17 research outputs found
Urban deciduous tree leaves as biomonitors of trace element (As, V and Cd) atmospheric pollution in Belgrade, Serbia
Leaves of common deciduous trees: horse chestnut (Aesculus hippocastanum) and linden (Tilia spp.) from three parks within the urban area of Belgrade were studied as biomonitors of trace element (As, V, and Cd) atmospheric pollution. The MayāSeptember trace element accumulation in the leaves, and their temporal trends, were assayed in a multi-year period (2002ā2006). Significant accumulation in the leaves was evident for As and V, but not so regularly for Cd. Slightly decreasing temporal trends of V and As ac-cumulated in the leaf tissues were observed over the years. During the time span, the concentrations of Cd remained approximately on the same level, except in May 2002 and September 2005, when a rapid increase was observed. The MayāSeptember accumulations of As and V were higher in horse chestnut than in linden, although both may be used as biomonitors for these elements, and optionally for Cd in conditions of its high atmospheric loadings
Critical behavior of the long-range Ising chain from the largest-cluster probability distribution
Monte Carlo simulations of the 1D Ising model with ferromagnetic interactions
decaying with distance as are performed by applying the
Swendsen-Wang cluster algorithm with cumulative probabilities. The critical
behavior in the non-classical critical regime corresponding to is derived from the finite-size scaling analysis of the largest cluster.Comment: 4 pages, 2 figures, in RevTeX, to appear in Phys. Rev. E (Feb 2001
Trace elements in size-segregated urban aerosol in relation to the anthropogenic emission sources and the resuspension
Size segregated particulate samples of atmospheric aerosols in urban site of continental part of Balkans were collected during 6 months in 2008. Six stages impactor in the size ranges: Dpāā¤ā0.49 Ī¼m, 0.49ā<āDpāā¤ā0.95 Ī¼m, 0.95ā<āDpāā¤ā1.5 Ī¼m, 1.5ā<āDpāā¤ā3.0 Ī¼m, 3.0ā<āDpāā¤ā7.2 Ī¼m, and 7.2ā<āDpāā¤ā10.0 Ī¼m was applied for sampling. ICP-MS was used to quantify elements: Al, As, Bi, Ca, Cd, Co, Cr, Cu, Fe, Ga, K, Li, Na, Ni, Mg, Mn, Pb, Sb, V, and Zn. Two main groups of elements were investigated: (1) K, V, Ni, Zn, Pb, As, and Cd with high domination in nuclei mode indicating the combustion processes as a dominant sources and (2) Al, Fe, Ca, Mg, Na, Cr, Ga, Co, and Li in coarse mode indicating mechanical processes as their main origin. The strictly crustal origin is for Mg, Fe, Ca, and Co while for As, Cd, K, V, Ni, Cu, Pb, and Zn dominates the anthropogenic influence. The PCA analysis has shown that main contribution is of resuspension (PC1, Ļ2āāā30 %) followed by traffic (PC2, Ļ2āāā20 %) that are together contributing around 50 % of elements in the investigated urban aerosol. The EF model shows that major origin of Cd, K, V, Ni, Cu, Pb, Zn, and As in the fine mode is from the anthropogenic sources while increase of their contents in the coarse particles indicates their deposition from the atmosphere and soil contamination. This approach is useful for the assessment of the local resuspension influence on elementās contents in the aerosol and also for the evaluation of the historical pollution of soil caused by deposition of metals from the atmosphere
Paleogeographic evolution of the Southern Pannonian Basin: 40Ar/39Ar age constraints on the Miocene continental series of notthern Croatia
The Pannonian Basin, originating during the
Early Miocene, is a large extensional basin incorporated
between Alpine, Carpathian and Dinaride fold-thrust belts.
Back-arc extensional tectonics triggered deposition of up to
500-m-thick continental fluvio-lacustrine deposits distributed
in numerous sub-basins of the Southern Pannonian
Basin. Extensive andesitic and dacitic volcanism accompanied
the syn-rift deposition and caused a number of
pyroclastic intercalations. Here, we analyze two volcanic
ash layers located at the base and top of the continental
series. The lowermost ash from Mt. Kalnik yielded an
40Ar/39Ar age of 18.07 Ā± 0.07 Ma. This indicates that the
marine-continental transition in the Slovenia-Zagorje
Basin, coinciding with the onset of rifting tectonics in the
Southern Pannonian Basin, occurs roughly at the Eggenburgian/
Ottnangian boundary of the regional Paratethys
time scale. This age proves the synchronicity of initial
rifting in the Southern Pannonian Basin with the beginning
of sedimentation in the Dinaride Lake System. Beside
geodynamic evolution, the two regions also share a biotic
evolutionary history: both belong to the same ecoregion,
which we designate here as the Illyrian Bioprovince. The
youngest volcanic ash level is sampled at the Glina and
Karlovac sub-depressions, and both sites yield the same
40Ar/39Ar age of 15.91 Ā± 0.06 and 16.03 Ā± 0.06 Ma,
respectively. This indicates that lacustrine sedimentation in
the Southern Pannonian Basin continued at least until the
earliest Badenian. The present results provide not only
important bench marks on duration of initial synrift in the
Pannonian Basin System, but also deliver substantial
backbone data for paleogeographic reconstructions in
Central and Southeastern Europe around the EarlyāMiddle
Miocene transition
Active biomonitoring of potentially toxic elements in urban air by two distinct moss species and two analytical techniques: a panāSoutheastern European study
This is the first study to use moss transplants as a biomonitoring technique and inductively plasma mass spectrometry to investigate airborne potentially toxic element pollution and air quality in urban areas on a regional scale across nine Southeastern European countries. The mosses in bags were exposed for 2 months during the winter season (2019/2020) at five sites in each of the selected urban areas next to air quality (AQ) monitoring stations. The sites were selected concerning different land use classes (typical urban, residential, urban background, and rural sites). The concentrations of 35 elements were determined using inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry. A comparison with elemental analysis performed by total reflection X-ray fluorescence is also presented. Concentrations of the potentially toxic element in moss bags exposed in urban areas were significantly higher, while those exposed in rural areas did not differ significantly from the initial content of unexposed moss. Linear regression analysis revealed no significant differences between the average concentrations of elements in H. cupressiforme and S. girgensohnii moss bags (linearity R2 = 0.94). It shows similar trends in elements in both moss species. The median values of contamination factors in both moss species ranged mostly from 1.2 to 2.17, indicating the exposure sites show no contamination to slight contamination status (C1 to C2 scales). High values of relative accumulation factors were found for Cr, Cu, Fe, Ni, Sb, and V in moss bags, indicating these elements are the most abundant in most sampling sites, which may increase human exposure through inhalation and could lead to harmful health problems
Measuring and comparing the carbon footprints of different procurement models for primary school meals: analysis of cases across five European countries
The study presented in this chapter sought to assess the sustainability outcomes of different procurement models for primary school meals services in five European countries. Based on environmental impact analysis, this chapter reports on the size and composition of the carbon footprints of the procurement models and analyses the contributions to overall carbon emissions of the various activities in the supply chains for meals services. It was found that while the transportation of food by suppliers to schools contributed somewhat to overall carbon footprints, other variables have a more significant impact, in particular the amount of meat on the menu and the choice of waste disposal method. The chapter concludes by discussing which actions stakeholders should prioritize to improve the environmental impacts of public food procurement. The research for this chapter was funded under European Union H2020 grant agreement 678024