Distribution, and Bioaccumulation Potential of Cyclic Perfluorinated Sulfonic Acids Isomers in an Airport Impacted Ecosystem.

PubMed

Wang, Yuan; Vestergren, Robin; Shi, Yali; Cao, Dong; Xu, Lin; Cai, Yaqi; Zhao, Xiaoli; Wu, Fengchang

2016-10-18

The use of cyclic perfluoroalkyl acids as anticorrosive agents in hydraulic fluids remains a poorly characterized source of organofluorine compounds to the environment. Here, we investigated the presence of perfluoroethylenecyclohexanesulfonate (PFECHS) isomers in environmental samples for the first time using a combination of high resolution and tandem mass spectrometry. Five distinct peaks attributed to different isomers of PFECHS and perfluoropropylcyclopentanesulfonate (PFPCPeS) were identified in environmental samples. The sum of PFECHS and PFPCPeS isomers displayed logarithmically decreasing spatial trends in water (1.04-324 ng/L) and sediment samples (

Assessment of soil heavy metals for eco-environment and human health in a rapidly urbanization area of the upper Yangtze Basin.

PubMed

Jia, Zhongmin; Li, Siyue; Wang, Li

2018-02-19

Soil pollution with heavy metals (HMs) has been attracting more and more interests, however, assessment of eco-environmental and human risks particularly in a rapidly urbanization area (the upper Yangtze) remains limited. Multiple modern indices were firstly performed for complete risk assessment of eco-environment and human health based on a high-spatial-resolution sampling. Averages of HMs were far below grade II threshold level of the Chinese Environmental Quality standards for soils, whereas Cd, As and Hg considerably exceeded the local background values. EF suggested overall moderate enrichments of Cd and Se, resulting in soils uncontaminated to moderately contaminated with them. Potential ecological risk index showed significant differences among Counties that were characterized by moderate risk. However, several sites were moderately to heavily contaminated with As, Cd and Hg by Igeo, resulting in that these sites were categorized as "considerable risk", or "high risk". Moreover, children were more susceptible to the potential health risk irrespective of the carcinogenic or non - carcinogenic risk. There were no significant carcinogenic and non - carcinogenic risks for adults, children however showed significant non - carcinogenic effect. Our first assessment provided important information for policy making to reduce the potential effects of soil contamination on human and eco-environment.

Marine mammals as sentinel species for oceans and human health.

PubMed

Bossart, G D

2011-05-01

The long-term consequences of climate change and potential environmental degradation are likely to include aspects of disease emergence in marine plants and animals. In turn, these emerging diseases may have epizootic potential, zoonotic implications, and a complex pathogenesis involving other cofactors such as anthropogenic contaminant burden, genetics, and immunologic dysfunction. The concept of marine sentinel organisms provides one approach to evaluating aquatic ecosystem health. Such sentinels are barometers for current or potential negative impacts on individual- and population-level animal health. In turn, using marine sentinels permits better characterization and management of impacts that ultimately affect animal and human health associated with the oceans. Marine mammals are prime sentinel species because many species have long life spans, are long-term coastal residents, feed at a high trophic level, and have unique fat stores that can serve as depots for anthropogenic toxins. Marine mammals may be exposed to environmental stressors such as chemical pollutants, harmful algal biotoxins, and emerging or resurging pathogens. Since many marine mammal species share the coastal environment with humans and consume the same food, they also may serve as effective sentinels for public health problems. Finally, marine mammals are charismatic megafauna that typically stimulate an exaggerated human behavioral response and are thus more likely to be observed.

Blood Hypomethylation of Inflammatory Genes Mediates the Effects of Metal-rich Airborne Pollutants on Blood Coagulation

PubMed Central

Tarantini, Letizia; Bonzini, Matteo; Tripodi, Armando; Angelici, Laura; Nordio, Francesco; Cantone, Laura; Apostoli, Pietro; Bertazzi, Pier Alberto; Baccarelli, Andrea A.

2014-01-01

Objectives Recent investigations have associated airborne Particulate Matter (PM) with increased coagulation and thrombosis, but underlying biological mechanisms are still incompletely characterized. DNA methylation is an environmentally-sensitive mechanism of gene regulation that could potentially contribute to PM-induced hypercoagulability. We aimed to test whether altered methylation mediates environmental effects on coagulation. Methods We investigated 63 steel workers exposed to a wide range of PM levels, as a work-related condition with well-characterized prothrombotic exposure. We measured personal PM10 (PM≤10 μm in aerodynamic diameter), PM1 (≤1 μm), and air metal components. We determined leukocyte DNA methylation of NOS3 (nitric-oxide-synthase-3) and EDN1 (endothelin-1) through bisulfite-pyrosequencing and we measured Endogenous Thrombin Potential (ETP), as a global coagulation-activation test after standardized triggers. Results ETP increased in association with PM10 (β=20.0, 95%CI: 3.0, 37.0), PM1 (β=80.8 95%CI: 14.9, 146.7), and zinc (β=51.3, 95%CI: 0.01, 111.1) exposures. NOS3 methylation was negatively associated with PM10 (β=−0.2, 95%CI: −0.4, −0.03), PM1 (β=−0.8, 95%CI: −1.4, −0.1), zinc (β=−0.9, 95%CI: −1.4, −0.3) and iron (β=−0.7, 95%CI: −1.4, −0.01) exposures. Zinc exposure was negatively associated with EDN1 (β=−0.3, 95%CI: −0.8, −0.1) methylation. Lower NOS3 (β=−42.3; p<0.001) and EDN1 (β=−14.5; p=0.05) were associated with higher ETP. Statistical mediation analysis formally confirmed NOS3 and EDN1 hypomethylation as intermediate mechanisms for PM-related coagulation effects. Conclusions Our study showed for the first time, that gene hypomethylation contributes to environmentally-induced hypercoagulability. PMID:23476046

Early Environmental Origins of Neurodegenerative Disease in Later Life

PubMed Central

Landrigan, Philip J.; Sonawane, Babasaheb; Butler, Robert N.; Trasande, Leonardo; Callan, Richard; Droller, Daniel

2005-01-01

Parkinson disease (PD) and Alzheimer disease (AD), the two most common neurodegenerative disorders in American adults, are of purely genetic origin in a minority of cases and appear in most instances to arise through interactions among genetic and environmental factors. In this article we hypothesize that environmental exposures in early life may be of particular etiologic importance and review evidence for the early environmental origins of neurodegeneration. For PD the first recognized environmental cause, MPTP (1-methyl-4-phenyl-1,2,3,6-tetrahydropyridine), was identified in epidemiologic studies of drug abusers. Chemicals experimentally linked to PD include the insecticide rotenone and the herbicides paraquat and maneb; interaction has been observed between paraquat and maneb. In epidemiologic studies, manganese has been linked to parkinsonism. In dementia, lead is associated with increased risk in chronically exposed workers. Exposures of children in early life to lead, polychlorinated biphenyls, and methylmercury have been followed by persistent decrements in intelligence that may presage dementia. To discover new environmental causes of AD and PD, and to characterize relevant gene–environment interactions, we recommend that a large, prospective genetic and epidemiologic study be undertaken that will follow thousands of children from conception (or before) to old age. Additional approaches to etiologic discovery include establishing incidence registries for AD and PD, conducting targeted investigations in high-risk populations, and improving testing of the potential neurologic toxicity of chemicals. PMID:16140633

Environmental characterization report for the Gulf Interior Region, Texas study area. [Oakwood, Palestine and Keechi salt domes

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Not Available

1982-10-01

This report is published as a product of the National Waste Terminal Storage (NWTS) Program. The objective of this program is the development of terminal waste storage facilities in deep, stable geologic formations for high-level nuclear waste, including spent fuel elements from commercial power reactors and transuranic nuclear waste for which the federal government is responsible. The report is part of the area study phase and contains environmental information for the Texas Study Area of the Gulf Interior Region acquired from federal, state, and regional agencies. The data in this report meet the requirements of predetermined survey plans and willmore » be used in determining locations of approximately 80 square kilometers (30 square miles) that will be further characterized. Information on surface water, atmosphere, background radiation, natural ecosystems, agricultural systems, demography, socioeconomics, land use, and transportation is presented. The environmental characterization will ensure that data on environmental values required by the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) of 1969 are available.« less

Multi-proxy approach detects heterogeneous habitats for primates during the Miocene climatic optimum in Central Europe.

PubMed

Merceron, Gildas; Costeur, Loïc; Maridet, Olivier; Ramdarshan, Anusha; Göhlich, Ursula B

2012-07-01

The present study attempts to characterize the environmental conditions that prevailed along the western shores of the Central Paratethys and its hinterland during the early middle Miocene at the same time t primates reached their peak in species diversity in Central Europe. Based on faunal structure (using cenograms), paleotemperature reconstruction (using cricetid diversity), and dietary reconstruction of ruminants (using molar micro-wear analyses), four faunal assemblages are used to characterize the regional environmental context. The cenograms for Göriach and Devínska Novà Ves Zapfe's fissure site support the presence of mosaic environments with open areas under rather humid conditions. This is also supported by the dental micro-wear analyses of ruminants. The species of Palaeomerycidae were most probably the only predominant browsers. Surprisingly, the three cervids, Dicrocerus, Heteroprox, and Euprox, were highly involved in grazing. Pseudoeotragus seegrabensis was likely a generalist and the two specimens assigned to the second bovid, Eotragus clavatus, were browsers. The two species of tragulids plot between fruit browsers and generalists. Moreover, paleotemperatures based on cricetid diversity estimate mean annual temperature at about 18 °C with potential high seasonal variations. These data support the predominance of mosaic landscapes along the western shores of the Central Paratethys and its hinterland during the Miocene Climatic Optimum as primates reach a peak in species diversity. This result lends credence to the hypothesis that environmental heterogeneity favours radiation among mammals, and that the specific environmental context of the Central Paratethys western border might explain the high diversity of the middle Miocene primates. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Early life history pelagic exposure profiles of selected commercially important fish species in the Gulf of Alaska

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Doyle, Miriam J.; Mier, Kathryn L.

2016-10-01

A synthesis of nearly four decades of ichthyoplankton survey data from the Gulf of Alaska was undertaken to provide the most comprehensive information available on the early life history ecology of five focal species: Pacific Cod (Gadus macrocephalus), Walleye Pollock (Gadus chalcogrammus), Pacific Ocean Perch (Sebastes alutus), Sablefish (Anoplopoma fimbria), and Arrowtooth Flounder (Atheresthes stomias). This analysis of historical data, along with information from published studies, is presented here in the form of ecological reviews of the species during their planktonic phase. The reviews include descriptions of temporal and spatial patterns of exposure to the environment, and interpretation regarding associated sensitivities to environmental forcing. On a temporal scale, patterns in abundance of eggs and larvae are synthesized that characterize seasonal exposure to the pelagic environment, and interannual variation that is presumed to incorporate responses to long-term environmental forcing. Spatial patterns are synthesized to identify horizontal and vertical extent of egg and larval distributions, delineate areas of primary larval habitat, and illuminate egg and larval drift pathways. The observed patterns are discussed with respect to characterizing species early life history strategies, identifying long-term adaptations to the Gulf of Alaska environment, and associated resilience and vulnerability factors that may modulate early life responses to environmental forcing in this region. For each species, gaps in knowledge are identified and are concerned primarily with the period of transition between the larval and juvenile stage, and feeding habits and ecology across seasons, habitats and sub-intervals of early ontogeny. These early life history reviews advance our ecological understanding of the pelagic phase, and fine-tune our focus for the investigation of potential response mechanisms to environmental forcing at appropriate, species-specific temporal and spatial scales.

Characterization of the small heat shock protein Hsp27 gene in Chironomus riparius (Diptera) and its expression profile in response to temperature changes and xenobiotic exposures.

PubMed

Martínez-Paz, Pedro; Morales, Mónica; Martín, Raquel; Martínez-Guitarte, José Luis; Morcillo, Gloria

2014-07-01

Small heat shock proteins constitute the most diverse and least conserved group within the large family of heat shock proteins, which play a crucial role in cell response to environmental insults. Chironomus riparius larvae are widely used in environmental research for testing pollutant toxicity in sediments and freshwater environments. Different genes, such as Hsp70, Hsc70, Hsp90, and Hsp40, have been identified in this species as sensitive biomarkers for xenobiotics, but small Hsps genes remain largely unknown. In this study, the Hsp27 has been characterized in C. riparius and its transcriptional response evaluated under several environmental stimuli. The Hsp27 gene was mapped by FISH on polytene chromosomes at region I-C4 and was found to encode a 195 aa protein, which contains an α-crystallin domain bounded by three conserved regions. This protein shows homology with Drosophila melanogaster HSP27, Ceratitis capitata HSP27, and Sarcophaga crassipalpis HSP25. Real-time reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction analysis showed that heat shock (35 °C) and cadmium dramatically upregulate this gene. Moreover, exposures to triclosan and bisphenol A were able to significantly increase mRNA levels. However, neither nonylphenol nor tributyltin altered Hsp27 gene expression. The transcriptional activity of Hsp27 gene was modulated during cold stress. Interestingly, cold shock (4 °C) significantly reduced Hsp27 transcripts, but this gene was significantly overexpressed during the recovery time at the normal growing temperature. These results show that the Hsp27 gene is sensitive to different environmental stimuli, including endocrine-disrupting pollutants, suggesting its potential as a suitable biomarker for ecotoxicological studies in aquatic systems.

The Impacts of Exposure to Environmental Risk on Physical and Mental Health in a Small Geographic Community in Houston, TX.

PubMed

Sansom, Garett; Parras, Juan; Parras, Ana; Nieto, Yudith; Arellano, Yvette; Berke, Philip; McDonald, Thomas; Shipp, Eva; Horney, Jennifer A

2017-08-01

Previous research has shown that communities with low average socioeconomic status (SES) and majority minority populations are more likely to be exposed to industrial buildings, waste facilities, and poor infrastructure compared to white communities with higher average SES. While some studies have demonstrated linkages between exposures to specific environmental contaminates within these communities and negative health outcomes, little research has analyzed the effects of environmental contaminants on the mental and physical health of these populations. A cross-sectional survey collected data from residents of Manchester, a small neighborhood in Houston, TX, that is characterized by industrial sites, unimproved infrastructure, nuisance flooding, and poor air quality. Our study (N = 109) utilized the 12 item Short Form Health Survey version 2 (SF12v2) to assess the general mental and physical health of the community. The community as a whole had reduced physical health scores compared to U.S. national averages. The time residents had lived in the neighborhood was also correlated with a reported reduction in physical health scores (r2 = 0.136; p-value <0.001). The association between time lived in the neighborhood and poorer health scores remained after adjusting for age, race, and gender (coef = -0.27, p-value <0.001). Mental health scores were within national averages and time spent living in the neighborhood did not appear to negatively impact respondent's mental health scores. These findings point to the need for more research to determine the potential for additive physical and mental health impacts in long-term residents in neighborhoods characterized by environmental justice issues.

When Chocolate Seeking Becomes Compulsion: Gene-Environment Interplay

PubMed Central

Patella, Loris; Andolina, Diego; Valzania, Alessandro; Latagliata, Emanuele Claudio; Felsani, Armando; Pompili, Assunta; Gasbarri, Antonella; Puglisi-Allegra, Stefano; Ventura, Rossella

2015-01-01

Background Eating disorders appear to be caused by a complex interaction between environmental and genetic factors, and compulsive eating in response to adverse circumstances characterizes many eating disorders. Materials and Methods We compared compulsion-like eating in the form of conditioned suppression of palatable food-seeking in adverse situations in stressed C57BL/6J and DBA/2J mice, two well-characterized inbred strains, to determine the influence of gene-environment interplay on this behavioral phenotype. Moreover, we tested the hypothesis that low accumbal D2 receptor (R) availability is a genetic risk factor of food compulsion-like behavior and that environmental conditions that induce compulsive eating alter D2R expression in the striatum. To this end, we measured D1R and D2R expression in the striatum and D1R, D2R and α1R levels in the medial prefrontal cortex, respectively, by western blot. Results Exposure to environmental conditions induces compulsion-like eating behavior, depending on genetic background. This behavioral pattern is linked to decreased availability of accumbal D2R. Moreover, exposure to certain environmental conditions upregulates D2R and downregulates α1R in the striatum and medial prefrontal cortex, respectively, of compulsive animals. These findings confirm the function of gene-environment interplay in the manifestation of compulsive eating and support the hypothesis that low accumbal D2R availability is a “constitutive” genetic risk factor for compulsion-like eating behavior. Finally, D2R upregulation and α1R downregulation in the striatum and medial prefrontal cortex, respectively, are potential neuroadaptive responses that parallel the shift from motivated to compulsive eating. PMID:25781028

Assessing the Application of a Geographic Presence-Only Model for Land Suitability Mapping

PubMed Central

Heumann, Benjamin W.; Walsh, Stephen J.; McDaniel, Phillip M.

2011-01-01

Recent advances in ecological modeling have focused on novel methods for characterizing the environment that use presence-only data and machine-learning algorithms to predict the likelihood of species occurrence. These novel methods may have great potential for land suitability applications in the developing world where detailed land cover information is often unavailable or incomplete. This paper assesses the adaptation and application of the presence-only geographic species distribution model, MaxEnt, for agricultural crop suitability mapping in a rural Thailand where lowland paddy rice and upland field crops predominant. To assess this modeling approach, three independent crop presence datasets were used including a social-demographic survey of farm households, a remote sensing classification of land use/land cover, and ground control points, used for geodetic and thematic reference that vary in their geographic distribution and sample size. Disparate environmental data were integrated to characterize environmental settings across Nang Rong District, a region of approximately 1,300 sq. km in size. Results indicate that the MaxEnt model is capable of modeling crop suitability for upland and lowland crops, including rice varieties, although model results varied between datasets due to the high sensitivity of the model to the distribution of observed crop locations in geographic and environmental space. Accuracy assessments indicate that model outcomes were influenced by the sample size and the distribution of sample points in geographic and environmental space. The need for further research into accuracy assessments of presence-only models lacking true absence data is discussed. We conclude that the Maxent model can provide good estimates of crop suitability, but many areas need to be carefully scrutinized including geographic distribution of input data and assessment methods to ensure realistic modeling results. PMID:21860606

Integrating human and ecological risk assessment: application to the cyanobacterial harmful algal bloom problem.

PubMed

Orme-Zavaleta, Jennifer; Munns, Wayne R

2008-01-01

Environmental and public health policy continues to evolve in response to new and complex social, economic and environmental drivers. Globalization and centralization of commerce, evolving patterns of land use (e.g., urbanization, deforestation), and technological advances in such areas as manufacturing and development of genetically modified foods have created new and complex classes of stressors and risks (e.g., climate change, emergent and opportunist disease, sprawl, genomic change). In recognition of these changes, environmental risk assessment and its use are changing from stressor-endpoint specific assessments used in command and control types of decisions to an integrated approach for application in community-based decisions. As a result, the process of risk assessment and supporting risk analyses are evolving to characterize the human-environment relationship. Integrating risk paradigms combine the process of risk estimation for humans, biota, and natural resources into one assessment to improve the information used in environmental decisions (Suter et al. 2003b). A benefit to this approach includes a broader, system-wide evaluation that considers the interacting effects of stressors on humans and the environment, as well the interactions between these entities. To improve our understanding of the linkages within complex systems, risk assessors will need to rely on a suite of techniques for conducting rigorous analyses characterizing the exposure and effects relationships between stressors and biological receptors. Many of the analytical techniques routinely employed are narrowly focused and unable to address the complexities of an integrated assessment. In this paper, we describe an approach to integrated risk assessment, and discuss qualitative community modeling and Probabilistic Relational Modeling techniques that address these limitations and evaluate their potential for use in an integrated risk assessment of cyanobacteria.

Technoeconomic and environmental assessment of industrial organotin compounds.

PubMed

Wilkinson, R R

1984-01-01

Current uses of organotins include heat stabilizers for polyvinyl chloride (PVC), catalysts for polyurethane foam and silicone rubber, biocides, and animal health products. Domestic production consumption in 1982 is about 28 million pounds, and overall growth is estimated at 7 percent per year. Physical properties of organotins, including solubility in water, octanol-water partition coefficients, and Freundlich adsorption isotherm constants, are not well characterized. Analytical methods for tin in environmental and biological matrices involve concentration, separation, and identification by chromatography, spectrometry, and spectroscopy. Environmental fate and effects of organotins are not well understood. Degradation reactions may yield a complex set of products, including inorganic tin oxide. The effects of exposure of workers and release of organotins to the environment at point sources have been documented. Nonpoint sources of environmental exposure include discard and sanitary landfill disposal of plastics and direct release of biocides to aquatic or marine environments. Other dissipative uses of organotins which pose potential human risk include PVC food wrapping and bottles and rigid potable water pipe. The long term health effects of low level exposure to organotins are not known. Toxic metal cycling in the environment, including biomethylation of inorganic tin by naturally occurring bacteria, is of rising concern.

Toxicological assessments of Gulf War veterans.

PubMed

Brown, Mark

2006-04-29

Concerns about unexplained illnesses among veterans of the 1991 Gulf War appeared soon after that conflict ended. Many environmental causes have been suggested, including possible exposure to depleted uranium munitions, vaccines and other drugs used to protect troops, deliberate or accidental exposure to chemical warfare agents and pesticides and smoke from oil-well fires. To help resolve these issues, US and UK governments have sought independent expert scientific advice from prestigious, independent scientific and public health experts, including the US National Academies of Science and the UK Royal Society and Medical Research Council. Their authoritative and independent scientific and medical reviews shed light on a wide range of Gulf War environmental hazards. However, they have added little to our understanding of Gulf War veterans' illnesses, because identified health effects have been previously well characterized, primarily in the occupational health literature. This effort has not identified any new health effects or unique syndromes associated with the evaluated environmental hazards. Nor do their findings provide an explanation for significant amounts of illnesses among veterans of the 1991 Gulf War. Nevertheless, these independent and highly credible scientific reviews have proven to be an effective means for evaluating potential health effects from deployment-related environmental hazards.

Decontamination systems information and research program. Quarterly report, April--June 1996

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

NONE

This report contains separate reports on the following subtasks: analysis of the Vortec cyclone melting system for remediation of PCB contaminated soils using CFD; drain enhanced soil flushing using prefabricated vertical drains; performance and characteristics evaluation of acrylates as grout barriers; development of standard test protocol barrier design models for desiccation barriers, and for in-situ formed barriers; in-situ bioremediation of chlorinated solvents at Portsmouth Gaseous Diffusion Plant; development of a decision support system and a prototype database for management of the EM50 technology development program; GIS-based infrastructure for site characterization and remediation; treatment of mixed wastes via fluidized bed steammore » reforming; use of centrifugal membrane technology to treat hazardous/radioactive waste; environmental pollution control devices based on novel forms of carbon; development of instrumental methods for analysis of nuclear wastes and environmental materials; production and testing of biosorbents and cleaning solutions for D and D; use of SpinTek centrifugal membrane and sorbents/cleaning solutions for D and D; West Virginia High Tech Consortium Foundation--Environmental support program; small business interaction opportunities; and approach for assessing potential voluntary environmental protection.« less

Tunable Polarity Carbon Fibers, a Holistic Approach to Environmental Protection.

PubMed

García-Valverde, M Teresa; Ledesma-Escobar, Carlos A; Lucena, Rafael; Cárdenas, Soledad

2018-04-27

The pollution of environmental resources is an issue of social concern worldwide. Chemistry is essential for the design of decontamination strategies and analytical approaches to detect and monitor the contamination. Sorptive materials are usually required in both approaches and green synthesis should be used to minimize their own environmental impact. Carbon fibers (CFs) obtained by the pyrolysis of natural cellulose-rich materials fulfill these requirements. In this article, thirty CFs obtained under different conditions are chemically characterized and their sorption ability towards selected pollutants, covering a wide range of polarity, is evaluated. This study provides more profound knowledge related to the polarity of these materials, their interactions with chemical substances and allows the prediction of more appropriate materials (pyrolysis temperature and time) in order to remove the given pollutant. Furthermore, the use of CFs as sorptive materials for the extraction of contaminants from water samples to assist with their instrumental detection is outlined. In this sense, the use of CFs and gas chromatography with mass spectrometric detection allows the detection of selected pollutants in the low ng/mL range. Thus, this article provides an integrated approach to the potential of CFs for environmental protection.

Toxicological assessments of Gulf War veterans

PubMed Central

Brown, Mark

2006-01-01

Concerns about unexplained illnesses among veterans of the 1991 Gulf War appeared soon after that conflict ended. Many environmental causes have been suggested, including possible exposure to depleted uranium munitions, vaccines and other drugs used to protect troops, deliberate or accidental exposure to chemical warfare agents and pesticides and smoke from oil-well fires. To help resolve these issues, US and UK governments have sought independent expert scientific advice from prestigious, independent scientific and public health experts, including the US National Academies of Science and the UK Royal Society and Medical Research Council. Their authoritative and independent scientific and medical reviews shed light on a wide range of Gulf War environmental hazards. However, they have added little to our understanding of Gulf War veterans' illnesses, because identified health effects have been previously well characterized, primarily in the occupational health literature. This effort has not identified any new health effects or unique syndromes associated with the evaluated environmental hazards. Nor do their findings provide an explanation for significant amounts of illnesses among veterans of the 1991 Gulf War. Nevertheless, these independent and highly credible scientific reviews have proven to be an effective means for evaluating potential health effects from deployment-related environmental hazards. PMID:16687269

Recent advances in synthetic biology of cyanobacteria.

PubMed

Sengupta, Annesha; Pakrasi, Himadri B; Wangikar, Pramod P

2018-05-09

Cyanobacteria are attractive hosts that can be engineered for the photosynthetic production of fuels, fine chemicals, and proteins from CO 2 . Moreover, the responsiveness of these photoautotrophs towards different environmental signals, such as light, CO 2 , diurnal cycle, and metals make them potential hosts for the development of biosensors. However, engineering these hosts proves to be a challenging and lengthy process. Synthetic biology can make the process of biological engineering more predictable through the use of standardized biological parts that are well characterized and tools to assemble them. While significant progress has been made with model heterotrophic organisms, many of the parts and tools are not portable in cyanobacteria. Therefore, efforts are underway to develop and characterize parts derived from cyanobacteria. In this review, we discuss the reported parts and tools with the objective to develop cyanobacteria as cell factories or biosensors. We also discuss the issues related to characterization, tunability, portability, and the need to develop enabling technologies to engineer this "green" chassis.

Methylcyclopentadienyl manganese tricarbonyl: health risk uncertainties and research directions.

PubMed Central

Davis, J M

1998-01-01

With the way cleared for increased use of the fuel additive methylcyclopentadienyl manganese tricarbonyl (MMT) in the United States, the issue of possible public health impacts associated with this additive has gained greater attention. In assessing potential health risks of particulate Mn emitted from the combustion of MMT in gasoline, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency not only considered the qualitative types of toxic effects associated with inhaled Mn, but conducted extensive exposure-response analyses using various statistical approaches and also estimated population exposure distributions of particulate Mn based on data from an exposure study conducted in California when MMT was used in leaded gasoline. Because of limitations in available data and the need to make several assumptions and extrapolations, the resulting risk characterization had inherent uncertainties that made it impossible to estimate health risks in a definitive or quantitative manner. To support an improved health risk characterization, further investigation is needed in the areas of health effects, emission characterization, and exposure analysis. PMID:9539013

Physiological and biochemical characterization of Trichoderma harzianum, a biological control agent against soilborne fungal plant pathogens.

PubMed Central

Grondona, I; Hermosa, R; Tejada, M; Gomis, M D; Mateos, P F; Bridge, P D; Monte, E; Garcia-Acha, I

1997-01-01

Monoconidial cultures of 15 isolates of Trichoderma harzianum were characterized on the basis of 82 morphological, physiological, and biochemical features and 99 isoenzyme bands from seven enzyme systems. The results were subjected to numerical analysis which revealed four distinct groups. Representative sequences of the internal transcribed spacer 1 (ITS 1)-ITS 2 region in the ribosomal DNA gene cluster were compared between groups confirming this distribution. The utility of the groupings generated from the morphological, physiological, and biochemical data was assessed by including an additional environmental isolate in the electrophoretic analysis. The in vitro antibiotic activity of the T. harzianum isolates was assayed against 10 isolates of five different soilborne fungal plant pathogens: Aphanomyces cochlioides, Rhizoctonia solani, Phoma betae, Acremonium cucurbitacearum, and Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. radicis lycopersici. Similarities between levels and specificities of biological activity and the numerical characterization groupings are both discussed in relation to antagonist-specific populations in known and potential biocontrol species. PMID:9251205

EPA Tools and Resources Webinar: EPA’s Environmental Sampling and Analytical Methods for Environmental Remediation and Recovery

EPA Pesticide Factsheets

EPA’s Environmental Sampling and Analytical Methods (ESAM) is a website tool that supports the entire environmental characterization process from collection of samples all the way to their analyses.

Advances in Chemical and Structural Characterization of Concretion with Implications for Modeling Marine Corrosion

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Johnson, Donald L.; DeAngelis, Robert J.; Medlin, Dana J.; Carr, James D.; Conlin, David L.

2014-05-01

The Weins number model and concretion equivalent corrosion rate methodology were developed as potential minimum-impact, cost-effective techniques to determine corrosion damage on submerged steel structures. To apply the full potential of these technologies, a detailed chemical and structural characterization of the concretion (hard biofouling) that transforms into iron bearing minerals is required. The fractions of existing compounds and the quantitative chemistries are difficult to determine from x-ray diffraction. Environmental scanning electron microscopy was used to present chemical compositions by means of energy-dispersive spectroscopy (EDS). EDS demonstrates the chemical data in mapping format or in point or selected area chemistries. Selected-area EDS data collection at precise locations is presented in terms of atomic percent. The mechanism of formation and distribution of the iron-bearing mineral species at specific locations will be presented. Based on water retention measurements, porosity in terms of void volume varies from 15 v/o to 30 v/o (vol.%). The void path displayed by scanning electron microscopy imaging illustrates the tortuous path by which oxygen migrates in the water phase within the concretion from seaside to metalside.

Strategies for characterizing compositions of industrial pulp and paper sludge

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Aslanzadeh, Solmaz; Kemal, Rahmat A.; Pribowo, Amadeus Y.

2018-01-01

The large quantities of waste sludge produced by the pulp and paper industry present significant environmental challenges. In order to minimize the amounts of waste, the pulp sludge should be utilized for productive applications. In order to find feasible solutions, the sludge need to be characterized. In this study, the potential of using acid pretreatment and ashing method to determine the chemical compositions of the sludge is investigated. This study shows that acid pretreatment could be used to dissolve and determine the composition of CaCO3 in the pulp sludge. CaCO3 removal also facilitates the measurement of fiber and ash (clay) contents by using the ashing method. The optimum acid concentration used to completely dissolve CaCO3 was determined using a titration method. Using this method, the measurement of the chemical composition of the sludge sample revealed that it consisted primarily of CaCO3 (55% w/w), clay (25%, w/w), and fibers (18%, w/w). Based on these chemical compositions, potential utilization for the sludge could be determined.

Including impacts of particulate emissions on marine ecosystems in life cycle assessment: the case of offshore oil and gas production.

PubMed

Veltman, Karin; Huijbregts, Mark A J; Rye, Henrik; Hertwich, Edgar G

2011-10-01

Life cycle assessment is increasingly used to assess the environmental performance of fossil energy systems. Two of the dominant emissions of offshore oil and gas production to the marine environment are the discharge of produced water and drilling waste. Although environmental impacts of produced water are predominantly due to chemical stressors, a major concern regarding drilling waste discharge is the potential physical impact due to particles. At present, impact indicators for particulate emissions are not yet available in life cycle assessment. Here, we develop characterization factors for 2 distinct impacts of particulate emissions: an increased turbidity zone in the water column and physical burial of benthic communities. The characterization factor for turbidity is developed analogous to characterization factors for toxic impacts, and ranges from 1.4 PAF (potentially affected fraction) · m(3) /d/kg(p) (kilogram particulate) to 7.0 x 10³ [corrected] for drilling mud particles discharged from the rig. The characterization factor for burial describes the volume of sediment that is impacted by particle deposition on the seafloor and equals 2.0 × 10(-1) PAF · m(3) /d/kg(p) for cutting particles. This characterization factor is quantified on the basis of initial deposition layer characteristics, such as height and surface area, the initial benthic response, and the recovery rate. We assessed the relevance of including particulate emissions in an impact assessment of offshore oil and gas production. Accordingly, the total impact on the water column and on the sediment was quantified based on emission data of produced water and drilling waste for all oil and gas fields on the Norwegian continental shelf in 2008. Our results show that cutting particles contribute substantially to the total impact of offshore oil and gas production on marine sediments, with a relative contribution of 55% and 31% on the regional and global scale, respectively. In contrast, the contribution of particulate emissions to the total impact on the marine water column is of minor importance. We conclude that particles are an important stressor in marine ecosystems, particularly for marine sediment, and particulate emissions should therefore be included in a (life cycle) impact assessment of offshore oil and gas production. Copyright © 2011 SETAC.

Sustainable use of veterinary pharmaceuticals on the territory (Sust-PHarm): Linking available database of manure management and environmental fate models.

PubMed

Di Guardo, Andrea; Finizio, Antonio

2017-01-01

Analogously to the evolution of the EU legislation on pesticides, there is an increasing need of strategies aiming to reach a "sustainable use of veterinary pharmaceuticals". To this end, it is essential to develop tools, such as supporting information systems (SIS), for managing the environmental risks of veterinary pharmaceuticals on a territorial scale. In this context, we propose Sust-PHarm (SUSTainable use of veterinary Pharmaceuticals), a SIS useful to identify groundwater vulnerable areas to veterinary pharmaceuticals at both local and regional scale. As background, Sust-PHarm follows the schemes of SIS for pesticides. The latter are based on the integration of predictive models in GIS. The proposed approach goes a step forward by integrating also data on the typologies of livestock farm, their spatial distribution and manure management techniques. This information allows to identify the potential environmental loads of veterinary pharmaceuticals. In this paper, we discuss the innovative elements characterizing Sust-PHarm through a comparison with the SIS currently used for pesticides. The advantages of Sust-PHarm are discussed using Lombardia Region (Northern Italy) as a case study. Simulations were made on 12 veterinary pharmaceuticals characterized by different physical-chemical properties. Results are compared with the current guidelines for the evaluation of veterinary pharmaceuticals leaching highlighting some substantial differences when realistic data are utilized making our approach more accurate than guidelines one. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Synthesis, characterization, and environmental implications of graphene-coated biochar.

PubMed

Zhang, Ming; Gao, Bin; Yao, Ying; Xue, Yingwen; Inyang, Mandu

2012-10-01

Biochar has attracted much research attention recently because of its potential applications in many environmental areas. In this work, the biochar technology was combined with the emerging graphene technology to create a new engineered graphene-coated biochar from cotton wood. The biomass feedstock was first treated with graphene/pyrene-derivative and was then annealed at 600°C in a quartz tube furnace under N(2) environment. Laboratory characterization with different microscopy and spectrometry tools showed that the graphene sheets were "soldered" by the pyrene molecules on the biochar surface during the annealing process. Thermogravimetric analysis showed that the graphene "skin" could improve the thermal stability of the biochar, making the engineered biochar a better carbon sequester for large scale land applications. Batch sorption experimental results indicated that the graphene-coated biochar has excellent adsorption ability of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) with a maximum methylene blue adsorption capacity of 174 mg g(-1), which is more than 20 times higher than that of the unmodified cotton wood biochar and comparable to those of some physically or chemically activated carbons. The enhanced adsorption of methylene blue on the graphene-coated biochar is mainly controlled by the strong π-π interactions between aromatic molecules and the graphene sheets on biochar surface. It is anticipated that this novel, facile, and low-cost method can be expanded to other carbon-rich materials to create engineered biochar for various environmental applications. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Environmental Public Health Tracking: a cost-effective system for characterizing the sources, distribution and public health impacts of environmental hazards.

PubMed

Saunders, P J; Middleton, J D; Rudge, G

2017-09-01

The contemporary environment is a complex of interactions between physical, biological, socio-economic systems with major impacts on public health. However, gaps in our understanding of the causes, extent and distribution of these effects remain. The public health community in Sandwell West Midlands has collaborated to successfully develop, pilot and establish the first Environmental Public Health Tracking (EPHT) programme in Europe to address this 'environmental health gap' through systematically linking data on environmental hazards, exposures and diseases. Existing networks of environmental, health and regulatory agencies developed a suite of innovative methods to routinely share, integrate and analyse data on hazards, exposures and health outcomes to inform interventions. Effective data sharing and horizon scanning systems have been established, novel statistical methods piloted, plausible associations framed and tested, and targeted interventions informed by local concerns applied. These have influenced changes in public health practice. EPHT is a powerful tool for identifying and addressing the key environmental public health impacts at a local level. Sandwell's experience demonstrates that it can be established and operated at virtually no cost. The transfer of National Health Service epidemiological skills to local authorities in 2013 provides an opportunity to expand the programme to fully exploit its potential. © The Author 2016. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of Faculty of Public Health. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com

Neural valuation of environmental resources.

PubMed

Sawe, Nik; Knutson, Brian

2015-11-15

How do people value environmental resources? To estimate public valuation of natural resources, researchers often conduct surveys that ask people how much they would be willing to pay to preserve or restore threatened natural resources. However, these survey responses often elicit complex affective responses, including negative reactions toward proposed destructive land uses of those resources. To better characterize processes that underlie the valuation of environmental resources, we conducted behavioral and neuroimaging experiments in which subjects chose whether or not to donate money to protect natural park lands (iconic versus non-iconic) from proposed land uses (destructive versus non-destructive). In both studies, land use destructiveness motivated subjects' donations more powerfully than did the iconic qualities of the parks themselves. Consistent with an anticipatory affect account, nucleus accumbens (NAcc) activity increased in response to more iconic parks, while anterior insula activity increased in response to more destructive uses, and the interaction of these considerations altered activity in the medial prefrontal cortex (MPFC). Further, anterior insula activity predicted increased donations to preserve parks threatened by destructive uses, but MPFC activity predicted reduced donations. Finally, individuals with stronger pro-environmental attitudes showed greater anterior insula activity in response to proposed destructive uses. These results imply that negative responses to destructive land uses may play a prominent role in environmental valuation, potentially overshadowing positive responses to the environmental resources themselves. The findings also suggest that neuroimaging methods might eventually complement traditional survey methods by allowing researchers to disentangle distinct affective responses that influence environmental valuation. Copyright © 2015. Published by Elsevier Inc.

Transatlantic wood pellet trade demonstrates telecoupled benefits

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Parish, Esther S.; Herzberger, Anna J.; Phifer, Colin C.

European demand for renewable energy resources has led to rapidly increasing transatlantic exports of wood pellets from the southeastern United States (SE US) since 2009. Disagreements have arisen over the global greenhouse gas reductions associated with replacing coal with wood, and groups on both sides of the Atlantic Ocean have raised concerns that increasing biomass exports might negatively affect SE US forests and the ecosystem services they provide. We use the telecoupling framework to test assertions that the intended benefits of the wood pellet trade for Europe might be offset by negative consequences in the SE US. Through a reviewmore » of current literature and available data sets, we characterize the observed and potential changes in the environmental, social, and economic components of the sending and receiving regions to assess the overall sustainability of this renewable energy system. We conclude that the observed transatlantic wood pellet trade is an example of a mutually beneficial telecoupled system with the potential to provide environmental and socioeconomic benefits in both the SE US and Europe despite some negative effects on the coal industry. We recommend continued monitoring of this telecoupled system to quantify the environmental, social, and economic interactions and effects in the sending, receiving, and spillover systems over time so that evidence-based policy decisions can be made with regard to the sustainability of this renewable energy pathway.« less

Transatlantic wood pellet trade demonstrates telecoupled benefits

DOE PAGES

Parish, Esther S.; Herzberger, Anna J.; Phifer, Colin C.; ...

2018-01-01

European demand for renewable energy resources has led to rapidly increasing transatlantic exports of wood pellets from the southeastern United States (SE US) since 2009. Disagreements have arisen over the global greenhouse gas reductions associated with replacing coal with wood, and groups on both sides of the Atlantic Ocean have raised concerns that increasing biomass exports might negatively affect SE US forests and the ecosystem services they provide. We use the telecoupling framework to test assertions that the intended benefits of the wood pellet trade for Europe might be offset by negative consequences in the SE US. Through a reviewmore » of current literature and available data sets, we characterize the observed and potential changes in the environmental, social, and economic components of the sending and receiving regions to assess the overall sustainability of this renewable energy system. We conclude that the observed transatlantic wood pellet trade is an example of a mutually beneficial telecoupled system with the potential to provide environmental and socioeconomic benefits in both the SE US and Europe despite some negative effects on the coal industry. We recommend continued monitoring of this telecoupled system to quantify the environmental, social, and economic interactions and effects in the sending, receiving, and spillover systems over time so that evidence-based policy decisions can be made with regard to the sustainability of this renewable energy pathway.« less

Potential NICU Environmental Influences on the Neonate's Microbiome: A Systematic Review.

PubMed

Hartz, Lacey E; Bradshaw, Wanda; Brandon, Debra H

2015-10-01

To identify how the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) environment potentially influences the microbiome high-risk term and preterm infants. Electronic databases utilized to identify studies published in English included PubMed, Google Scholar, Cumulative Index for Nursing and Allied Health Literature, and BioMedSearcher. Date of publication did not limit inclusion in the review. Two hundred fifty articles were assessed for relevance to the research question through title and abstract review. Further screening resulted in full review of 60 articles. An in-depth review of all 60 articles resulted in 39 articles that met inclusion criteria. Twenty-eight articles were eliminated on the basis of the type of study and subject of interest. Studies were reviewed for information related to environmental factors that influence microbial colonization of the neonatal microbiome. Environment was later defined as the physical environment of the NICU and nursery caregiving activities. Studies were characterized into factors that impacted the infant's microbiome—parental skin, feeding type, environmental surfaces and caregiving equipment, health care provider skin, and antibiotic use. Literature revealed that various aspects of living within the NICU environment do influence the microbiome of infants. Caregivers can implement strategies to prevent environment-associated nosocomial infection in the NICU such as implementing infection control measures, encouraging use of breast milk, and decreasing the empirical use of antibiotics.

Genome-environment association study suggests local adaptation to climate at the regional scale in Fagus sylvatica.

PubMed

Pluess, Andrea R; Frank, Aline; Heiri, Caroline; Lalagüe, Hadrien; Vendramin, Giovanni G; Oddou-Muratorio, Sylvie

2016-04-01

The evolutionary potential of long-lived species, such as forest trees, is fundamental for their local persistence under climate change (CC). Genome-environment association (GEA) analyses reveal if species in heterogeneous environments at the regional scale are under differential selection resulting in populations with potential preadaptation to CC within this area. In 79 natural Fagus sylvatica populations, neutral genetic patterns were characterized using 12 simple sequence repeat (SSR) markers, and genomic variation (144 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) out of 52 candidate genes) was related to 87 environmental predictors in the latent factor mixed model, logistic regressions and isolation by distance/environmental (IBD/IBE) tests. SSR diversity revealed relatedness at up to 150 m intertree distance but an absence of large-scale spatial genetic structure and IBE. In the GEA analyses, 16 SNPs in 10 genes responded to one or several environmental predictors and IBE, corrected for IBD, was confirmed. The GEA often reflected the proposed gene functions, including indications for adaptation to water availability and temperature. Genomic divergence and the lack of large-scale neutral genetic patterns suggest that gene flow allows the spread of advantageous alleles in adaptive genes. Thereby, adaptation processes are likely to take place in species occurring in heterogeneous environments, which might reduce their regional extinction risk under CC. © 2016 The Authors. New Phytologist © 2016 New Phytologist Trust.

Functional Genomic Screening Approaches in Mechanistic Toxicology and Potential Future Applications of CRISPR-Cas9

PubMed Central

Shen, Hua; McHale, Cliona M.; Smith, Martyn T; Zhang, Luoping

2015-01-01

Characterizing variability in the extent and nature of responses to environmental exposures is a critical aspect of human health risk assessment. Chemical toxicants act by many different mechanisms, however, and the genes involved in adverse outcome pathways (AOPs) and AOP networks are not yet characterized. Functional genomic approaches can reveal both toxicity pathways and susceptibility genes, through knockdown or knockout of all non-essential genes in a cell of interest, and identification of genes associated with a toxicity phenotype following toxicant exposure. Screening approaches in yeast and human near-haploid leukemic KBM7 cells, have identified roles for genes and pathways involved in response to many toxicants but are limited by partial homology among yeast and human genes and limited relevance to normal diploid cells. RNA interference (RNAi) suppresses mRNA expression level but is limited by off-target effects (OTEs) and incomplete knockdown. The recently developed gene editing approach called clustered regularly interspaced short palindrome repeats-associated nuclease (CRISPR)-Cas9, can precisely knock-out most regions of the genome at the DNA level with fewer OTEs than RNAi, in multiple human cell types, thus overcoming the limitations of the other approaches. It has been used to identify genes involved in the response to chemical and microbial toxicants in several human cell types and could readily be extended to the systematic screening of large numbers of environmental chemicals. CRISPR-Cas9 can also repress and activate gene expression, including that of non-coding RNA, with near-saturation, thus offering the potential to more fully characterize AOPs and AOP networks. Finally, CRISPR-Cas9 can generate complex animal models in which to conduct preclinical toxicity testing at the level of individual genotypes or haplotypes. Therefore, CRISPR-Cas9 is a powerful and flexible functional genomic screening approach that can be harnessed to provide unprecedented mechanistic insight in the field of modern toxicology. PMID:26041264

Hawaii Munitions Monitoring Station and Natural Laboratory

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Edwards, M.; Trimble, A. Z.; Rognstad, M. R.

2017-12-01

Hundreds of thousands of tons of conventional munitions were fired into the ocean at military ranges or deliberately disposed at sea during the twentieth century. Potential contaminants from munitions and explosives of concern (MEC) affect virtually every coast in the United States, including Alaska, the Hawaiian Islands, Guam, American Samoa and other U.S. territories as well as inland waterways. It is necessary to develop methods to assess the concentrations of munitions constituents present at a site to address concerns about the presence of environmentally relevant concentrations and their potential impacts. Having a well-characterized site to test instruments and methods is important for continued development and refinement of technology. Most sites are too big to characterize comprehensively in three dimensions over time periods lasting days or longer. We are working to develop a monitoring station and natural laboratory near Oahu, Hawaii to create a cost-effective demonstration and validation natural laboratory where emerging technologies can be evaluated and compared. Ordnance Reef (OR) is an ideal location to establish a munitions monitoring station for historical, logistical and environmental reasons. OR is an area of shallow fringing reef measuring approximately 4.2 km by 2.2 km along the Waianae coast of Oahu that was used as a disposal area for military munitions following World War II. OR has been the subject of multiple investigations including an inventory of munitions conducted by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in 2002 and a screening-level risk investigation conducted by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the University of Hawaii in 2006. As a result, there are multiple datasets collected over the past fifteen years that can be leveraged to serve as a baseline for the natural laboratory. These extant datasets are being supplemented with data from integrated unmanned systems deployed at OR to characterize and visualize the zone of influence for MEC in three-dimensions.

"Back to the Basics" Through Environmental Education.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Christian, Adelaide

Environmental education is proposed as a viable means of improving the educational system. The rationale for teaching environmental education is based in part upon White's principles of education for Seventh-day Adventists and upon Noel McInnis's views of what makes education environmental. An overview of environmental education characterizes it…

Dehalogenases: From Improved Performance to Potential Microbial Dehalogenation Applications.

PubMed

Ang, Thiau-Fu; Maiangwa, Jonathan; Salleh, Abu Bakar; Normi, Yahaya M; Leow, Thean Chor

2018-05-07

The variety of halogenated substances and their derivatives widely used as pesticides, herbicides and other industrial products is of great concern due to the hazardous nature of these compounds owing to their toxicity, and persistent environmental pollution. Therefore, from the viewpoint of environmental technology, the need for environmentally relevant enzymes involved in biodegradation of these pollutants has received a great boost. One result of this great deal of attention has been the identification of environmentally relevant bacteria that produce hydrolytic dehalogenases—key enzymes which are considered cost-effective and eco-friendly in the removal and detoxification of these pollutants. These group of enzymes catalyzing the cleavage of the carbon-halogen bond of organohalogen compounds have potential applications in the chemical industry and bioremediation. The dehalogenases make use of fundamentally different strategies with a common mechanism to cleave carbon-halogen bonds whereby, an active-site carboxylate group attacks the substrate C atom bound to the halogen atom to form an ester intermediate and a halide ion with subsequent hydrolysis of the intermediate. Structurally, these dehalogenases have been characterized and shown to use substitution mechanisms that proceed via a covalent aspartyl intermediate. More so, the widest dehalogenation spectrum of electron acceptors tested with bacterial strains which could dehalogenate recalcitrant organohalides has further proven the versatility of bacterial dehalogenators to be considered when determining the fate of halogenated organics at contaminated sites. In this review, the general features of most widely studied bacterial dehalogenases, their structural properties, basis of the degradation of organohalides and their derivatives and how they have been improved for various applications is discussed.

Savannah River Site Environmental Report for 1999

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Arnett, M.

2000-06-30

The purpose of this report is to present summary environmental data that characterize site environmental management performance, confirm compliance with environmental standards and requirements, highlight significant programs and efforts, and assess the impact of SRS operations on the public and the environment.

Induction, Purification and Characterization of a Novel Manganese Peroxidase from Irpex lacteus CD2 and Its Application in the Decolorization of Different Types of Dye

PubMed Central

Qin, Xing; Zhang, Jie; Zhang, Xiaoyu; Yang, Yang

2014-01-01

Manganese peroxidase (MnP) is the one of the important ligninolytic enzymes produced by lignin-degrading fungi which has the great application value in the field of environmental biotechnology. Searching for new MnP with stronger tolerance to metal ions and organic solvents is important for the maximization of potential of MnP in the biodegradation of recalcitrant xenobiotics. In this study, it was found that oxalic acid, veratryl alcohol and 2,6-Dimehoxyphenol could stimulate the synthesis of MnP in the white-rot fungus Irpex lacteus CD2. A novel manganese peroxidase named as CD2-MnP was purified and characterized from this fungus. CD2-MnP had a strong capability for tolerating different metal ions such as Ca2+, Cd2+, Co2+, Mg2+, Ni2+ and Zn2+ as well as organic solvents such as methanol, ethanol, DMSO, ethylene glycol, isopropyl alcohol, butanediol and glycerin. The different types of dyes including the azo dye (Remazol Brilliant Violet 5R, Direct Red 5B), anthraquinone dye (Remazol Brilliant Blue R), indigo dye (Indigo Carmine) and triphenylmethane dye (Methyl Green) as well as simulated textile wastewater could be efficiently decolorized by CD2-MnP. CD2-MnP also had a strong ability of decolorizing different dyes with the coexistence of metal ions and organic solvents. In summary, CD2-MnP from Irpex lacteus CD2 could effectively degrade a broad range of synthetic dyes and exhibit a great potential for environmental biotechnology. PMID:25412169

Organophosphate neurotoxicity to the voluntary motor system on the trail of environment-caused amyotrophic lateral sclerosis: the known, the misknown, and the unknown.

PubMed

Merwin, Samantha J; Obis, Teresa; Nunez, Yanelli; Re, Diane B

2017-08-01

Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is the most common adult-onset paralytic disorder. It is characterized by progressive degeneration of the motor neurons controlling voluntary movement. The underlying mechanisms remain elusive, a fact that has precluded development of effective treatments. ALS presents as a sporadic condition 90-95% of the time, i.e., without familial history or obvious genetic mutation. This suggests that ALS has a strong environmental component. Organophosphates (OPs) are prime candidate neurotoxicants in the etiology of ALS, as exposure to OPs was linked to higher ALS incidence among farmers, soccer players, and Gulf War veterans. In addition, polymorphisms in paraoxonase 1, an enzyme that detoxifies OPs, may increase individual vulnerability both to OP poisoning and to the risk of developing ALS. Furthermore, exposure to high doses of OPs can give rise to OP-induced delayed neuropathy (OPIDN), a debilitating condition akin to ALS characterized by similar motor impairment and paralysis. The question we pose in this review is: "what can we learn from acute exposure to high doses of neurotoxicants (OPIDN) that could help our understanding of chronic diseases resulting from potentially decades of silent exposure (ALS)?" The resemblances between OPIDN and ALS are striking at the clinical, etiological, neuropathological, cellular, and potentially molecular levels. Here, we critically present available evidence, discuss current limitations, and posit future research. In the search for the environmental origin of ALS, OPIDN offers an exciting trail to follow, which can hopefully lead to the development of novel strategies to prevent and cure these dreadful disorders.

Interdisciplinary Environmental-health Science Throughout Disaster Lifecycles

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Plumlee, G. S.; Morman, S. A.; Hoefen, T. M.

2014-12-01

Potential human health effects from exposures to hazardous disaster materials and environmental contamination are common concerns following disasters. Using several examples from US Geological Survey environmental disaster responses (e.g., 2001 World Trade Center, mine tailings spills, 2005 Hurricane Katrina, 2007-2013 wildfires, 2011 Gulf oil spill, 2012 Hurricane Sandy, 2013 Colorado floods) and disaster scenarios (2011 ARkStorm, 2013 SAFRR tsunami) this presentation will illustrate the role for collaborative earth, environmental, and health science throughout disaster lifecycles. Pre-disaster environmental baseline measurements are needed to help understand environmental influences on pre-disaster health baselines, and to constrain the magnitude of a disaster's impacts. During and following disasters, there is a need for interdisciplinary rapid-response and longer-term assessments that: sample and characterize the physical, chemical, and microbial makeup of complex materials generated by the disasters; fingerprint material sources; monitor, map, and model dispersal and evolution of disaster materials in the environment; help understand how the materials are modified by environmental processes; and, identify key characteristics and processes that influence the exposures and toxicity of disaster materials to humans and the living environment. This information helps emergency responders, public health experts, and cleanup managers: 1) identify short- and long-term exposures to disaster materials that may affect health; 2) prioritize areas for cleanup; and 3) develop appropriate disposal solutions or restoration uses for disaster materials. By integrating lessons learned from past disasters with geospatial information on vulnerable sources of natural or anthropogenic contaminants, the environmental health implications of looming disasters or disaster scenarios can be better anticipated, which helps enhance preparedness and resilience. Understanding economic costs of environmental cleanup and environmental-health impacts from disasters is an area of needed research. Throughout all disaster stages, effective communication between diverse scientific disciplines and stakeholder groups is both a necessity and a challenge.

Comparing HPLC-ESI-ITMS and UPLC-ESI-OA-TOF-MS in Characterizing Macrolide Antibiotics and Illicit Drugs in Complex Environmental Matrices

EPA Science Inventory

Among the challenges of characterizing emerging contaminants in complex environmental matrices (e.g., biosolids, sewage, or wastewater) are the co-eluting interferences. For example, surfactants, fats, and humic acids, can be preferentially ionized instead of the analyte(s) of in...

NATIONAL INCINERATOR TESTING AND EVALUATION PROGRAM: THE ENVIRONMENTAL CHARACTERIZATION OF REFUSE-DERIVED FUEL (RDF) COMBUSTION TECHNOLOGY - MID-CONNECTICUT FACILITY,

EPA Science Inventory

The report gives results of an environmental characterization of refuse-derived, semi-suspension burning technology at a facility in Hartford, CT, that represents state-of-the-art technology, including a spray dryer/fabric filter flue gas cleaning (FGC) system for each unit. The ...

Bright spots among the world’s coral reefs

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cinner, Joshua E.; Huchery, Cindy; MacNeil, M. Aaron; Graham, Nicholas A. J.; McClanahan, Tim R.; Maina, Joseph; Maire, Eva; Kittinger, John N.; Hicks, Christina C.; Mora, Camilo; Allison, Edward H.; D'Agata, Stephanie; Hoey, Andrew; Feary, David A.; Crowder, Larry; Williams, Ivor D.; Kulbicki, Michel; Vigliola, Laurent; Wantiez, Laurent; Edgar, Graham; Stuart-Smith, Rick D.; Sandin, Stuart A.; Green, Alison L.; Hardt, Marah J.; Beger, Maria; Friedlander, Alan; Campbell, Stuart J.; Holmes, Katherine E.; Wilson, Shaun K.; Brokovich, Eran; Brooks, Andrew J.; Cruz-Motta, Juan J.; Booth, David J.; Chabanet, Pascale; Gough, Charlie; Tupper, Mark; Ferse, Sebastian C. A.; Sumaila, U. Rashid; Mouillot, David

2016-07-01

Ongoing declines in the structure and function of the world’s coral reefs require novel approaches to sustain these ecosystems and the millions of people who depend on them. A presently unexplored approach that draws on theory and practice in human health and rural development is to systematically identify and learn from the ‘outliers’—places where ecosystems are substantially better (‘bright spots’) or worse (‘dark spots’) than expected, given the environmental conditions and socioeconomic drivers they are exposed to. Here we compile data from more than 2,500 reefs worldwide and develop a Bayesian hierarchical model to generate expectations of how standing stocks of reef fish biomass are related to 18 socioeconomic drivers and environmental conditions. We identify 15 bright spots and 35 dark spots among our global survey of coral reefs, defined as sites that have biomass levels more than two standard deviations from expectations. Importantly, bright spots are not simply comprised of remote areas with low fishing pressure; they include localities where human populations and use of ecosystem resources is high, potentially providing insights into how communities have successfully confronted strong drivers of change. Conversely, dark spots are not necessarily the sites with the lowest absolute biomass and even include some remote, uninhabited locations often considered near pristine. We surveyed local experts about social, institutional, and environmental conditions at these sites to reveal that bright spots are characterized by strong sociocultural institutions such as customary taboos and marine tenure, high levels of local engagement in management, high dependence on marine resources, and beneficial environmental conditions such as deep-water refuges. Alternatively, dark spots are characterized by intensive capture and storage technology and a recent history of environmental shocks. Our results suggest that investments in strengthening fisheries governance, particularly aspects such as participation and property rights, could facilitate innovative conservation actions that help communities defy expectations of global reef degradation.

Realistic Subsurface Anomaly Discrimination Using Electromagnetic Induction and an SVM Classifier

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pablo Fernández, Juan; Shubitidze, Fridon; Shamatava, Irma; Barrowes, Benjamin E.; O'Neill, Kevin

2010-12-01

The environmental research program of the United States military has set up blind tests for detection and discrimination of unexploded ordnance. One such test consists of measurements taken with the EM-63 sensor at Camp Sibert, AL. We review the performance on the test of a procedure that combines a field-potential (HAP) method to locate targets, the normalized surface magnetic source (NSMS) model to characterize them, and a support vector machine (SVM) to classify them. The HAP method infers location from the scattered magnetic field and its associated scalar potential, the latter reconstructed using equivalent sources. NSMS replaces the target with an enclosing spheroid of equivalent radial magnetization whose integral it uses as a discriminator. SVM generalizes from empirical evidence and can be adapted for multiclass discrimination using a voting system. Our method identifies all potentially dangerous targets correctly and has a false-alarm rate of about 5%.

Environmental analysis in the selection of alternative corridors in a long-distance linear project: a methodological proposal.

PubMed

Rescia, Alejandro J; Astrada, Elizabeth N; Bono, Julieta; Blasco, Carlos A; Meli, Paula; Adámoli, Jorge M

2006-08-01

A linear engineering project--i.e. a pipeline--has a potential long- and short-term impact on the environment and on the inhabitants therein. We must find better, less expensive, and less time-consuming ways to obtain information on the environment and on any modifications resulting from anthropic activity. We need scientifically sound, rapid and affordable assessment and monitoring methods. Construction companies, industries and the regulating government organisms lack the resources needed to conduct long-term basic studies of the environment. Thus there is a need to make the necessary adjustments and improvements in the environmental data considered useful for this development project. More effective and less costly methods are generally needed. We characterized the landscape of the study area, situated in the center and north-east of Argentina. Little is known of the ecology of this region and substantial research is required in order to develop sustainable uses and, at the same time, to develop methods for reducing impacts, both primary and secondary, resulting from anthropic activity in this area. Furthermore, we made an assessment of the environmental impact of the planned linear project, applying an ad hoc impact index, and we analyzed the different alternatives for a corridor, each one of these involving different sections of the territory. Among the alternative corridors considered, this study locates the most suitable ones in accordance with a selection criterion based on different environmental and conservation aspects. We selected the corridor that we considered to be the most compatible--i.e. with the least potential environmental impact--for the possible construction and operation of the linear project. This information, along with suitable measures for mitigating possible impacts, should be the basis of an environmental management plan for the design process and location of the project. We pointed out the objectivity and efficiency of this methodological approach, along with the possibility of integrating the information in order to allow for the application thereof in this type of study.

Temporal Variability of Canopy Light Use Efficiency and its Environmental Controls in a Subtropical Mangrove Wetland

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhu, X.

2016-12-01

Mangrove wetlands play an important role in global carbon cycle due to their strong carbon sequestration resulting from high plant carbon assimilation and low soil respiration. However, temporal variability of carbon sequestration in mangrove wetlands is less understood since carbon processes of mangrove wetlands are influenced by many complicated and concurrent environmental controls including tidal activities, site climate and soil conditions. Canopy light use efficiency (LUE), is the most important plant physiological parameter that can be used to describe the temporal dynamics of canopy photosynthesis, and therefore a better characterization of temporal variability of canopy LUE will improve our understanding in mangrove photosynthesis and carbon balance. One of our aims is to study the temporal variability of canopy LUE and its environmental controls in a subtropical mangrove wetland. Half-hourly canopy LUE is derived from eddy covariance (EC) carbon flux and photosynthesis active radiation observations, and half-hourly environmental controls we measure include temperature, humidity, precipitation, radiation, tidal height, salinity, etc. Another aim is to explore the links between canopy LUE and spectral indices derived from near-surface tower-based remote sensing (normalized difference vegetation index, enhanced vegetation index, photochemical reflectance index, solar-induced chlorophyll fluorescence, etc.), and then identify potential quantitative relationships for developing remote sensing-based estimation methods of canopy LUE. At present, some instruments in our in-situ observation system have not yet been installed (planned in next months) and therefore we don't have enough measurements to support our analysis. However, a preliminary analysis of our historical EC and climate observations in past several years indicates that canopy LUE shows strong temporal variability and is greatly affected by environmental factors such as tidal activity. Detailed and systematic analyses of temporal variability of canopy LUE and its environmental controls and potential remote sensing estimation methods will be conducted when our in-situ observation system is ready in near future.

Improving substance information in USEtox® , part 2: Data for estimating fate and ecosystem exposure factors.

PubMed

Saouter, Erwan; Aschberger, Karin; Fantke, Peter; Hauschild, Michael Z; Kienzler, Aude; Paini, Alicia; Pant, Rana; Radovnikovic, Anita; Secchi, Michela; Sala, Serenella

2017-12-01

The scientific consensus model USEtox ® has been developed since 2003 under the auspices of the United Nations Environment Programme-Society of Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry Life Cycle Initiative as a harmonized approach for characterizing human and freshwater toxicity in life cycle assessment and other comparative assessment frameworks. Using physicochemical substance properties, USEtox quantifies potential human toxicity and freshwater ecotoxicity impacts by combining environmental fate, exposure, and toxicity effects information, considering multimedia fate and multipathway exposure processes. The main source to obtain substance properties for USEtox 1.01 and 2.0 is the Estimation Program Interface (EPI Suite™) from the US Environmental Protection Agency. However, since the development of the original USEtox substance databases, new chemical regulations have been enforced in Europe, such as the Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation and Restriction of Chemicals (REACH) and the Plant Protection Products regulations. These regulations require that a chemical risk assessment for humans and the environment is performed before a chemical is placed on the European market. Consequently, additional physicochemical property data and new toxicological endpoints are now available for thousands of chemical substances. The aim of the present study was to explore the extent to which the new available data can be used as input for USEtox-especially for application in environmental footprint studies-and to discuss how this would influence the quantification of fate and exposure factors. Initial results show that the choice of data source and the parameters selected can greatly influence fate and exposure factors, leading to potentially different rankings and relative contributions of substances to overall human toxicity and ecotoxicity impacts. Moreover, it is crucial to discuss the relevance of the exposure factor for freshwater ecotoxicity impacts, particularly for persistent highly adsorbing and bioaccumulating substances. Environ Toxicol Chem 2017;36:3463-3470. © 2017 The Authors. Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry Published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc. on behalf of SETAC. © 2017 The Authors. Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry Published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc. on behalf of SETAC.

Biotechnological Production of Docosahexaenoic Acid Using Aurantiochytrium limacinum: Carbon Sources Comparison And Growth Characterization

PubMed Central

Abad, Sergi; Turon, Xavier

2015-01-01

Aurantiochytrium limacinum, a marine heterotrophic protist/microalga has shown interesting yields of docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) when cultured with different carbon sources: glucose, pure and crude glycerol. A complete study in a lab-scale fermenter allowed for the characterization and comparison of the growth kinetic parameters corresponding to each carbon source. Artificial Marine Medium (AMM) with glucose, pure and crude glycerol offered similar biomass yields. The net growth rates (0.10–0.12 h−1), biomass (0.7–0.8 g cells/g Substrate) and product (0.14–0.15 g DHA/g cells) yields, as well as DHA productivity were similar using the three carbon sources. Viable potential applications to valorize crude glycerol are envisioned to avoid an environmental problem due to the excess of byproduct. PMID:26690180

Real time characterization of hydrodynamics in optically trapped networks of micro-particles.

PubMed

Curran, Arran; Yao, Alison M; Gibson, Graham M; Bowman, Richard; Cooper, Jon M; Padgett, Miles L

2010-04-01

The hydrodynamic interactions of micro-silica spheres trapped in a variety of networks using holographic optical tweezers are measured and characterized in terms of their predicted eigenmodes. The characteristic eigenmodes of the networks are distinguishable within 20-40 seconds of acquisition time. Three different multi-particle networks are considered; an eight-particle linear chain, a nine-particle square grid and, finally, an eight-particle ring. The eigenmodes and their decay rates are shown to behave as predicted by the Oseen tensor and the Langevin equation, respectively. Finally, we demonstrate the potential of using our micro-ring as a non-invasive sensor to the local environmental viscosity, by showing the distortion of the eigenmode spectrum due to the proximity of a planar boundary. ((c) 2010 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim).

Secondary ion mass spectrometry: The application in the analysis of atmospheric particulate matter

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Huang, Di; Hua, Xin; Xiu, Guang-Li

Currently, considerable attention has been paid to atmospheric particulate matter (PM) investigation due to its importance in human health and global climate change. Surface characterization of PM is important since the chemical heterogeneity between the surface and bulk may vary its impact on the environment and human being. Secondary ion mass spectrometry (SIMS) is a surface technique with high surface sensitivity, capable of high spatial chemical imaging and depth profiling. Recent research shows that SIMS holds great potential in analyzing both surface and bulk chemical information of PM. In this review, we presented the working principal of SIMS in PMmore » characterization, summarized recent applications in PM analysis from different sources, discussed its advantages and limitations, and proposed the future development of this technique with a perspective in environmental sciences.« less

MOBILE ATOMIC ABSORPTION SPECTROMETER OPERATED BY PACE ENVIRONMENTAL FOR METALS-CONTAMINATED SOIL CHARACTERIZATION

EPA Science Inventory

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), through the Environmental Technology Verification Program, is working to accelerate the acceptance and use of innovative technologies that improve the way the United States manages its environmental problems. This report describes ...

Lunar Dust: Characterization and Mitigation

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Hyatt. Mark J.; Feighery, John

2007-01-01

Lunar dust is a ubiquitous phenomenon which must be explicitly addressed during upcoming human lunar exploration missions. Near term plans to revisit the moon as a stepping stone for further exploration of Mars, and beyond, places a primary emphasis on characterization and mitigation of lunar dust. Comprised of regolith particles ranging in size from tens of nanometers to microns, lunar dust is a manifestation of the complex interaction of the lunar soil with multiple mechanical, electrical, and gravitational effects. The environmental and anthropogenic factors effecting the perturbation, transport, and deposition of lunar dust must be studied in order to mitigate it's potentially harmful effects on exploration systems. The same hold true for assessing the risk it may pose for toxicological health problems if inhaled. This paper presents the current perspective and implementation of dust knowledge management and integration, and mitigation technology development activities within NASA's Exploration Technology Development Program. This work is presented within the context of the Constellation Program's Integrated Lunar Dust Management Strategy. This work further outlines the scientific basis for lunar dust behavior, it's characteristics and potential effects, and surveys several potential strategies for its control and mitigation both for lunar surface operations and within the working volumes of a lunar outpost. The paper also presents a perspective on lessons learned from Apollo and forensics engineering studies of Apollo hardware.

Review: Some low-frequency electrical methods for subsurface characterization and monitoring in hydrogeology

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Revil, A.; Karaoulis, M.; Johnson, T.; Kemna, A.

2012-06-01

Low-frequency geoelectrical methods include mainly self-potential, resistivity, and induced polarization techniques, which have potential in many environmental and hydrogeological applications. They provide complementary information to each other and to in-situ measurements. The self-potential method is a passive measurement of the electrical response associated with the in-situ generation of electrical current due to the flow of pore water in porous media, a salinity gradient, and/or the concentration of redox-active species. Under some conditions, this method can be used to visualize groundwater flow, to determine permeability, and to detect preferential flow paths. Electrical resistivity is dependent on the water content, the temperature, the salinity of the pore water, and the clay content and mineralogy. Time-lapse resistivity can be used to assess the permeability and dispersivity distributions and to monitor contaminant plumes. Induced polarization characterizes the ability of rocks to reversibly store electrical energy. It can be used to image permeability and to monitor chemistry of the pore water-minerals interface. These geophysical methods, reviewed in this paper, should always be used in concert with additional in-situ measurements (e.g. in-situ pumping tests, chemical measurements of the pore water), for instance through joint inversion schemes, which is an area of fertile on-going research.

The Role of the Gut Microbiome in Multiple Sclerosis Risk and Progression: Towards Characterization of the "MS Microbiome".

PubMed

Pröbstel, Anne-Katrin; Baranzini, Sergio E

2018-01-01

Multiple sclerosis (MS) is the prototypic complex disease, in which both genes and the environment contribute to its pathogenesis. To date, > 200 independent loci across the genome have been associated with MS risk. However, these only explain a fraction of the total phenotypic variance, suggesting the possible presence of additional genetic factors, and, most likely, also environmental factors. New DNA sequencing technologies have enabled the sequencing of all kinds of microorganisms, including those living in and around humans (i.e., microbiomes). The study of bacterial populations inhabiting the gut is of particular interest in autoimmune diseases owing to their key role in shaping immune responses. In this review, we address the potential crosstalk between B cells and the gut microbiota, a relevant scenario in light of recently approved anti-B-cell therapies for MS. In addition, we review recent efforts to characterize the gut microbiome in patients with MS and discuss potential challenges and future opportunities. Finally, we describe the international MS microbiome study, a multicenter effort to study a large population of patients with MS and their healthy household partners to define the core MS microbiome, how it is shaped by disease-modifying therapies, and to explore potential therapeutic interventions.

Characterization of SiCSiC Composites in Support of Environmental Degradation Modeling

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Kiser, Doug; Sullivan, Roy; Bhatt, Ram; Smith, Craig; Zima, John; McCue, Terry

2016-01-01

SiCSiC (silicon carbide fiber reinforced silicon carbide) composites are candidate materials for various turbine engine applications because of their high specific strength and good creep and oxidation resistance at elevated temperatures. This study was performed to characterize the microstructure of a melt infiltrated (MI) SiCSiC, and to examine environmental degradation mechanisms occurring in precracked MI SiCSiC CMC specimens under tensile stresses of 30 ksi or less at 815C in dry air or argon. In addition, the oxidation of the BN interface was characterized at815C, and crack opening displacement as a function of stress measurements were made. This material characterization is being performed to obtain data to support NASA GRC modeling of SiCSiC environmental degradation. The comparison of experimentally-observed phenomena with model predictions can lead to improved understanding of material degradation mechanisms.

Paraho environmental data. Part I. Process characterization. Par II. Air quality. Part III. Water quality

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Heistand, R.N.; Atwood, R.A.; Richardson, K.L.

1980-06-01

From 1973 to 1978, Development Engineering, Inc. (DEI), a subsidiary of Paraho Development Corporation, demostrated the Paraho technology for surface oil shale retorting at Anvil Points, Colorado. A considerable amount of environmentally-related research was also conducted. This body of data represents the most comprehensive environmental data base relating to surface retorting that is currently available. In order to make this information available, the DOE Office of Environment has undertaken to compile, assemble, and publish this environmental data. The compilation has been prepared by DEI. This report includes the process characterization, air quality, and water quality categories.

Managing Air Quality - Human Health, Environmental and Economic Assessments

EPA Pesticide Factsheets

Human health and environmental assessments characterize health and environmental risks associated with exposure to pollution. Economic assessments evaluate the cost and economic impact of a policy or regulation & can estimate economic benefits.

Meet EPA Environmental Scientist Kira Lynch

EPA Pesticide Factsheets

Environmental Scientist Kira Lynch is currently the Superfund and Technology Liaison in EPA’s Region 10, where she uses her expertise in characterizing environmental contamination to help evaluate and clean up hazardous waste sites.

Developing Students' Environmental Knowledge through Interactive Worksheets.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ballantyne, Roy; Witney, Eve; Tulip, David

1998-01-01

Environmental education is often characterized by a concern with developing attitudes and behavior rather than developing environmental knowledge and concepts. Students may thus unknowingly hold and later teach environmental misconceptions. Discusses the use of interactive worksheets to provide a time-effective means of developing students'…

Chemical characterization of sanding dust and methylene chloride usage in automotive refinishing: implications for occupational and environmental health.

PubMed

Enander, Richard T; Gute, David M; Cohen, Howard J; Brown, Linfield C; Desmaris, Anne Marie C; Missaghian, Richard

2002-01-01

Surface preparation activities conducted during automotive refinishing present several potential human health and environmental risks. This study examines the chemical composition of vehicle sanding dust and the prevalence of methylene chloride use as a basis for evaluating potential chemical exposures in the work environment, fugitive environmental releases, and take-home toxics. This article reports on the findings of (1) a statewide technology and work practices survey of 353 licensed auto body shops and (2) laboratory analyses of sanding dust representing more than 200 vehicles, 10 commercial body filler compounds, and work shirts worn during vehicle sanding while using nonventilated equipment. Survey data revealed that the majority of shops (78%) do not use ventilated sanding equipment, that most workers (55%) take their work clothes and shoes home at the end of the workday, and that 17% of the respondents used a methylene chloride-based paint stripper as an adjunct to mechanical sanding. Laboratory results showed that Pb, As, Cr, Mn, and Ni were present in the sanding dust at every facility tested. Lead concentrations in sanding dust were found to be highest at facilities that performed complete vehicle refinishing (range 770 to 7300 ppm) and at a collision repair shop that used a high-lead content body filler compound (1800 ppm). Hexavalent chromium also was found in two vocational high school paint dust samples at concentrations of 54 and 710 ppm. When total lead and chromium concentrations reached 7300 and 2300 ppm, respectively, facility sanding dust samples failed the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's Toxicity Characteristic Leaching Procedure for hazardous waste. Metals found in the sanding dust also were present on the work shirts of technicians-ranging from 0.06 (Cd) to 81 (Mg) microg/inch2 of cloth-who sanded on paint without ventilated equipment. Results suggest that sanding dust and methylene chloride paint strippers used in vehicle resurfacing operations pose a potential hazard to human health and the environment.

Environmental baseline conditions for impact assessment of unconventional gas exploitation: the G-Baseline project

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kloppmann, Wolfram; Mayer, Berhard; Millot, Romain; Parker, Beth L.; Gaucher, Eric; Clarkson, Christopher R.; Cherry, John A.; Humez, Pauline; Cahill, Aaron

2015-04-01

A major scientific challenge and an indispensible prerequisite for environmental impact assessment in the context of unconventional gas development is the determination of the baseline conditions against which potential environmental impacts on shallow freshwater resources can be accurately and quantitatively tested. Groundwater and surface water resources overlying the low-permeability hydrocarbon host rocks containing shale gas may be impacted to different extents by naturally occurring saline fluids and by natural gas emanations. Baseline assessments in areas of previous conventional hydrocarbon production may also reveal anthropogenic impacts from these activities not related to unconventional gas development. Once unconventional gas exploitation has started, the baseline may be irrevocably lost by the intricate superposition of geogenic and potential anthropogenic contamination by stray gas, formation waters and chemicals used during hydraulic fracturing. The objective of the Franco-Canadian NSERC-ANR project G-Baseline is to develop an innovative and comprehensive methodology of geochemical and isotopic characterization of the environmental baseline for water and gas samples from all three essential zones: (1) the production zone, including flowback waters, (2) the intermediate zone comprised of overlying formations, and (3) shallow aquifers and surface water systems where contamination may result from diverse natural or human impacts. The outcome will be the establishment of a methodology based on innovative tracer and monitoring techniques, including traditional and non-traditional isotopes (C, H, O, S, B, Sr, Cl, Br, N, U, Li, Cu, Zn, CSIA...) for detecting, quantifying and modeling of potential leakage of stray gas and of saline formation water mixed with flowback fluids into fresh groundwater resources and surface waters taking into account the pathways and mechanisms of fluid and gas migration. Here we present an outline of the project as well as first results from chemical and isotopic analyses on gas, fluid and solid samples collected during a baseline monitoring program at the Carbon Management Canada field research site in south-eastern Alberta, Canada.

Self-discharge analysis and characterization of supercapacitors for environmentally powered wireless sensor network applications

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yang, Hengzhao; Zhang, Ying

2011-10-01

A new approach is presented to characterize the variable leakage resistance, a parameter in the variable leakage resistance model we developed to model supercapacitors used in environmentally powered wireless sensor network applications. Based on an analysis of the supercapacitor terminal behavior during the self-discharge, the variable leakage resistance is modeled as a function of the supercapacitor terminal voltage instead of the self-discharge time, which is more practical for an environmentally powered wireless sensor node. The new characterization approach is implemented and validated using MATLAB Simulink with a 10 F supercapacitor as an example. In addition, effects of initial voltages and temperatures on the supercapacitor self-discharge rate and the variable leakage resistance value are explored.

Simultaneous quantitative determination of benzene, toluene, and xylenes in water using mid-infrared evanescent field spectroscopy.

PubMed

Karlowatz, M; Kraft, M; Mizaikoff, B

2004-05-01

Attenuated total reflection mid-infrared spectroscopy is applied for simultaneous detection and quantification of the environmentally relevant analytes benzene, toluene, and the three xylene isomers. The analytes are enriched into a thin polymer membrane coated onto the surface of an internal reflection waveguide, which is exposed to the aqueous sample. Direct detection of analytes permeating into the polymer coating is performed by utilizing evanescent field spectroscopy in the fingerprint range (>10 microm) of the mid-infrared (MIR) spectrum (3-20 microm) without additional sample preparation. All investigated compounds are characterized by well-separated absorption features in the evaluated wavelength regime. Hence, data evaluation was performed by integration of the respective absorption peaks. Limits of detection lower than 20 ppb (v/v) for all xylene isomers, 45 ppb (v/v) for benzene, and 80 ppb (v/v) for toluene have been achieved. The straightforward experimental setup and the achieved detection limits for these environmentally relevant volatile organic compounds in the low-ppb concentration range reveal a substantial potential of MIR evanescent field sensing devices for on-line in situ environmental analysis.

The differential expression of Chironomus spp genes as useful tools in the search for pollution biomarkers in freshwater ecosystems.

PubMed

Mantilla, Javier G; Gomes, Lucimar; Cristancho, Marco A

2018-05-01

Insects of the Chironomidae family are characterized by a wide ecological diversity in freshwater ecosystems. The larvae have the physiological potential to tolerate environmental stress even when there is a low concentration of oxygen, the presence of toxic substances or when there are changes in temperature and salinity. On the other hand, it is important to consider that at a cellular level, when individual insects are exposed to environmental changes, it induces responses of groups of genes that govern the molecular mechanisms related to such tolerance. In this review, using fourth instar larvae of Chironomus spp. in natural conditions and of Chironomus columbiensis under controlled conditions, we will discuss the genetic expression of a group of genes that respond to detoxification and also the biological functions involved and impacted on by mining stressors. The study of macroinvertebrate bioindicator species and their gene expression as a result of mining activity opens a window on the search for genetic biomarkers that could be used in environmental pollution assessments in freshwater ecosystems.

Characterization of Encapsulated Corrosion Inhibitors Containing Microparticles for Environmentally Friendly Smart Coatings

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Pearman, Benjamin Pieter; Calle, Luz M.

2015-01-01

This poster presents the results obtained from experiments designed to evaluate the release properties, as well as the corrosion inhibition effectiveness, of several encapsulated corrosion inhibitors. Microencapsulation has been used in the development of environmentally friendly multifunctional smart coatings. This technique enables the incorporation of autonomous corrosion detection, inhibition and self-healing functionalities into many commercially available coating systems. Select environmentally friendly corrosion inhibitors were encapsulated in organic and inorganic pH-sensitive microparticles and their release in basic solutions was studied. The release rate results showed that the encapsulation can be tailored from fast, for immediate corrosion protection, to slow, which will provide continued long-term corrosion protection. The incorporation of several corrosion inhibitor release profiles into a coating provides effective corrosion protection properties. To investigate the corrosion inhibition efficiency of the encapsulated inhibitors, electrochemical techniques were used to obtain corrosion potential, polarization curve and polarization resistance data. These measurements were performed using the free as well as the encapsulated inhibitors singly or in combinations. Results from these electrochemical tests will be compared to those obtained from weight loss and other accelerated corrosion experiments.

Escherichia coli and selected veterinary and zoonotic pathogens isolated from environmental sites in companion animal veterinary hospitals in southern Ontario

PubMed Central

Murphy, Colleen P.; Reid-Smith, Richard J.; Boerlin, Patrick; Weese, J. Scott; Prescott, John F.; Janecko, Nicol; Hassard, Lori; McEwen, Scott A.

2010-01-01

Hospital-based infection control in veterinary medicine is emerging and the role of the environment in hospital-acquired infections (HAI) in veterinary hospitals is largely unknown. This study was initiated to determine the recovery of Escherichia coli and selected veterinary and zoonotic pathogens from the environments of 101 community veterinary hospitals. The proportion of hospitals with positive environmental swabs were: E. coli — 92%, Clostridium difficile — 58%, methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) — 9%, CMY-2 producing E. coli — 9%, methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus pseudintermedius — 7%, and Salmonella — 2%. Vancomycin-resistant Enterococcus spp., canine parvovirus, and feline calicivirus were not isolated. Prevalence of antimicrobial resistance in E. coli isolates was low. Important potential veterinary and human pathogens were recovered including Canadian epidemic strains MRSA-2 and MRSA-5, and C. difficile ribotype 027. There is an environmental reservoir of pathogens in veterinary hospitals; therefore, additional studies are required to characterize risk factors associated with HAI in companion animals, including the role of the environment. PMID:21119862

Report on the biological monitoring program at Paducah Gaseous Diffusion Plant, January--December 1996

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Kszos, L.A.; Konetsky, B.K.; Peterson, M.J.

1997-06-01

On September 24, 1987, the Commonwealth of Kentucky Natural Resources and Environmental Protection Cabinet issued an Agreed Order that required the development of a Biological Monitoring Program (BMP) for the Paducah Gaseous diffusion Plant (PGDP). The PGDP BMP was conducted by the University of Kentucky Between 1987 and 1992 and by staff of the Environmental Sciences Division (ESD) at Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) from 1991 to present. The goals of BMP are to (1) demonstrate that the effluent limitations established for PGDP protect and maintain the use of Little Bayou and Big Bayou creeks for growth and propagation ofmore » fish and other aquatic life, (2) characterize potential environmental impacts, and (3) document the effects of pollution abatement facilities on stream. The BMP for PGDP consists of three major tasks: (1) effluent toxicity monitoring, (2) bioaccumulation studies, and (3) ecological surveys of stream communities (i.e., benthic macroinvertebrates and fish). This report focuses on ESD activities occurring from January 1996 to December 1996, although activities conducted outside this time period are included as appropriate.« less

An Aversive Response to Osmotic Upshift in Caenorhabditis elegans.

PubMed

Yu, Jingyi; Yang, Wenxing; Liu, He; Hao, Yingsong; Zhang, Yun

2017-01-01

Environmental osmolarity presents a common type of sensory stimulus to animals. While behavioral responses to osmotic changes are important for maintaining a stable intracellular osmolarity, the underlying mechanisms are not fully understood. In the natural habitat of Caenorhabditis elegans , changes in environmental osmolarity are commonplace. It is known that the nematode acutely avoids shocks of extremely high osmolarity. Here, we show that C. elegans also generates gradually increased aversion of mild upshifts in environmental osmolarity. Different from an acute avoidance of osmotic shocks that depends on the function of a transient receptor potential vanilloid channel, the slow aversion to osmotic upshifts requires the cGMP-gated sensory channel subunit TAX-2. TAX-2 acts in several sensory neurons that are exposed to body fluid to generate the aversive response through a motor network that underlies navigation. Osmotic upshifts activate the body cavity sensory neuron URX, which is known to induce aversion upon activation. Together, our results characterize the molecular and cellular mechanisms underlying a novel sensorimotor response to osmotic stimuli and reveal that C. elegans engages different behaviors and the underlying mechanisms to regulate responses to extracellular osmolarity.

Highly Divergent Clostridium difficile Strains Isolated from the Environment

PubMed Central

Janezic, Sandra; Potocnik, Mojca; Zidaric, Valerija; Rupnik, Maja

2016-01-01

Clostridium difficile is one of the most important human and animal pathogens. However, the bacterium is ubiquitous and can be isolated from various sources. Here we report the prevalence and characterization of C. difficile in less studied environmental samples, puddle water (n = 104) and soil (n = 79). C. difficile was detected in 14.4% of puddle water and in 36.7% of soil samples. Environmental strains displayed antimicrobial resistance patterns comparable to already published data of human and animal isolates. A total of 480 isolates were grouped into 34 different PCR ribotypes. More than half of these (52.9%; 18 of 34) were already described in humans or animals. However, 14 PCR ribotypes were new in our PCR ribotype library and all but one were non-toxigenic. The multilocus sequence analysis of these new PCR ribotypes revealed that non-toxigenic environmental isolates are phylogenetically distinct and belong to three highly divergent clades, two of which have not been described before. Our data suggest that environment is a potential reservoir of genetically diverse population of C. difficile. PMID:27880843

Assessing sustainability in real urban systems: the Greater Cincinnati Metropolitan Area in Ohio, Kentucky, and Indiana.

PubMed

Gonzalez-Mejía, Alejandra M; Eason, Tarsha N; Cabezas, Heriberto; Suidan, Makram T

2012-09-04

Urban systems have a number of factors (i.e., economic, social, and environmental) that can potentially impact growth, change, and transition. As such, assessing and managing these systems is a complex challenge. While, tracking trends of key variables may provide some insight, identifying the critical characteristics that truly impact the dynamic behavior of these systems is difficult. As an integrated approach to evaluate real urban systems, this work contributes to the research on scientific techniques for assessing sustainability. Specifically, it proposes a practical methodology based on the estimation of dynamic order, for identifying stable and unstable periods of sustainable or unsustainable trends with Fisher Information (FI) metric. As a test case, the dynamic behavior of the City, Suburbs, and Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA) of Cincinnati was evaluated by using 29 social and 11 economic variables to characterize each system from 1970 to 2009. Air quality variables were also selected to describe the MSA's environmental component (1980-2009). Results indicate systems dynamic started to change from about 1995 for the social variables and about 2000 for the economic and environmental characteristics.

Reflection on Molecular Approaches Influencing State-of-the-Art Bioremediation Design: Culturing to Microbial Community Fingerprinting to Omics

PubMed Central

Czaplicki, Lauren M.; Gunsch, Claudia K.

2017-01-01

Bioremediation is generally viewed as a cost effective and sustainable technology because it relies on microbes to transform pollutants into benign compounds. Advances in molecular biological analyses allow unprecedented microbial detection and are increasingly incorporated into bioremediation. Throughout history, state-of-the-art techniques have informed bioremediation strategies. However, the insights those techniques provided were not as in depth as those provided by recently developed omics tools. Advances in next generation sequencing (NGS) have now placed metagenomics and metatranscriptomics within reach of environmental engineers. As NGS costs decrease, metagenomics and metatranscriptomics have become increasingly feasible options to rapidly scan sites for specific degradative functions and identify microorganisms important in pollutant degradation. These omic techniques are capable of revolutionizing biological treatment in environmental engineering by allowing highly sensitive characterization of previously uncultured microorganisms. Omics enables the discovery of novel microorganisms for use in bioaugmentation and supports systematic optimization of biostimulation strategies. This review describes the omics journey from roots in biology and medicine to its current status in environmental engineering including potential future directions in commercial application. PMID:28348455

Controlling for exogenous environmental variables when using data envelopment analysis for regional environmental assessments.

PubMed

Macpherson, Alexander J; Principe, Peter P; Shao, Yang

2013-04-15

Researchers are increasingly using data envelopment analysis (DEA) to examine the efficiency of environmental policies and resource allocations. An assumption of the basic DEA model is that decisionmakers operate within homogeneous environments. But, this assumption is not valid when environmental performance is influenced by variables beyond managerial control. Understanding the influence of these variables is important to distinguish between characterizing environmental conditions and identifying opportunities to improve environmental performance. While environmental assessments often focus on characterizing conditions, the point of using DEA is to identify opportunities to improve environmental performance and thereby prevent (or rectify) an inefficient allocation of resources. We examine the role of exogenous variables such as climate, hydrology, and topography in producing environmental impacts such as deposition, runoff, invasive species, and forest fragmentation within the United States Mid-Atlantic region. We apply a four-stage procedure to adjust environmental impacts in a DEA model that seeks to minimize environmental impacts while obtaining given levels of socioeconomic outcomes. The approach creates a performance index that bundles multiple indicators while adjusting for variables that are outside management control, offering numerous advantages for environmental assessment. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

Staff exchange with Chemical Waste Management. Final project report

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Harrer, B.J.; Barak, D.W.

1993-12-01

Original objective was transfer of PNL technology and expertise in computational chemistry and waste flow/treatment modeling to CWM. Identification and characterization of a broader portfolio of PNL`s environmental remediation technologies with high potential for rapid application became the focus of the exchange, which included E-mail exchanges. Of the 14 technologies discussed, the following were identified as being of high interest to CWM: six phase soil heating (in-situ heating), high energy electrical corona, RAAS/ReOpt{trademark} (remedial, expert system), TEES{trademark} (catalytic production of methane from biological wastes), PST (process for treating petroleum sludge). CWM`s reorganization and downsizing reduced the potential benefits to industry,more » but a proposal for transfer and application of PST to Wheelabrator was made.« less

Life cycle assessment as development and decision support tool for wastewater resource recovery technology.

PubMed

Fang, Linda L; Valverde-Pérez, Borja; Damgaard, Anders; Plósz, Benedek Gy; Rygaard, Martin

2016-01-01

Life cycle assessment (LCA) has been increasingly used in the field of wastewater treatment where the focus has been to identify environmental trade-offs of current technologies. In a novel approach, we use LCA to support early stage research and development of a biochemical system for wastewater resource recovery. The freshwater and nutrient content of wastewater are recognized as potential valuable resources that can be recovered for beneficial reuse. Both recovery and reuse are intended to address existing environmental concerns, for example, water scarcity and use of non-renewable phosphorus. However, the resource recovery may come at the cost of unintended environmental impacts. One promising recovery system, referred to as TRENS, consists of an enhanced biological phosphorus removal and recovery system (EBP2R) connected to a photobioreactor. Based on a simulation of a full-scale nutrient and water recovery system in its potential operating environment, we assess the potential environmental impacts of such a system using the EASETECH model. In the simulation, recovered water and nutrients are used in scenarios of agricultural irrigation-fertilization and aquifer recharge. In these scenarios, TRENS reduces global warming up to 15% and marine eutrophication impacts up to 9% compared to conventional treatment. This is due to the recovery and reuse of nutrient resources, primarily nitrogen. The key environmental concerns obtained through the LCA are linked to increased human toxicity impacts from the chosen end use of wastewater recovery products. The toxicity impacts are from both heavy metals release associated with land application of recovered nutrients and production of AlCl3, which is required for advanced wastewater treatment prior to aquifer recharge. Perturbation analysis of the LCA pinpointed nutrient substitution and heavy metals content of algae biofertilizer as critical areas for further research if the performance of nutrient recovery systems such as TRENS is to be better characterized. Our study provides valuable feedback to the TRENS developers and identifies the importance of system expansion to include impacts outside the immediate nutrient recovery system itself. The study also show for the first time the successful evaluation of urban-to-agricultural water systems in EASETECH. Copyright © 2015. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

Effects of Kraft Mill effluent on the sexuality of fishes: An environmental early warning

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Davis, W.P.; Bortone, S.A.

1992-01-01

Arrhenoid or masculinized female fish species of the live-bearing family, Poeciliidae, have been observed for over thirteen years in specific southern streams which receive waste effluents from pulping mills. The complex mixture of organic compounds in kraft mill effluent (KME) has inhibited specific identification of causal agent(s). However, microbially degraded phytosterols (e.g. sitosterol or stigmastanol) in experimental exposures induce the same intersexual states that characterize affected female poeciliids sampled from KME streams. KME-polluted streams often exhibit a drastic reduction of fish species diversity and degrees of physiological stress, all of which suggests reduced reproduction in surviving forms. A potential ontogeneticmore » or developmental response is demonstrated in American eels captured in one of these streams as well. The authors examine available information, including laboratory and experimental field exposures, and suggest directions for additional research as well as the need for environmental concern.« less

The bacterial skin microbiome in psoriatic arthritis, an unexplored link in pathogenesis: challenges and opportunities offered by recent technological advances.

PubMed

Castelino, Madhura; Eyre, Stephen; Upton, Mathew; Ho, Pauline; Barton, Anne

2014-05-01

The resident microbial community, harboured by humans in sites such as the skin and gastrointestinal tract, is enormous, representing a candidate environmental factor affecting susceptibility to complex diseases, where both genetic and environmental risk factors are important. The potential of microorganisms to influence the human immune system is considerable, given their ubiquity. The impact of the host-gene-microbe interaction on the maintenance of health and the development of disease has not yet been assessed robustly in chronic inflammatory conditions. PsA represents a model inflammatory disease to explore the role of the microbiome because skin involvement and overlap with IBD implicates both the skin and gastrointestinal tract as sources of microbial triggers for PsA. In parallel with genetic studies, characterization of the host microbiota may benefit our understanding of the microbial contribution to disease pathogenesis-knowledge that may eventually inform the development of novel therapeutics.

Mine Waste at The Kherzet Youcef Mine : Environmental Characterization

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Issaad, Mouloud; Boutaleb, Abdelhak; Kolli, Omar

2017-04-01

Mining activity in Algeria has existed since antiquity. But it was very important since the 20th century. This activity has virtually ceased since the beginning of the 1990s, leaving many mine sites abandoned (so-called orphan mines). The abandonment of mining today poses many environmental problems (soil pollution, contamination of surface water, mining collapses...). The mining wastes often occupy large volumes that can be hazardous to the environment and human health, often neglected in the past: Faulting geotechnical implementation, acid mine drainage (AMD), alkalinity, presence of pollutants and toxic substances (heavy metals, cyanide...). The study started already six years ago and it covers all mines located in NE Algeria, almost are stopped for more than thirty years. So the most important is to have an overview of all the study area. After the inventory job of the abandoned mines, the rock drainage prediction will help us to classify sites according to their acid generating potential.

Applicability of ERTS for surveying Antarctic iceberg resources

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Hult, J. L. (Principal Investigator); Ostrander, N. C.

1973-01-01

The author has identified the following significant results. This investigation explores the applicability of ERTS to (1) determine the Antarctic sea ice and environmental behavior that may influence the harvesting of icebergs, and (2) monitor iceberg locations, characteristics, and evolution. From image sampling, it is found that the potential applicability of ERTS to the research, planning, and harvesting operations can contribute importantly to the promise derived from broader scope studies for the use of Antarctic iceberg to relieve fresh Thermal sensor bands will provide coverage in daylight and darkness. Several years of comprehensive monitoring will be necessary to characterize sea ice and environmental behavior and iceberg evolution. Live ERTS services will assist harvesting control and claming operations and offer a means for harmonizing entitlements to iceberg resources. The valuable ERTS services will be more cost effective than other means and will be easily justified and borne by the iceberg harvesting operation.

A survey of unmanned ground vehicles with applications to agricultural and environmental sensing

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bonadies, Stephanie; Lefcourt, Alan; Gadsden, S. Andrew

2016-05-01

Unmanned ground vehicles have been utilized in the last few decades in an effort to increase the efficiency of agriculture, in particular, by reducing labor needs. Unmanned vehicles have been used for a variety of purposes including: soil sampling, irrigation management, precision spraying, mechanical weeding, and crop harvesting. In this paper, unmanned ground vehicles, implemented by researchers or commercial operations, are characterized through a comparison to other vehicles used in agriculture, namely airplanes and UAVs. An overview of different trade-offs of configurations, control schemes, and data collection technologies is provided. Emphasis is given to the use of unmanned ground vehicles in food crops, and includes a discussion of environmental impacts and economics. Factors considered regarding the future trends and potential issues of unmanned ground vehicles include development, management and performance. Also included is a strategy to demonstrate to farmers the safety and profitability of implementing the technology.

Bio-Reduction of Graphene Oxide Using Sulfate-Reducing Bacteria and Its Implication on Anti-Biocorrosion.

PubMed

Song, Tian-Shun; Tan, Wei-Min; Xie, Jingjing

2018-08-01

In this paper, we developed an environmental friendly, cost effective, simple and green approach to reduce graphene oxide (GO) by a sulfate-reducing bacterium Desulfovibrio desulfuricans. The D. desulfuricans reduces exfoliated GO to reduced graphene oxide (rGO) at 25 °C in an aqueous solution without any toxic and environmentally harmful reducing agents. The rGO was characterized with X-ray Diffraction, Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy, Scanning Electron Microscopy, Transmission Electron Microscope, X-ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy and Raman Spectroscopy. The analysis results showed that rGO had excellent properties and multi-layer graphene sheets structure. Furthermore, we demonstrated that D. desulfuricans, one of the primary bacteria responsible for the biocorrosion of various metals, might reduce GO to rGO on the surface of copper and prevented the corrosion of copper, which confirmed that electrophoretic deposition of GO on the surface of metals had great potential on the anti-biocorrosion applications.

De novo Assembly and Analysis of the Chilean Pencil Catfish Trichomycterus areolatus Transcriptome

PubMed Central

Schulze, Thomas T.; Ali, Jonathan M.; Bartlett, Maggie L.; McFarland, Madalyn M.; Clement, Emalie J.; Won, Harim I.; Sanford, Austin G.; Monzingo, Elyssa B.; Martens, Matthew C.; Hemsley, Ryan M.; Kumar, Sidharta; Gouin, Nicolas; Kolok, Alan S.; Davis, Paul H.

2016-01-01

Trichomycterus areolatus is an endemic species of pencil catfish that inhabits the riffles and rapids of many freshwater ecosystems of Chile. Despite its unique adaptation to Chile's high gradient watersheds and therefore potential application in the investigation of ecosystem integrity and environmental contamination, relatively little is known regarding the molecular biology of this environmental sentinel. Here, we detail the assembly of the Trichomycterus areolatus transcriptome, a molecular resource for the study of this organism and its molecular response to the environment. RNA-Seq reads were obtained by next-generation sequencing with an Illumina® platform and processed using PRINSEQ. The transcriptome assembly was performed using TRINITY assembler. Transcriptome validation was performed by functional characterization with KOG, KEGG, and GO analyses. Additionally, differential expression analysis highlights sex-specific expression patterns, and a list of endocrine and oxidative stress related transcripts are included. PMID:27672404

Cumulative Environmental Impacts: Science and Policy to Protect Communities.

PubMed

Solomon, Gina M; Morello-Frosch, Rachel; Zeise, Lauren; Faust, John B

2016-01-01

Many communities are located near multiple sources of pollution, including current and former industrial sites, major roadways, and agricultural operations. Populations in such locations are predominantly low-income, with a large percentage of minorities and non-English speakers. These communities face challenges that can affect the health of their residents, including limited access to health care, a shortage of grocery stores, poor housing quality, and a lack of parks and open spaces. Environmental exposures may interact with social stressors, thereby worsening health outcomes. Age, genetic characteristics, and preexisting health conditions increase the risk of adverse health effects from exposure to pollutants. There are existing approaches for characterizing cumulative exposures, cumulative risks, and cumulative health impacts. Although such approaches have merit, they also have significant constraints. New developments in exposure monitoring, mapping, toxicology, and epidemiology, especially when informed by community participation, have the potential to advance the science on cumulative impacts and to improve decision making.

Applicability of ERTS to Antarctic iceberg resources. [harvesting sea ice for fresh water

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Hult, J. L. (Principal Investigator); Ostrander, N. C.

1973-01-01

The author has identified the following significant results. This investigation explorers the applicability of ERTS to (1) determine the Antarctic sea ice and environmental behavior that may influence the harvesting of icebergs, and (2) monitor iceberg locations, characteristics, and evolution. Imagery has shown that the potential applicability of ERTS to the research, planning, and harvesting operations can contribute importantly to the glowing promise derived from broader scope studies for the use of Antarctic icebergs to relieve a growing global thirst for fresh water. Several years of comprehensive monitoring will be necessary to characterize sea ice and environmental behavior and iceberg evolution. Live ERTS services will assist harvesting control and claiming operations and offer a means of harmonizing entitlements of iceberg resources. The valuable ERTS services will be more cost effective than other means will be easily justified and borne by the iceberg harvesting operations.