Level Of Environmental Pollution Research Articles

Re-use of built environment - Strategic planning of sampling locations for the environmental impact assessment of former airports: The use-case of the former Hellenikon airport in Athens, Greece

The interaction between the built environment and its surrounding ecosystem needs to be taken into account when reuse activities are planned. The bilateral influence of building assets on their surroundings creates a continuity of impacts that exists even when the building stock is replaced; the surrounding environment projects part of the prior impact to the new constructions. A special case of built environment reuse regards the redevelopment of former airports. Such major redevelopment projects require comprehensive environmental impact assessment studies, which necessitate significant resources for the collection of the required documentation and measured data. This work regards a methodology of strategic planning of sampling locations for the assessment of the environmental impact and pollution levels at former airports. It is developed and applied in the use-case of the former Hellenikon airport in Athens, but it can be used to other large-area redevelopment cases.

Contributions to the environmental impact of the wastewater treated at biological purification plants

It is established that the environmental impact caused by purified wastewater at wastewater treatment plants (WWTP) is determined by several factors: the performance of purification plants, the volume and degree of wastewater pollution, the specificity of the pollutants removed and the purification capacity of WWTP. The highest degree of wastewater treatment is achieved at the water treatment plant "Regia Autosalubritate". A high level of environmental pollution is caused by wastewater from the "Vinăria Bardar" S.A. and treated at the local station. Exceedances for CCO-Cr are 1.61 times for the first case and 1.04 times for the second case. For CBO5, the excedances are 2.54 times and 1.82 times, respectively. The water from the “Negară Vasile” pond indicates that after dissolved oxygen, CCO-Cr, ammoniacal nitrogen and nitrite nitrogen, it corresponds to quality class II, according to the content of nitrate and chloride nitrogen - to class I, according to the sulfate content - in class V, total iron - in class IV and after zinc content - grade III quality. An essential impact on Chisinau treatment plant is caused by JSC "JLC" Lactate, Chisinau municipality, where the concentration of all wastewater pollutants discharged into the sewerage exceeds the allowable limit values.

The Levels of Environmental Pollution by Noise in the Industrial Areas of Sulaimani City in Kurdistan Region of Iraq

Environmental pollution is one of the biggest problems that face humanity and it is very dangerous matter these days. Furthermore, excessive noise is regarded as a significant environmental pollution like other environmental pollutions. Therefore, the aim of this research was to assess noise pollution levels and its effects on the environment at the commercial and Industrial zone in Sulemani city The noise levels were measured by using a sound level meter. This research of noise assessment was conducted in three different seasons which were summer, spring, and winter. Noise pollution was measured on official working days from Sunday to Thursday and in the day and night periods. Moreover, noise levels were measured on weekend days, Friday and Saturday, and in both daytime and nighttime periods as well. Also, the aim of this research was to identify and investigate noise effects on human being body and psychological characteristics. In view of the obtained results, we also concluded that the background noise level in the study area has exceeded the permissible international noise standards, and this causing posing a serious threat to people's health and having negative consequences for their heart, veins, and blood circulation system. Therefore, this study strongly suggests that it is necessary to develop a noise abatement strategy and programme of strategic noise reduction in the study area, such as building barriers between the noise sources and peoples; locating noisy equipment as far as possible from hospitals, schools, work areas; implementation of environmentalist policies and regulations; etc.

An empirical model based environmental pollution level analysis in coastal area of Gulf of Mannar using remote sensing data

AbstractUnderstanding the statistical relations among the remote sensing data and observed water quality parameters is the necessary task to develop an estimator model. In order to estimate the exact water quality parameter distribution map of the study area from remote sensing data, this present study proposed an empirical mathematical relational and signature (EMRS) model. Through this EMRS model, an environmental pollution level analysis has been carried out for coastal area of Gulf of Mannar. EMRS highly facilitates to map the distribution of the water quality parameters. The insitu samples were involved with ICP‐OES and Physicochemical analysis and the test results were used for convergence of EMRS. The heavy metals such as Fe, Cu, Cd, Hg, and physicochemical parameters such as pH, dissolved oxygen (DO), biological oxygen demand (BOD), alkalinity, total suspended solids (TSS), turbidity and hardness are the experimented water quality parameters. The Landsat, Sentinal remote sensing data were used by the model to estimate the values and distribution and pollution level maps. The experimental analysis shows that the extracted element concentration using the proposed EMRS has highly correlated with the observed values based on the different measures such as R2 and root mean square error (RMSE).

A real-world digital study evaluating associations between levels of allergens and air pollutants, and severity and frequency of symptoms of allergic rhinitis (The DSApp study)

Allergic rhinitis (AR), a chronic inflammatory disease, significantly impacts quality of life and socioeconomic burden. AR inflammation is driven by environmental allergens as well as indoor and outdoor pollutants, with increased prevalence and symptoms associated with increasing levels of ambient pollutants. This real-world study investigated associations between AR symptoms, patient activity, and levels of environmental allergens and pollutants.

Effects of the air pollution dynamics on semen quality and sperm DNA methylation in men living in urban industrial agglomeration.

Human populations living in urban industrial regions of developed countries are exposed to high levels of environmental pollutants. The reproductive consequences of the exposure to air pollution can be monitored through semen analysis and molecular methods. In this study, we tested the possible impact of seasonal changes in the level of air pollution on the semen quality and sperm DNA methylation of 24 men living and working in the industrial agglomeration of Ostrava (Czech Republic). The study participants were healthy non-smokers. The study group was homogeneous regarding their profession, moderate alcohol consumption, no drug abuse and no additional exposure to chemical toxicants. We performed targeted methylation next generation sequencing (NGS) using Agilent SureSelect Human Methyl-Seq and Illumina NextSeq 500 platform to analyze semen samples collected repeatedly from the same men following the season of high (winter) and low (summer) air pollution exposure. We did not detect any adverse effects of the increased exposure on the semen quality; neither we found any difference in average sperm DNA methylation between the two sampling periods. Our search for differentially methylated CpG sites did not reveal any specific CpG methylation change. Our data indicate that the seasonal changes in the level of the air pollution probably do not have any substantial effect on sperm DNA methylation of men living in the highly polluted industrial agglomeration for a long period of time.

Mercury in scarletina bolete mushroom (Neoboletus luridiformis): Intake, spatial distribution in the fruiting body, accumulation ability and health risk assessment

In the present work, we focused on two aspects of mercury (Hg) bioconcentration in the above-ground parts of Neoboletus luridiformis. In the first part, we monitored the bioconcentration potential of individual anatomical parts of a particular fruiting body and evaluated the obtained data by the spline interpolation method. In the second part, we focused on assessing the mercury content in 378 samples of N. luridiformis and associated samples of substrates from 38 localities with different levels of Hg content in Slovakia. From the obtained data of Hg content in samples of substrate and fungi, we evaluated ecological indicators (geoaccumulation index – Igeo, contamination factor – Cf a potential ecological risk – PER), bioconcentration indicators (bioconcentration factor – BCF; cap/stipe quotient – Qc/s) and health indicators (percentage of provisional tolerable weekly intake – %PTWI a target hazard quotient – THQ). Based on the Hg distribution results, the highest Hg content was found in the tubes & pores (3.86 mg/kg DW), followed by the flesh of cap (1.82 mg/kg DW). The lowest Hg content was in the stipe (1.23 mg/kg DW). The results of the BCF values indicate that the studied species can be included in the category of mercury accumulators. The results of the ecological indices representing the state of soil pollution pointed out that two localities (Malachov and Nižná Slaná) stood apart from all monitored localities and showed a state of an extremely disturbed environment. This fact was also reflected in the values of Hg content in the fruiting bodies of the studied mushroom species. In the case of the consumption of mushrooms from these localities, it can be stated that long-term and regular consumption could have a negative non-carcinogenic effect on the health of consumers. It was confirmed by the %PTWI (Malachov: 57.8%; Nižná Slaná: 53.2%) and THQ (Malachov: 1.11 Nižná Slaná: 1.02). The locality Čačín-Jelšovec is interesting from the bioconcentration characteristics point of view, where the level of environmental pollution was the lowest (Hg content in the soil was below the background value) compared to other localities, however, the THQ value was the highest (1.29).

Monitoring-based assessment of environmental pollution in regions of the Russian Federation

Abstract The article assesses the environmental pollution level in urban areas of the Russian Federation regions. Environmental monitoring data were used as data sources. For each Russian region the environmental pollution level was considered as the sum of pollution indices for the basic environmental media: air, surface water and soil. It allowed ranking regions and grouped them into categories (from extremely high polluted to extremely low ones). The air pollution monitoring network in cities and industrial centres does not cover all regions of the country, leading to undetermined air pollution level in 12 of 85 regions and thus to underestimated environmental pollution level there. The paper proposes to use the monitoring network data of the snow cover chemistry for the air pollution assessment in problematic regions and more accurate calculation of the environmental pollution level in them. Based on the air monitoring data for 2018 we revealed regions with high and extremely high levels of air pollution, their list was added after analyzing the snow cover chemistry data. As a result, the total assessment of environmental pollution was recalculated upward.

The Role of Large Cities in the Development of Low-Carbon Economy—The Example of Poland

The main objective of the article is to evaluate the investment activity of large cities in Poland in the area of developing a low-carbon economy in 2014–2020, co-financed by European Union funds. This article poses several research questions, namely: Do large cities with environmental problems actively obtain EU funding to develop a low-carbon economy? What are the main socio-economic and environmental determinants of the level of the EU funding absorption among large cities in the research area? The empirical research was conducted on the basis of the data from the Ministry of Investment and Economic Development in Poland, which is responsible for the implementation of cohesion policy funds and from the Local Data Bank of Statistics Poland. Under the 2014–2020 perspective, 223 such projects have been implemented for a total of PLN 21 billion (EUR 4.74 billion). The projects focused on: transportation, electricity, gaseous fuels, steam, hot water and air for air conditioning systems, and environmental and climate change activities. In terms of both the number and the value of EU funds spent, great variation has been observed. Analysis of the correlation relationships showed a highly positive correlation between selected indicators of investment activity in the field of low-carbon economy co-financed by EU funds (especially taking into account the value of investments per area) and socio-economic indicators of Polish metropolises. Metropolises with high demographic, economic, and financial potential have proven to be more effective beneficiaries. Interestingly, no correlation was found between investment activity in the low-carbon economy and the level of environment pollution in large cities. This means that, unfortunately, pro-environmental activities depend on the state of finances of the cities, and not necessarily on the actual needs, even taking into account the fact that the EU covers a large proportion of the costs.

Екологія та стоматологічне здоров’я населення України: причинно-наслідковий зв’язок

Resume. Many studies have shown that an important factor in the health of the human body is the state of the environment. The aim of this work is to review the literature on the study of the effects of xenobiotics on dental morbidity. The highest rates of prevalence and intensity of periodontal disease were found in regions with high and very high levels of environmental pollution, the lowest – in a region with relatively low total levels of environmental pollution. Children living in environmentally unfavorable areas have a significant number of somatic diseases, which are combined with high dental morbidity. The results of the assessment of the dental health of the surveyed children show that the level of dental health of children in contaminated areas is, on average, lower than that of children living in less contaminated areas. In children living in relatively clean areas, dental health rates are the highest among all surveyed. Conclusion. It is proved that the features and level of dental morbidity are largely due to adverse environmental factors. We believe that this requires the development of regional prevention programs. Key words: dental morbidity, toxic effects, adverse environmental factors.

РЕГІОНАЛЬНИЙ РОЗВИТОК УКРАЇНИ В КОНТЕКСТІ КОНЦЕПЦІЇ СТАЛОГО РОЗВИТКУ: МОДЕЛІ НА ПАНЕЛЬНИХ ДАНИХ

The problem of ensuring complex and balanced functioning of regions is relevant for different countries of the world, for Ukraine after victory in the war it will also appear with new nuances, because the gap between regions will increase many times. The need for sustainable development of Ukraine's regions is due to the war, the global threat of environmental degradation, the unstable situation in the world economy, the country's low socio-economic indicators and weak innovative activity. The purpose of the investigation is the panel modeling of the gross regional product (GRP) in the cross-section of the regions of Ukraine, depending on the amount of expenditures, population savings and the number of the population (social component), the amount of capital investments (economic component), as well as the level of environmental pollution (ecological component) based on regional data for 2004–2020 years (collected from State Statistic Service of Ukraine). The investigation singled out some of the main and available (from the point of view of data availability) indicators of sustainable development of Ukrainian regions and analyzed their interaction at the regional level with the panel modeling method. Also, thanks to panel modeling, the influence of neighboring regions on indicators of sustainable development of the studied region was investigated. The influence of the characteristics of each region is expressed through fixed individual effects obtained in the process of panel modeling. A prerequisite for the model construction and forecasting with it is an investigation of the socio-economic state and sustainable development of the regions of Ukraine, collecting the necessary data for creating a model. In panel modeling of the regions of Ukraine, four models are implemented on panel data, each of which can be applied at different levels of research. A choice was made in favor of a panel model with fixed effects according to the Hausman test. All of the constructed models are adequate, suitable for application at the level of regions of Ukraine and forecasting indicators for the following periods. The expediency of developing sustainable development policies in the territorial section is substantiated.

Green chemistry inspired formation of bioactive stable colloidal nanosilver and its wide-spectrum functionalised properties for sustainable industrial escalation

Due to the existence of wide scale and diverse physical, chemical and biological properties colloidal silver nanoparticles has gained versatile application in various fields of engineering and bio-medical science. The conventional way for fulfilling the global industrial demand of nanoparticle based silver products was its production through physical and chemical technology. In the last decade ecologist and environmentalist has continuously reported the hazardous impact of physical and chemical technology of nanoparticle synthesis over various ecosystem including rise in environmental pollution level. Despite of toxic effect, one cannot neglect the growing demand of nanosilver based lifestyle goods. Adaptation of green technology for synthesizing nanoparticles was the most convenient environmental friendly strategy as it is comparatively less toxic or non-toxic and eco-friendly to the living world. Beside this application of green synthesized silver nanoparticles within optimum dose are reported to have no harmful effect to the environment, as it contains different phyto-extract as capping and reducing agent. Toxicity level can also be controlled by process variation and characterization of green synthesized nanoparticles. Silver nanoparticle synthesized by green technology are continuously been used in horticultural industry, food packing industry, in the manufacture of sports goods, garment industry, cosmetic industry, medical and pharmaceutical industry. The current review deals with gradual transitional shift in synthesis of nanosilver from toxic physical and chemical method towards eco-friendly cost effective green synthesis methods using biological resources. The review contains detail literature investigation of silver nanoparticle “one of the most commercially exploded metallic nanoparticles”- its mode of synthesis; its gradual transformation towards eco-friendly synthesis approach; characterization and process optimization for better bio-activity along with its industrial application and commercial utilization.

ASSESSMENT OF NOISE LEVELS IN RUMUOKORO MOTOR PARK IN RIVERS STATE, NIGERIA

The study was aimed at determining the level of noise pollution in a motor environment. Noise level in the Rumuokoro motor park was measured with a type II noise meter called Sound Level Meter GM1352. The study involved field noise Measurements which were carried out at five established points around Rumoukoro motor park during morning, afternoon and evening time periods. The minimum mean and maximum mean noise levels for morning time periods were between 74.8 dB(A) and 86.3 dB(A) respectively. The afternoon time periods showed a minimum mean noise level of 75.7 dB(A) and a maximum mean noise level of 82.7 dB(A); while the evening time periods mean noise levels were between 74.8 dB(A) and highest of 86.6 dB(A). Thus, noise levels in the morning and evening time periods recorded higher noise levels than the afternoon time periods. The result of this study showed that the measured level of noise exceeded the international standards (WHO and USEPA) and national standards (NESREA and FMENV) in monitoring noise level in the environment.

Regression Analysis and Modeling of Local Environmental Pollution Levels for the Electric Power Industry Needs

Reliability, longevity, and maintenance costs of electric power industry installations and equipment depend strongly on the extent to which their design reflects relevant environmental factors, such as expected levels of local environmental pollution. These factors guide the choice of specific types of components – insulators, towers, conductors, etc. – and are often estimated through complex and tedious long-term field measurements of pollution deposits. In Slovakia, such field measurements were mandated by the national standard STN 33 0405. This standard was retired in 2015 without replacement, which opened the way for developing alternative and less cumbersome methods. One such alternative is to apply artificial intelligence techniques to atmospheric pollution and other relevant data, which is already routinely monitored and collected in many countries. In this paper, we explore the strength of the relationships between the field measurements performed in various regions of Slovakia according to STN 33 0405 and atmospheric pollution data monitored and collected by the Slovak Hydrometeorological Institute (SHMÚ). The paper is focused on input attributes significance, in relation to output attributes. It represents the first phase of our long-term research aiming at the creation of reliable regression models of local pollution in order to replace the cumbersome field measurements mandated by STN 33 0405.

Field measurement of thermal environment and air pollution level inside an urban road tunnel during the evening rush hour

Some urban road tunnels serve as the main traffic access routes for residents in the surrounding large communities. The traffic congestion is a common phenomenon during rush hours inside this kind of tunnel. In order to learn about the environmental parameters inside tunnel during the evening rush hour, a comprehensive measurement in a typical commuting tunnel is conducted. The thermal environment parameters and air pollutant distribution along the tunnel are measured simultaneously. The results show that the traffic volume, vehicle speed and air velocity inside tunnel take on the obvious temporal and spatial discrepancy. There are the average 4.58°C air temperature rise and 96μg/m3 PM2.5 concentration rise from the tunnel entrance to the tunnel exit. The PM2.5 concentration at the tunnel exit is about 2.67 times of the 24-hour average limit of Chinese standard. The rise gradients of the air temperature and PM 2.5 concentration during the evening rush hour is given out.

The Use of Imitation Models at Developing and Introducing Information-Control Systems

Imitation models for computing the environmental water pollution level depending on the intensity of pollution sources created by the author over the years are presented. For this purpose, an additive model of a non-stationary random process is considered. For the modeling of its components, models that consider only dilution and self-purification processes are proposed for waste water and three-dimensional turbulent diffusion equations for river waters, and multidimensional Gaussian Markov series are proposed for modeling the random component. The purpose, the capabilities and the peculiarities of such imitation models are discussed taking into account the peculiarities of the water objects. The modular principle of creating imitation models is proposed to facilitate their development and use.

“GREEN” POLICY AND ENVIRONMENTAL TAXATION AS THE INSTRUMENTS TO TACKLE CLIMATE CHANGE

The article is dedicated to environmental taxation as one of the possible policy instruments that along with other governmental and partnership measures could tackle climate change and assure green growth for the world and Ukraine in particular. European countries mostly focus on the taxation of energy sources, which allows them to be highly efficient in the field of GHG taxation. The Ukrainian model insists on controlling the level of environmental pollution for many years, it has low efficiency and control potential, high transaction, and administration costs. Price instruments for limiting greenhouse gas emissions are one of the most effective and rational solutions during the exacerbation of the climate change issue. These include taxes (on CO2 emissions that are directly related to emissions or the carbon content of fuel and excise duties on energy carriers) along with emissions trading systems. With the establishment of excise duty on energy and carbon taxes, states form a price for each ton of CO2 emissions, which contributes to dynamic efficiency, by stimulating technological changes to the development of innovative emission reduction technologies and static efficiency, i.e., reduction of CO2 emissions in the most financially affordable way. Excise duty on energy resources and taxes on CO2 emissions have the similar object of taxation, although the rates of excise taxes in the vast majority do not depend on the carbon content of the fuel. They are differentiated in the direction of promoting the competitiveness of more ecological types of fuel (reducing the rate for fuel with a lower sulfur content), protecting producers of energy-efficient enterprises, and preventing energy poverty. The excise duty rate consists of Pigou and Ramsay components, the proportions of which are chosen by fiscal necessity and occupy a large share of budget revenues. They are harmonized between EU countries with a unified approach. In common practice, funds accumulated from carbon tax should cover the damages caused to society and the costs of protecting and restoring an environment. Therefore, the article identifies the key groups of environmental taxes in the EU countries, analyses the European experience of the economic impact on environment preservation, examines possible ways of environmental taxation reform in Ukraine, based on the best foreign experience, and analyses the CO2 emissions among countries and continents by sectors and type of fuel. In addition, the author developed the draft concept of Ukraine's transition to a climate-neutral economy, highlighting the models of side-x-side functioning of the tradable permits system and taxes on CO2 emissions.

Environmental Taxes Impact for the Population Health Protection: Cross-Country Analysis

The current demographic situation in the world encourages the search and implementation of optimal tools for stabilizing the population’s life expectancy and ensuring their health. The study was designed to investigate the impact of environmental taxes, as environmental policy instruments, on the state and the health of the population. The analysis of scientific works, built based on the Publish or Perish software, made it possible to confirm the unfailing relevance of research on the topic of the impact of environmental taxes. Where environmental taxes are considered as a tool for influencing the level of pollution of the surrounding natural Environment and indicators of life and health of the population. The analysis of scientific works published in recent years under the keywords «environmental tax» and «healthy» based on the Scopus scientometric database also confirmed the study’s relevance, considering the level of citations of the presented works. Some authors pay considerable attention to additional taxation of producers of harmful products and subsidizing enterprises that grow or produce eco-products. Other scientists emphasize changing the existing environmental legislation (increasing environmental tax rates, targeted use, introducing additional critical emission limits, etc.). They believe this will have the effect of a hidden intervention in the prevention of disease through reducing climate change. The main part of the study was based on visual confirmation of the relationship between environmental taxes and the population’s level of health using the VOSviewer software product. This bibliometric analysis confirmed that limiting the environmental pollution level due to environmental taxes determines the possibility of improving the population’s health. At the same time, financial instruments for curbing habits harmful to human health also have a positive impact. Clustering made it possible to: confirm the impact of environmental taxes on the actual level of environmental pollution; reflect the dependence of personal habits and tendencies that affect the life and health of the population; to argue the fact that ecological culture and the culture of a healthy lifestyle are formed not only by objective but also by subjective reasons, as well as by the general psychological state of the population; to confirm the existence of the socio-regulatory orientation of the ecological tax, including the environmental exposure and the level of health of the people, etc. The graphical method (built based on Stata software) made it possible to confirm that environmental taxation can improve the state of the natural environment. The transmission nature of environmental taxation’s impact on the population’s life and health is also determined. The research results are a scientific basis for developing the latest environmental policy, which would fully enable the environmental tax to perform its compensatory function, as well as ensure the formation of green production and expand the access of individuals to quality food products.

Robust optimization of risk-aware, resilient and sustainable closed-loop supply chain network design with Lagrange relaxation and fix-and-optimize

ABSTRACT This study explores a Robust, Risk-aware, Resilient, and Sustainable Closed-Loop Supply Chain Network Design (3RSCLSCND) to tackle demand fluctuation like COVID-19 pandemic. A two-stage robust stochastic multiobjective programming model serves to express the proposed problems in formulae. The objective functions include minimising costs, CO2 emissions, energy consumption, and maximising employment by applying Conditional Value at Risk (CVaR) to achieve reliability through risk reduction. The Entropic Value at Risk (EVaR) and Minimax method are used to compare with the proposed model. We utilise the Lp-Metric method to solve the multiobjective problem. Since this model is complex, the Lagrange relaxation and Fix-and-Optimise algorithm are applied to find lower and upper bounds in large-scale, respectively. The results confirm the superior power of the model offered in estimating costs, energy consumption, environmental pollution, and employment level. This model and algorithms are applicable for other CLSC problems.

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Abstract. The purpose of the study is to conduct an analytical and legal analysis of the government program for a gradual transition to road transport to an environmentally friendly form with a gradual abandonment of cars with an internal combustion engine. The research methods are the analysis of the draft government program for the promotion of clean and energy-efficient equipment for road transport, executed on the basis of a generalization of the positions of legal scholars and ecologists regarding the level of environmental pollution in connection with the increase in emissions of harmful substances into the atmosphere and the invention of the ways to minimize the impact on the environment. The results of the study showed that the author carries out a legal analysis of the introduction by European countries of government subsidiary programs focusing on the use of environmentally friendly vehicles by the people. As part of strengthening the politically safe convergence between Ukraine and the European Union regarding the promotion of clean and energy efficient vehicles, the Government of Ukraine has initiated a corresponding government program, which includes a ban on the use of used cars with a diesel internal combustion engine from 01/01/2027, and from 01/01/2030 � a ban on the use of new vehicles with a diesel internal combustion engine, as well as used and new vehicles with a gasoline internal combustion engine. The result of the study is the author's identification of a number of shortcomings that arise from the draft state program for the promotion of clean and energy-efficient vehicles for road transport, and require immediate elimination before the start of its implementation. Key words: environment, atmospheric air, emissions of pollutants, environmentally friendly transport, government subsidies, electric transport, emission quotas, internal combustion engine.