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Search results for: Organochlorine pollutants
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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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Sources and Fate of PAHs and PCBs in the Marine Environment
PublicationThe assessment of a hazard resulting from the pollution of the environment by chemical compounds is in principle limited to the determination of their concentrations in its various compartments. But for solving many problems in this context, knowledge of the emission sources, transport pathways, and sites of deposition is of great benefit. By far the largest amounts of pollutants, regardless of where they were discharged, end up...
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abiotic degradation of chlorinated ethanes and ethenes in water
PublicationIntroduction Chlorinated ethanes and ethenes are among themost frequently detected organic pollutants of water. Theirphysicochemical properties are such that they can contaminateaquifers for decades. In favourable conditions, they canundergo degradation. In anaerobic conditions, chlorinatedsolvents can undergo reductive dechlorination.Degradation pathways Abiotic dechlorination is usuallyslower than microbial but abiotic dechlorination...
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The use of bioassays in the analysis of environmental samples
PublicationToxicological tests are increasingly used as effective tool to complement the information obtained during the environmental monitoring. Moreover bioassays provide basic knowledge about the health effects of exposure to harmful factors associated with the environment. Toxicity tests might be a source of information about the content of pollutants in the sample, and the possibility of their interactions. They can be considered as...
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Influence of landfill leachate on municipal wastewater treatment - model plant(WWTP-MP)
PublicationAbstract In the current study, wastewater treatment model plant (WWTP-MP) was used to investigate the possibilities of landfill leachate co-treatment together with municipal wastewater. The WWT-MP, designed as an A2O multiphase system, was fed with the raw municipal wastewater (from the WWTP Gdańsk "Wschód'', Qav.=82x103 m3/d) with increasing, from 1 to 5 % (vol.), quantity of landfill leachate (collected from Gdańsk landfill ''Szadółki")....
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Isotope-labeled substances in analysis of persistent organicpollutants in environmental samples
PublicationUltratrace analysis of persistent organic pollutants (POPs) in environmental samples requires very sophisticated methods for both sample preparation and instrumental analysis. The complex matrix requires a multi-stage procedure. Each stage is a potential source of error, as a consequence of which the final result of analysis could be a source of misinformation rather than information. The individual stages and the procedure as...
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Determination of selected parameters/ analytes in surface water samples collected in the surroundings of the capital of Spitsbergen (Longyearbyen)
PublicationPolar regions are extremely sensitive to pollution such as harmful gases, particles or toxic substances which affect the Arctic climate and ecosystems. Spitsbergen, as well as all Arctic region, because of its geographically distant location and lack of industry sector, should be free of chemical pollution. Despite this, many pollutants could be found in the Polar environment, for example in freshwaters. Their occurrence is related...
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A review on electrospun membranes for potential air filtration application
PublicationAir pollution is one of the major environmental concerns in most highly populated cities, which is typically caused by particulate (PM2.5 and PM0.1) or gaseous pollutants that can be removed using electrospun membranes. These membranes are characterized by different features in terms of uniform and controllable structure, tuneable porosity, and high surface area, where their separation efficiency strongly depends on their properties....
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Is sequential batch reactor an efficient technology to protect recipient against non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs and paracetamol in treated wastewater?
PublicationThe tested facility was a wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) in Swarzewo, where the wastewater treatment takes place in aeration chambers with activated sludge using sequential batch reactors (SBRs). The concentration of the following pharmaceuticals: ibuprofen, paracetamol, flurbiprofen, naproxen, diclofenac, and its metabolites 5OH-diclofenac and 4OH-diclofenac was tested in influents and effluents. Simultaneously, the conventional...
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Removal of Pharmaceutically Active Compounds in Sequencing Batch Reactor
PublicationIn recent years, considerable attention was paid to the presence of organic micro-pollutants such as Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients (API) in the aquatic environment due to their negative impact on public health and aquatic ecosystems. Numerous papers have pointed out API presence as common constituents of effluents from Wastewater Treatment Plants (WWTPs). This is the result of various efficiencies of API removal by conventional...
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Selective adsorption of BTEX on calixarene-based molecular coordination network determined by 13C NMR spectroscopy
PublicationBenzene, toluene, ethylbenzene, and xylenes (BTEX), a class of volatile organic compounds, are harmful pollutants but also very important precursors in organic industrial chemistry. Among different approaches used for the BTEX treatment, the adsorption technology has been recognized as an efficient approach because it allows to recover and reuse both adsorbent and adsorbate. However, the selective adsorption of the components is...
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Treatment of malodorous air in biotrickling filters: A review
PublicationOdour nuisance, resulting mainly from the presence of the compounds containing osmophore group and characterized by low olfactory threshold, is associated with danger and may be the cause of negative psychosomatic symptoms. Among different methods of malodorous air treatment, biological methods are of importance, mainly due to reduced operating costs, high purification efficiency of voluminous gas streams characterized by low concentrations...
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Indoor air quality of everyday use spaces dedicated to specific purposes—a review
PublicationAccording to literature data, some of the main factors which significantly affect the quality of the indoor environment in residential households or apartments are human activities such as cooking, smoking, cleaning, and indoor exercising. The paper presents a literature overview related to air quality in everyday use spaces dedicated to specific purposes which are integral parts of residential buildings, such as kitchens, basements,...
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The role of analytical chemistry in the study of the Anthropocene
PublicationThe term “Anthropocene” refers to not yet formalized epoch of geologic time during which geologic processes have been dominated by the human impact. This impact takes on many forms. Biological, physical and chemical changes to the Earth System caused by anthropogenic activity are recorded in natural archives either as new fossil assemblages (neobiota), anthropogenic deposits or a wide variety of pollutants emitted to the environment....
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Thermodynamic modeling of combustion process of the internal combustion engines – an overview
PublicationThe mathematical description of combustion process in the internal combustion engines is a very difficult task, due to the variety of phenomena that occurring in the engine from the moment when the fuel-air mixture ignites up to the moment when intake and exhaust valves beginning open. Modeling of the combustion process plays an important role in the engine simulation, which allows to predict incylinder pressure during the combustion,...
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Long-term operation of Kickuth-type constructed wetland applied to municipal wastewater treatment in temperate climate
PublicationThe purpose of this paper is to discuss the problem of changes of effectiveness of Kickuth-type constructed wetland with subsurface flow applied to domestic wastewater treatment. This study is based on an example of a wetland 3000 m2 in surface, serving 800 inhabitants, located in Poland. The results of chemical analysis showed that after an initial year of ‘start-up time’, the efficiency of pollutant removal gradually increased...
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Warunki hydrogeochemiczne i podatność na zanieczyszczenie wód podziemnych w zlewni górnej Raduni
PublicationThe paper presents results of long-term studies in the Kashubian Lake district that have been completed with data gathered over the last five years. The purpose of this research was to assess a temporal variability of groundwater chemical composition and to analyze risk of pollutant migration to subsurface water. Investigation indicates local, however, significant anthropogenic influence on a shallow aquifers.The assessment of...
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Geographic information system for remote integration of diverse under-water acoustic sensor data
PublicationMaritime and port areas throughout the world are exposed to many different hazards, like pollution, terrorism and natural disasters. Early detection, identification and preparation of appropriateesponse strategies is especially important in the case of semi-enclosed basins like the Baltic Sea, mainly due to the marine ecosystems' continuous absorption of pollutants including oil, heavy metals and chemicals. Many of those agents...
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Spetiation of organic matter in Vertical Flow Constructed Wetlands
PublicationThe object of the research were VFCWs which are a component of biological treatment of two hybrid hydrophyte systems located in Wieszyno and Wiklino, close to Słupsk, Poland. The facilities that are subject to analyses are unified in terms of structure (filtration material, depth of the bed and time of operation), but they differ in organic matter load, amounting respectively to: 8.0 gCOD/m2day and 31.0 gCOD/m2day.The intensity...
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Towards an integrated assessment of environmental and human health impact of energy sector in Poland
PublicationReferat prezentuje system zintegrowanej oceny wpływu sektora energetycznego na stan środowiska i zdrowie ludzkie w Polsce. W podejściu wykorzystano kombinację modelu transportu zanieczyszczeń w powietrzu POLAIR 3D z modelem informacyjno-symulacyjnym RAINS. Model oszacowuje emisje i koncentracje zanieczyszczeń powietrza, koszty kontroli emisji zanieczyszczeń i inne koszty związane z różnymi scenariuszami rozwoju sektora energetycznego.The...
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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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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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Diamond protection for reusable ZnO coated fiber-optic measurement head in optoelectrochemical investigation of bisphenol A
PublicationDue to the global problem with plastic contaminating the environment, with bisphenol A (BPA) being one of the highest demand, effective monitoring and purification of the pollutants are required. The electrochemical methods constitute a good solution but, due to polymerization of electrochemical oxidation bisphenol A products and their adsorption to the surfaces, measurement head elements are clogged by the formed film. In this...
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Chemometric Evaluation of WWTPs’ Wastewaters and Receiving Surface Waters in Bulgaria
PublicationWastewater treatment plant (WWTP) installations are designed and operated to reduce the quantity of pollutants emitted to surface waters receiving treated wastewaters. In this work, we used classical instrumental studies (to determine chemicals and parameters under obligations put with Directive 91/271/EEC), ecotoxicological tools (Sinapis alba root growth inhibition (SA-RG) and Heterocypris incongruens mortality (MORT) and growth...
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A comprehensive assessment of environmental pollution by means of heavy metal analysis for oysters' reefs at Hab River Delta, Balochistan, Pakistan
PublicationThe heavy metal pollution status of oyster reefs has been assessed with respect to ten metals pollutants in seawater, sediments, and tissues of above two oysters (soft tissues and shells) for assessing the pollution status in a short food chain in Hab River Delta. The results showed that heavy metals accumulated in M. bilineata were higher than those in M. cuttackensis. Simultaneously, the population of M. bilineata species has...
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Removal of nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs and analgesics from wastewater by adsorption on cross-linked β-cyclodextrin
PublicationWe present a method using the material in the form of cross-linked β-cyclodextrin (CD) showing high efficiency in the simultaneous removal of hazardous pollutants from sewage, such as diclofenac (DIC), ibuprofen (IBU), ketoprofen (KETO), naproxen (NAPR), salicylic acid (SALI) and tramadol (TRAM). The material is stable and particularly easy to regenerate. The sorbent probably remembers the shape of the contaminants, which increases...
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Analytical and legislative challenges of sewage sludge processing and management
PublicationThis article presents the most popular methods of sewage sludge management and analytical techniques which could be a powerful tool in designing new sewage sludge management methods. Chemical analysis is also described as a vital point at the subsequent stages of technological processes control and sewage sludge quality assessment. It is also an instrument essential to maintaining control of processed sewage sludge introduced to...
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Meconium analysis as a promising diagnostic tool for monitoring fetal exposure to toxic substances: Recent trends and perspectives
PublicationPrenatal exposure to toxic substances is an important public health problem. Many biological specimens obtained from the fetus or mother are used for biomonitoring. Each material reflects exposure in a specific time period and has different advantages and disadvantages in terms of accuracy, time window of detection and cost/benefit ratio. Recently, meconium has become the matrix of choice in toxicology screening for detecting exposure...
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The influence of global climate change on the environmental fate of anthropogenic pollution released from the permafrost
PublicationThis article presents a review of information related to the influence of potential permafrost degradation on the environmental fate of chemical species which are relased and stored, classified as potential influence in future Antarctic environment. Considering all data regarding climate change prediction, this topic may prove important issue for the future state of the Antarctic environment. A detailed survey on soil and permafrost...
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Fate and significance of phthalates and bisphenol A in liquid by-products generated during municipal solid waste mechanical-biological pre-treatment and disposal
PublicationSamples of liquid by-products generated by municipal solid waste plants (MSWPs) were tested for the presence of phthalates (PAEs) and bisphenol A (BPA). The results indicated that the wastewater generated during mechanical (sorting unit - SU) and biological (composting unit - CU) pre-treatment (MBT) of residual (mixed) solid waste is a significant source of these compounds. The concentrations of PAEs (up to 32222 lg/L) and BPA...
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Problems and challenges associated with estimating the emissions of organic compounds from indoor materials
PublicationFor several years intensive research has been carried out with the aim of developing a database of the types and amounts of pollutants released from indoor materials to the indoor environment. The paper discusses in detail basic problems and challenges encountered when estimating the emissions of chemical compounds released from of indoor materials. Factors affecting the validity of data obtained by using two different types of...
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Characteristics of odors emitted from municipal wastewater treatment plant and methods for their identification and deodorization techniques
PublicationOdors emitted from municipal wastewater treatment plants belong to a group of pollutants, which is the main cause of people complaining about atmospheric air quality. The limitation of emissions of unpleasant odors generated by wastewater treatment plants by using appropriate deodorization methods is omitted on numerous occasions. This can have a negative inflence on public trust and the quality of atmospheric air. The article...
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Direct-Ultrasonic Assisted Microextraction Coupled with RTL-GC-FID/GC-MS as a Future Standard Procedure for Monitoring 26 potentially Allergenic Fragrances in Water Samples
PublicationThis research topic grew up as a result of awareness of constant anthropogenic and natural input to the environment constituents of personal care products (PCPs) residues. This group of emerging pollutants encompasses a wide range of chemicals, including potentially allergenic fragrance compounds. The aim of the present study was to investigate presence of 26 fragrance allergens in water samples. Simple and rapid methodology based...
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Honey bees and their products - bioindicators of environmental contamination
PublicationHuman activities produce contaminants, the amounts and toxicity of which often exceed the environment’s homeostatic capacity to cleanse itself. Hence, the systematic analysis and monitoring of the environment is increasingly a matter of urgency. Honey bees, thanks to their morphological features, and also bee products are regarded as good indicators of environmental pollution by toxic substances, be these heavy metals, radioactive...
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Utilization of rapeseed pellet from fatty acid methyl esters production as an energy source
PublicationRapeseed pellet – crushed seed residue from oil extraction is a by-product of fatty acid methyl esters production process. As other types of biomass, it can either be burned directly in furnaces or processed to increase its energetic value. Biomass is renewable, abundant and has domestic usage; the sources of biomass can help the world reduce its dependence on petroleum products, fossil coal and natural gas. Energetically effective...
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Determination of hormones in water samples using liquid chromatography coupled with tandem mass spectrometry
PublicationOver the past few years, many synthetic (ethinylestradiol) and natural (estradiol,estriol, estrone) compounds present in the environment have been affecting the hormonalbalance of humans and animals. Steroid hormones are very often used for medical purposesand have high estrogenic activity what makes them endocrine disrupters. Most hormonalcompounds are released into the water as a result of their incomplete removal in wastewatertreatment...
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Tuning the photocatalytic performance through magnetization in Co-Zn ferrite nanoparticles
PublicationIn this work, the link between the photocatalytic performance of Co-Zn ferrite nanoparticles and the net magnetic moment is analyzed. CoxZn1-xFe2O4 nanoparticles (0 ≤ x ≤ 1) were synthesized by co-precipitation method and different physicochemical techniques were employed to characterize the samples (X-ray diffraction, Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM), BET surface area, Diffuse Reflectance Spectroscopy (DRS), Photoluminescence spectroscopy,...
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VOCs absorption from gas streams using deep eutectic solvents – A review
PublicationVolatile organic compounds (VOCs) are one of the most severe atmospheric pollutants. They are mainly emitted into the atmosphere from anthropogenic sources such as automobile exhaust, incomplete fuel combustion, and various industrial processes. VOCs not only cause hazards to human health or the environment but also adversely affect industrial installation components due to their specific properties, i.e., corrosive and reactivity....
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Design Equation for Stirring Fluid by a Stream Pump in a Circulating Tank
PublicationA circulating tank is a very useful theoretical scheme for many fluid-flow objects in several branches of engineering. The motion of the fluid in such objects can be induced in different ways. A stream pump provides an especially interesting possibility; however, the quantitative description of such devices shows some shortcomings. Such a device is analogous to a jet pump, thus has similar advantages (simplicity of construction,...
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Comparative Evaluation of Selected Biological Methods for the Removal of Hydrophilic and Hydrophobic Odorous VOCs from Air
PublicationDue to increasingly stringent legal regulations as well as increasing social awareness, the removal of odorous volatile organic compounds (VOCs) from air is gaining importance. This paper presents the strategy to compare selected biological methods intended for the removal of different air pollutants, especially of odorous character. Biofiltration, biotrickling filtration and bioscrubbing technologies are evaluated in terms of...
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The effect of anthropogenic activity on BTEX, NO2, SO2, and CO concentrations in urban air of the spa city of Sopot and medium-industrialized city of Tczew located in North Poland
PublicationThe major goal of the present study is to compare the air quality of two urban locations situated in Northern Poland – the spa City of Sopot and the medium-industrialized city of Tczew using chemometric methods. As a criterion for the assessment of atmospheric air quality, measurements of benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene and total xylenes were used (collected from atmospheric air using diffusion-type passive samplers) as well as...
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Landfill leachate treatment at a pilot plant using hydrophyte systems
PublicationConstructed wetlands can provide an effective and economical solution to landfill leachate treatment. In the article the performance of a CW for leachate treatment, consisting of two horizontal flow constructed wetlands (HF-CW) beds, working at the municipal landfill in Gdansk-Szadolki in the period 2004-2005 is being discussed. The plant has been operating since 2001. Clogging problems and surface flow occurred in the system...
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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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Optimization of hydrodynamic vortex separator for removal of sand particles from storm water by computational fluid dynamics
PublicationStorm water treatment has been gradually acknowledged for the removal of pollutants from urban areas using the hydro cyclone separation technique. The separation efficiency of the hydrodynamic vortex separator (HDVS) is a complex phenomenon. With the aim enhance the separation potency of HDVS for storm runoff to get rid of sand particles, the HDVS with different structural configurations was studied by computational fluid dynamics....
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Comparison of PCBs and PAHs levels in European coastal waters using mussels from the Mytilus edulis complex as biomonitors
PublicationMussels from the Mytilus edulis complex were used as biomonitors for two groups of organic pollutants: polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs, congeners: 28, 52, 101, 118, 138, 153 and 180) and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs, naphthalene, acenaphthylene, acenaphthene, fluorene, phenanthrene, anthracene, fluoranthene, pyrene, benz(a)anthracene, chrysene, benzo(b)fluoranthene, benzo(k)fluoranthene, benzo(a)pyrene, indeno(1,2,3-cd)pyrene,...
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Determination of Selected Organic Acids in Animal Farm Water Samples by Ion Chromatography
PublicationLow molecular mass carboxylic acids (LCAs) occur in many environmental compartments due to natural processes and human activity. They are an important group of organic pollutants of waste water that mainly includes, volatile fatty acids, and also dicarboxylic, aromatic, hydroxy- and ketoacids. LCAs are present in the environment at concentrations between 1 to 5000 ppm and different methods have been reported for their determination...
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Gentiana asclepiadea exerts antioxidant activity and enhances DNA repair of hydrogen peroxide- and silver nanoparticles-induced DNA damage
PublicationExposure to high levels of different environmental pollutants is known to be associated with induction of DNA damage in humans. Thus DNA repair is of great importance in preventing mutations and contributes crucially to the prevention of cancer. In our study we have focused on quantitative analysis of Gentiana asclepiadea aqueous or methanolic extracts obtained from flower and haulm, their antioxidant potency in ABTS post-column...
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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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MORPHOLOGY OF BUILDING DEVELOPMENT AS AN ELEMENT OF URBAN VENTIALTION SYSTEM
PublicationProblems related to air quality in large urban agglomerations (e.g., high concentration of pollutants, the urban heat island phenomenon) make it necessary to take comprehensive measures to improve air exchange in urban areas.The article concerns the relationship between wind phenomena observable in cities and the geometrical features of building development. The knowledge on the subject is already well-founded and has been intensively...
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Novel Structures and Applications of Graphene-Based Semiconductor Photocatalysts: Faceted Particles, Photonic Crystals, Antimicrobial and Magnetic Properties
PublicationGraphene, graphene oxide, reduced graphene oxide and their composites with various compounds/materials have high potential for substantial impact as cheap photocatalysts, which is essential to meet the demands of global activity, offering the advantage of utilizing “green” solar energy. Accordingly, graphene-based materials might help to reduce reliance on fossil fuel supplies and facile remediation routes to achieve clean environment...