The results of an experiment with two species of epiphytic angiosperms (Tillandsia caput-medusae and T. bulbosa) for monitoring polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in the air of Florence, Italy, are presented. PAHs are compounds known to be dangerous because of their carcinogenic potential, and among cormophytes, tillands (monocotyledons equipped with peculiar, specialised, epidermal tricho...

BACKGROUND Biomonitoring studies can provide information about individual and population-wide exposure. However they must be designed in a way that protects the rights and welfare of participants. This descriptive qualitative study was conducted as a follow-up to a breastmilk biomonitoring study. The primary objectives were to assess participants' experiences in the study, including the report-...

Abstract Shahdadroud River is one of the most important rivers in Kerman province that during previous years has been threatened by drought and anthropogenic pollution. This river supplies some parts of drinking water of Kerman city and some vicinity villages. The main objective of the present study is consideration of pollution situation of the river; for this purpose, limnological and biolo...

Seaweeds are established sentinels for metal contamination and are utilised for biomonitoring. Metallothionein (MT) is a protein that is induced by metal exposure, and has been widely used as a biomarker for metal pollution. MT has not been reported in spiral wrack (Fucus spiralis), but has been identified in bladder wrack (Fucus vesiculosus), where it has been suggested to be a protective mech...

Amphibians are undergoing large population declines in many regions around the world. As environmental pollution from both agricultural and urban sources has been implicated in such declines, there is a need for a biomonitoring approach to study potential impacts on this vulnerable class of organism. This study assessed the use of infrared (IR) spectroscopy as a tool to detect changes in severa...

To test the applicability of lichens in the biomonitoring of atmospheric elemental deposition in a typical steppe zone of Inner Mongolia, China, six foliose lichens (Physcia aipolia, PA; P. tribacia, PT; Xanthoria elegans, XE; X. mandschurica, XM; Xanthoparmelia camtschadalis, XPC; and Xp. tinctina, XPT) were sampled from the Xilin River Basin, Xilinhot, Inner Mongolia, China. Twenty-five eleme...

Fossil fuels, e.g. gasoline and diesel oil, account for substantial share of the pollution that affects marine ecosystems. Environmental metabolomics is an emerging field that may help unravel the effect of these xenobiotics on seaweeds and provide methodologies for biomonitoring coastal ecosystems. In the present study, FTIR and multivariate analysis were used to discriminate metabolic profile...

BACKGROUND Sediment bacterial communities are key players in biogeochemical cycling of elements in the aquatic environment. Copper mining, smelting, and processing operations located in Bor area (Serbia) are major environmental hot spots in the lower Danube Basin and Western Balkans. In the present study, we evaluate the influence of trace element (TE) concentration in sediments and physico-che...

Cloud computing represents an emerging computing paradigm, which offers delivering a variety of computing services in a way that has not been experienced previously. In order to develop advanced simulations, environmental modelling must be adapted to this more powerful and efficient computing tool. Traditional model calculations are taken into the sphere of interconnected data and more accessib...