In the past decades, shellfish culture has developed in a significant way around the world. However, culture areas are often subject to recurring anthropic pollution. The recrudescent presence of industrial wastes is a source of heavy metals and results in pollutant transfer towards the aquatic environment in estuarine areas. Because of their mode of life, bivalves, including mussels and oyster...

For many years, atmospheric mercury has been perceived as a global pollutant. Transport of mercury compounds in the atmosphere and its deposition on the earth's surface is an important issue that requires knowledge regarding the circulation of the various forms of this metal between environmental components. There are many numerical models that can be used to study and image this phenomenon. Th...

BACKGROUND Mono aromatic hydrocarbons (BTEX) are a group of hazardous pollutants which originate from sources such as refineries, gas, and oil extraction fields, petrochemicals and paint and glue industries.Conventional methods, including incineration, condensation, adsorption and absorption have been used for removal of VOCs. None of these methods is economical for removal of pollutants of pol...

South Africa has been identified as a source of industrial pollution that is significant at a global scale. This study was designed to provide quantitative information, by direct measurement, across northeastern South Africa, which includes the highly industrialised Mpumalanga Highveld. The specific aim of the study was to evaluate whether or not acidic atmospheric pollution poses a threat to s...

BACKGROUND Children with asthma in inner-city communities may be particularly vulnerable to adverse effects of air pollution because of their airways disease and exposure to relatively high levels of motor vehicle emissions. OBJECTIVE To investigate the association between fluctuations in outdoor air pollution and asthma morbidity among inner-city children with asthma. METHODS We analyzed d...

Urban runoff is perceived as a large source of pollutant inputs to the ocean, but no mass emission monitoring programs have been established to assess this discharge. Recently, however, National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System permits for urban runoff discharges were issued to stormwater management agencies on a regional (county-wide) basis and the 1994-95 water year represents the first...

Nitrous acid (HONO) is of particular importance in atmospheric chemistry; its photolysis significantly enhances photooxidation processes early in the morning or during wintertime, through the rapid production of OH radicals in the presence of long wavelength radiation, and in urban areas with low O3 levels. Previous studies reveal that neither direct HONO emissions from combustion sources nor h...

Pentachlorophenol (PCP) is globally dispersed and contamination of soil with this biocide adversely affects its functional biodiversity, particularly of fungi - key colonizers. Their functional role as a community is poorly understood, although a few pathways have been already elucidated in pure cultures. This constitutes here our main challenge - elucidate how fungi influence the pollutant mit...

Very few regions of the planet possess abundant fresh water and access to adequate fresh water resources can be expected to worsen as a result of population growth and industrial demands for water. Liquid effluents containing toxic substances are generated by a variety of chemistry-related industrial processes, as well as by a number of common household or agricultural applications. The inadequ...

Mercury is a global pollutant and presents policy challenges at local, regional, and global scales. Mercury poses risks to the health of people, fish, and wildlife exposed to elevated levels of mercury, most commonly from the consumption of methylmercury in marine and estuarine fish. The patchwork of current mercury abatement efforts limits the effectiveness of national and multi-national polic...