The Scots pine is often used in the biomonitoring of forests. Studies on the chemical composition plus variability of its needles morphological structure allow for an assessment of the state of environmental pollution. However, in their natural populations, the response of individual trees to stress differs. This study reports on the influence of long-term soil contamination with trace elements...

Located in the Puchuncaví Valley (PV) central Chile is one of most important and oldest industrial complexes (ICs) country. The PV affected by anthropogenic emissions from IC where industry a copper smelter refinery. In this context, study assessed profile, concentration, enrichment factors trace elements, both soil Cupressus macrocarpa leaves high-pollution-load area. leaf samples were taken f...

We examined densities of endophytic fungi and their associations with performance of Eriocrania leaf-mining moth larvae on white birch (Betula pubescens) and silver birch (B. pendula) around a large copper±nickel smelter in SW Finland. The analysis is based on 2-year data collected from sites distributed along the pollution gradient from 0 to 10.8 km from the smelter. Endophyte densities were l...

Springtails (Hexapoda: Collembola) are known to live in a wide range of soil conditions, but changes occurring in their communities under the influence of heavy metal pollution are still poorly documented. The present study was undertaken in order to discern main coenological trends along a gradient of metal pollution, downwind of a zinc smelter located in the North of France. Three sites were ...

OBJECTIVES To look for an association between acoustic neuroma (AN) and participation in a hearing conservation programme (HCP) and also for an association between AN and possible occupational risk factors in the aluminium industry. METHODS We conducted a case-control analysis of a population of US aluminium production workers in 8 smelters and 43 other plants. Using insurance claims data, 97...

Although it is well known that metals pollution can cause neurotoxic effects, scientists are currently divided about the neurodegeneration hypothesis. That is, some scientists accept, while others fail to accept, the hypothesis that metals/metalloids, at exposure levels below those capable of causing neurotoxicity, can cause neurodegeneration—progressive or worsening neurological disease. Partl...

The authors evaluated mean blood lead levels (BLLs) and the prevalence of elevated BLLs in children 1-6 yr of age living in Torreón, Mexico, and assessed risk factors for lead exposure in these children. The study involved a simple random sample of households in the area around a local smelter, as well as a 2-stage cluster sample of neighborhoods and households in the remainder of Torreón. The ...

The aim of this work was to identify in Eisenia fetida genes whose expression are regulated following exposure to a complex mixture of Metallic Trace Elements (MTE) representative of a highly polluted smelter soil. Suppression Subtractive Hybridization (SSH) was used to construct cDNA libraries enriched in upor downregulated transcripts in the immune circulating cells of the cœlomic cavities, n...

Anthropogenic activities, such as industrial expansion, smelting, mining and agricultural practices, have intensified the discharge of potentially toxic trace elements (PTEs) into the environment, threatening human health and other organisms. To assist phytoremediation by sorghum in soil contaminated by smelters/mines in Feng County (FC), a pot experiment was performed to examine the phytoremed...

The aim of this work was to identify in Eisenia fetida genes whose expression are regulated following exposure to a complex mixture of metallic trace elements (MTE) representative of a highly polluted smelter soil. Suppression subtractive hybridization (SSH) was used to construct cDNA libraries enriched in up- or down-regulated transcripts in the immune-circulating cells of the coelomic cavitie...