Airborne Toxic Pollutants

Most of the deaths linked to environmental exposure are attributed to air pollution (World Health Organization [WHO]/IER 2009). Atmospheric emissions are theoretically able to disperse maximally when in gaseous state. This is a property that has been put to use in chemical warfare using sarin (Murakami 2003) or pentafluorophenylarsenic oxide among many other toxic war gases (Rettenmeier 2004). However, the atmosphere is not a perfect gas, and precipitation, wind, and topography lead to a heterogeneous distribution of both pollutants in the air and deposition

Bioenergy solutions

Generally, energy is defined as the capacity to do work, and it is basic to understand life. Life is a state of activity controlled genetically and driven by energy to maintain and reproduce its cellular organization (Mendoza and Mendoza 2011). What is surprising is that all known living organisms share the same energy and cell synthesis processes

Bioenergy Principles and Applications

The following can be credited to Gibbs and Helmholtz: the internal energy of a system is made up by reactants, where H is the energy contained by the number of chemical bonds in a given volume; G is the available energy to do work (movement, growth, maintenance, reproduction); S is entropy (energy loss); and T is temperature of a reaction (Gaudy and Gaudy, 1980). When a biochemical reaction takes place

Peninsular Pronghorn Conservation: Too Many Paradigms, too few indicators

Pronghorn (Antilocapra americana) is the only member of the Antilocapridae family, and differs from bovids, cervids and other ruminants. It is found in North American deserts and grasslands (Fig. 1). Pronghorn is the second fastest land animal but can run for much longer than cheetah. Antilocapridae evolved in North America and were a successful family thanks to digestive and temperature regulation evolutions. These evolutions probably were a response to climate becoming highly seasonal about 34 million years ago, with glaciations alternating every 41-100 thousand years with temperatures slightly warmer than today, and millennial cycles of 2oC local cooling (Maslin, 2009). Lacking equivalent temperature regulation equus including horses came close to extinction (Mitchell and Lust, 2008; Kulemzina et al., 2014)

Pollution: The Pathogenic and Xenobiotic Exposome of Humans and the need for Technological Change

The available dominant water, energy, and food (WEF) technologies are responsible for the expansion of pathogenic exposure via climate change and land change at the global scale: there are 1415 known pathogens and 175 are emerging ones, described in the last 40 years. Expansion of xenobiotic exposure is occurring due to the production of 250,000 compounds and an average of 4400 new ones each year. Avariety of pathogenic and WEF xenobiotic agents affecting the human species is charted here. The basal pathogenic human exposome (or lifelong exposure) and the anthropogenic exposome expansion are related to the human bodily systems, to highlight concurrent damages. Foremost among interactions are cancers, which most often result from several mutations after exposure to pathogens or xenobiotics. Of particular interest are emerging pathogens with different bodily effects, and pathogen–xenobiotic interactions, which affect the reproductive/ endocrine/developmental systems: these systems are under anthropogenic evolutionary pressure. WEF technologies form an intertwined nexus such that phaseout of a few dominant but obsolete technologies can effect crucial changes in current human health trends. Prevention is of essence, which means that already available, sustainable, technologies have to be implemented

Water appropriation and ecosystem stewardship in the Baja Desert

The UNESCO San Francisco Rock Paintings polygon within El Vizcaino Biosphere Reserve in the Baja California Peninsula derives its moisture from the North American monsoon. There, ranchers have depended on the desert since the 18th century. More recently, the desert has depended on the environmental stewardship of the ranchers who have allayed mining exploitation and archaeological looting. Using a Rapid Assessment Procedure (RAP), climate data, and geographical information, sustainability was assessed and foreseeable risks identified, on behalf of the Reserve. The results showed that the costs of stewardship were in terms of water appropriation and livestock herbivory. The socio-ecological system also faced hydrological risks derived from runoff, high evaporation rates and climate change. Additional risks stemmed from the increasing global demand for minerals, including hydrocarbons, found in the Reserve. These external drivers could substantially alter the attitudes of the ranchers or the land tenure. Land abandonment might become possible as children and women seemed to out-migrate from the polygon. Solutions were identified based on the supply and demand for water and should enhance resilience via watershed management and in-ranch water appropriate technologies

Solar and Geothermal Energies Are Sustainable; Nuclear Power Is Not

Nuclear fusion taking place in the sun is safe to use directly as photovoltaic (PV) and concentrated thermal energy or indirectly as wind, wave, or tide energy. Nuclear decay in the Earth’s interior is also harnessed, with Iceland setting the pace for reliable whole-country supply of geothermal energy. Conversely, nuclear fission is an ill-understood process making nuclear technologies’ failures surprisingly regular. This chapter addresses the sustainability of the foregoing types of radiation energy sources. It first highlights the supply of incident solar energy that can power the geosphere and biosphere and cater to the needs of a thriving future human civilization. Second, the technological conditions for sustainable geothermal energy (SGE) are examined. Third, while discounting weak antinuclear arguments (public perceptions), it shows the absence of technical conditions for sustainable fission nuclear power

Phosphorus release kinetics in a soil amended with biosolids and vermicompost

Wastewater biosolids are large potential sources of macronutrients for agriculture, conservation and restoration of soils; there are, however, few studies on phosphorus (P) release in soils amended with biosolids. Biosolids and vermicomposted biosolids were tested in concentrations (5–30 g amendment kg-1 soil) equivalent to 18–100 Mg ha-1. Desorption of P was determined by successive extractions for 65 days. Soil P was low, and biosolid and vermicompost addition released 8 and 6 times more P, respectively, than soil alone. To describe the release of P, zero-, first- and second-order equations, simple Elovich and power functions and the parabolic diffusion lawwere compared based on their coefficient of determination (r2) and standard error (SE). In all treatments, the power function and especially the parabolic diffusion law were the best fit, with 0.898–0.996 r2 and 0.022–0.732 SE. The general behavior of the kinetic parameters mostly depended on the amendment doses. Eutrophication posited to start beyond 16 mg P kg-1 soil was more likely allayed by a maximum vermicompost dose of 50 Mg ha-1, higher than the 36 Mg ha-1 maximum biosolid dose. The higher vermicompost P addition and lower P release could favor gradual and longer-term P absorption by plants and may reduce leaching or runoff P losses

Aislamiento de bacterias resistentes y transformadoras de Cr(VI) y Metil Paratión

El río Lerma está poblado por diversas bacterias que se han vuelto resistentes a los contaminantes presentes. Algunas de estas bacterias son capaces de transformar algunos contaminantes a sustancias menos tóxicas. Tres cepas aisladas de sedimentos del Río Lerma resistieron concentraciones superiores a 207 mg L-1 de Cr(VI) y lo transformaron. La capacidad de transformación del Cr(VI) en orden descendente fue: Pseudomonas entomophila L48 > Pseudomonas cedrina CFML 96- 198 > Pseudomonas graminis DSM 11363. Por otro lado, ocho cepas con diferentes porcentajes de transformación de metil paratión (PM) fueron aisladas. Las cepas resistieron concentraciones superiores a 1,052 mg L-1. La capacidad de trasformación del PM en orden descendente fue: Comamonas testosteroni KS 0043 > Achromobacter denitrifi cans DSM 30026> Rhodococcus qingshengii djl-6 >Achromobacter spanius LMG 5911 > Pseudomonas meridiana CMS 38 > Pseudomonas veronii CIP 104663 > Pseudomonas nitroreducens IAM 1439 > Microbacterium esteraromaticum DSM 8609. Estas bacterias presentan un potencial biotecnológico en la remediación de cuerpos de agua o en tratamientos de agua para uso industrial

Sustainable remediation of antibacterials, metals and DNA

The global antibacterial crisis requires urgent attention from environmental engineering and bioengineering. Here, unit operation efficiencies are assessed, in a novel water treatment train capable of remediating antibacterials, metals and DNA. This technological cycle relies on bioremediation, high temperature and pressure. The analyses used 14C-respirometry, spectrometry, and a set of molecular analyses. Multiresistant bacteria hold antibacterial resistance genes (ARGs); they were harnessed for bioremediation of pollutant mixtures. Treatment efficiencies were 25-71% for 8-days aerobic metal reduction and removal (CrVI: 255, Cd: 0.65, and Pb: 0.65 mg L-1 initial concentrations); 34.8% erythromycin (ERY) 20-days biodegradation (from 750 mg L-1). The anaerobic digestion (AD) bioremediated mixed antibacterials (65-73% in 60 days from initial 100 mg L-1). However, high concentrations of mixed antibacterials (SMX+ERY) induced stronger inhibition of enzymatic activity, higher sensitivity of bacteria and acetoclastic methanogens, and higher diversity of ARGs. ARGs justified complete DNA degradation (60°C at 5.8 kPa for 10 min). The suggested coupling sequence of operations was metal then antibacterial aerobic bioremediation (as pre-treatments to anaerobic digestion), anaerobic bioremediation (also yielding biomethane as heat source), recirculation of ARGs in situ, and thermal-barometric DNA degradation