In the last decades the awareness of scientists, decision makers and citizens about the ubiquitous and toxic nature of mercury in the environment has considerably grown. The complexity of the environmental problem related to mercury is increased because of the volatile nature of this metal, which results in global dispersion through the atmosphere and deposition in the sea and freshwater bodies...

With the increasing complexity of engineering problems, the traditional, single-objective and deterministic optimization method can not meet people’s requirements. A multi-objective fuzzy optimization model of resource input is built for M chlor-alkali chemical eco-industrial park in this paper. First, the model is changed into the form that can be solved by genetic algorithm using fuzzy theory...

Concentrations of gaseous mercury (2.1 9.6 μg m−3) were measured within the former chlor-alkali plant in Kaštela Bay. This is a hazardous source of pollution and could present a serious problem for the town of Split and Jadro River. The aim of the work was to find the direction in which Hg-pollution was distributed. Soil samples were collected and total Hg concentrations were measured in soils ...

For economic nonlinear model predictive control and dynamic real-time optimization fast accurate models are necessary. Consequently, the use of surrogate to mimic complex rigorous is increasingly coming into focus. systems, focus so far had been on identifying a system's behavior surrounding steady-state operation point. In this contribution, we propose novel methodology adaptively sample proce...

BACKGROUND The Runcorn area, north-west England, contains many pollution sources, the health effects of which have been under discussion for over 100 years. Preliminary investigations revealed an excess risk of mortality from kidney disease in people living nearest to several point sources of pollution, using distance as a proxy for exposure. Ongoing epidemiological investigations into the effe...

Simultaneous real-time changes in mercury (Hg) speciationreactive gaseous Hg (RGM), elemental Hg (Hg), and fine particulate Hg (Hg-PM2.5), were determined from June to November, 2007, in ambient air at three locations in rural Central Wisconsin. Known Hg emission sources within the airshed of the monitoring sites include: 1) a 1114 megawatt (MW) coal-fired electric utility generating station; 2...

Metals deposited into ecosystems are non-degradable and become one of the major toxic agents which accumulate in habitats. Thus, their concentration requires precise monitoring. To evaluate pollution around a chlor-alkali plant, a glass smelter, two power plants and a ceramic and porcelain factory, we selected terrestrial mosses with different life forms: the orthotropic and endohydric Polytric...

Chlor-alkali plants are known to be an important source of Hg emissions to the atmosphere and related contamination of soils in their vicinity. In the present study, the results of Hg speciation and mobility of Hg in soils affected by Hg emissions from three chlor-alkali plants are compared. Solid phase mercury speciation analyses was carried out using a mercury-thermo-desorption technique with...