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Plastic Debris in the Stomach of the Invasive Signal Crayfish Pacifastacus leniusculus from a Baltic Coastal River
PublicationPollution by plastic debris, widely recognized as a growing global problem [1-3] is caused by the production of synthetic polymers. Over recent years, the production of plastics has increased, while in Europe, fossil-based plastics production has decreased, and recycled plastics production has increased [4]. There are different types of plastics. Some types of plastic ingredients, applied in a wide variety of cosmetics and personal...
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Biodegradable polymer packaging materials - influence on environment
PublicationAwareness of the waste problem and its impact on the environment has awakened new interest in the area of biodegradable polymers. Biodegradation of various polymers have been studied under diverse environments like in soil, in sewage sludge, in compost conditions and in sea water by different research groups. The aim of this paper is to present the research methods on the biodegradation of the commercially available biodegradable...
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Methods of ZnO nanoparticles synthesis
PublicationZinc oxide nanostructures are interesting nanomaterials with a wide range of applications. Since the physical and chemical properties of ZnO nanoparticles are influenced both by their shape and size, a control of morphology of ZnO structures is needed for their commercial usage. Different chemical, physical, and biological methods used to produce ZnO nanostructures can be found in the literature. The production of ZnO nanoparticles...
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Comparing phylogenetic trees using a minimum weight perfect matching
PublicationA phylogenetic tree represents historical evolutionary relationshipbetween different species or organisms. There are various methods for reconstructing phylogenetic trees.Applying those techniques usually results in different treesfor the same input data. An important problem is to determinehow distant two trees reconstructed in such a wayare from each other. Comparing phylogenetic trees is alsouseful in mining phylogenetic information...
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Assessment of toxic and endocrine potential of substances migrating from selected toys and baby products
PublicationAnalysis of literature data shows that there is limited information about the harmful biological effects of mixture of compounds from the EDC group that are released from the surface of toys and objects intended for children and infants. One of the tools that can be used to obtain such information is appropriate bioanalytical tests. The aim of this research involved determining whether tests that use living organisms as an active...
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Urban Lighting Research Transdisciplinary Framework—A Collaborative Process with Lighting Professionals
PublicationOver the past decades, lighting professionals have influenced the experience of the night by brightly illuminating streets, buildings, skylines, and landscapes 24/7. When this became the accepted norm, a dual perspective on night-time was shaped and the visual enjoyment of visitors after dusk was prioritized over natural nightscapes (nocturnal landscapes). During this time, researchers of artificial light at night (ALAN) observed...
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Qualitative analysis of phospholipids and their oxidised derivatives – used techniques and examples of their applications related to lipidomic research and food analysis
PublicationPhospholipids (PLs) are important biomolecules that not only constitute structural building blocks and scaffolds of cell and organelle membranes, but also play a vital role in cell biochemistry and physiology. Moreover, dietary exogenous PLs are characterized by high nutritional value and other beneficial health effects, which are confirmed by numerous epidemiological studies. For this reason, PLs are of high interest in lipidomics...
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Cyanides in the environment—analysis—problems and challenges
PublicationCyanide toxicity and their environmental impact are well known. Nevertheless, they are still used in the mining, galvanic and chemical industries. As a result of industrial activities, cyanides are released in various forms to all elements of the environment. In a natural environment, cyanide exists as cyanogenic glycosides in plants seeds. Too much consumption can cause unpleasant side effects. However, environmental tobacco smoke...
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The state of the art in the field of decrease the pollution in the South Baltic area
PublicationVarious form of human activity such as maritime transports, industrial activities, busy traffic, intensive farming and animal husbandry can have negative impact on natural marine environment. Baltic Sea catchment area is characterized by the high river water flux and wastewater treatment plants discharges. Additionally, the limited shallow connection to the North Sea results in little water exchange and residence time of approximately...
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From Individual to Collective: Intelligence Amplification with Bio-Inspired Decisional DNA and its Extensions
PublicationIn nature, deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) contains the genetic instructions used in the development and functioning of all known living organisms. The idea behind our vision is to develop an artificial system, an architecture that would support discovering, adding, storing, improving and sharing information and knowledge among agents and organizations through experience. We propose a novel Knowledge Representation (KR) approach in...
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In silico design of telomerase inhibitors.
PublicationTelomerase is a reverse transcriptase enzyme involved in DNA synthesis at the end of linear chromosomes. Unlike in most other cells, telomerase is reactivated most cancerous cells and, therefore, has become a promising new anticancer target. Despite extensive research, direct telomerase inhibitors have yet not been introduced to the clinics because of the complexity of this enzyme. Structures of this protein from simple organisms...
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Multiresidue Methods for Determination of Currently Used Pesticides in Fruits and Vegetables Using QuECHERS Technique
PublicationApplied all over the world, pesticides are some of the most common pollutants of the environment because of their stability, mobility, their consequent long-term adverse effects on living organisms in general and human health in particular. For these reasons it is essential to monitor and analyse pesticide residues in the fruits and vegetables. The analysis of food samples for the presence of pesticides causes a lot of difficulties...
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Selected anionic and cationic surface active agents: case study on the Kłodnica sediments
PublicationSurface active agents (surfactants) are a group of chemical compounds, which are used as ingredients of detergents, cleaning products, cosmetics and functional products. After use, wastes containing surfactants or their degradation products are discharged to wastewater treatment plants or directly into surface waters. Due to their specific properties of SAAs, compounds are able to migrate between different environmental compartments...
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The difficulties in polybrominated diphenyl ethers identification by GC-EI-MS technique
PublicationAwareness about the harmful effects of brominated flame retardants on living organisms increases mainly due to link their presence in the human environment with health disorders. Therefore is a need to conduct research aimed at content control of these chemicals in the environment. Recent improvements in injection techniques and mass spectrometer ionization methods have led to a variety of options to determine PBDEs in environmental...
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Green aspects of techniques for the determination of currently used pesticides in environmental samples
PublicationPesticides are among the most dangerous environmental pollutants because of their stability, mobility and long-term effects on living organisms. Their presence in the environment is a particular danger. It is therefore crucial to monitor pesticide residues using all available analytical methods. The analysis of environmental samples for the presence of pesticides is very difficult: the processes involved in sample preparation are...
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Analytical chemistry with biosolvents
PublicationOne of the current trends in green analytical chemistry is the introduction of green solvents, some of which are biobased. At the same time, the development of the biorefinery concept has allowed more biochemicals to be obtained with increased efficiency and from a wider range of feedstocks. The first examples of the use of biosolvents in analytical applications included extractions performed with alcohols, esters, and terpenes....
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The Use of Vegetables in the Biomonitoring of Cadmium and Lead Pollution in the Environment
PublicationLead and cadmium emitted from various anthropogenic sources have the ability to accumulate in tissues of living organisms. The phenomenon of accumulation of metals in the body is harmful and undesirable. On the other hand, the ability of plants to accumulate heavy metals from the individual elements of the environment has been used in biomonitoring of pollution. Leaf and root of vegetables have particular predisposition for accumulating...
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Insight into heart regeneration
PublicationThe mammalian heart is thought to be incapable of regeneration because of the limited ability of cardiomyocytes. to proliferate. However, it has been recently shown that the neonatal murine heart is able to restore its normal function after coronary artery ligation or even partial resection. Unfortunately, this feature is lost in a few days after birth, although lower vertebrates as zebrafish or newt, retain this ability until adulthood. Therefore,...
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The impact of lipophilicity on environmental processes, drug delivery and bioavailability of food components
PublicationLipophilic properties of the compound allow to predict its fate in living organisms and to propose the models of chemicals transport and accumulation in the ecosystem. Lipophilicity is also useful as the characteristic of chemicals in respect to their optimal attributes for specific biological and non-biological tasks. The lipophilicity descriptors define the potency of endo- and xenobiotics to metabolic transformations and their...
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Determination of Toxicological Parameters of Selected Bioactive Organic Chemicals Using the Ostracodtoxkit FTM
PublicationAssessment of the impact of pharmaceutical residues on living organisms is very complex subject. Apart from taking into account the toxicity of individual compounds also their presence in mixtures should be taken into account. In this work, attempts were made to assess the ecotoxicity of biologically active substances (with 50 % effective concentration (EC50) values growing from fluoxetine (EC50 = 4.431 nM) >> gemfibrozil ≈ 17α-ethinylestradiol...
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Reducing nighttime light exposure in the urban environment to benefit human health and society
PublicationNocturnal light pollution can have profound effects on humans and other organisms. Recent research indicates that nighttime outdoor lighting is increasing rapidly. Evidence from controlled laboratory studies demonstrates that nocturnal light exposure can strain the visual system, disrupt circadian physiology, suppress melatonin secretion, and impair sleep. There is a growing body of work pointing to adverse effects of outdoor lighting...
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Cuticular lipids of insects as potential biofungicides
PublicationThe term ''lipids'' refers to fatty acids, their derivatives and substances related with them biochemically or by the functions in the body. Lipids include compounds with different chemical structure. There are lipids with structures based on long-chain carboxylic acids and their direct derivatives, namely: fatty acids, alkanes, some alkenes, aldehydes and long chain alcohols and their derivatives (esters). The variety of lipid...
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Green aspects of techniques for the determination of pesticides in fruits and vegetables
PublicationApplied all over the world, pesticides are some of the most dangerous pollutants of the environment because of their stability, mobility, their ability to accumulate in the environment and their consequent long-term adverse effects on living organisms in general and human health in particular. Their presence in the environment is a particular danger. It is therefore crucial to monitor pesticide residues using all available analytical...
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Status and trends of mercury pollution of the atmosphere and terrestrial ecosystems in Poland
PublicationThe goal of this paper is to assess the current status and trends of total mercury (THg) contamination of the atmosphere and terrestrial ecosystems in Poland. The study shows that the reduced domestic and worldwide atmospheric emission of Hg resulted in decreased THg level in the terrestrial biotope and biosphere. Considering that Poland is one of the main Hg emitters in Europe, the THg concentrations in its abiotic environment...
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Similar concentration of surfactants in rural and urban areas
PublicationSince surfactants are used in various products, they end up in surface and wastewater. Surfactants may therefore impact ecosystems and living organisms. Actually, only few anionic surfactants and some alkylphenols are regulated. There is no comprehensive evaluation of surfactants in the atmosphere, surfaces and waters of areas of increasing anthropic levels. Here, we measured the levels of cationic, anionic and nonionic surfactants...
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Aminy w środowisku - niebezpieczeństwo czy jego naturalny element?
PublicationA lot of amines and their compounds are used in the industry. First of all they are used for the preparation of medicines, plant protection agents, fertilizers and plastics. Amines are also released into the environment as a result of natural biological processes such as the release of certain species of flowers to lure insects, and also biochemical breakdown of amino acids in the protein during decomposition of organic matter. Unfortunately,...
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State of the art and prospects of methods for determination of lipophilicity of chemical compounds
PublicationLipophilicity of the compounds is useful to (i) explain their distribution in biological systems, which is different in plant and in animal organisms, (ii) predict the possible pathways of pollutant transport in the environment, and (iii) support drug discovery process and select optimal composition in terms of bioactivity and bioavailability. The lipophilic properties can be determined by two main approaches, experimental, which...
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Journey towards light – evolutionary adaptations of humans, flora and fauna. Guidelines for safe and healthy illumination
PublicationThe paper examines using relatively recent discoveries on how evolution has embedded within all living organisms a natural sensitivity towards their native environment, in particular luminance levels and specific wavelengths of light. The studies conducted so far indicate that lighting installations that are visible after dark impact on humans, flora and fauna and influence our evolutionary dispositions, possibly with negative...
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Construction of glucosamine-6-phosphate synthase with an internal hexahistydyl fragment
PublicationL-Glutamine: D-fructose-6-phosphate aminotransferase (EC 2.6.1.16), known also as glucosamine-6-phosphate (GlcN-6-P) syntase, catalyzes the first committed step in the amino sugar biosynthetic pathway in prokaryotic and eukaryotic organisms. The enzyme carries out a complex reaction involving ammonia transfer and sugar phosphate isomerization. GlcN-6-P syntase is an important point of metabolic control of amino sugar biosynthesis...
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Environmental fate of BTEX compounds in ambient air
PublicationAs a result of the industrialization and urbanization in the world, human pressure on the environment is intensifying, leading to detrimental changes in both biotic and abiotic compartments. One of the many consequences of this state of affairs is the increasing rate of emission into the atmosphere of volatile organic compounds, including the so-called BTEX (benzene, ethylbenzene, toluene, xylenes) compounds. The article reviews...
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The Fate of BTEX Compounds in Ambient Air
PublicationAs a result of the industrialization and urbanization in the world, human pressure on the environment is intensifying, leading to detrimental changes in both biotic and abiotic compartments. One of the many consequences of this state of affairs is the increasing rate of emission into the atmosphere of volatile organic compounds, including the so-called BTEX (benzene, ethylbenzene, toluene, xylenes) compounds. The authors review...
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Problems and chellenges to determine pesticide residues in bumblebees
PublicationBumblebees play an important role in t he pollination process of many crops and flowers. Therefore, taking action to protect and assess the impact of p esticides on these insects is fully justi fied. Pesticides may cause mortality and also sub-lethal effects that are not always directly visible. Bumblebees, like honeybees, can be used as indicators for environmental monitoring contamination. Two approaches are mainly used for the...
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Ergonomic Aspects of Development of Architecture in the Context of Sanitary and Hygiene Safety
PublicationAbstract Ergonomics answers the need of safe development of space by creating spatial forms which help to implement the safety procedures and limit the threats involved both in ordinary use of the spaces and in case of unforeseen events. Using the knowledge of ergonomics and architecture on the basis of defining the routes of germ transmission, allows to limit the spread of those organisms. Ergonomics of developing architectural...
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The Occurrence and Role of Tetrasphaera in Enhanced Biological Phosphorus Removal Systems
PublicationThe application of enhanced biological phosphorus removal (EBPR) in wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) has commonly been utilized worldwide. However, the optimum efficiency has not been realized over the past decades, prompting many studies and publications. The limitations, especially comprehension of the abundance and actual potential of polyphosphate-accumulating organisms (PAOs), are not fully understood. Recently identified...
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Aspects of pollution in Gdansk and gdynia Harbours at the coastal zone of the South Baltic Sea
PublicationOrganotin compounds (OTC), as well as metals, are toxic to many organisms. Even at very low concentrations OTC and metals can have several negative effects. The paper discusses key issues relating to the location of harbours in the coastal zone (including near the river mouths and semi-closed access to the sea) and the pollution of harbour sediments with heavy metals (e.g. zinc, copper, nickel and lead) and organotin derivatives...
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Speciation of Iron in the Aquatic Environment
PublicationIron is one of the basic metals occurring in the aquatic environment and it is considered a macroelement with regard to live organisms. This metal has a broad range of applications that, together with factors conditioning its chemical transitions, results in the occurrence of many iron species in water. Depending on water and land development type, as well as the use of water for household and industrial purposes, iron may be found...
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Air quality policy in the U.S. and the EU – a review
PublicationThe high level of atmospheric pollution is a global problem that has taken on particular significance in recent years and will continue to grow in the near future. Air pollution directly affects the health, living organisms, vegetation, water, soil and buildings. Additionally, it moves easily even over long distances. Certain air pollutants influence the climate, cause negative processes in the protective ozone layer and contribute...
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A multi‑criteria approach to investigate spatial distribution,sources, and the potential toxicological effect of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in sediments of urban retention tanks
PublicationBottom sediments deposited in retention tanks (RTs) located on two urban streams (Oliwski and Strzyza) in the central part of Gdansk (Poland) were analysed for polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons’ (PAHs) content. PAHs were extracted from samples with methylene chloride, then the extracts were subjected to clean-up applying the solid phase extraction (SPE) method. Quantitative and qualitative determination of 16 PAHs was performed...
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DETERMINATION OF SURFACTANTS IN ENVIRONMENTAL SAMPLES. PART II. ANIONIC COMPOUNDS
PublicationSurfactants (SAA) with negative charge of polar group are named as anionic compounds. They are main constituent of most products containing synthetic surfactants. The linear alkylbenzene sulfonates (LAS), alkyl ethoxysulfates (AES) and alkyl sulfates (AS) are typically applied from this class of compounds. Those surfactants are ingredients of household detergents and cleaners, laundry detergents, cosmetic. Moreover they can be...
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Pesticides in the Environment
PublicationApplied all over the world, pesticides are some of the most dangerous pollutants of the environment becauseof their mobility and ability to accumulate in the environment and their consequent long-term adverseeffects on living organisms in general and human health in particular. For these reasons, it is essential tomonitor and analyze pesticide residues in the environment. This entry discusses the classification of pesticidesas...
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Novel approach to ecotoxicological risk assessment of sediments cores around the shipwreck by the use of self-organizing maps
PublicationMarine and coastal pollution plays an increasingly important role due to recent severe accidents which drew attention to the consequences of oil spills causing widespread devastation of marine ecosystems. All these problems cannot be solved without conducting environmental studies in the area of possible oil spill and performing chemometric evaluation of the data obtained looking for similar patterns among pollutants and optimize...
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Selected anionic and cationic surface active agents determined in river sediments – the Klodnica catchment
PublicationSurface active agents (SAAs) are specific compounds that contain hydrophilic/ hydrophobic group in their molecules named as amphiphilic structures. According to charge on the hydrophilic part of surfactants they can be classified into three main groups: anionic, cationic and non-ionic compounds. Due to the amphiphilic structure of SAAs they have specific properties (e.g. ability to adsorption at different surfaces, reduction of...
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Selected issues related to the toxicity of ionic liquids and deep eutectic solvents—a review
PublicationGreen Chemistry plays a more and more important role in implementing rules of sustainable development to prevent environmental pollution caused by technological processes, while simultaneously increasing the production yield. Ionic liquids (ILs) and deep eutectic solvents (DESs) constitute a very broad group of substances. Apart from many imperfections, ILs and DESs have been the most promising discoveries in the world of Green...
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Influence of Selected Saccharides on the Precipitation of Calcium-Vaterite Mixtures by the CO2 Bubbling Method
PublicationCalcium carbonate is a compound existing in living organisms and produced for many biomedical applications. In this work, calcium carbonate was synthesized by a CO2 bubbling method using ammonia as a CO2 absorption promotor. Glucose, fructose, sucrose, and trehalose were added into the reaction mixture to modify characteristics of precipitated calcium carbonate particles. To determine the polymorphic form of produced calcium carbonate...
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Development and validation of an LC–MS/MS method for the determination of biogenic amines in wines and beers
PublicationBiogenic amines are group of organic, basic, nitrogenous compounds that naturally occur in plant, microorganism, and animal organisms. Biogenic amines are mainly produced through decarboxylation of amino acids. They are formed during manufacturing of some kind of food and beverages such as cheese, wine, or beer. Histamine, cadaverine, agmatine, tyramine, putrescine, and b-phenylethylamine are the most common biogenic amines found...
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Determination of organophosphorus and organonitrogen pesticides in water samples
PublicationPesticides are among the most dangerous environmental pollutants because of their stability, mobility and long-term effects on living organisms. Their presence in sources of drinking water, essential to life, is a particular danger. In water, these compounds can undergo transformations, leading to the production of substances of even greater toxicity. Legal regulations are in force, stipulating the highest permissible level of...
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Real-Time PCR: molecular technique of many applications
PublicationReal-Time PCR is a sensitive DNA amplification technique initially applied in genetics and molecular biology. It enables in vivo copying of the selected DNA fragment (flanked by two primers) by the thermostable polymerase (in the presence of magnesium ions and deoxynucleotide triphosphates) and simultaneous measurement of the fluorescence. For one or more specific sequences in a DNA sample, real-time PCR enables both detection...
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Analytics of Surfactants in the Environment: Problems and Challenges
PublicationSurfactants (surface active agents = SAAs) are a group of compoundswith specific physicochemical properties (amphiphilicity,solubility in polar and nonpolar liquids, ability to form micelles,adsorption at phase boundaries).1,2 Because of their properties,surface-active compounds are widely applied in industry and thehousehold (e.g., in detergents, personal-care products, paints,pesticides, petroleum products). As their applications...
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Environmental risk assessment of Polish wastewater treatment plant activity
PublicationWastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) play an extremely important role in shaping modern society's environmental wellbeing and awareness, however only well operated and supervised systems can be considered as environmentally sustainable. For this reason, an attempt was undertaken to assess the environmental burden posed by WWTPs in major Polish cities by collecting water samples prior to and just after wastewater release points....
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Determination of cyanide ion in urine samples using ion chromatography with pulsed amperometric detection.
PublicationCyanides are widely applied in industrial activity, including gold and silver mining and the production of organic chemicals. HCN is also formed directly from fossil fuel combustion sources from gasoline and diesel vehicles. In natural environment, in plants seeds for example an apple seed, it exists as a cyanogenic glycosides. The amount of cyanide ions originating from food products is however rather small. Larger concentrations...