Soil contamination with petroleum hydrocarbons, persistent organic pollutants, halogenated organic chemicals and toxic metal(loid)s is a serious global problem affecting the human and ecological health. Over the past half-century, the technological and industrial advancements have led to the creation of a large number of brownfields, most of these located in the centre of dense cities all over ...

Emissions from gasoline and diesel vehicles are predominant anthropogenic sources of reactive gas-phase organic carbon and key precursors to secondary organic aerosol (SOA) in urban areas. Their relative importance for aerosol formation is a controversial issue with implications for air quality control policy and public health. We characterize the chemical composition, mass distribution, and or...

The occurrence and potential adverse effects of select semivolatile organic compounds (SVOCs) in streambed sediment were assessed at 536 sites in 20 major river basins across the United States from 1992 to 1995. Fifty-six SVOCs were detected at one or more sites, and one or more SVOCs were detected at 71% of sites. The northeastern and Great Lakes regions and large metropolitan areas have the h...

Aerosol samples were collected in autumn 2007 on day- and nighttime basis in the northern receptor site of Beijing, China. The samples were analyzed for total carbon (TC) and water-soluble dicarboxylic acids (C2-C12), oxocarboxylic acids (C2-C9), glyoxal and methylglyoxal to better understand the photochemical aging of organic aerosols in the vicinity of Beijing. Concentrations of TC are 50% gr...

Partitioning of organic pollutants is essential to their fate, mobility and removal from water and soil. To study the partitioning behavior of selected alkylphenols, bisphenol A, phthalates and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), a method for separating the truly dissolved and colloidal phase of organic pollutants was developed, verified and applied to samples of landfill leachate and stor...

An increasingly urban population and industrialized global economy over the last century have serious consequences on the environment. Understanding the sources, pathways and contaminants in the urban environment is essential for making informed management decisions. Urban areas are major concentrators, repositories and emitters of a myriad of chemicals because of the wide range and intensity o...

Monthly inflow and outflow data were collected from three wet detention ponds in Wilmington, North Carolina, for a 29-mo period. Two ponds drained urban areas consisting primarily of residential, mixed services, and retail usage, while the third mainly drained residential and golf course areas. One of the urban ponds achieved significant reductions in total nitrogen, nitrate, ammonium, total ph...

This study was initiated to characterize urban and peri-urban sheep production systems and their economic importance in and around the towns of Debre Berhan and Dessie, Ethiopia. The study was undertaken using group discussions, structured questionnaire and personal observations. In both locations the majority of sheep producers were male household heads and predominantly traders in urban and f...