scholarly journals Geochemical Control of PAHs by Inflowing River Water to West Nanao Bay, Japan, and Its Influences on Ecological Risk: Small-Scale Changes Observed under Near-Background Conditions at an Enclosed Bay

Author(s):  
Rodrigo Mundo ◽  
Tetsuya Matsunaka ◽  
Hisanori Iwai ◽  
Shinya Ochiai ◽  
Seiya Nagao

Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), even at low concentrations, have been shown to trigger changes in life cycles and provoke abnormal behaviors in numerous marine organisms. From May 2019 to September 2020, particulate and dissolved PAH concentrations were analyzed on the surface water of West Nanao Bay, Japan, to determinate their levels, emission sources, environmental pathways, and ecological risks at this remote but semi-enclosed bay. The 14 targeted PAHs were analyzed by HPLC-fluorescence detector. Mean total PAH concentrations were lower than 20.0 ng L−1 for most samples. Based on fluoranthene (Flu) to pyrene (Pyr) ([Flu]/[Flu + Pyr]) and benzo[a]anthracene (BaA) to chrysene (Chr) ([BaA]/[BaA + Chr]) isomeric ratios and a varimax rotated PCA, it was established that biomass combustion was the principal source in the particulate phase and that liquid fossil fuel combustion was the principal source in the dissolved phase. From salinity and turbidity distribution, riverine discharges were determined to be the major and continuous transportation pathway of particulate PAHs. It was observed that rain events had a role in the transport of dissolved PAHs. The risk quotients (RQ∑14 PAHs (NCs): 0–84.53) indicated that PAHs represented a very low to low acute environmental risk. The results of this study will contribute to filling the paradigm gap of ecotoxicological studies in remote areas, working as a booster for future in-lab studies of non-lethal implications of endocrine disruptors such as PAHs.

1996 ◽  
Vol 42 (8) ◽  
pp. 1345-1349 ◽  
Author(s):  
J B Silkworth ◽  
J F Brown

Abstract Humans are exposed daily to low concentrations of many different chemical substances, natural and some man-made. Although many of these substances can be toxic at high levels, typical exposures are far below the effect levels. The responses produced by man-made aromatic hydrocarbon receptor agonists, such as dioxins, polychlorinated dibenzofurans, coplanar polychlorinated biphenyls, and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, are also produced, often to greater extents [corrected], by naturally occurring constituents of fried meat, cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower, cocoa, and curry. Our society seems to be concerned about the health risks associated only with the synthetic chemicals, regardless of their proportional contribution to the total agonist activity, and regulates on the basis of such concerns. It would be more protective of the public health to determine acceptable concentrations for each type of response, regardless of the origin of the inducing agent, and issue advisories or regulations accordingly.


Toxics ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (3) ◽  
pp. 65
Author(s):  
Bazoin Sylvain Raoul Bazié ◽  
Caroline Douny ◽  
Thomas Judicaël Ouilly ◽  
Djidjoho Joseph Hounhouigan ◽  
Aly Savadogo ◽  
...  

Charcoal- or wood-cooked chicken is a street-vended food in Burkina Faso. In this study, 15 samples of flamed chicken and 13 samples of braised chicken were analyzed for 15 priority polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) with a high-performance liquid chromatography-fluorescence detector. A face-to-face survey was conducted to assess the consumption profiles of 300 men and 300 women. The health risk was assessed based on the margin of exposure (MOE) principle. BaP (14.95–1.75 μg/kg) and 4PAHs (BaP + Chr + BaA + BbF) (78.46–15.14 μg/kg) were eight and five times more abundant at the median level in flamed chickens than in braised ones, respectively. The contents of BaP and 4PAHs in all flamed chicken samples were above the limits set by the European Commission against 23% for both in braised chickens. Women had the highest maximum daily consumption of both braised (39.65 g/day) and flamed chickens (105.06 g/day). At the estimated maximum level of consumption, women were respectively 3.64 (flamed chicken) and 1.62 (braised chicken) times more exposed to BaP and 4PAHs than men. MOE values ranged between 8140 and 9591 for men and between 2232 and 2629 for women at the maximum level of consumption of flamed chickens, indicating a slight potential carcinogenic risk.


Toxins ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (11) ◽  
pp. 646 ◽  
Author(s):  
García-Díaz ◽  
Patiño ◽  
Vázquez ◽  
Gil-Serna

Aflatoxin (AF) contamination of maize is a major concern for food safety. The use of chemical fungicides is controversial, and it is necessary to develop new effective methods to control Aspergillus flavus growth and, therefore, to avoid the presence of AFs in grains. In this work, we tested in vitro the effect of six essential oils (EOs) extracted from aromatic plants. We selected those from Satureja montana and Origanum virens because they show high levels of antifungal and antitoxigenic activity at low concentrations against A. flavus. EOs are highly volatile compounds and we have developed a new niosome-based encapsulation method to extend their shelf life and activity. These new formulations have been successfully applied to reduce fungal growth and AF accumulation in maize grains in a small-scale test, as well as placing the maize into polypropylene woven bags to simulate common storage conditions. In this latter case, the antifungal properties lasted up to 75 days after the first application.


2003 ◽  
Vol 48 (4) ◽  
pp. 53-60 ◽  
Author(s):  
E. Trably ◽  
D. Patureau ◽  
J.P. Delgenes

Anaerobically stabilized sewage sludge has potential to partially substitute synthetic fertilizers. The main risk with the recycling of urban sludge on agricultural soils is the accumulation of unwanted products, such as trace metals and organic micropollutants. In this context, the polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) are particularly monitored because of their toxic properties at low concentrations and their high resistance to biological degradation. The aim of the present study was to optimize PAHs removal during anaerobic digestion of contaminated sewage sludge. Thirteen PAHs were monitored in laboratory-scale anaerobic bioreactors under mesophilic (35°C) and thermophilic (55°C) methanogenic conditions. Abiotic losses were statistically significant for the lightest PAHs, such as fluorene, phenanthrene and anthracene. It was shown that PAH removal was due to a specific biological activity. Biological PAHs removal was significantly enhanced by an increase of the temperature from 35°C to 55°C, especially for the heaviest PAHs. Bioaugmentation experiment was also performed by addition of a PAH-adapted bacterial consortium to a non-acclimated reactor. Significant enhancement of PAHs removal was observed. It was finally shown that PAH removal efficiencies and methanogenic performances were closely linked. The rate of biogas production may be used as an indicator of bacterial activity on PAH removal.


2014 ◽  
Vol 38 (3) ◽  
pp. 349-354 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tania Ruíz-Vera ◽  
Lucia G. Pruneda-Alvarez ◽  
Francisco J. Pérez-Vázquez ◽  
Angeles C. Ochoa-Martínez ◽  
Sandra T. Orta-García ◽  
...  

Author(s):  
A. D. Boney ◽  
E. D. S. Corner

Low concentrations of various carcinogenic polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons cause a considerable increase in cell production when applied to sporelings of certain marine red algae.Whereas low concentrations of carcinogenic derivatives of benzanthracene stimulate cell production, similar concentrations of structurally related non-carcinogens inhibit it.The applicability of the method as a rapid screening test for carcinogens is discussed.


2016 ◽  
Vol 31 (4) ◽  
pp. 1397-1405
Author(s):  
Weihong Qian ◽  
Ning Jiang ◽  
Jun Du

Abstract Mathematical derivation, meteorological justification, and comparison to model direct precipitation forecasts are the three main concerns recently raised by Schultz and Spengler about moist divergence (MD) and moist vorticity (MV), which were introduced in earlier work by Qian et al. That previous work demonstrated that MD (MV) can in principle be derived mathematically with a value-added empirical modification. MD (MV) has a solid meteorological basis. It combines ascent motion and high moisture: the two elements necessary for rainfall. However, precipitation efficiency is not considered in MD (MV). Given the omission of an advection term in the mathematical derivation and the lack of precipitation efficiency, MD (MV) might be suitable mainly for heavy rain events with large areal coverage and long duration caused by large-scale quasi-stationary weather systems, but not for local intense heavy rain events caused by small-scale convection. In addition, MD (MV) is not capable of describing precipitation intensity. MD (MV) worked reasonably well in predicting heavy rain locations from short to medium ranges as compared with the ECMWF model precipitation forecasts. MD (MV) was generally worse than (though sometimes similar to) the model heavy rain forecast at shorter ranges (about a week) but became comparable or even better at longer ranges (around 10 days). It should be reiterated that MD (MV) is not intended to be a primary tool for predicting heavy rain areas, especially in the short range, but is a useful parameter for calibrating model heavy precipitation forecasts, as stated in the original paper.


Author(s):  
Pietro Bartocci ◽  
Gianni Bidini ◽  
Paolo Laranci ◽  
Mauro Zampilli ◽  
Michele D'Amico ◽  
...  

Biomass CHP plants represent a viable option to produce distributed energy in a sustainable way when the overall environmental benefit is appraised on the whole life cycle. CHP plants for bioenergy conversion may consist of a gasification (IGC – Integrated Gasification Cycle) or pyrolysis (IPRP – Integrated Pyrolysis Regenerated Plant) pre-treatment unit, producing a syngas that feeds an internal combustion engine or a gas turbine. The external combustion mode is also an option, where exhaust gases from biomass combustion provide heat to either a traditional steam cycle, an ORC (Organic Rankine Cycle) or an EFGT (Externally Fired Gas Turbine). This paper focuses specifically on turbines based technologies and provides a LCA comparison of 4 main technologies suitable for the small scale, namely: EFMGT, ORC, IGC and IPRP. The comparison is carried out considering 3 different biomasses, namely a Short Rotation Forestry, an agricultural residue and an agro industrial residue at 2 different scales: micro scale (100 kw) and small scale (1 MW), being higher scales barely sustainable on the life cycle. From data derived from the Literature or experimental campaign (tests at the IPRP and gasification facilities at the University Perugia), LCA analysis were carried out and the different scenarios were compared based on two impact categories: global warming and human health. Input and output of the derived LCI are referred to the functional unit of 1 kWh electric for upstream, core and downstream processes. Results show the contribution of main processes and are discussed comparing scale, technology and feedstock.


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