Atmospheric contaminants from natural processes and anthropogenic activities pose a major problem to the environment. Here we analyze the dynamics of atmospheric and terrestrial contaminant concentrations in sediments containing chemical elements, such as nanoparticles (NPs) and ultrafine particles in hydrological sources of the Caribbean region of Colombia. Terrestrial sediments were collected from 2022 to 2024, and quantified for major chemical elements in the form of NPs and ultrafine particles in runoff receiving areas along the banks of Colombia's Ciénaga Grande in Santa Marta Bay, on the Isla de Salamanca.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe water treatment depends exclusively on the identification of residues containing toxic chemical elements accumulated in NPs (nanoparticles), and ultrafine particles sourced from waste piles located at old, abandoned sulfuric acid factories containing phosphogypsum requires global attention. The general objective of this study is to quantify and analyze the hazardous chemical elements present in the leachate of waste from deactivated sulfuric acid factories, coupled in NPs and ultrafine particles, in the port region of the city of Imbituba, Santa Catarina, Brazil. Samples were collected in 2020, 2021, and 2022.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe dangerous chemical elements associated with nanoparticles (NPs) and ultra-fine sediment particles in hydrological bays have the capacity to move contaminants to large oceanic regions. The general objective of this study is to quantify the major chemical elements present in NPs and ultra-fine particles in aquatic sediments sampled from Guanabara Bay and compare these data to values determined through spectral optics using the Sentinel-3B Satellite OLCI (Ocean Land Color Instrument) during the winter and summer seasons of 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, and 2022. This is done to highlight the impacts anthropogenic environmental hazards have on the marine ecosystem and human beings.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe main objective of this study is to analyze hazardous elements in nanoparticles (NPs) (smaller than 100 nm) and ultrafine particles (smaller than 1 µm) in Porto Alegre City, southern Brazil using a self-made passive sampler and Sentinel-3B SYN satellite images in 32 collection points. The Aerosol Optical Thickness proportion (T550) identification was conducted using images of the Sentinel-3B SYN satellite at 634 points sampled in 2019, 2020, 2021, and 2022. Focused ion beam scanning electron microscopy analyses were performed to identify chemical elements present in NPs and ultrafine particles, followed by single-stage cascade impactor to be processed by high-resolution transmission electron microscopy.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe Amazon River is the longest river in the world. The Tapajós River is a tributary to the Amazon. At their junction, a marked decrease in water quality is evident from negative impacts from the constant activity of clandestine gold mining in the Tapajós River watershed.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFUrban cemeteries are increasingly surrounded by areas of high residential density as urbanization continues world-wide. With increasing rates of mortality caused by the novel coronavirus, SARS-CoV-2, urban vertical cemeteries are experiencing interments at an unprecedented rate. Corpses interred in the 3rd to 5th layer of vertical urban cemeteries have the potential to contaminate large adjacent regions.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe general objective of this study is to identify the presence of hazardous elements in the soils of five urban cemeteries in the city of Passo Fundo, in southern Brazil, and to design solutions (architecturally) for future cemeteries to be more sustainable by mitigating toxicological risks to the population residing in the area. A total of 250 soil samples were obtained from points within the cemeteries and in areas surrounding the two oldest cemeteries at a distance of up to 400 m. Twelve architects who design cemeteries primarily focused on sustainability were interviewed, and presented their suggestions for sustainable urban cemetery design.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe Tinto River is known globally for having a reddish color due to the high concentration of dissolved metals in its waters. The general objective of this study is to analyze the dispersion of nanoparticles (NPs) and ultra-fine particles in terrestrial and geospatial suspended sediments (SSs) using Sentinel-3B OLCI (Ocean Land Color Instrument) satellite images; by examining water turbidity levels (TSM_NN), suspended pollution potential (ADG_443_NN) and presence of chlorophyll-a (CHL_NN). The images were collected in the estuary of the Tinto River, in the city of Nerva, Spanish province of Huelva, between 2019 and 2021.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe novel coronavirus, SARS-CoV-2, has the potential to cause natural ventilation systems in hospital environments to be rendered inadequate, not only for workers but also for people who transit through these environments even for a limited duration. Studies in of the fields of geosciences and engineering, when combined with appropriate technologies, allow for the possibility of reducing the impacts of the SARS-CoV-2 virus in the environment, including those of hospitals which are critical centers for healthcare. In this work, we build parametric 3D models to assess the possible circulation of the SARS-CoV-2 virus in the natural ventilation system of a hospital built to care infected patients during the COVID-19 pandemic.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFIn recent years the funeral industry has drawn attention from the scientific community concerning the potential pollution of the environment and the urban environment. In this review, the pollution caused by the cemeteries and crematoria around the world was addressed. The traditional burial leads to the production of ions, in the form of organic and heavy metals, bacteria, fungi, and viruses, that spread along with the soil and underwater.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFScientific works examining coal-derived nanoparticles (NPs) containing potentially toxic elements (PTEs) confined in marine suspended sediments (MSSs) in port regions worldwide is an understudied topic, despite the fact that coal NPs have tremendous negative impacts on marine estuaries. The general objective of this study is to analyze the NP levels of coal, including PTEs, contained within MSSs in the general vicinity of the largest Caribbean port in Colombia. The morphology, size, chemical composition, and agglomeration states of NPs within MSSs of the sampled beaches were calculated through modern electron microscopy.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe increasing mortality of COVID-19 can aggravate soil contamination by metals, harmful to the health of the population, requiring new projects for future cemeteries capable of mitigating these impacts to the environment, justifying the importance of studying the concentrations of metals in the soil of urban cemeteries. The paper analyzed the levels of metals in the soil of urban cemeteries in the City of Carazinho, in the state of Rio Grande do Sul, located in southern Brazil, considering the increase in deaths by COVID-19, for the purpose of future projects for cemeteries aimed at mitigating the impacts generated on the environment. The soils of the three urban cemeteries in Carazinho were sampled, with 5 internal and external points, with 3 repetitions at depths of 0-20 and 20-40 cm, adding 180 samples to measure the concentrations of Fe, Mn, Cu, Zn, Cr and Pb (g kg), considering the analytical sequence: (1) analysis in triplicate with mean deviation (RDS); (2) R2 of the analytical curve; (3) traceability of the pattern of each metal; (4) quantification limit of each metal (QL), with the performance of nitroperchloric digestion of the samples and the determinations of metals by flame modality atomic absorption spectrometry.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe analysis of marine matter using the Sentinel-3B OLCI (Ocean Land Color Instrument) satellite is the most advanced technique for evaluating: the absorption of colored detrital and dissolved material (ADG_443_NN), total suspended matter concentration (TSM_NN) and of chlorophyll-a (CHL_NN) on a global scale. The objective is to analyze ADG_443_NN, TSM_NN and CHL_NN using the Sentinel-3B OLCI satellite and the presence of Fe-nanoparticles (NPs) + hazardous elements (HEs) in suspended sediments (SSs) in the maritime estuary of the Colombian city of Barranquilla. The study used the unpublished image of the Sentinel-3B OLCI satellite in the evaluation of ADG_443_NN, TSM_NN and CHL_NN in 72 sampled points.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFStudding the behaviour and danger of nanoparticles (NPs, minerals and amorphous phases) in the estuarine ecosystem is presently incomplete by the lack of measureable description of NPs in the ecological conditions, such as suspended-sediments (SS). In the last years, several works have revealed the toxic consequences of ultra-fine and nanoparticulate compounds on diverse systems, raising apprehensions over the nanocontaminants behaviour and destiny in the numerous ecological partitions. The general objective of the manuscript is to explain the geochemical conditions of the LES (Laguna estuarine system, southern Brazil) suspended sediments covering an area around the main South American coal plant, enhancing the creation of future public policies for environmental recovery projects.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe deposition of remaining nanoparticles in the Caribbean Sea generates the formation of potentially dangerous elements, which influence at the imbalance of ecosystems. The detection of nanoparticles is not simple and the use of conventional methods is difficult application, which is why we highlight the immediacy and importance of this research for the areas of marine biology, urbanism, engineering and geosciences, applied in the Caribbean Sea. The general objective of this study is to evaluate the use of advanced methods for the determination of toxic nanoparticles, which can directly affect the development of marine organisms in the aquatic ecosystem in waters of the Caribbean Sea, favoring the construction of future international public policies with the elaboration of projects capable of mitigating these levels of contamination.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFHistoric buildings that comprise the cultural heritage of humanity are in need of preservation on a worldwide scale in regard to degradation resultant from atmospheric pollutants. The Brazilian Public Market, located in the historic center of the mega city of São Paulo, is the object of this research, due to its representation of historical Brazilian architecture. The general objective of this manuscript is to analyze the influence of air pollutants on the degradation of the historic São Paulo Public Market in the city of São Paulo, Brazil.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAmong the diverse archeological relics of the past, the Cartagena de Indias Wall is one of the greatest representations of European cultural architecture in South America. To assess the implication of contamination on the depreciation of the culturally significant Wall of Cartagena de Indias - Colombia, a detailed, multi-analytical approach was conducted on components of the wall. Accumulated ultra-fine particles (UFPs) and superficial nano-particles (NPs) containing hazardous elements (HEs) on the wall were identified in an attempt to understand whether atmospheric pollution is hastening the depreciation of the structure itself.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFUrban cemeteries on a global scale raise concerns due to their potential to concentrate differing levels of hazardous pollutants in their native soils due to the unnatural concentration of burials in a limited space. It is paramount for sustainability that designers of future cemeteries take this into account in order to minimize the deposition and movement of these contaminants within the soil profile. The objective of this manuscript is to identify the levels of certain hazardous element contamination, specifically heavy metals, in the soil of horizontal urban cemeteries that do not utilize herbicides for weed control.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAtmosphere contamination management is one of the most important features in pollution risk management. The worldwide rise in tourism increases apprehension about its probable destructive conservation influence on various aspects of global conservation. One of the principal dangers increased by tourism-based modes of travel are nanoparticles (NPs) containing potentially hazardous elements (PHEs) contamination.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe study of the prevalence of agglomerated nanoparticles (ANPs) containing potentially hazardous elements (PHEs) in the atmosphere is an emerging field of research. As such, the development of effective analytical procedures for the documentation of ANPs in air dust is vital for the evaluation of human health consequences. X-ray powder diffraction (XRD), Raman spectroscopy (RS), Mossbauer spectroscopy (MS) and advanced microscopy (AM) analyses of levels of pollutant concentration have been completed for many years in buildings worldwide.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPhys Rev B Condens Matter
January 1994