Publications by authors named "Gregory Dufrechou"
Chemosphere
February 2020
Article Synopsis
- Atmospheric pollution significantly affects human health and the environment, leading to the use of biomonitors like the epiphytic plant Tillandsia usneoides to assess air quality in areas impacted by former mining activities in Southeast Spain.
- The study involved placing these plants at five different locations from a mining area to urban and coastal zones, collecting samples every two months over a year to analyze metal(loid) concentrations and compare them against regional geochemical backgrounds.
- Results revealed significant enrichment of harmful elements in the plants, with slower dust deposition rates in urban and coastal areas, suggesting Tillandsia usneoides can effectively trace atmospheric pollution sources and improve understanding of how plants absorb pollutants.
Sci Total Environ
November 2019
Article Synopsis
- Air pollution significantly affects the environment and human health; this study focuses on air particles from a mining area in Cartagena-La Unión, Spain, to assess their health risks.
- Four monitoring sites were chosen: a mining tailing, an urban area, an agricultural zone, and a coastal site, revealing varying particle sizes and mineral compositions, with high levels of harmful metals like Zn, Pb, and As in polluted areas.
- Risk assessments highlighted that while total metal content indicated unacceptable cancer and hazard risks at the mining tailing, considering bioaccessible metal fractions resulted in more acceptable risk levels, indicating potential overestimation when using total content alone.
