scholarly journals Comparative assessment of heavy metals changes in the ambient air of two different zones of Tabriz City, Iran

2017 ◽  
Vol 19 (1) ◽  
pp. 69-73 ◽  

<p>Tabriz is a large and industrial city in the north west of Iran which suffers from severe air pollution due to being surrounded by mountains. Considering lack of official reports about the levels of heavy metals in Tabriz air, two zones of the city were selected for measurement of heavy metals in the air of this city. One of the two zones was located in a very heavy traffic zone of the city center, while the other was situated in a zone with relatively low levels of pollution. Three metals of lead, cadmium, and mercury were measured in these two zones. Among the three measured metals, lead with a concentration of 662 ng m<sup>-3</sup> had the highest concentration, followed by cadmium and mercury with concentrations of 92 and 8 ng m<sup>-3</sup> respectively. The concentrations of lead and cadmium in cold seasons were 30-50% greater than in warm seasons, whereas no significant correlation was observed between the concentration of mercury and the ambient temperature. No significant difference was observed between the concentrations of these metals in the two sampling sites; the levels of lead in winter in the city center were 20% greater than that in the countryside.</p>

2016 ◽  
Vol 24 (1) ◽  
pp. 182-187 ◽  
Author(s):  
V. Y. Vishchur ◽  
I. I. Saranchuk ◽  
B. V. Gutіy

The content of heavy metals, non-etherified and anionic forms of fatty acids, and also fatty acids of common lipids in honeycomb cells, obtained from hives placed in areas with high, medium and low levels of technogenic loading is investigated. The hives were located at the educational apiary of Lviv National University of Veterinary Medicine and Biotechnologies named after S.Z. Gzhytskyj (area with very heavy traffic and industrial activity) and in private beekeeping farms in the town Vynnyky and the village Chyzhyky, Pustomyty district, Lviv region (areas with lower intensity of traffic and industrial activity). Our research has shown that the newly-built honeycomb cells obtained from hives placed in the territory with medium and low levels of technogenic loading contain a lower quantity of such heavy metals as iron, zinc, cuprum, chromium, nickel, lead and cadmium. The total amount of non-etherified fatty acids with even and odd number of carbon atoms in the chain, monounsaturated fatty acids of n-7 and n-9 families and polyunsaturated fatty acids of n-3 and n-6 families was higher in these honeycombs. However, the total concentration of anionic forms of fatty acids with even and odd number of carbon atoms in the chain, monounsaturated fatty acids of n-7 and n-9 families and polyunsaturated fatty acids of n-3 and n-6 families was lower in these honeycombs. Due to the above-mentioned monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fatty acids the amount of fatty acids of common lipids rises. It leads to increase in the antibacterial and antifungal properties of honeycomb cells and reduction of fragility of their walls. The greatest changes in concentration of heavy metals, non-etherified and anionic form of fatty acids, and also fatty acids of common lipids occur in the newly built honeycomb cells in the territory with low technogenic loading on the environment. 


2020 ◽  

<p>The aim of this study is to determine the shrub species which can be used as the biomonitor of air pollution originating mainly from the traffic and could provide the opportunity to increase the air quality in urban areas. To this end, Berberis thunbergii, Buxus sempervirens, Juniperus horizontalis, and Platycladus orientalis, mostly preferred species for roadside plantations, were chosen for the study. First, three regions with heavy traffic intensities were determined. Next, the levels of 4 heavy metals were examined by using Inductively Coupled Plasma–Optical Emission Spectrometry. The results obtained indicate that since the deposition of Cu and Zn is more in the leaves and barks of four species, these shrub species are more effective in the accumulation of Cu and Zn. Furthermore, the results of the study show that Platycladus orientalis is more effective in Cu and Pb accumulation, while Buxus sempervirens is more effective in terms of Ni and Zn accumulation. Determining high levels of traffic-originated heavy metals of Cu, Pb and Zn, particularly in the leaves of Platycladus orientalis in the city center indicates that air pollution is more intense in the city center and that Platycladus orientalis can be used as a biomonitor for traffic-originated air pollution.</p>


2021 ◽  
pp. 003022282110105
Author(s):  
Türkan Akyol Guner ◽  
Zeynep Erdogan ◽  
Isa Demir

The aim of the study is to determine the effect on death anxiety of loneliness in the elderly during the COVID-19 pandemic. The population of this study that is descriptive and cross-sectional type consist of 354 elderly who meet the inclusion criteria from three different associations operating for charitable purposes in a city center located in north-west Turkey. The average score of Loneliness Scale of Elderly (LSE) of the elderly was determined as 11.39 ± 5.31, and the average score of Death Anxiety Scale (DAS) of the elderly was determined as 8.54 ± 4.82. According to these results, it was found that the elderly experienced acceptable levels of loneliness and moderate death anxiety. A statistically significant difference was found in the LSE and DAS scores of the elderly according to their age, marital status, education status, chronic illness status and living at home with relatives. In addition, during the COVID-19 epidemic, the scale scores of the elderly who have increased worries, who have a hobby at home, and who communicate with their relatives via social media/mobile phones were found to be statistically significant (p < 0.05).


2021 ◽  
Vol 851 (1) ◽  
pp. 012026
Author(s):  
A T Sekarningsih ◽  
W Budianta ◽  
I W Warmada ◽  
H Hinode

Abstract The effect of urbanization and industrialization in the urban city is soil contamination by heavy metals. This study was conducted to assess Pb, Cu, Zn, and Cd, in the soil of Yogyakarta city and its surrounding, Indonesia. The assessment was done by analyzing 45 surface soil samples in the study area, divided into three-zone. They are divided based on the distance of each zone to the center of the city. The zone III is located in the outermost of the study area, and zone I is inside the city. The results of the study showed that generally, the highest concentration of metals was located in zone I, which is located near or directly situated in a city center. The result indicated that Pb and Cd had the highest pollution index compared to Cu and Zn. The pollition load indeks (PLI) and geoaccumulation indeks (Igeo) calculations in the whole study area showed that the values demonstrated a moderate class in average. Special attention was needed to be given to the zone I, which has a higher PLI and Igeo index to reduce the source of emission for Pb and Cd.


Author(s):  
Anna K. Hodgkinson

Little is necessary in terms of an introduction, since Amarna is one of the best-known settlements of ancient Egypt. The city was founded by pharaoh Amenhotep IV, known from his fifth regal year as Akhenaten, on his move away from Thebes and Memphis to found a new religious and administrative capital city. Akhenaten reigned approximately between 1348 and 1331 BC, and his principal wife was Nefertiti. Akhenaten’s direct successor appears to have been a figure named Smenkhare (or Ankhkheperure) who was married to Akhenaten’s daughter Meritaten. Like Nefertiti, Smenkhare/Ankhkheperure held the throne name Nefernefruaten. For this reason it is uncertain whether this individual was Nefertiti, who may have reigned for some years after the death of Akhenaten, possibly even with a brief co-regency, or whether this was a son or younger brother of the latter. The rule of Smenkhare/Ankhkheperure was short, and he or she was eventually succeeded by Tutankhamun. The core city of Amarna was erected on a relatively flat desert plain surrounded by cliffs on the east bank of the Nile, in Middle Egypt, approximately 60km south of the modern city of Minia, surrounded by the villages et- Till to the north and el-Hagg Qandil to the south. The site was defined by at least sixteen boundary stelae, three of which actually stand on the western bank, past the edge of the modern cultivation. In total, the city measures 12.5km north–south on the east bank between stelae X and J, and c.8.2km west–east between the projected line between stelae X and J and stela S to the far east, which also indicates approximately the longitude of the royal tomb. The distance between stelae J and F, to the far south-west, measures c.20km, and between stelae X and A, to the far north-west 19.2km. The core city, which is the part of the settlement examined in this section, was erected along the Nile, on the east bank, and it is defined by the ‘Royal Road’, a major thoroughfare running through the entire core city north–south.


Thorax ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 75 (3) ◽  
pp. 262-268 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kate Marie Lewis ◽  
Bianca De Stavola ◽  
Pia Hardelid

BackgroundRates of hospital admissions for bronchiolitis vary seasonally and geographically across England; however, seasonal differences by area remain unexplored. We sought to describe spatial variation in the seasonality of hospital admissions for bronchiolitis and its association with local demographic characteristics.MethodsSingleton children born in English National Health Service hospitals between 2011 and 2016 (n=3 727 013) were followed up for 1 year. Poisson regression models with harmonic functions to model seasonal variations were used to calculate weekly incidence rates and peak timing of bronchiolitis admissions across English regions and clinical commissioning groups (CCGs). Linear regression was used to estimate the joint association of population density and deprivation with incidence and peak timing of bronchiolitis admissions at the CCG level.ResultsBronchiolitis admission rates ranged from 30.9 per 1000 infant-years (95% CI 30.4 to 31.3) in London to 68.7 per 1000 (95% CI 67.9 to 69.5) in the North West. Across CCGs, there was a 5.3-fold variation in incidence rates and the epidemic peak ranged from week 49.3 to 52.2. Admission rates were positively associated with area-level deprivation. CCGs with earlier peak epidemics had higher population densities, and both high and low levels of deprivation were associated with earlier peak timing.ConclusionsApproximately one quarter of the variation in admission rates and two-fifths of the variation in peak timing of hospital admissions for bronchiolitis were explained by local demographic characteristics. Implementation of an early warning system could help to prepare hospitals for peak activity and to time public health messages.


Author(s):  
L. Copley ◽  
T.D. Tierney ◽  
F. Kane ◽  
O. Naughton ◽  
S. Kennedy ◽  
...  

Mobile lice levels of two species of sea lice, Lepeophtheirus salmonis and Caligus elongatus, were examined on two samples of Atlantic salmon from the west coast of Ireland. The samples examined were taken two weeks apart from salmon caught by drift net in June 2003 at two different locations off the west coast of Ireland, one in the north-west and one in the west. Both samples of salmon caught were comparable in terms of numbers of total lice counted. No significant differences in male, female and ovigerous L. salmonis levels between the two samples were recorded, however, a significant difference was recorded between juvenile L. salmonis levels. Morphometric comparisons of male and ovigerous L. salmonis examined for each of the two salmon samples examined revealed some differences. There was a significant difference in male L. salmonis in terms of cephalothorax length between the samples. In the females significant differences were found between cephalothorax length, overall total length and egg length. Significant positive correlations within samples were also observed, between total female body length and both total egg number and egg string length in one of the samples examined.


2010 ◽  
Vol 75 (5) ◽  
pp. 703-715 ◽  
Author(s):  
Snezana Nenadovic ◽  
Ljiljana Matovic ◽  
Misko Milanovic ◽  
Sava Janicevic ◽  
Jasmina Grbovic-Novakovic ◽  
...  

In this paper, the impacts of some meteorological parameters on the SO2 concentrations in the City of Obrenovac are presented. The City of Obrenovac is located in the north-west part of Serbia on the banks of the River Sava. The observed source emission, the power plants TENT A and TENT B are situated on the bank of the Sava River in the vicinity of Obrenovac. During the period from January to November 2006, the concentrations of sulfur dioxide in the air at 4 monitoring sites in Obrenovac were measured. It was noticed that the maximal measured daily concentrations of sulfur dioxide ranged from 1 ?g/m3 (16th November, 2006) to 98 ?g/m3 (29th January 2006) and lie under the maximal allowed concentration value according to the Serbian Law on Environmental Protection. The measured sulfur dioxide concentrations mostly showed characteristics usual for a daily acidification sulfur dioxide cycle, excluding the specificities influenced by the measuring site itself. Sulfur dioxide transport was recorded at increased wind speeds, primarily from the southeast direction. Based on the impact of meteorological parameters on the sulfur dioxide concentration, a validation of the monitoring sites was also performed from the aspect of their representivity.


1985 ◽  
Vol 12 (2) ◽  
pp. 279 ◽  
Author(s):  
JR Ottaway ◽  
R Carrick ◽  
MD Murray

Dispersal of Larus novaehollandiae Stephens, from 10 colonies in South Australia, was studied during 1968-8 1 by means of bands designed for identification of free-living, uncaptured individuals. Dispersal patterns were characteristic of each colony, even for three colonies which were, at most, 10 km apart. Almost all dispersal records came from the area between Adelaide and Melbourne, and within 30 km of the coast. After breeding, the majority of gulls disperse eastwards; however, dispersal from each colony was correlated with a shift of gull population into areas where food was available from human sources such as rubbish dumps. From colonies 80 km south-east of Adelaide, a major human population, the predominant winter dispersal of these gulls was north-west, into the city and suburbs. The maximum direct-line dispersal distances recorded for 95% of the 3133 resighted gulls were <458 km. The greatest direct-line distance recorded was 1430 km. Overall, there was no significant difference in the mean dispersal distances of juveniles and adults, although at distances >480 km significantly more juveniles (<2y) were seen than adults (>2y). This involved only 2.5% of the total number of birds resighted. It is suggested that older, dominant birds maintain high status at preferred feeding places, and juveniles are possibly more erratic in their movements, as they search for food. This would account for the difference in the dispersal ofjuveniles and adults from a particular colony, and also for the significantly higher proportion of juveniles found at extreme distances from their natal colonies.


Urban History ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 47 (4) ◽  
pp. 671-688
Author(s):  
Katherine Fennelly

AbstractCities develop around industry, markets and transport links. Dublin in the nineteenth century was similar, but additionally the north-west of the city developed around the expansion of a complex of institutional buildings for the reception, confinement and welfare of the poor and sick. This article argues that these institutions were implicit in the development of the modern city in the same way as industry and commerce. The physical development of the buildings altered and defined both the streetscape and, over time, the social identities and historical communities in the locale, in the same way that industrial development defined urban areas.


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