Physico-chemical monitoring of the toxicity of fibrous mineral dusts

1996 ◽  
Vol 27 ◽  
pp. S475-S476
Author(s):  
K.R. Spurny
Homeopathy ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 109 (03) ◽  
pp. 126-132
Author(s):  
Ana Carla C. Aparicio ◽  
Larissa Helen S. de Oliveira ◽  
Jefferson S. Silva ◽  
Cideli P. Coelho ◽  
Sonia Regina Pinheiro ◽  
...  

Abstract Background Highly diluted and succussed solutions interact with solvatochromic dyes, indicating that changes in solvent and solute polarity could be related to their mechanism of action. It is not known, however, how the activity associated with succussed high dilutions is transferred to untreated water and what the limits of this process are. Aims The aims of the present study were to ascertain whether a succussed high dilution of phosphorus (1.5 × 1−59 M; Phos 30cH) seeded into a natural water source that fed a fjord and two connected lakes could propagate itself through the lake system (total volume 2200 m3) and, moreover, whether the process could be tracked using solvatochromic dyes. Methods Samples of water were collected before and after seeding, at different times and places throughout the lake system. Controls comprised water taken from an untreated and adjacent, but independent, lake (1385 m3). Results Water samples taken up to 72 hours after the source treatment produced significant increases (p ≤ 0.03) in the absorbance of the solvatochromic dye methylene violet (MV), while samples from the control lake produced no changes. Conclusions The study indicates that activity associated with Phos 30c can propagate itself through large volumes of water, causing changes throughout a whole connected lake system, and that these changes can be tracked using the solvatochromic dye MV. This in turn means the use of homeopathic medicines in large volumes of drinking water, in farming and ecological contexts, now has the potential to be assessed with physico-chemical monitoring.


2022 ◽  
Vol 11 (6) ◽  
pp. 667-675
Author(s):  
Amina-Afaf MOUFFAK

Furfural is one of the petroleum products posing a potential danger to the environment and human health. However, the decontamination of these pollutants released into the environment is primarily governed by biodegra-dation processes. This study is based on biodegradation kinetics at increasing concentrations of furfural by natural mixed culture in order to assess the potential of this process in the elimination of furfural from petrochemical effluents from the ARZEW refinery. This biodegradation was measured through physicochemical parameters such as pH, electrical conductivity, con-centration of hydrocarbons, the chemical oxygen demand (COD), biochemi-cal oxygen demand (BOD5) and the concentration of furfural. The results obtained show at a concentration of 250ppm of injected furfural: a decrease in pH 4.9 and an increase in other parameters (conductivity 3450 μS.cm-1, HC 102 mg / l; furfural 210 ppm, COD 327mg / l, BOD5 98mgO2 / l. The study findings indicated that the injection of these effluents with concentrations greater than 180 ppm leads to values of pH, EC, HC, Furfural, COD, BOD5 which do not comply with direct discharge standards and disrupt biological treatment. The high levels of furfural not only cause a pollution problem but can also disrupt the functioning of bacteria at the biological treatment level. Therefore, dilution with the filtration wash water before switching to biologi-cal treatment is recommended in order to reduce the concentrations below 180 ppm.


2006 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 89-90
Author(s):  
VINITA JAIN ◽  
PRAVEEN JAIN ◽  
IRFAN AHMED ◽  
SHRADDHA SHARMA

2019 ◽  
Vol 70 (11) ◽  
pp. 3783-3787
Author(s):  
Mioara Sebesan ◽  
Gabriela Elena Badea ◽  
Radu Sebesan ◽  
Ilona Katalin Fodor ◽  
Simona Bungau ◽  
...  

This paper presents a study of the physico-chemical properties of geothermal fluids, coming from some wells in Sacuieni, Bihor County, Romania. The thermal energy of the geothermal waters studied is used for heating some industrial buildings, greenhouses, and administrative buildings. Continuous monitoring of physical and chemical characteristics of geothermal waters is needed. Based on this fact, a classification of these waters has been made according to their chemical composition. Using a silica-enthalpy thermodynamic model, it was possible to estimate the deep reservoir temperature, and compare it with the temperatures at depth, calculated by the silica (quartz and chalcedony) and Na+/K+ geothermometers. The WATCH program is used to estimate the mineral deposits that may accumulate due to boiling and cooling of the geothermal fluid when it is used in heat exchangers The results are confirmed by XRD spectrometric and thermogravimetric analyses.


The article deals with the health hazards caused by mineral dusts, and by asbestos fibres in the induction of cancers in particular. Mineral dusts cause damage by inhalation, rarely by ingestion or ingress into the skin. In the lung, bronchitis, fibrosis (pneumoconiosis), and cancers may result. Few mineral dusts cause cancers, and asbestos is unique in causing two separate types within the lung. Epidemiological and other studies of groups of asbestos workers have shown important differences in risk with the type of fibre and the type of job. All types of asbestos cause fibrosis and an excess of bronchial cancers which are, however, also closely cigarette related. Crocidolite is especially related to cancers of the surface of the lung (mesotheliomas). Mining and milling of chrysotile, the most used type of asbestos, have caused few mesotheliomas, despite heavy dust exposures in the past. The diseases induced by asbestos are dose-related* Where it has been possible to divide the groups of asbestos workers into those with different levels of past exposure, the least exposed groups have shown small or no excess of asbestos-related diseases despite their exposures having been considerably higher than that likely to have been encountered by the general public. Present evidence indicates that the general public have not been at risk of asbestos-related diseases, but more evidence is required about the proportion of all mesotheliomas which are related to asbestos. The new techniques of mineralogy when applied at a micro level to the dust in tissues, and particularly in the lung, may be of great help in answering this important problem. Some comparisons of the mortality from occupationally related cancers, accidents, smoking habits, and general diseases are given. Current research into the biomedical effects of natural fibrous mineral dusts is likely to be of great value in ensuring that the new man made mineral fibres now being developed are manufactured and used under circumstances which will cause no ill effects to health.


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