Found 9895 publications. Showing page 298 of 396:
2019
2019
2019
Environmental pollutants in the terrestrial and urban environment 2018
Samples from the urban terrestrial environment in the Oslo area were analysed for various inorganic and organic
environmental pollutants. The selected species were earthworm, fieldfare, sparrowhawk, brown rat, red fox and
badger. Air and soil samples were also included in the study to further the understanding on sources and uptake of
pollutants. A foodchain approach was used to investigate trophic magnification of the different compounds.
NILU
2019
Low cost sensor systems for air quality assessment. Possibilities and challenges.
Air quality is enjoying popular interest in the last years, with numerous projects initiated by civil society or individuals that aim to assess the quality of air locally, aided by new, low-cost monitoring technologies that can be used by “everyone”. Such initiatives are very welcome, but in this highly technical and (in the western world) thoroughly regulated area, the professional community seems to struggle with communication with these initiatives, trying to reconcile the often highly technical aspects with the social ones. The technical issues include subjects such as monitoring techniques, air quality assessment methods, or quality control of measurements, and disciplines such as metrology, atmospheric science or informatics.
In this report, we would like to provide the reader with a practically oriented overview indicating the position of these new technologies in the ecosystem of air quality monitoring and measurement activities. Sensing techniques are rapidly evolving. This ‘ever’ improving capability implies among other, that there is currently no traceable method of evaluation of data quality. Despite the efforts of numerous groups, including within the European standardization system, a certification system will take some time to develop. This has important implications for example, when comparing measurements taken in time, by different devices (or different versions of the same sensor system device). Fitness for purpose – why are we measuring or monitoring and how do we intend to use the information we obtain – should always be the main criterion for the technological choice.
The report starts with an overview of elements of a monitoring system and proceed to describe the new technologies. Then, we give examples of how low-cost sensor technologies are being used by citizens. These examples are followed by reflections upon providing actionable information. Having learned from practical applications of sensor systems, we also discuss how the data from citizen activities can be used to develop new information, and provide some reflections on developing sensor systems monitoring on a larger scale.
We feel that the new technologies, while a disruptive change, provide many exciting opportunities, and we hope that this report will contribute to promote their use alongside with other assessment methods. We believe that increased understanding of technical issues we discuss will ultimately lead to better communication on air quality, and in its consequence, will enable further improvements in this domain.
ETC/ACM
2019
Kartlegging av lokal luftkvalitet i Hønefoss. Målinger 2018-2019.
NILU - Norsk institutt for luftforskning har på oppdrag fra Ringerike kommune gjennomført kartlegging av lokal luftkvalitet i Hønefoss. Måleprogrammet startet juni 2018 og ble avsluttet i mai 2019. Målingene ble gjennomført for å framskaffe kunnskapsgrunnlag for ny byplan i Hønefoss.
Måleprogrammet inneholdt måling av svevestøv og nitrogendioksid samt meteorologiske parametre som temperatur, trykk, relativ fuktighet og vind.
Årsmiddelkonsentrasjonen av PM2,5 lå under øvre, men over nedre vurderingsterskel. Årsmiddelverdiene av NO2 og PM10 lå ikke over nedre vurderingsterskel. Døgnmiddelverdier av PM10 og timemiddelkonsentrasjon av NO2 lå under øvre, men over nedre vurderingsterskel.
NILU
2019
Peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor alfa (PPARA/NR1C1) is a ligand activated nuclear receptor that is a key regulator of lipid metabolism in tissues with high fatty acid catabolism such as the liver. Here, we cloned PPARA from polar bear liver tissue and studied in vitro transactivation of polar bear and human PPARA by environmental contaminants using a luciferase reporter assay. Six hinge and ligand-binding domain amino acids have been substituted in polar bear PPARA compared to human PPARA. Perfluorocarboxylic acids (PFCA) and perfluorosulfonic acids induced the transcriptional activity of both human and polar bear PPARA. The most abundant PFCA in polar bear tissue, perfluorononanoate, increased polar bear PPARA-mediated luciferase activity to a level comparable to that of the potent PPARA agonist WY-14643 (~8-fold, 25 μM). Several brominated flame retardants were weak agonists of human and polar bear PPARA. While single exposures to polychlorinated biphenyls did not, or only slightly, increase the transcriptional activity of PPARA, a technical mixture of PCBs (Aroclor 1254) strongly induced the transcriptional activity of human (~8-fold) and polar bear PPARA (~22-fold). Polar bear PPARA was both quantitatively and qualitatively more susceptible than human PPARA to transactivation by less lipophilic compounds.
Nature Portfolio
2019
Bird feathers as a biomonitor for environmental pollutants: Prospects and pitfalls
Due to increasing amounts of hazardous chemicals released into the environment, there is a high demand for developing easy and non-destructive biomonitoring tools. In a recent paper published in Trends in Analytical Chemistry, Rutkowska et al. (2018) concluded that feathers are a good matrix for biomonitoring of environmental pollutants in birds. In this commentary, we discuss the general conclusion of this paper. We provide several examples for which this statement is not correct, and we emphasize that only for legacy persistent organic pollutants (POPs) and mercury there is currently enough scientific evidence to use feathers as a reliable biomonitor, given that appropriate sampling designs and QA/QC protocols are taken into account. Furthermore, we discuss different pretreatment (e.g. feather washing) and analytical protocols along with specific QA/QC to be considered. In summary, this commentary provides an overview of the prospects and pitfalls when using feathers as a biomonitor for environmental pollutants.
2019
John Wiley & Sons
2019
2019
2019