1,720,997 research outputs found
A sensing network involving citizens for high spatio-temporal resolution monitoring of fugitive emissions from a petroleum pre-treatment plant
No full textIn this study an innovative sensing network consisting of eight photoionization detectors, meteorological sensors, a video camera and a telephonic system able to systematize the population complaints was developed for the monitoring of odor emissions. The development of monitoring approaches with high temporal and spatial resolution and actively involving citizens, is strategic in areas where relevant and also short-term emissive events frequently occur and the conventional approaches fail due to the high variability of fugitive emissions. Moreover, even if unpleasant odors are not necessarily direct triggers of health effects, they could be associated with the release of other harmful compounds. Monitoring approaches also involving citizens are thus strategic tools because odors annoyance perceived by population may be a potential health risk warning. Therefore, the developed sensing network was set up in Val d'Agri (Basilicata, Italy) where a petroleum pre-treatment plant (COVA) rises in a rural and inhabited area. The data collected during the monitoring campaign from the 16th February to the 30th July 2017, showed Total Volatile Organic Compounds (TVOCs) concentrations decreasing moving away from the plant and up to five times higher than levels registered in the closest municipality (Viggiano). Moreover, recurrent short-term critical events characterized by concentration values far above the average of the period and with maximum values ranging from 0.92 to 1.89 ppm, were registered in correspondence with high levels of benzene (up to 23.9 μg/m3) and anemometric conditions able to transport pollutants from COVA to each receptor site. The spatial and temporal distribution of TVOC concentrations proved to be affected by the distance from COVA, wind direction and industrial activities verified using video reportage and citizen claims. Therefore, the developed approach has proven to be a useful tool to credit people's perception of odors and also to quantify citizen exposure to VOCs during short-term events
Pattern recognition and anomaly detection by self-organizing maps in a multi month e-nose survey at an industrial site
Full text linkCurrently people are aware of the risk related to pollution exposure. Thus odor annoyances are considered a warning about the possible presence of toxic volatile compounds. Malodor often generates immediate alarm among citizens, and electronic noses are convenient instruments to detect mixture of odorant compounds with high monitoring frequency. In this paper we present a study on pattern recognition on ambient air composition in proximity of a gas and oil pretreatment plant by elaboration of data from an electronic nose implementing 10 metal-oxide-semiconductor (MOS) sensors and positioned outdoor continuously during three months. A total of 80,017 e-nose vectors have been elaborated applying the self-organizing map (SOM) algorithm and then k-means clustering on SOM outputs on the whole data set evidencing an anomalous data cluster. Retaining data characterized by dynamic responses of the multisensory system, a SOM with 264 recurrent sensor responses to air mixture sampled at the site and four main air type profiles (clusters) have been identified. One of this sensor profiles has been related to the odor fugitive emissions of the plant, by using ancillary data from a total volatile organic compound (VOC) detector and wind speed and direction data. The overall and daily cluster frequencies have been evaluated, allowing us to identify the daily duration of presence at the monitoring site of air related to industrial emissions. The refined model allowed us to confirm the anomaly detection of the sensor responses
An Innovative Methodological Approach for Monitoring and Chemical Characterization of Odors around Industrial Sites
Full text linkThis study aims to highlight the potentialities of an innovative methodological approach for monitoring and chemical characterization of odors, especially in high concern and complex industrial areas. The proposed approach was developed in order to monitor and identify odor-active compounds responsible for odor annoyance coming from different industrial activities such as landfills, wastewater treatment plants, and petroleum plants. The methodology's strengths are as follows: (1) the tailored approach for each typology of industrial areas/sites; (2) integration of technologies able to provide real-time information about the emissive sources; (3) mapping of air pollutants on the territory aimed to identify and discriminate among different fugitive emissions responsible for odor annoyance; (4) collection of more representative air samples only during the nuisance events, thanks to the implementation of innovative sampling systems and citizens' involvement; and (5) increased analytical sensitivity in odor-active VOCs detection. This methodology reveals to be a useful tool to collect real-time information about the emission sources and their impacts on the surrounding area giving credit to citizens' complaints. Moreover, it allows to overcome the limitations of the conventional approaches related to the lack of instrumental sensitivity and to identify the chemical compounds contributing to the odor annoyance
An integrated high temporal resolution approach to monitor VOCs concentrations and odour annoyance near a petroleum plant
Full text linkThis study aims to monitor Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs) and odour annoyance perceived by the exposed population living nearby a petroleum plant through an integrated high temporal resolution methodological approach. The area under investigation is considered one of the most critical industrial areas of the South of Italy (Basilicata) because of presence of the largest Italian petroleum plant, called the "Center Olio Val d'Agri" (COVA). In fact, VOCs and odours emitted from extraction processes, storage tanks and/or gas pipelines may have an adverse impact on health and life quality of population living near the plant. Therefore, in order to assess the potential impact on nearby urban settlements, two monitoring campaigns were carried out. The first campaign was conducted during 2011 and allowed to integrate the information about odours, monitored by means of electronic nose (e-nose), with meteorological data (wind speed and direction) and population complaints reported on questionnaires. In the second one (from 1st January to 30th July 2017), the previous approach has been improved with an integrated system consisting of photoionization detector (PID) for VOCs monitoring, a video camera and a telephonic system able to systematize in real time the population complaints. Experimental data obtained revealed that there was correspondence between the VOCs concentration peaks, odour events and population complaints. Moreover, this study highlighted that technologies for high temporal resolution monitoring of both VOCs and odours integrated in a unique system are able to provide real time information about the emissive sources and odor annoyance and to promptly evaluate the impact on the exposed population
Carbonaceous PM2.5 and secondary organic aerosol across the Veneto region (NE Italy)
Full text linkOrganic and elemental carbon (OC-EC) were measured in 360 PM2.5 samples collected from April 2012 to February 2013 at six provinces in the Veneto region, to determine the factors affecting the carbonaceous aerosol variations. The 60 daily samples have been collected simultaneously in all sites during 10 consecutive days for 6months (April, June, August, October, December and February). OC ranged from 0.98 to 22.34μg/m3, while the mean value was 5.5μg/m3, contributing 79% of total carbon. EC concentrations fluctuated from 0.19 to 11.90μg/m3 with an annual mean value of 1.31μg/m3 (19% of the total carbon). The monthly OC concentration gradually increased from April to December. The EC did not vary in accordance with OC. However the highest values for both parameters were recorded in the cold period. The mean OC/EC ratio is 4.54, which is higher than the values observed in most of the other European cities. The secondary organic carbon (SOC) contributed for 69% of the total OC and this was confirmed by both the approaches OC/EC minimum ratio and regression. The results show that OC, EC and SOC exhibited higher concentration during winter months in all measurement sites, suggesting that the stable atmosphere and lower mixing play important role for the accumulation of air pollutant and hasten the condensation or adsorption of volatile organic compounds over the Veneto region. Significant meteorological factors controlling OC and EC were investigated by fitting linear models and using a robust procedure based on weighted likelihood, suggesting that low wind speed and temperature favour accumulation of emissions from local sources. Conditional probability function and conditional bivariate probability function plots indicate that both biomass burning and vehicular traffic are probably the main local sources for carbonaceous particulate matter emissions in two selected cities
Grown-up celiac children: effects of few years on a gluten-free diet in childhood
No full textDESCRIVE LO STATO DI SALUTE E DELLA MASSA OSSEA DI ADULTI CHE DA BAMBINI HANNO AVUTO DIAGNOSI DI CELIACHIA E POI, DOPO QUALCHE ANNO-- COME UN TEMPO SI FACEVA-- HANNO SOSPESO LA DIETA SENZA GLUTINE
Prevalenza del diabete gestazionale per epoca di gravidanza negli anni compresi fra il 1990 e il 1997
No full textOrganic compounds in fine particulate matter across the Veneto region, Italy: Spatial-temporal variations and meteorological influences
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Evaluation of Second-Hand Exposure to Electronic Cigarette Vaping under a Real Scenario: Measurements of Ultrafine Particle Number Concentration and Size Distribution and Comparison with Traditional Tobacco Smoke
No full textThe present study aims to evaluate the impact of e-cig second-hand aerosol on indoor air quality in terms of ultrafine particles (UFPs) and potential inhalation exposure levels of passive bystanders. E-cig second-hand aerosol characteristics in terms of UFPs number concentration and size distribution exhaled by two volunteers vaping 15 different e-liquids inside a 49 m3 room and comparison with tobacco smoke are discussed. High temporal resolution measurements were performed under natural ventilation conditions to simulate a realistic exposure scenario. Results showed a systematic increase in UFPs number concentration (part cm-3) related to a 20-min vaping session (from 6.56 X 103 to 4.01 X 104 part cm-3) although this was one up to two order of magnitude lower than that produced by one tobacco cigarette consumption (from 1.12 X 105 to 1.46 X 105 part cm-3). E-cig second-hand aerosol size distribution exhibits a bimodal behavior with modes at 10.8 and 29.4 nm in contrast with the unimodal typical size distribution of tobacco smoke with peak mode at 100 nm. In the size range 6-26 nm particles concentration in e-cig second-hand aerosol were from 2-(Dp = 25.5 nm) to 3800-fold (Dp = 9.31 nm) higher than in tobacco smoke highlighting that particles exhaled by users and potentially inhaled by bystanders are nano-sized with high penetration capacity into human airways.The present study aims to evaluate the impact of e-cig second-hand aerosol on indoor air quality in terms of ultrafine particles (UFPs) and potential inhalation exposure levels of passive bystanders. E-cig second-hand aerosol characteristics in terms of UFPs number concentration and size distribution exhaled by two volunteers vaping 15 different e-liquids inside a 49 m(3) room and comparison with tobacco smoke are discussed. High temporal resolution measurements were performed under natural ventilation conditions to simulate a realistic exposure scenario. Results showed a systematic increase in UFPs number concentration (part cm(-3)) related to a 20-min vaping session (from 6.56 x 10(3) to 4.01 x 10(4) part cm(-3)), although this was one up to two order of magnitude lower than that produced by one tobacco cigarette consumption (from 1.12 x 10(5) to 1.46 x 10(5) part cm(-3)). E-cig second-hand aerosol size distribution exhibits a bimodal behavior with modes at 10.8 and 29.4 nm in contrast with the unimodal typical size distribution of tobacco smoke with peak mode at 100 nm. In the size range 6-26 nm, particles concentration in e-cig second-hand aerosol were from 2- (Dp = 25.5 nm) to 3800-fold (Dp = 9.31 nm) higher than in tobacco smoke highlighting that particles exhaled by users and potentially inhaled by bystanders are nano-sized with high penetration capacity into human airways
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