The rare earth metals cerium, lanthanum, and neodymium each were evaluated in an in vitro cytotoxicity assay system using adult, male Sprague-Dawley rat pulmonary alveolar macrophages. Both the soluble chloride form of these metals and their insoluble metal oxides were studied. For comparison purposes, the cytotoxicities of cadmium chloride and cadmium oxide were also quantified in this test sy...

Copper mining generates large quantities of waste, tailings, and acid outflows causing long-term environmental impacts and potential threats to human health. Valea Şesei is the largest tailing impoundment in Romania, created by flooding the valley (known as Valea Şesei) of the Metalliferous Mountains (a division of the Apuseni Mountains) with copper mining waste. The present study (i) estimated...

Frank Reith, Maggy F Lengke, Donna Falconer, David Craw and Gordon Southam School of Earth and Environmental Sciences, The University of Adelaide, CSIRO Land and Water, Waite Laboratories, Urrbrae, South Australia, Australia; Geomega Inc., Boulder, CO, USA; Department of Geology, University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand and Department of Earth Sciences, The University of Western Ontario, Londo...

Despite the predominance of aquatic environments on the planet Earth, microbial abundance and diversity within soil environments exceed that of the aquatic realm. Most of what we know of viral ecology within natural systems has come through investigations of aquatic environments. However, the 'aquatic-bias' in viral ecology is beginning to change as the cultivation-independent approaches, which...

Rick Lumpkin and Gustavo J. Goni (Physical Oceanography Division, Atlantic Oceanographic and Meteorological Laboratory, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Miami, Florida), Pedro N. DiNezio (Cooperative Institute for Marine and Atmospheric Studies, Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science, University of Miami, Miami, Florida) and Nikolai A. Maximenko (International Pacif...