Dispersion modelling of volatile organic compound emissions from Ataköy wastewater treatment plant in İstanbul

WOS: 000423283800005In this study, emissions released from a wastewater treatment plant in Istanbul, were estimated utilising air quality dispersion model. The treatment plant is located to the west of a residential site. So, the emissions have potential to affect the living people in the residential area. Emission factor and wastewater treatment capacity were used to calculate the emission rate. Turkish State Meteorological Service data were used in order to produce meteorological input to the model. Elevation data were gathered from Shuttle Radar Topography Mission data. AERMOD was executed with those input data. Hourly maximum, daily maximum, monthly maximum, and annual average concentration distribution plots were generated. The maximum values were 471, 171, and 42 mu g/m(3), on hourly, daily, and monthly basis, respectively. The maximum concentration observed on the annual average map was 29 mu g/m(3)

Investigation of EU environmental policies from the past to the future in the LCA perspective

*Çetinkaya, Afşin Yusuf ( Aksaray, Yazar )event Bilgili, Afşin Yusuf Çetinkaya, Sadullah Levent Kuzu Investigation of EU Environmental Policies from the Past to the Future in the LCA Perspective Introduction According to the First Law of Thermodynamics, energy can be transformed from one form to another but can be neither created nor destroyed. This law tells us that there is a great balance of energy in nature. This energy balance appears not only in engineering but also in all environmental, social and economic cycles. Humanity, like all other living things in nature, has lived in harmony with environmental cycles in nature for millennia, and there is no waste in any environmental cycle. The energy entering the system does not disappear, changes shape and emerges as another type of energy. The waste products generated during this change process are used as input to another system and a new cycle begins. After the 18th century, when industrial production began, man-made artificial products started to produce outputs that could not be used as energy inputs in any system by disrupting this cycle, and nature was introduced to a concept that did not belong to it: Waste. Waste generation is a part of industrial production and is a process that has the potential to cause great environmental damage if not avoided

Distribution of Trace Metals in Street Dusts and Tree Leaves and Their Source Identification in a Mid-Populated Anatolian City

© 2020, Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature.Sivas is a central Anatolian city in Turkey with mid-population. Due to its geographical structure high air pollution episodes can be observed in the atmosphere of Sivas. A study with city wide sampling campaign can help to identify the possible sources. Therefore, we aimed to investigate the multi-elemental and multi-point analysis of trace metals in street dusts and tree leaves in Sivas. In the street dusts, Ca concentration was > 10%. Fe, Cl, and K contribution was 2.5%, 1.75%, and 1.1%, respectively. The average S and Ti concentrations were between 1 and 10 mg/g, I, Mn, Sr, Cr, V, Ba, Zn, Ni, Zr, and Cu were between 1 and 0.1 mg/g, and W, Pb, Sn, Th, Rb, Sb, Co, Bi, As, U were between 0.1 and 0.01 mg/g, in the ascending order. The same elements were investigated for vegetation. Ca, K, S, and Cl were the elements with highest contribution

Existence of SARS-CoV-2 RNA on ambient particulate matter samples: A nationwide study in Turkey

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is caused by the SARS-CoV-2 virus and has been affecting the world since the end of 2019. The disease led to significant mortality and morbidity in Turkey, since the first case was reported on March 11th, 2020. Studies suggest a positive association between air pollution and SARS-CoV-2 infection. The aim of the present study was to investigate the role of ambient particulate matters (PM), as potential carriers for SARS-CoV-2. Ambient PM samples in various size ranges were collected from 13 sites including urban and urban-background locations and hospital gardens in 10 cities across Turkey between 13th of May and 14th of June 2020 to investigate the possible presence of SARS-CoV-2 RNA on ambient PM. A total of 203 daily samples (TSP, n = 80; PM2.5, n = 33; PM2.5-10, n = 23: PM10 mu m, n = 19; and 6 size segregated PM, n = 48) were collected using various samplers. The N1 gene and RdRP gene expressions were analyzed for the presence of SARS-CoV-2, as suggested by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). According to real time (RT)-PCR and three-dimensional (3D) digital (d) PCR analysis, dual RdRP and NI gene positivity were detected in 20 (9.8%) samples. Ambient PM-bound SARS-CoV-2 was analyzed quantitatively and the air concentrations of the virus ranged from 0.1 copies/m(3) to 23 copies/m(3). The highest percentages of virus detection on PM samples were from hospital gardens in Tekirdag, Zonguldak, and Istanbul, especially in PM2.5 mode. Findings of this study have suggested that SARS-CoV-2 may be transported by ambient partides, especially at sites close to the infection hot-spots. However. whether this has an impact on the spread of the virus infection remains to be determined. (C) 2021 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved