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Simulations of Sky Radiances in Red and Blue Channels at Various Aerosol Conditions Using Radiative Transfer Modeling
Get PDFWe conducted a theoretical analysis of the relationship between red-to-blue (RBR) color intensities and aerosol optical properties. RBR values are obtained by radiative transfer simulations of diffuse sky radiances. Changes in atmospheric aerosol concentration (parametrized by aerosol optical depth, AOD), particle’s size distribution (parametrized by Ångström exponent, AE) and aerosols’ scattering (parametrized by single scattering albedo—SSA) lead to variability in sky radiances and, thus, affect the RBR ratio. RBR is highly sensitive to AOD as high aerosol load in the atmosphere causes high RBR. AE seems to strongly affect the RBR, while SSA effect the RBR, but not to such a great extent.publishedVersio
Linking Nanomaterial-Induced Mitochondrial Dysfunction to Existing Adverse Outcome Pathways for Chemicals
Get PDFThe Adverse Outcome Pathway (AOP) framework plays a crucial role in the paradigm shift of toxicity testing towards the development and use of new approach methodologies. AOPs developed for chemicals are in theory applicable to nanomaterials (NMs). However, only subtle efforts have been made to integrate information on NM-induced toxicity into existing AOPs. In a previous study, we identified AOPs in the AOP-Wiki associated with the molecular initiating events (MIEs) and key events (KEs) reported for NMs in scientific literature. In a next step, we analyzed these AOPs and found that mitochondrial toxicity plays a significant role in several of them at the molecular and cellular levels. In this study, we aimed to generate hypothesis-based AOPs related to NM-induced mitochondrial toxicity. This was achieved by integrating science-based information collected on NM-induced mitochondrial toxicity into all existing AOPs in the AOP-Wiki, which already includes mitochondrial toxicity as a MIE/KE. The results showed that several AOPs in the AOP-Wiki related to the lung, liver, cardiovascular and nervous system, with extensively defined KEs and key event relationships (KERs), could be utilized to develop AOPs that are relevant for NMs. Our results also indicate that the majority of the studies included in our literature review were of poor quality, particularly in reporting NM physico-chemical characteristics, and NM-relevant mitochondrial MIEs were scarcely reported. This study highlights the potential role of NM-induced mitochondrial toxicity in human-relevant adverse outcomes and identifies useful AOPs in the AOP-Wiki for the development AOPs that are relevant for NMs.publishedVersio
Implications of Regurgitative Feeding on Plastic Loads in Northern Fulmars (Fulmarus glacialis): A Study from Svalbard
Get PDFProcellariiform seabirds like northern fulmars (Fulmarus glacialis) are prone to ingest and accumulate floating plastic pieces. In the North Sea region, there is a long tradition to use beached fulmars as biomonitors for marine plastic pollution. Monitoring data revealed consistently lower plastic burdens in adult fulmars compared to younger age classes. Those findings were hypothesized to partly result from parental transfer of plastic to chicks. However, no prior study has examined this mechanism in fulmars by comparing plastic burdens in fledglings and older fulmars shortly after the chick-rearing period. Therefore, we investigated plastic ingestion in 39 fulmars from Kongsfjorden (Svalbard), including 21 fledglings and 18 older fulmars (adults/older immatures). We found that fledglings (50–60 days old) had significantly more plastic than older fulmars. While plastic was found in all fledglings, two older fulmars contained no and several older individuals barely any plastic. These findings supported that fulmar chicks from Svalbard get fed high quantities of plastic by their parents. Adverse effects of plastic on fulmars were indicated by one fragment that perforated the stomach and possibly one thread perforating the intestine. Negative correlations between plastic mass and body fat in fledglings and older fulmars were not significant.publishedVersio
Measurement of SO2 in the surroundings of Elkem Carbon and REC Solar.
Get PDFPå oppdrag fra Elkem Carbon AS har NILU utført målinger av SO2 i omgivelsene til Elkem Carbon og REC Solar i Vågsbygd (Kristiansand kommune). Elkem Carbon har i sin tillatelse fra Miljødirektoratet krav om å gjennomføre kontinuerlig måling av SO2 i omgivelsesluft. Målingene ble utført med SO2-monitor i boligområdet på Fiskåtangen (Konsul Wilds vei). I tillegg har Elkem Carbon AS valgt å måle med passive SO2-prøvetakere ved 3 steder rundt bedriftene. Rapporten dekker målinger i perioden 1. januar – 31. desember 2022. Norske grenseverdier for luftkvalitet (SO2) ble overholdt ved Konsul Wilds vei for alle midlingsperioder krevet i forurensningsforskriften (årsmiddel, vintermiddel, døgnmiddel og timemiddel). De mest belastede stedene i måleperioden var Konsul Wilds vei nordøst og Fiskåveien rett sør for bedriftene. To døgnmidler var over 125 µg/m3 (grenseverdi, 3 tillatt), 4 døgnmidler var over øvre vurderingsterskel (75 µg/m3) og 11 døgnmidler var over nedre vurderingsterskel (50 µg/m3).On behalf of Elkem Carbon AS, NILU has carried out measurements of SO2 in the surroundings of Elkem Carbon and REC Solar in Vågsbygd (Kristiansand municipality). Elkem Carbon are according to their permit from the Norwegian Environment Agency obligated to carry out SO2-measurements in ambient air. The measurements were performed with an SO2-monitor in the residential area at Fiskåtangen (Konsul Wilds vei). In addition, Elkem has chosen to measure with passive SO2-samplers at 3 locations around the industries. The report covers measurements in the period 1 Jan. – 31 Dec. 2022. Norwegian limit values for air quality (SO2) were complied with at Konsul Wilds vei for all averaging periods required by the air quality directive (annual average, winter average, daily average and hourly average). The most polluted locations during the measurement period were Konsul Wilds vei north-east and Fiskåveien just south of the industries.publishedVersio
Mapping potential conflicts between global agriculture and terrestrial conservation
Get PDFDemand for food products, often from international trade, has brought agricultural land use into direct competition with biodiversity. Where these potential conflicts occur and which consumers are responsible is poorly understood. By combining conservation priority (CP) maps with agricultural trade data, we estimate current potential conservation risk hotspots driven by 197 countries across 48 agricultural products. Globally, a third of agricultural production occurs in sites of high CP (CP > 0.75, max = 1.0). While cattle, maize, rice, and soybean pose the greatest threat to very high-CP sites, other low-conservation risk products (e.g., sugar beet, pearl millet, and sunflower) currently are less likely to be grown in sites of agri-culture–conservation conflict. Our analysis suggests that a commodity can cause dissimilar conservation threats in different production regions. Accordingly, some of the conservation risks posed by different countries depend on their demand and sourcing patterns of agricultural commodities. Our spatial analyses identify potential hotspots of competition between agriculture and high-conservation value sites (i.e., 0.5° resolution, or ~367 to 3,077km2, grid cells containing both agriculture and high-biodiversity priority habitat), thereby providing additional information that could help prioritize conservation activities and safeguard biodiversity in individual countries and globally. A web-based GIS tool at https://agriculture.spatialfootprint.com/biodiversity/ systematically visualizes the results of our analyses.publishedVersio
Retrieval of Aerosol Optical Properties via an All-Sky Imager and Machine Learning: Uncertainty in Direct Normal Irradiance Estimations
Get PDFQuality-assured aerosol optical properties (AOP) with high spatiotemporal resolution are vital for the accurate estimation of direct aerosol radiative forcing and solar irradiance under clear skies. In this study, the sky information from an all-sky imager (ASI) is used with machine learning (ML) synergy to estimate aerosol optical depth (AOD) and the Ångström Exponent (AE). The retrieved AODs (AE) revealed good accuracy, with a dispersion error lower than 0.07 (0.15). The retrieved ML AOPs are used to estimate the DNI by applying radiative transfer modeling. The estimated ML DNI calculations revealed adequate accuracy to reproduce reference measurements with relatively low uncertainties.Retrieval of Aerosol Optical Properties via an All-Sky Imager and Machine Learning: Uncertainty in Direct Normal Irradiance EstimationspublishedVersio
Low-cost sensors and Machine Learning aid in identifying environmental factors affecting particulate matter emitted by household heating
Get PDFPoland continues to rely heavily on coal and fossil fuels for household heating, despite efforts to reduce Particulate Matter (PM) levels. The availability of reliable air quality data is essential for policymakers, environmentalists, and citizens to advocate for cleaner energy sources. However, Polish air quality monitoring is challenging due to the limited coverage of reference stations and outdated equipment. Here, we report the results of a study on the spatio-temporal variability of Particulate Matter in Legionowo, Poland, using residents’ network of low-cost sensors. Along with identifying the hotspots of household-emitted PM, (1) we propose a data quality assurance scheme for PM sensors, (2) suggest an approach for estimating the Relative Humidity-induced uncertainty in the sensors without co-location with reference instruments, and (3) develop an interpretable Machine Learning (ML) model, a Generalized Additive Model (RMSE = 6.16 μg m−3, and R2 = 0.88), for unveiling the underlying relations between PM2.5 levels and other environmental parameters. The results in Legionowo suggest that as air temperature and wind speed increase by 1 °C and 1 km h−1, PM2.5 would respectively decrease by 0.26 μg m−3 and 0.14 μg m−3 while PM2.5 increases by 0.03 μg m−3 as RH increases by 1%
Levels of persistent organic pollutants (POPs) in the Antarctic atmosphere over time (1980 to 2021) and estimation of their atmospheric half-lives
Get PDFPersistent organic pollutants (POPs) are synthetic compounds that were intentionally produced in large quantities and have been distributed in the global environment, originating a threat due to their persistence, bioaccumulative potential, and toxicity. POPs reach the Antarctic continent through long-range atmospheric transport (LRAT). In these areas, low temperatures play a significant role in the environmental fate of POPs, retaining them for a long time due to cold trapping by diffusion and wet deposition, acting as a net sink for many POPs. However, in the current context of climate change, the remobilization of POPs that were trapped in water, ice, and soil for decades is happening. Therefore, continuous monitoring of POPs in polar air is necessary to assess whether there is a recent re-release of historical pollutants back to the environment. We reviewed the scientific literature on atmospheric levels of several POP families (polychlorinated biphenyls – PCBs, hexachlorobenzene – HCB, hexachlorocyclohexanes – HCHs, and dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane – DDT) from 1980 to 2021. We estimated the atmospheric half-life using characteristic decreasing times (TD). We observed that HCB levels in the Antarctic atmosphere were higher than the other target organochlorine pesticides (OCPs), but HCB also displayed higher fluctuations and did not show a significant decrease over time. Conversely, the atmospheric levels of HCHs, some DDTs, and PCBs have decreased significantly. The estimated atmospheric half-lives for POPs decreased in the following order: 4,4' DDE (13.5 years) > 4,4' DDD (12.8 years) > 4,4' DDT (7.4 years) > 2,4' DDE (6.4 years) > 2,4' DDT (6.3 years) > α-HCH (6 years) > HCB (6 years) > γ-HCH (4.2 years). For PCB congeners, they decreased in the following order: PCB 153 (7.6 years) > PCB 138 (6.5 years) > PCB 101 (4.7 years) > PCB 180 (4.6 years) > PCB 28 (4 years) > PCB 52 (3.7 years) > PCB 118 (3.6 years). For HCH isomers and PCBs, the Stockholm Convention (SC) ban on POPs did have an impact on decreasing their levels during the last decades. Nevertheless, their ubiquity in the Antarctic atmosphere shows the problematic issues related to highly persistent synthetic chemicals.publishedVersio
NORMAN guidance on suspect and non-target screening in environmental monitoring
Get PDFIncreasing production and use of chemicals and awareness of their impact on ecosystems and humans has led to large interest for broadening the knowledge on the chemical status of the environment and human health by suspect and non-target screening (NTS). To facilitate effective implementation of NTS in scientific, commercial and governmental laboratories, as well as acceptance by managers, regulators and risk assessors, more harmonisation in NTS is required. To address this, NORMAN Association members involved in NTS activities have prepared this guidance document, based on the current state of knowledge. The document is intended to provide guidance on performing high quality NTS studies and data interpretation while increasing awareness of the promise but also pitfalls and challenges associated with these techniques. Guidance is provided for all steps; from sampling and sample preparation to analysis by chromatography (liquid and gas—LC and GC) coupled via various ionisation techniques to high-resolution tandem mass spectrometry (HRMS/MS), through to data evaluation and reporting in the context of NTS. Although most experience within the NORMAN network still involves water analysis of polar compounds using LC–HRMS/MS, other matrices (sediment, soil, biota, dust, air) and instrumentation (GC, ion mobility) are covered, reflecting the rapid development and extension of the field. Due to the ongoing developments, the different questions addressed with NTS and manifold techniques in use, NORMAN members feel that no standard operation process can be provided at this stage. However, appropriate analytical methods, data processing techniques and databases commonly compiled in NTS workflows are introduced, their limitations are discussed and recommendations for different cases are provided. Proper quality assurance, quantification without reference standards and reporting results with clear confidence of identification assignment complete the guidance together with a glossary of definitions. The NORMAN community greatly supports the sharing of experiences and data via open science and hopes that this guideline supports this effort.publishedVersio
Measurement of acetic and formic acid in two storage boxes in the Munch Museum in Oslo
Get PDFMålinger av maursyre (HCOOH), eddiksyre (CH3COOH) og flyktige organiske forbindelser (VOC) ble gjort i to oppbevaringsbokser ved Munchmuseet i Oslo. Noe forhøyede konsentrasjoner av maursyre, eddiksyre og totale flyktige organiske forbindelser (TVOC) ble målt i boksene, men konsentrasjonene er like fullt lave sammenlignet med vurderte risikonivåer for kulturav-materialer.Measurements of formic acid (HCOOH), acetic acid (CH3COOH), and of volatile organic compounds (VOC) were made in two storage boxes in the Munch Museum in Oslo, Norway. Some amounts of formic and acetic acid and of total volatile organic compounds (TVOC) were measured in the boxes, but the concentrations were still low compared with assessed risk-levels of cultural heritage materials.publishedVersio