157 results match your criteria: "Institute of Environmental and Natural Sciences[Affiliation]"
Environ Sci Technol
July 2005
Environmental Science Department, Institute of Environmental and Natural Sciences, Lancaster University, Lancaster, United Kingdom.
This paper presents data on polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins and dibenzofurans (PCDD/Fs) in a set of well-characterized, undisturbed surface (0-5 cm) and subsurface background soils from the U.K. and Norway.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFEnviron Sci Technol
July 2005
Department of Environmental Science, Institute of Environmental and Natural Sciences, Lancaster University, Lancaster, UK.
Atmospheric concentrations of polychlorinated naphthalenes (PCNs) (108 samples in total) were measured at two rural/ semirural sites in England and one remote site on the west coast of Ireland in the years 2001 and 2000, respectively. Detailed analysis of the factors affecting concentrations is performed. At Mace Head (MH) Ireland, concentrations of sigmaPCNs ranged between 1.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFEnviron Sci Technol
June 2005
Department of Environmental Sciences, Institute of Environmental and Natural Sciences, Lancaster University, Lancaster LA1 4YQ, United Kingdom.
Two studies were carried out on short-chain (C10-C13) and medium-chain (C14-C17) polychlorinated n-alkanes (sPCAs and mPCAs) in U.K. air samples.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFCornea
August 2005
Institute of Environmental and Natural Sciences, Lancaster University, Lancaster LA1 4YQ, United Kingdom.
Purpose: Cultivated limbal epithelial transplantation using an amniotic membrane (AM) carrier is now widely used for ocular surface reconstruction. The reasons for the exceptional success of AM as a carrier are not fully understood but are believed to be related to its unique composition. In this project we characterize, at the ultrastructural level, the extracellular matrix (ECM) components present in AM.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFSci Total Environ
October 2005
Department of Environmental Sciences, Institute of Environmental and Natural Sciences, Lancaster University, UK.
Hexachlorobenzene (HCB) is considered here as a 'model persistent organic pollutant.' Data on its sources, emissions, environmental levels and distributions and trends are compiled and used to assess its fate and behaviour in the global environment. Consideration is given as to the extent to which it has undergone repeated air-surface exchange or 'hopping' to become globally dispersed, the balance between primary and secondary sources in maintaining ambient levels, and its ultimate sinks in the environment.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFChemosphere
August 2005
Department of Environmental Science, Institute of Environmental and Natural Sciences, Lancaster University, Lancaster, LA1 4YQ, United Kingdom.
Soil is an important global reservoir for persistent organic pollutants (POPs). The interaction between air (which often receives the majority of emissions) and soil plays a key role in the long term environmental cycling and fate of these chemicals. Soil surveys have been carried out to try and estimate regional and global distribution/inventory of POPs.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFEnviron Int
January 2006
Department of Environmental Sciences, Institute of Environmental and Natural Sciences, Lancaster University, UK.
Chlorinated paraffins (also called polychlorinated n-alkanes -- PCAs) are a class of industrial chemicals comprising chlorinated straight chain hydrocarbons. They have a wide range of applications and are now found in a range of environmental compartments. We analysed a total of 25 human milk-fat samples, donated by 18 individuals from the urban London and more rural Lancaster areas in the UK, for short chain PCAs (C(10)-C(13) sPCAs) and medium chain PCAs (C(14)-C(17) mPCAs), using gas chromatography-ECNI high-resolution mass spectrometry.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFEnviron Sci Technol
May 2005
Department of Environmental Science, Institute of Environmental and Natural Sciences, Lancaster University, Lancaster LA1 4YQ, United Kingdom.
Laboratory studies are useful for understanding the behavior of persistent organic pollutants (POPs) in soil, although such investigations do not always relate directly to field conditions. Outdoor lysimeter studies may be used to overcome this problem. This work aimed to investigate the behavior of two polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) (fluoranthene and benzo[a]pyrene) and two polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs; congeners 28 and 52) in soil, using lysimeters established in 1990 atthe Agrosphere Institute (Forschungszentrum Julich GmbH, Germany).
View Article and Find Full Text PDFEnviron Sci Technol
May 2005
Department of Environmental Science, Institute of Environmental and Natural Sciences, Lancaster University, Lancaster, LA1 4YQ, United Kingdom.
Passive air samplers (polyurethane foam disks) were deployed on an altitudinal transect in the rural Italian Alps to investigate the potential influence of forest cover on air concentrations. Samplers were exposed overtwo periods, each of several weeks, either in clearings or in forests. In the first period, there was high leaf coverage (high leaf area index, LAI); in the second, the LAI was low after the autumnal leaf fall.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFEnviron Pollut
November 2005
Department of Biological Sciences, Institute of Environmental and Natural Sciences, Lancaster University, Lancaster LA1 4YQ, UK.
There is a need to develop risk biomarkers during the remediation of contaminated land. We employed the earthworm, Aporrectodea longa (Ude), to determine whether genotoxicity measures could be applied to this organism's intestinal tissues. Earthworms were added, for 24h or 7 days, to soil samples spiked with benzo[a]pyrene (B[a]P) and/or lindane.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFEnviron Sci Technol
April 2005
Environmental Science Department, Institute of Environmental and Natural Sciences, Lancaster University, Lancaster, LA1 4YQ, United Kingdom.
Aerial portions of vegetation receive the bulk of their burden of persistent organic pollutants (POPs) from the atmosphere. Vegetation can therefore be a useful indicator of the changing atmospheric burden of POPs. Samples of archived pasture, collected from Rothamsted Experimental Station in the United Kingdom between 1930 and 2004, were analyzed for a range of polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs).
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBiophys J
May 2005
Department of Physics, Institute of Environmental and Natural Sciences, Lancaster University, Lancaster, United Kingdom.
Microspectroscopic techniques such as Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) have played an important role in "fingerprinting" the biochemical composition of cellular components. Based on structure and function, complex biomolecules absorb energy in the mid-infrared (lambda = 2-20 microm) yielding characteristic vibrational infrared (IR) spectra. However, optical detection FTIR microspectroscopy may not be suitable for IR-absorbing sample materials.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFEnviron Sci Technol
January 2005
Environmental Science Department, Institute of Environmental and Natural Sciences, Lancaster University, Lancaster LA1 4YQ, UK.
This paper reports on a field calibration and ambient deployment study with rapidly equilibrating thin-film passive air samplers. POlymer-coated Glass (POG) samplers have a coating of ethylene vinyl acetate (EVA) less than 1 microm thick coated on to glass, which can be dissolved off after exposure and prepared for quantification of persistent organic pollutants (POPs) that have partitioned into the film during field exposure. In this study, POGs were exposed for up to 18 d, in a study to assess compound uptake rates and their time to approach equilibrium.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFEnviron Sci Technol
January 2005
Environmental Science Department, Institute of Environmental and Natural Sciences, Lancaster University, Lancaster LA1 4YQ, UK.
This paper reports on the first field deployment of rapidly equilibrating thin-film passive air samplers under ambient conditions. The POlymer-coated Glass (POG) samplers have a coating of ethylene vinyl acetate (EVA) less than 1 microm thick applied to a glass surface. This can be dissolved off after exposure and prepared for the quantification of persistent organic pollutants (POPs) that have partitioned into the film during field exposure.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFMethods Mol Biol
August 2011
Department of Biological Sciences, Institute of Environmental and Natural Sciences, Lancaster University, Lancaster, UK.
Several techniques have been used to measure the concentration of cytosolic-free Ca(2+) ([Ca(2+)](cyt)) in plants. These include Ca(2+)-sensitive microelectrodes, luminescent photoproteins, cameleons, and fluorescent Ca2(+) indicators. Ca(2+)-sensitive microelectrodes can be used only in cells that are able to withstand impalement with two electrodes or a double-barrelled electrode.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAnal Chem
January 2005
Institute of Environmental and Natural Sciences, Lancaster University, Lancaster LA1 4YQ, U.K.
A novel technique for obtaining time-integrated 99Tc concentrations in seawater has been developed, using diffusive gradients in thin films (DGT). The performance of TEVA resin as a binding agent for 99Tc was investigated via laboratory experiments. The accumulated 99Tc activity per unit area of resin-gel was proportional to both the bulk solution activity and the exposure time for deployments of up to 2 weeks.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFEnviron Sci Technol
November 2004
Department of Environmental Science, Institute of Environmental and Natural Sciences, Lancaster University, Lancaster LA1 4 YQ, United Kingdom.
The results from a modeling exercise utilizing the European variant (EVn) BETR multimedia environmental fate model are presented for selected polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) of the technical penta- (Pe-) bromodiphenyl ether (BDE) product. The objectives of this study were to test PeBDE emission estimates from the literature for Europe by investigating the consistency between model predictions and ambient measurements to address the ability of the model to predict spatial variability and differences between congeners. Concurrently sampled and analyzed passive sampling air data, together with soil and grass data, were used as key model validation tools.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFProc Natl Acad Sci U S A
November 2004
Department of Biological Sciences, Institute of Environmental and Natural Sciences, Lancaster University, Lancaster LA1 4YQ, United Kingdom.
Inducible defenses are common strategies for coping with the selective force of predation in heterogeneous environments. In recent years the conspicuous and often dramatic morphological plasticity of several waterflea species of the genus Daphnia have been found to be inducible defenses activated by chemical cues released by predators. However, the exact defensive mechanisms remained mysterious.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFEnviron Pollut
February 2005
Department of Environmental Science, Institute of Environmental and Natural Sciences, Lancaster University, Lancaster LA1 4YQ, UK.
An input-output balance study was performed for polybrominated diphenyl ethers, polychlorinated biphenyls and some organochlorine pesticides on three captive, juvenile grey seals (Halichoerus grypus). The animals were fed a diet of herring for six months, during the last three months of which this study was performed. A supplement of decabromodiphenyl ether was included in the diet during the second month of the study.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFEnviron Toxicol Chem
June 2004
Department of Environmental Science, Institute of Environmental and Natural Sciences, Lancaster University, Lancaster LA1 4YQ, United Kingdom.
This study presents concurrently sampled ambient air data for a range of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and polychlorinated naphthalenes (PCNs) at the continental scale. This was achieved with a passive air sampling system, by deploying polyurethane foam disks, which were prepared in one laboratory, sealed to prevent contamination, sent out by courier to volunteers participating in different countries, exposed for six weeks, collected, resealed, and returned to the laboratory for analysis. The study area was Europe, a region with a history of extensive persistent organic pollutants usage and emission, and with marked national differences in population density, the degree of urbanization and industrial and agricultural development.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFEnviron Pollut
January 2005
Department of Environmental Science, Institute of Environmental and Natural Sciences, Lancaster University, Lancaster LA1 4YQ, UK.
This study investigated the fate and behaviour of [UL-(14)C] 2,4-dichlorophenol (DCP) in planted (Lolium perenne L.) and unplanted soils over 57 days. Extractability of [UL-(14)C] 2,4-DCP associated activity was measured using calcium chloride (CaCl(2)), acetonitrile-water and dichloromethane (DCM) extractions.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFEnviron Pollut
January 2005
Department of Environmental Science, Institute of Environmental and Natural Sciences, Lancaster University, Lancaster LA1 4YQ, UK.
Six major use pesticides (Atrazine, Dicamba, Isoproturon, Lindane, Paraquat and Trifluralin) with differing physico-chemical properties were evaluated for the significance of 'bound' or non extractable residue formation. Investigations were carried out in purpose-built microcosms where mineralization, volatilisation, 'soil water' extractable and organic solvent extractable residues could be quantified. Extractable residues were defined as those accessible by sequential extraction where the solvent used became increasingly non-polar.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFEnviron Pollut
January 2005
Department of Environmental Science, Institute of Environmental and Natural Sciences, Lancaster University, Lancaster LA1 4YQ, UK.
The role of native soil microorganisms in the formation and release of non-extractable (14)C-residues, previously treated with (14)C-Dicamba, was investigated to examine their significance to the longer-term environmental effects on non-extractable pesticide residues. A 90 d study compared the fate of Dicamba under sterile and non-sterile regimes. In addition, soils were aged for 30 d and repeatedly extracted with a 0.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFEnviron Sci Technol
July 2004
Environmental Science Department, Institute of Environmental and Natural Sciences, Lancaster University, LA1 4YQ, UK.
Air samples were taken onboard the RRS Bransfield on an Atlantic cruise from the United Kingdom to Halley, Antarctica, from October to December 1998, with the aim of establishing PCB oceanic background air concentrations and assessing their latitudinal distribution. Great care was taken to minimize pre- and post-collection contamination of the samples, which was validated through stringent QA/QC procedures. However, there is evidence that onboard contamination of the air samples occurred,following insidious, diffusive emissions on the ship.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFEnviron Sci Technol
July 2004
Department of Environmental, Institute of Environmental and Natural Sciences, Lancaster University, Lancaster, LA1 4YQ, UK.
To improve understanding of air-to-vegetation transfer of persistent organic pollutants (POPs), uptake and depuration of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and polychlorinated naphthalenes (PCNs) between grass sward and air was investigated. Pasture swards were placed in fanned (2 m s(-1) wind speed) and unfanned conditions for a period of 20 days and sampled at intervals. Depuration was carried out after a short (4 days) and a long (14 days) exposure period.
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