58 research outputs found
Advances in the Fate of Rare Earth Elements, REE, in Transitional Environments: Coasts and Estuaries
No full textThe production of rare earth elements, REE, has significantly increased over the past years, in parallel with the latest advances in nanotechnologies and representing a new group of emerging contaminants. They find application in construction, transport, agriculture, electronics, catalysis, and biomedicine. Their extraordinary intrinsic characteristics are fundamental for overcoming current technological challenges. The accumulation of REE is consistent in near-shore waters being affected by runoff, wastewater discharge, and proximity to built-up areas. Bioavailability in water, sediments, and accumulation in marine biota as well their endocrine disruptor effect is mostly unknown. There is a significant gap of knowledge on the ecotoxicological behaviour of REE in marine areas. The existing investigations have been performed inside well-mixed estuarine systems, due to complex hydrodynamics and multiple sediment transport situations. This hampers the definition of regulatory thresholds for REE concentrations and emissions. The review summarizes the existing information on REE geochemistry and physicochemical conditions influencing dissolution, surface complexation reactions, and distribution at the continent–ocean interface, as well as their speciation, bioavailability, and detrimental effects on living organisms. Strategies for reducing REE usage and inputs are also discussed
Coffee Silverskin: Chemical and Biological Risk Assessment and Health Profile for Its Potential Use in Functional Foods
No full textThe coffee supply chain is characterized by a complex network with many critical and unsustainable points producing a huge amount of waste products. Among these, coffee silverskin (CS), the only by-product of the coffee roasting phase, has an interesting chemical profile that suggests potential use as a food ingredient. However, few data on its safety are available. For this reason, the purpose of the study was to assess the occurrence of chemical and biological contaminants in CS, and the resulting risk due to its potential consumption. Essential, toxic, and rare earth elements, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), process contaminants, ochratoxin A (OTA), and pesticides residues were analyzed in three classes of samples (Coffea arabica CS, Coffea robusta CS, and their blend). Furthermore, total mesophilic bacteria count (TMBC) at 30 °C, Enterobacteriaceae, yeasts, and molds was evaluated. The risk assessment was based upon the hazard index (HI) and lifetime cancer risk (LTCR). In all varieties and blends, rare earth elements, pesticides, process contaminants, OTA, and PAHs were not detected except for chrysene, phenanthrene, and fluoranthene, which were reported at low concentrations only in the arabica CS sample. Among essential and toxic elements, As was usually the most representative in all samples. Microorganisms reported a low load, although arabica and robusta CS showed lower contamination than mixed CS. Instead, the risk assessment based on the potential consumption of CS as a food ingredient did not show either non-carcinogenic or carcinogenic risk. Overall, this study provides adequate evidence to support the safety of this by-product for its potential use in functional foods
Oil Refinery Release of Pollutants in Human and Animal Health: The Case of Priolo (Eastern Sicily) Oil Refinery
No full textOil refineries have been investigated in several studies focused on soil and water pollution in proximity of refinery plants, as we reported recently for the Augusta-Priolo area (Eastern Sicily). The present study is aimed at evaluating the effects on human and animal health related to residence nearby refinery plants.
Material and Methods: A literature search was effected in PubMed, and in our previous archives combining “oil refinery”, “health” and “disease”, building an overall database.
Results: Multiple evidence was found related to residence nearby oil refineries, or occupational exposure and affecting human health, including genetic defects and cancer. Further literature was found relating the exposure to oil refinery pollution vs. multiple adverse effects in several biota, including animals along with other exposed biot
In situ microcosm remediation of polyaromatic hydrocarbons: influence and effectiveness of Nano-Zero Valent Iron and activated carbon
No full textNano-zero-valent iron (nZVI) and activated carbon (AC) addition are ongoing techniques for the remediation of hydrophobic organic compound-contaminated sediment and water, but with still unexplored eco(toxico)logical implications, especially when applied in situ. In this study, we investigated AC and nZVI as remediation methods for marine contaminated sediment and water, including chemical and toxicity (Artemia franciscana survival and genotoxicity) surveys. The removal efficiency of AC and nZVI (about 99%) was similar in both sediment and seawater, while the survival of nauplii and adults was mainly impacted by nZVI than AC. At the molecular level, the nZVI-addition induced down-regulation in the expression of two stress and one developmental genes, whereas AC was able to up-regulated only one gene involved in stress response. Results suggested that the use of AC is safer than nZVI that requires further investigation and potential optimization to reduce secondary undesired effects. GRAPHICAL ABSTRACT: [Image: see text] SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s11356-022-22408-y
Levels of pollution of rare earth elements in the surface sediments from the Gulf of Pozzuoli (Campania, Italy)
No full textThe Gulf of Pozzuoli includes the former second largest Italian steelworks of Bagnoli. The REE, Y, Th and Sc pollution in sediments of the Gulf of Pozzuoli was determined. Ce, La, Nd and Pr had the highest percentage distribution of rare earth elements normalized respect to chondrite with 31.19, 28.35, 19.51 and 8.41% individually. It was observed a marked enrichment of these elements, from west to the east from 26.39 to 111.04 mg/kg and from onshore to offshore from 31.67 to 217.74 mg/kg. The output of the principal component analysis revealed that the REE were mainly of anthropic origin being clearly linked to that of PAHs, metals and organic matter. This, together with their distribution patterns, highlighted the role of the former Bagnoli metallurgical plant in the pollution of the gulf
Exploring Avoided Environmental Impacts as Well as Energy and Resource Recovery from Microbial Desalination Cell Treatment of Brine
No full textSeawater represents a potential resource to ensure sustainable availability of water for population and irrigation purposes, especially in some areas of the world. Desalination processes allow the production of fresh water, but they generate also brine as waste product. Sustainable brine management should be identified to ensure proper disposal and potentially resource recovery. This experimental study showed that emerging technologies such as Microbial Desalination Cells (MDCs) may provide a valuable contribution to the sustainability of the seawater desalination sector. In this paper, we report results on lab-scale desalination brine treatments applying MDCs, which allow energy savings, resource recovery, environmental impact minimization, and reduction of the organic load in municipal wastewater. Our results showed that MDCs’ treatment allows the removal of approximately 33 g of salts (62% of the total)—including chlorides, bromides, and sulphates—from 20 mL of brine within 96 h. The MDCs, according to the source of energy and the presence of mature biofilm at the anode, spent 7.2 J, 7.9 J, and 9.6 J in the desalination process, with the higher amount of energy required by the abiotic system and the lesser by the MDCs fed with just wastewater. Our approach also showed environmental and energy reductions because of potential metal recovery instead of returning them into marine environment. We quantified the avoided life cycle of human and marine eco-toxicity impacts as well as the reduction of cumulative energy demand of recovered metals. The main benefit in terms of avoided toxicity would arise from the mercury and copper recovery, while potential economic advantages would derive from the recovered cobalt that represents a strategic resource for many products such as battery storage systems
Waste Recovery and Circular Economy: A Resource from Orange Peels Deriving from Production of Orange Juice
No full textIn the perspective of biosustainable development and renewable resource technologies, by-products and waste from agro-industrial sector represent a relatively cheap source of material suitable for several aims, which would reduce both the amount of waste and the related costs of disposal, while producing added-value nutritional products. The processing waste of oranges find various fields of application, in fact in addition to their use in agriculture as a fertilizer, orange peels can be used to produce candied fruit. Moreover, in a very recent application with the aim to recover these industrial residues, a chemical process that allows the processing of orange peel waste has been developed. This process is useful for obtaining a purified cellulose suitable for spinning, thus creating a truly innovative and sustainable fabric (Orange Fiber). In this work, the orange peels from industrial processing waste are subjected to a first hydroalcoholic extraction which allowed to obtain an extract rich in essential oils that can be used in the food sector to produce liqueurs and/or aromas, but also in the cosmetic or pharmacological sectors. Subsequently, the peels after hydroalcoholic extraction are dried and this residue represents a valuable product rich in dietetic fiber useful in nutraceutical and pharmaceutical fields. Moreover, the same product can be used as fertilizer in agriculture. In light of this, citrus fruit processing waste can be considered as a sustainable and renewable energy source
Characterization and source apportionment of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (pahs) in the sediments of gulf of Pozzuoli (Campania, Italy)
No full textMost of the literature reports on the impact of the former Bagnoli brownfield on the pollution of Bagnoli Bay,
embedded in the Gulf of Pozzuoli (GoP). Thus, we studied concentrations, types and sources of sixteen PAHs
(EPA) in sediments at 22 sites along 5 transects covering the entire area of GoP. Outstanding levels of PAHs were
found, varying from 7.1 μg g−1 to 2.5 E +3 μg g−1. Sediments collected at sites far away from Bagnoli were
found to be polluted to a similar extent than those facing the brownfield site, with values > 100 μg g−1. Total
PAHs levels in the sediments of GoP were higher by thirty-eleven thousand fold than those reported by other
studies from various marine sites in the world. Transit axes of fine and very fine sands and diagnostic indexes
revealed a common pyrolytic PAHs pollution spreading from the Bagnoli plant to all GoP
Influence of monsoon season on heavy metal composition of Hooghly River estuary sediments, West Bengal, India
No full textFirst Results of a Campaign of the Measurement of Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons in the Sediments of the Hooghly River, West Bengal, India
No full textThis study presents the first data on a 2018–2021 campaign to monitor polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon levels, PAHs, in the final stretch of the Hooghly River in West Bengal, India. The range of sedimentary PAHs was 0–47,366 ng/g, higher than the ranges given by the literature for comparable study areas. The assay reveals an outstanding level of PAHs contamination in the fine sediments of the Hooghly River and Sundarban wetland, where the dominance of 4–6 ring PAHs was 83% of the total. The diagnostic ratios based on molecular ratios of PAHs show that the pollution comes mainly from the combustion of petroleum. The ratio of anthracene relative to anthracene plus phenanthrene, ANT/(ANT + PHE), was >0.30, which is higher than the reference discriminant ratio of >0.10, suggesting that PAHs were from the combustion source. In the meantime, fluoranthene over the sum of fluoranthene plus pyrene, FLT/(FLT + PYR), was >0.5 and indicated coal combustion, in agreement with the literature. The mean level of carcinogenic hydrocarbons was at 18% of the total measured PAH, with a peak of 91%, revealing significant potential risk for humans and ecosystems. The toxicity equivalence factors, TEF, of the individual PAHs and the total BaP equivalent toxicity, TEQ, were adopted as a comparison reference of sediment quality. At most sites, toxic effect ranges were classified as high and very high. The results of this research call for public authorities to remedy a situation of severe ecological risk
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