Coal combustion is one of the largest contemporary sources of anthropogenic mercury (Hg). It releases geologically sequestered Hg to the atmosphere, and fly ash can contaminate terrestrial and aquatic systems. We estimate that coal combustion has released a cumulative total of 38.0 (14.8-98.9, 80% C.I.) Gg (gigagrams, 109g or thousand tonnes) of Hg to air, land, and water up to the year 2010, m...

With water resource planning assuming greater importance in environmental protection efforts, analyzing the health of agricultural watersheds using Geographic Information Systems (GIS) becomes essential for decision-makers in Southern Texas. Within the area, there exist numerous threats from conflicting land uses. These include the conversion of land formerly designated for agricultural purpose...

The term, biosolids, is generally used to refer to those waste products that have been stabilized by treatment of the sewage sludge for beneficial reuse through appropriate management (Davis, 2002). The agronomic and environmental benefits from the organic material and fertilizing elements contained in the biosolids are essential for maintaining soil fertility. This has been a major reason for ...

Introduction The need to dispose of human-generated waste streams is growing in line with the expansion of urban population centers. This is particularly true for the byproducts of wastewater treatment. According to the US EPA, there are over 7 million dry tons of biosolids (stabilized sewage sludge) produced per year in the US. In 2004, 49% of biosolids were beneficially used—primarily for agr...

New vegetation in barren areas offers possibilities for sequestering carbon in the soil. Arid and semi-arid areas (ASAs) are candidates for new vegetation. The possibility of agriculture in ASAs is reviewed, revealing the potential for cultivation by covering the surface with a layer of organic fibres. This layer collects more water from humidity in the air than does the uncovered mineral surfa...

The most commonly used technology for dealing with medical waste, till recently was an incinerator. Incinerator, when introduced was supposed to be a wonder technology. A technology that would get rid of loads of waste by burning it and would leave behind some ash, that could be dumped. However, instead of solving the problem of waste, it aggravated it. It only changed the biological problem in...

The paper aims to mapping the potential vulnerable areas to illegal dumping of household waste from rural areas in the extraCarpathian region of Neamț County. These areas are ordinary in the proximity of built-up areas and buffers areas of 1km were delimited for every locality. Based on various map layers in vector formats ( land use, rivers, buil-up areas, roads etc) an assessment method is pe...

The area of Naples and Campania region, in Italy, are experiencing the dramatic consequences of diffuse and illegal waste dumping, resulting in possible threats to human health. This area has been referred to as the "Land of Fires" because of the common practice of waste burning. International interest in the Campania "waste emergency" has triggered several epidemiological studies. This article...