In this study, we re-assess the use of bivalve shells as a proxy of lead pollution. Previous studies have stressed that shells display little variability compared to soft tissues and thus are better for pollution biomonitoring. However, in this manuscript we illustrate that there is large inter- and intra-annual Pb variability between shells of the clam Mercenaria mercenaria collected in North ...

In Nigeria, like many developing nations, the causes of air pollution are legion: aggravated bush burning, combustion, gas flaring, improper disposal of domestic and industrial wastes; pollution through oil spillage; car exhausts, unsanitary and unsafe housing, etc. All these affect human well-being (the most affected groups are women and children) especially the health and socio-economic well-...

Measuring the spatial distribution of heavy metal contaminants is the basis of pollution evaluation and risk control. Considering the cost of soil sampling and analysis, spatial interpolation methods have been widely applied to estimate the heavy metal concentrations at unsampled locations. However, traditional spatial interpolation methods assume the sample sites can be located stochastically ...

This research aims to study the lead pollution in the air of Babylon governorate that resulted generally from vehicles exhausts in addition to industrial and human activities.Vehicles number in Babylon governorate increased significantly after year 2003 that resulted with increase in lead emissions into the air.Measurement of lead emissions was done in seven stations distributed randomly in Bab...

Marine pollution has been studied under the following groupings of effects; harm to living resources, hazards to human health, reduction of amenities and interference with other users of the sea. This paper is concerned mainly with the first two categories and their interrelation. Apart from certain seabirds affected by oil, the major stocks of marine animals show no evidence of reduction by po...

Air pollutants have been documented to be associated with a wide variety of adverse health impacts in children. These include increases in mortality in very severe episodes; an increased risk of perineonatal mortality in regions of higher pollution, and an increased general rate of mortality in children; increased acute respiratory disease morbidity; aggravation of asthma, as shown by increased...

In addition to increased morbidity and mortality caused by respiratory and cardiovascular diseases, air pollution may also negatively affect the brain and contribute to central nervous system diseases. Air pollution is a mixture comprised of several components, of which ultrafine particulate matter (UFPM; <100 nm) is of much concern, as these particles can enter the circulation and distribute t...

Although Japan has been considered to have little lead (Pb) pollution in modern times, the actual pollution situation is unclear. The present study aims to investigate the extent of Pb pollution and to identify the pollution sources in Japan using stable Pb isotope analysis with kidneys of wild rats. Wild brown (Rattus norvegicus, n = 43) and black (R. rattus, n = 98) rats were trapped from var...

The objective of the study was to determine whether long-term metal pollution affects communities of epigeal spiders (Aranea), studied at three taxonomic levels: species, genera, and families. Biodiversity was defined by three indices: the Hierarchical Richness Index (HRI), Margalef index (D(M)) and Pielou evenness index (J). In different ways the indices describe taxa richness and the distribu...