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Decomposer communities in contaminated soil: is altered community regulation a proper tool in ecological risk assessment of toxicants?
1997
Salminen, J.E. | Sulkava, P.O. (University of Jyvaskyla, Department of Biological and Environmental Science, P.O. Box 35, FIN-40351 Jyvaskyla (Finland))
The environmental hazard caused by smelter slags from the Sta. Maria de la Paz mining district in Mexico
1997
Manz, M. | Castro, L.J. (UFZ Centre for Environmental Research Leipzig-Halle, Department of Chemical Ecotoxicology, PO Box 2, D-04301 Leipzig (Germany))
Fractal and multifractal approach to environmental pollution
1997
Salvadori, Giaufausto | Ratti, Sergio P. | Belli, Giuseppe
A few case studies will be presented involving both radioactive and chemical pollution at small, medium, and large space-time scales. Reported are recent advances in the field of environmental pollution involving the use of fractals and multifractals. The mathematical tools proposed here may offer new perspectives for investigating many of the problems of nonlinear variability which commonly arise when dealing with pollutants, such as the presence of outliers and the sparseness of the sampling networks. They may also lead to a simplification of the models adopted for studying natural phenomena, thanks to a scaling approach. Finally, they may provide parameters whose values are directly related to the nonlinear dynamics involved in the pollutant distribution in the environment which, in turn, may be relevant for computer simulation and epidemiological or risk assessment purposes.
Show more [+] Less [-]Do aquatic effects or human health end points govern the development of sediment-quality criteria for nonionic organic chemicals ?
1997
Parkerton, T. F. | Connolly, J. P. | Thomann, R. V. | Uchrin, C. G.
The equilibrium partitioning theory may be used to describe the partitioning of nonionic organic chemicals between water, sediment, and aquatic biota. This paradigm was employed to compare the relative magnitudes of organic carbon-normalized sediment-quality criteria that are intended to protect either benthic organisms from the direct toxic effects of sediment-associated chemicals or humans from the indirect health effects posed by the ingestion of contaminated aquatic animals. Comparison of calculated sediment-quality criteria for a variety of hydrophobic chemicals suggests that human health-based end points often result in more restrictive criteria than aquatic effects-based values. Review of published field data indicates that the equilibrium partitioning paradigm may, depending on contaminant class, either over- or underestimate the extent to which sediment-associated contaminations are bioaccumulated. Despite the limitations of adopting this simple theory for criteria development, calculations reveal that regulatory decisions involving sediments contaminated with such chemicals may be dictated by human health concerns if current risk assessment methodologies are applied.
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