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Construction Sand production is done mostly by small mining companies and, because its price is distance dependent, it must be mined as near as possible to its final use, the cities, causing locational and environmental conflicts with economic and socio- environmental impacts. The Piranema Sand District is no exception. Located at 70 km from downtown Rio de Janeiro city, Brazil, its 70 small mining companies are the main suppliers of the Rio’s Metropolitan Area, w ith 90% of its demand: a critical success factor...

Quantitative risk assessment is a procedure fo r estimating the probability of an adverse health effect occurring in a local population from some events and the probability of the occurrence of the event. The risk analysis pr ocess consists of hazard identification, risk estimation, risk acceptability, risk evaluation and risk management. In this research, after extracting the risk assessment components; an algorithm has been drawn in order to analyse the risk assessment and to esta blish the framework for risk an...

The northeaster part of the Czech Republic is since the early 19th century associated with underground coal mining. This activity brings economic benefit in addition to changes in the landscape – soil depression followed by habitat destruction. Flooded mine subsidences are an example of such degradation of native plant and animal communities, biodiversity dec line and wetland and aquatic ecosystems establishment. For a long time, these ecosystems were considered worthless and unproductive [10]. The aim of the va...

Kosova is rich with the na tural resources. These resources have been used for the gain of different metals. The process of metal gain is dated since 1927. Since then until in 2000 the technological gain process is followed with the pollution of environment creating the deposition of scrap. These depositio ns are located in outskirts of Mitrovica town in a distance of 1-4 km. In this zone we have a high presence of heavy metals in the air, water and earth. This waste of metals have a serious influence in the envir...

The rural landscape is made up of agricultural landscape, completed by the land without an agricultural destination. It comprises three elements: the central area, the habitat made up of buildings related to the agri cultural exploitations, dwellings, artisan’s locations, deposits; rural lands that include both the uncultiv ated areas and the areas meant for different uses (agriculture, fore stry, pisciculture, t ourist and recreational purposes); the physical infrastructure (ways of communication). In this stud...

The process of alkaline hydrothermal activation (with NaOH) of fly ash from Bulgarian coal-burning thermo-power plant “Maritsa 3” has been investigated by means of scanning electron microscopy and energy-dispe rsive X-Ray analyses. The stages of the zeolitization have been discusse d on the base of the obtained data for the morphology and composition of typical in dividual particles from th e zeolitized fly ash samples, synthesized at different trea tment duration. The influences of pre-treatment and post- tre...

This research will address the important pr oblem of waste management sector for the Municipality of Prishtina. Rapid urbani zation has made solid waste management a serious problem today. The perception of the people has always been that it is a responsibility of the local government bodies. Local authorities are bound to keep their area clean. For some time now, many municipa lities, city corporations and industries have been experimenting with several innov ative and participatory methods of Reduce, Reuse and R...

In this study, the efficiency of EC/UV/TiO2 and EC/UV/ZnO coupled systems, on the decolorization of C.I. Acid Yellow 23 (AY23) as a model contaminant was compared. It was found that for the efficient decolorization of 40 mg L-1 of AY23 using steel304/Al (anode/cathode) as electrodes, with the distance of 15 mm, I = 120 A m-2, electrolyte concentration was 800 mg L-1 for both systems, but pH and initial concentrations of catalysts were 5.53, 800 mg L-1 for TiO2 and 6.29, 650 mg L-1 for ZnO systems, respectively. Th...

Mineralogical composition of mining wastes deposited in voluminous tailing impoundments around the world is the key factor that controls retention and release of pollutants. Here we report geochemical and mineralogical investigation of one tailing impoundment from Slovakia. Ore deposit RudЕ€any was exploited from the end of 19th century and at 1963 the ore started to be extracted by flotation process (barite, siderite and sulfides). Waste after flotation was deposited into one tailing impoundment, which carries ap...

All materials which are rich in carbon content could be used after activation or adsorption. These materials include coal, lignite, wood, Boone, coconut shells, nut shells, rice husks, and various fruits seeds. Activated carbons obtained from these materials are usually hard and dense. Therefore they could be used in water treatment for long time without deterioration. Activated carbons used in controlling environmental pollution should have high surface area and porosity. Activated carbon is obtained by the proce...

Concentration of Na, K, Ca and Mg in selected vegetable cultures: spinach (Spinacia oleracea), lettuce (Lactuca sativa) and parsley (Pertoselinum crispum) were analyzed. Only edible parts of the above plants were used. Metal content was determined by inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectrometry (ICP-OES). Thermo Scientific with Echelle optical design and Charge Injection Device (CID) solid statedetector was used. Determined concentrations were within intervals: 18.44 – 85.04, 16.4 – 25.1, 2.97 – ...

The risk assessment approach for the establishments concerned by the Seveso II Directive requirements can be grounded on the determination and the aggregation of 3 indexes: the gravity index, the propagation flow index and the vulnerability index. Based on the national and EU legal requirements concerning the prevention and control of major accident hazards involving dangerous substances, the paper has as main goal to present an expeditious methodology for gravity index determination as a function of the dangerous...

The determination of environmental contamination with natural and artificial actinide isotopes and evaluation of their source requires precise determination of concentration and isotopic ratios of actinides in environmental samples. The most conventional analytical tools used for uranium and plutonium isotope determination are liquid scintillation and alpha spectrometry, and thermal ionization mass spectrometry is still considered as the primary method for determination of plutonium isotope ratios. Inductively cou...

The paper deals with an examination of possible application of biodegradation in the decontamination of soil samples from international airport in Ostrava. The laboratory biodegradation tests were carried out with a pure bacterial culture of Pseudomonas putida, a pure laboratory culture of Rhodococcus sp, their mixture and a mixture prepared combining their media free of bacteria. The results of the paper imply that for biodegradation of airport pollutants is most suitable to apply a mixed bacterial culture of Pse...

The decolorization of Acid Yellow 42 (AY42) by Fenton and electro-Fenton processes was compared. The effect of operational parameters was studied and the desired conditions obtained in the initial dye concentration of 120 mg L-1 for H2O2/ Fe2+ ([H2O2]=800 mg L-1, [Fe2+]=0.2 mmol, pH=3) and electrolysis/Fe2+/H2O2 ([H2O2]=1100 mg L-1 , [Fe2+]= 0.5 mmol, pH=3.5 and distance of electrodes 10 mm) systems. The Fenton process proved to be more efficient and occurs at a higher oxidation rate than electro-Fenton process an...

The metal content of a number of white wines was determinated by inductively coupled plasma optical emission: Cu and Fe. The metal content of white wine samples ranged from 13.6-39.4 $\mu$g/L for copper and 1.6-11.7 $\mu$g/L for iron.

The accurate determination of the platinum group elements (PGEs) in environmental samples has become a particularly important in the past few years with the introduction of new legislation regulating the fitting of catalytic converters to petrol vehicles [1]. The emission of PGEs autocatalysts represents a potentially, highly mobile source of environmental contamination. Pt, Pd and Rh from catalyst degradation are deposited along roadways. Although inert in metallic form, platinum salts pose a real health risk. Th...

Three sour cherries cultivars, Marela, Oblacinska and Cigancica, collected from a south Serbia were evaluated and compered for their content of heavy metals. Inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectrometry (ICP-OES) is widely recognized as a suitable technique for the determination of heavly metals. The content od Cd and Pb are in intervale 0.066-0.399 and 3.466-7.199 $\mu$g/100g fresh weight of sour cherry.

A kinetic method for the determination of 2,4-D is proposed. The method is based on the inhibiting effect of 2,4-D on the Mn(II) catalysis of the oxidation of malachite green with potassium periodate. The method was applied for the determination of 2,4-D in soil samples.

In last years education and literacy of health becomes important in our country and in the world. The flu of H1N1 which appears in 2009 is known that it is contagius and causes sensations around the world. This brings out different perceptions in the society even in the heralthcare services. Determinate the percieve of H1N1 and the level of health literacy for people in the society is an important fact. This study is for to inform undergraduate students about this disease and also determine their level of health l...

The processes of weathering and dissolution of the impoundment sediments have a significant impact on mobility and availability of trace elements such as arsenic and zinc. They can become dangerous sources of contamination for the surrounding ecosystem. The focus of this study is coal ash impoundment near the village Po\vsa, the drainage water contaminating surface waters and sediments of the Kyjov Brook and Ondava River. Results of chemical analysis show significant contamination by arsenic and zinc. Maximum conc...

The aim of this study is development of design equation for batch-recirculated reactor at photooxidative removal of C.I. Acid Red 17 (AR17) as a model contaminant from textile industry with UV/H2O2 process. Reactor which used is a combination of an annular photoreactor with UV-C lamp emitting at 254 nm from center of photoreactor and a continuous stirred tank reactor (CSTR). Design equation developed by combining of the mass balance and rate equation. This equation predicts that pseudo-first-order reaction rate co...

Building industry is the most important market for energy by-products (EBP) - fossil fuel combustion products. The North West Bohemia region has been influenced by open pit coal mining. Fossil fuel combustion products are used in bulk at damaged territory reclamation. Check observation – monitoring – site of building reclamation mixtures on coal combustion product base was assembled according to preparatory documentation as a part of the solution of research task “Research of the physical and chemical proper...

In the context of global environmental crisis being experienced, it has become an obligation to take urgent measures and have environmental awareness for both the nations and the enterprises that are the basic dynamics of the society and indispensable components of the economic life in order to achieve sustainable development. In recent years, it has seen that the comprehension begun with the pollution control in 1970s has been transformed into the comprehension named clean production consisting of the application...

The objective of this paper is to examine the foundations of green marketing in the existence of a market for organic products. We examined the environmentalist consumption behavior because without consumers interested in organic goods we can not talk about environmental marketing. Because of public awareness regarding the environment, companies have adapted, introducing in their vocabulary terms like "green markets", "green consumers", "green products" and practicing green marketing and environmental marketing. T...

Partial decomposition of an organic compound can lead to the formation of products, which are more toxic than the parent compound. Organophosphorus pesticides (OPPs) are transformed into metabolites of lesser molecular weight in ozone application Toxicity assessments of both organophosphorus pesticides (OPPs) and their ozonation byproducts (OPPs-oxons) are necessary for safety consideration of ozonation treatment. The widespread use of OPPs, such as chlorpyrifos and diazinon for pest control in urban and rural env...

The presentation work contains the analyse knowledge, which were obtained from analysis the results, which were attained on the laboratory sintering pan. On this laboratory sintering pan are sufficiently simulating conditions, which are present in the sinter band. On the basis of the theoretical analyse, analysis measuring data, computing of the balance, production, qualitative and quantitative parameters of the sintering process we can conclude, that in the case of changing underpressure sucking air are influence...

The production of the agglomerate is always related to the consumption of energy, occurrence of solid polluting substances and emissions, which are the main source of air pollution. The submitted work contains the analysis of knowledge obtained from the literature, but mainly analysis of the results gained from the laboratory sintering pan. This laboratory sintering pan sufficiently simulates conditions present on the sinter belt in relation to the production of CO, CO2, NOx, SOx and solid polluting substances in ...

Remote sensing techniques were used to detect the heat islands over the Romanian region, based on multi-temporal Meteosat Second Generation, Land Surface Analysis Satellite Applications Facility/ Land Surface Temperature products (MSG LSASAF/LST). A method was proposed for the rapid and accurate mapping of heat island areas based on the combinational use of normalized land surface temperatures. In order to do it, the IDL routines developed locally have been used. It was studied 2976 LSA-SAF/LST images acquired dur...

Drought is the most important and one of the leading natural disasters in the world. The fossil fuel burn, forests annihilation, industrial activities and the other human activities not only take together to rise carbon dioxide, methane, ozone and dinitrogen monoxide that called “greenhouse gasses” but also these factors cause greenhouse and finally the world warming. All these events that called as “Global Warming” occasion to climate changes, inside Turkey and especially the region of South Europe. Those...

The analytical results for the concentration of about 50 elements in magnetic fractions, obtained by wet low intensity magnetic separation of fly ashes from six coal burning power plants in Bulgaria, have been compared to the data previously reported [1] for the initial fly ashes. It has been found that the total content of heavy and toxic elements in magnetic fractions is lower than that in the source materials. The concentrations of Cr, Mn, Co, Ni, and, in some ashes, of V and Cu are almost proportional to the c...

This study was conducted to analyze concentrations of heavy metals in plants and soils of barley fields which were growing around of Konya city (Central Anatolia, Turkey). The samples of plants and soils were collected from different areas of two directions (North and South) and two distances (0 and 50 km) of the city. The samples of plants were analyzed for heavy metals (Pb, Zn, Cu, Cr, Ni) measured by ICP-OES. The samples of soils were also analyzed for basic chemical properties (pH, humus and carbonate contents...

This study was conducted to analyze concentrations of heavy metals in plants and soils of barley fields standing along main roads of Konya city (Central Anatolia, Turkey). The samples of plants and soils were collected from different areas of two distances (0 and 1 km) of main roads and analyzed for heavy metals (Pb, Zn, Cu, Cr, Ni) measured by ICP-OES. The samples of soils were also analyzed for basic chemical properties (pH, humus and carbonate contents). The results revealed a large variability within the nearn...

In connection with high basicity requirements for current agglomerates it is necessary to keep their iron content. This requirement can be met by increasing the content of concentrates in sinter mixtures. It is important to clarify the limit of the concentrate addition or volume in current sinter charges. For this purpose in view laboratory sintering tests were performed to investigate the effect of sintering ores and concentrates on the agglomeration process and its products. The main charge components were mixed...

Alternative toxicological tests (microbiotests) are those that reduce the number of animals in a toxicity test, refine procedures to make them less painful or stressful, replace animals with non-animal systems, or replace one animal species with another that is lower on the phylogenetic scale. A number of useful alternative methods have been developed and accepted for the evaluation of the potential toxic effects of chemicals products and environment samples. The literature analysis concerning the use of microbiot...

Specific statistical methods can be used when monitor the degree of water pollution in a target zone. The purpose of usage of time series properties is to understand the driving forces and structures that produce the observed data and to fit the data into a model and proceeds them to forecasting, monitoring or even feed back and feed forward control. The essential difference between modelling data via time series methods and using the process monitoring methods is that in time series analysis the data points taken...

Chlorine disinfection is a generally used process for eradication pathogenic microorganisms from drinking water to prevent water-born diseases. It has been demonstrated that natural organic matter (NOM) in raw water may react with chlorine to form disinfection by-products (DBPs) which are carcinogenic or mutagenic. The occurrence of disinfection by-products (DBPs) in drinking water has been an issue of major concem during the last years due to their adverse health effects. The development and optimization of analy...

Phosphorus (P) waste output, notably in the dissolved form (DWP), is a major concern for many fish culture operations. Fish are believed to excrete DWP via the urine but this aspect has never been examined in detail. A better understanding of P utilization and renal P handling of fish could aid development of nutritional strategies for the management and reduction P waste. Rainbow trout were fed high corn gluten meal diets, supplemented with dibasic calcium phosphate, containing increasing P levels (0, 75; 1, 15; ...

The present theme approaches a very characteristic theme, analyzing the impact of wastes generated by tabular and calcified alumina industry on our environment. The industrial unit that is the object of this present study S.C. “Alor” S.A. is located in the Oradea municipality. Oradea municipality is located in the north-western part of Romania and is crossed over by the River Crişul Repede. S.C. “Alor” S.A. has as main activity profile tabular and calcified alumina production in various production section...

The presence of heavy metals in environmental factors remains among the most important concerns at national and international levels, while at the same time novel biomaterials usually derived from agricultural wastes are designed and tested for their removal below admitted limits. In this respect efficiency of biosorption of Hg2+ and Pb2+ on corn cobs have been studied for different working parameters: initial solution concentrations of heavy metals, particle size of biomass and temperature. The kinetic model for ...

Biotechnological solubilization of insoluble inorganic phosphate-bearing materials is now accepted as one of the most viable alternative to the traditional chemical methods. Many microorganisms are capable of solubilizing phosphates although this feature is mainly attributed to metabolites such organic acids. During the recent years, we have developed various biotechnological schemes of P-solubilization based on citric acid (Aspergillus niger, Yarrowia lipolytica), gluconic acid (Penicillium variabile), and oxalic...

The study has been aimed at development of cheap sorbents of toxic heavy metals and radionuclides based on low rank, low energetic coals in combination with chitosan for use in treatment of both waste and drinking water and construction of active geochemical barriers. Sorbents based on lignite and naturally oxidized lignite (oxihumolite, leonardite) were prepared, both raw and impregnated with chitosan from its solution in oxalic acid. The sorbents were characterized by chemical and structural analyses. Their sorp...

The present study deals with the decolorization of C.I. Acid Red 88 (AR88) as a model contaminant from textile industry using sawdust as an adsorbent. The effects of initial AR88 concentration, adsorbent dosage, pH, contact time and stirring rate were studied in a batch mode. The variation of pH from 3 to 10 showed no considerable change in decolorization rate. The desired conditions for decolorization of 84.46\% were obtained to be 20 min of contact time, stirring rate of 400 rpm with 30 g L-1 of adsorbent. Freun...

Magnesium doped TiO2 nanoparticles were synthesized by sol-gel method. The crystallite size of nanoparticles was obtained by X-Ray diffraction (XRD). The photocatalytic activity of magnesium doped TiO2 was tested by photocatalytic degradation of C.I. Acid Red 27 from mono azo textile dyes. Results show that magnesium doped TiO2 under visible light has high photocatalytical activity than undoped TiO2 nanoparticles.

ZnO-SnO2 coupled catalyst was prepared by coprecipitation method. Then Ag was loaded on the coupled catalyst by impregnation method. The photocatalytic performance of silver doped ZnO-SnO2 was tested by photocatalytic degradation of C.I. Acid Red 27 (AR27) as a model contaminant from mono azo textile dyes. The crystallite size of nanoparticles was obtained by X-Ray diffraction (XRD). Results demonstrate that silver doped ZnO-SnO2 have shown high photocatalytic efficiency than undoped ZnO-SnO2 at photocatalytic deg...

One of the oldest geographical regions in Romania, the subcarpathian zone situated between the Ialomita and Prahova rivers, having important natural resources, has generated a geodemographical evolution of the human settlements different from other areas in the country, especially with the help of economical development. Starting from the 18th century until the second half of the 20th century, accented economical initiatives are observed. These are related to the exploitation and processing of oil resources, the e...

Our previous study demonstrated the presence of environmental erionite fiber exposure in The Tuzk\"oy town in NevЕџehir located in the Cappadocian Region, Turkey. The aim of this study was to investigate whether environmental erionite exposure increases the incidence of lung cancer and mesothelioma. Method: One hundred and ninty-two deaths from mesothelioma and lung cancer living in the center or in the towns of NevЕџehir were retrospectively (between 1999 and 2003) analyzed. The mortality of lung cancer and mesot...

Fourteen sediment samples from the banks of River Nestos, Northern Greece, were collected, extracted with HNO3 and analyzed for their content in 10 major and 32 trace elements. The analytical techniques used were ICP-OES and ICP-MS. The calculation of the Pearson Correlation Coefficient amongst the analyzed elements has revealed that among the majority of the elements exist positive correlations, which explains why most of them have a similar distribution along the river course. A comparison between the results ac...

Twenty first Century witnessed rapid advance of technology and resultant extravagant use of technological products by people. Unconscious and extravagant use of technology products rapidly pollutes the environment, where we live. Accelerated environmental pollution, including both alive and non-alive nature which in fact serves partially for alive functions, is most serious problem of our age Global Warming , recently started to be argued, and resultant drawbacks are, in fact, continuum of environmental and global...

Advanced oxidation processes (AOPs) with UV irradiation and titanium dioxide (TiO2) as a photocatalyst is a ’green’ process for the treatment and purification of water and wastewater. In this work, for further investigation of applicable AOPs for wastewater treatment, a novel tubular continuous-flow photoreactor was designed and constructed and then all experiments were carried out in this photoreactor. The photoreactor comprises six quartz tubes and a UV lamp, which was placed in the center of the quartz tube...