Influence of vehicular emissions on the levels of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in urban and industrial areas of La Plata, Argentina.

Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) are considered potentially toxic, even carcinogenic, because of their affection to public health and the environment. It is necessary to know their ambient levels and the origin of these pollutants in order to mitigate them. A concerning scenario is the one in which commercial/administrative, industrial, and residential activities coexist.

Impact of Intensive Agricultural Production on the Ecotoxicologic Quality of Associated Medium-Order Streams: Cereal and Oilseed versus Horticultural Production.

Streams associated with agroecosystems receive inputs of chemicals used within a basin that negatively impact its environmental quality. In this work, we aimed at comparing, through a battery of ecotoxicological tests, the relative impact of the cereal and/or oilseed and vegetable and/or flower agricultural-production models on the ecotoxicologic quality of both the water column and the bottom sediments of medium-order streams. The study, performed over 4 years, involved two major agroproductive areas of Argentina, one predominating in cereal and/or oilseed crops (Area 1), the other in vegetable and/or flower agriculture (Area 2).

Riparian strips as attenuation zones for the toxicity of pesticides in agricultural surface runoff: Relative influence of herbaceous vegetation and terrain slope on toxicity attenuation of 2,4-D.

Pesticides reach aquatic ecosystems via surface runoff becoming one of the main contributors to their deterioration. Among the strategies to mitigate these impacts, the use of riparian strips is recommended, but the knowledge of how much each ecosystemic variable contributes to the process is still incipient. We analyzed the influence of terrain slope and vegetation in the attenuation of 2,4-Dichlorophenoxyacetic acid (2,4-D) toxicity in surface runoff using Lactuca sativa as a diagnostic organism.