The impact of ship traffic and harbor activities on the atmospheric pollution in two northern adriatic ports: Venice and Rijeka

The aim of the POSEIDON project is to quantify the relative contribution of maritime traffic and harbor activities to atmospheric pollutants concentration in four port-cities of the Adriatic Sea. This study focuses on the harbors of Venice and Rijeka. In order to investigate the main pollution sources, emission inventories were used as input for receptor models: PMF (positive matrix factorization) and PCA (principal components analysis); moreover source identification was also conducted using PAHs diagnostic ratios. The ship traffic impact was quantified: i) on gaseous and particulate PAHs, collected using a new method which consisted in a double simultaneous sampling, in different wind sectors; ii) applying PMF to data of metals, PAHs and ions in PM10; iii) using the vanadium concentration according to the Agrawal methodology

Basic ISO standards related to the quality and safety/security in health care institutions

Health systems are under significant pressure in many countries. Every day, with the introduction of new methods/techniques, expensive equipment of high technological value, the latest very expensive drugs... the price of health care is growing much faster than the growth of the national product and the most developed countries, despite the fact that in many countries the percentage of health expenditures in the national product is growing. Funding constraints in health systems are evident even in wealthy countries. The cost of health care is significantly influenced by: the increase in the number of the population, changes in the age structure of the population, constant demands for increasing the level of quality of health services, as well as an increase in the demand for new services. The application of international management standards in healthcare institutions and in state institutions in charge of healthcare can significantly alleviate evident problems in healthcare

Impact of maritime transport on particulate matter concentrations and chemical compositions in four port-cities of the Adriatic/Ionian area: an overview of the results of POSEIDON project

Pollutant emissions from ships and harbour activities constitute an important source of pollution of coastal areas with potential influences on the climate and the health of their inhabitants. A recent review (Viana et al., 2014) shows that these emissions could have an important impact on the Mediterranean and that there is a lack of data for the Eastern and South-Eastern part of this area. This work presents an analysis of the impact of ship emissions to atmospheric particle concentrations (PM) in four important port-cities (Patras Greece, Brindisi and Venice Italy, and Rijeka Croatia) of the Adriatic/Ionian area. The study was performed within the POSEIDON project (Pollution monitoring of ship emissions: an integrated approach for harbours of the Adriatic basin, funded within the MED Programme 2007-2013). The study uses an integrated approach using emission inventories, dispersion modelling and measurements taken at high temporal resolution (1 min) and low temporal resolution for chemical characterization of PM. The emission inventories of the four port-cities show that ships contribute between 11.7% and 31.0% of the total PM emissions being a source locally comparable with road traffic (ranging between 11.8% and 26.6%). The source apportionment using the receptor model PMF showed and oil combustion source (that includes ship emissions), characterized by V and Ni, in Brindisi, Venice and Rijeka with V/Ni ratio ranging between 1.4 and 4.2 indicating local differences in chemical profiles of the emissions. The V concentrations were used to evaluate the contributions of primary ship emissions to PM (Agrawal et al., 2009) that resulted between 1.3% and 2.8%. The contribution to secondary sulphate was 11% of PM2.5 in Brindisi (Cesari et al., 2014). The analysis of high-temporal resolution measurements taken near the harbour areas of Venice, Patras and Brindisi showed a contribution of ship emissions to PM2.5 varying between 3.5% and 7.4%. The relative contribution to particle number concentrations (PNC) was larger at all sites (between 6% and 26%). This demonstrates that ship particulate missions include mainly small and ultrafine particles. The trend of the impact of passenger ships primary emissions to PM2.5 concentrations in Venice between 2007 and 2012 showed a decrease from 7% (+-1%) to 3.5% (+-1%) even if the gross tonnage of ship traffic increased in the same period by 47% (Contini et al., 2015). This was a consequence of the use of low-sulphur content fuels due to the application of local mitigation strategies and of the European Directive 2005/33/EC. The WRF-CAMx modeling system was applied over the Central and Eastern Mediterranean so as to identify the air quality impact of ship emissions. The zero-out modelling method was implemented involving model simulations performed while including and omitting the ship emissions. The results for both gaseous and particulate pollutant concentrations generally show a fairly good agreement with observations at the areas under study. Agrawal et al., 2009. Environmental Science and Technology 43, 5398-5402. Cesari et al., 2014. Science of the Total Environment 497-498, 392-400. Contini et al., 2015. Atmospheric Environment 102, 183-190. Viana et al., 2014. Atmospheric Environment 90, 96-105

Quality of Zeolite in the Function of Size Class

Badanie parametrów jakościowych zeolitów ze złóż Igroš i Donje Jesenje zostało przeprowadzone odrębnie dla różnych klas ziarnowych. Celem tych badań było wskazanie znaczenia selekcji i procedury przygotowania surowca na parametry jakościowe poszczególnych klas ziarnowych, co ma skutkować osiągnięciem wymaganych parametrów jakościowych przez otrzymywany zestaw produktów zeolitowych. Rezultaty badań wskazują, że zeolity ze złóż Igroš i Donje Jesenje różnią się pod względem parametrów jakościowych w przypadku niektórych klas ziarnowych. Podczas gdy próbka zeolitu ze złoża Igroš wykazuje lepsze parametry jakościowe w przypadku klas drobniejszych, to w przypadku próbki ze złoża Donje Jesenje lepesze parametry jakościowe wykazuje klasa ziarnowa –2,4 +0,4 mm. Pojemność wymiany kationowej (CEC) zeolitu ze złoża Igroš jest najwyższa – 161,25 meq/100 g – dla klasy ziarnowej –5 +2,4 mm, podczas gdy w przypadku zeolitu ze złoża Donje Jesenje najwyższa wartość tego parametru – 163,97 meq/100 g – była stwierdzona dla klasy –0,4 +0,063 mm. Przeprowadzone badania rentgenograficzne wykazały, że skład mineralny próbek zeolitów ze złóż Igroš i Donje Jesenje znacznie się różni: wyższy udział minerałów grupy zeolitów był zaobserwowany w grubszych klasach ziarnowych surowca ze złoża Igroš, podczas gdy w surowcu ze złoża Donje Jasenje wyższy udział zeolitów był stwierdzony dla klasy najdrobniejszej –0,063 +0 mm, przy współobecności skaleni i niewielkim udziale klinoptylolitu. Rezultaty badań wskazują, że niezbędne jest w przypadku tych materiałów zastosowanie metod klasyfikacji ziarnowej i otrzymywania najdrobniejszych klas ziarnowych, by możliwe było otrzymanie zestawu produktów zeolitowych o wymaganych parametrach jakościowych.Testing of the quality of zeolite from the Igroš and Donje Jesenje deposits was carried out by size classes. The objective of the testing was to point out the importance of the selection of the preparation procedure in determining the quality of individual size classes provide the required quality of zeolite product range. The results indicate that the Igroš and Donje Jesenje zeolite deposits differ by the quality of some size classes. While the Igroš sample has better quality of fine size classes, in the case of the Donje Jesenje deposit, the sample size class –2.4 +0.4mm indicates better quality. Specifically, the cation exchange capacity (CEC) of the Igroš zeolite is the highest at 161.25 meq/100g in the case of size class –5 +2.4 mm, while the highest CEC of zeolite from the Donje Jesenje deposits, 163.97 meq/100g, was found for the class –0.4 +0.063 mm. The results of XRD analyses showed that the mineral content was distributed differently in the Igroš sample relative to the Donje Jesenje sample. The XRPD results showed a higher content of zeolite minerals in coarse size classes of the Igroš sample, while in the Donje Jasenje zeolite, the size class of –0.063 +0 mm, and the presence of feldspar and lower content of clinoptilotite were observed. These results indicate that it is necessary to use the methods for obtaining finer size classes and classification in order to achieve the required quality of zeolite product range

Jakość zeolitów jako funkcja ich uziarnienia

Badanie parametrów jakościowych zeolitów ze złóż Igroš i Donje Jesenje zostało przeprowadzone odrębnie dla różnych klas ziarnowych. Celem tych badań było wskazanie znaczenia selekcji i procedury przygotowania surowca na parametry jakościowe poszczególnych klas ziarnowych, co ma skutkować osiągnięciem wymaganych parametrów jakościowych przez otrzymywany zestaw produktów zeolitowych. Rezultaty badań wskazują, że zeolity ze złóż Igroš i Donje Jesenje różnią się pod względem parametrów jakościowych w przypadku niektórych klas ziarnowych. Podczas gdy próbka zeolitu ze złoża Igroš wykazuje lepsze parametry jakościowe w przypadku klas drobniejszych, to w przypadku próbki ze złoża Donje Jesenje lepesze parametry jakościowe wykazuje klasa ziarnowa –2,4 +0,4 mm. Pojemność wymiany kationowej (CEC) zeolitu ze złoża Igroš jest najwyższa – 161,25 meq/100 g – dla klasy ziarnowej –5 +2,4 mm, podczas gdy w przypadku zeolitu ze złoża Donje Jesenje najwyższa wartość tego parametru – 163,97 meq/100 g – była stwierdzona dla klasy –0,4 +0,063 mm. Przeprowadzone badania rentgenograficzne wykazały, że skład mineralny próbek zeolitów ze złóż Igroš i Donje Jesenje znacznie się różni: wyższy udział minerałów grupy zeolitów był zaobserwowany w grubszych klasach ziarnowych surowca ze złoża Igroš, podczas gdy w surowcu ze złoża Donje Jasenje wyższy udział zeolitów był stwierdzony dla klasy najdrobniejszej –0,063 +0 mm, przy współobecności skaleni i niewielkim udziale klinoptylolitu. Rezultaty badań wskazują, że niezbędne jest w przypadku tych materiałów zastosowanie metod klasyfikacji ziarnowej i otrzymywania najdrobniejszych klas ziarnowych, by możliwe było otrzymanie zestawu produktów zeolitowych o wymaganych parametrach jakościowych.Testing of the quality of zeolite from the Igroš and Donje Jesenje deposits was carried out by size classes. The objective of the testing was to point out the importance of the selection of the preparation procedure in determining the quality of individual size classes provide the required quality of zeolite product range. The results indicate that the Igroš and Donje Jesenje zeolite deposits differ by the quality of some size classes. While the Igroš sample has better quality of fine size classes, in the case of the Donje Jesenje deposit, the sample size class –2.4 +0.4mm indicates better quality. Specifically, the cation exchange capacity (CEC) of the Igroš zeolite is the highest at 161.25 meq/100g in the case of size class –5 +2.4 mm, while the highest CEC of zeolite from the Donje Jesenje deposits, 163.97 meq/100g, was found for the class –0.4 +0.063 mm. The results of XRD analyses showed that the mineral content was distributed differently in the Igroš sample relative to the Donje Jesenje sample. The XRPD results showed a higher content of zeolite minerals in coarse size classes of the Igroš sample, while in the Donje Jasenje zeolite, the size class of –0.063 +0 mm, and the presence of feldspar and lower content of clinoptilotite were observed. These results indicate that it is necessary to use the methods for obtaining finer size classes and classification in order to achieve the required quality of zeolite product range

Atmospheric impact of ship traffic in four Adriatic-Ionian port-cities: Comparison and harmonization of different approaches

Shipping is a growing transport sector representing a relevant share of atmospheric pollutant emissions at global scale. In the Mediterranean Sea, shipping affects air quality of coastal urban areas with potential hazardous effects on both human health and climate. The high number of different approaches for investigating this aspect limits the comparability of results. Furthermore, limited information regarding the inter-annual trends of shipping impacts is available. In this work, an approach integrating emission inventory, numerical modelling (WRF-CAMx modelling system), and experimental measurements at high and low temporal resolution is used to investigate air quality shipping impact in the Adriatic/Ionian area focusing on four port-cities: Brindisi and Venice (Italy), Patras (Greece), and Rijeka (Croatia). Results showed shipping emissions of particulate matter (PM) and NOx comparable to road traffic emissions at all port-cities, with larger contributions to local SO2 emissions. Contributions to PM2.5 ranged between 0.5% (Rijeka) and 7.4% (Brindisi), those to PM10 were between 0.3% (Rijeka) and 5.8% (Brindisi). Contributions to particle number concentration (PNC) showed an impact 2-4 times larger with respect to that on mass concentrations. Shipping impact on gaseous pollutants are larger than those to PM. The contribution to total polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAHs) concentrations was 82% in Venice and 56% in Brindisi, with a different partition gas-particle because of different meteorological conditions. The inter-annual trends analysis showed the primary contribution to PM concentrations decreasing, due to the implementation of the European legislation on the use of low-sulphur content fuels. This effect was not present on other pollutants like PAHs. (C) 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved