Abstract: Two sampling campaigns in suburban places in the north zone of Santa Clara city, Cuba, have been carried out on a weekly base with the use of Radiello passive diffusion tubes in order to monitor the tropospheric ozone (O3) levels in 2010. The first campaign was scheduled from February to April (cold season) and the second one in August and October (warm season), both of them at two sampling sites, i.e., Farm and School of Art Instructors. After aqueous extraction, the samples were analyzed by UVVIS spectrophotometry. A seasonal trend was observed with the maximum O3 concentrations in the cold season and the minimum levels in the warm season. Samples collected during the cold season showed the highest O3 levels. Higher levels were reached at the Farm site with average values of about 58 ± 12 μg/m3, which exceeded the limit of the Cuban Standard 99:1999. In the warm season, the O3 concentrations were similar for both sites, but lower than those observed in the cold season. The overall, seasonal average value was found to be 24 μg/m3. Despite the higher weekly average temperatures in August, the O3 concentrations during this month showed the lowest values of the whole sampling period, which finding is in agreement with that reported by the Meteorological Institute of Cuba. Mathematical models, based on the Cochrane-Orcutt algorithm, were fitted to the acquired data set to explain the change in the tropospheric ozone concentrations under various meteorological conditions during the two campaigns. The correlation coefficients for both the cold and the warm seasons demonstrated a strong correlation, i.e., 0.779 and 0.951, respectively. The high correlation of wind speed in the model from the first sampling campaign explains the sharp decrease in O3 concentrations at the SAI sampling site from the sixth week of sampling.

Abstract: Urban atmospheres in modern cities carry characteristic mixtures of particulate pollution which are potentially aggravating for chronic respiratory patients (CRP). Although air quality surveys can be detailed, the obtained information is not always useful to evaluate human health effects. This paper presents a novel approach to estimate particle deposition rates in airways of CRP, based on real air pollution data. By combining computational fluid dynamics with physical-chemical characteristics of particulate pollution, deposition rates are estimated for particles of different toxicological relevance, that is, minerals, iron oxides, sea salts, ammonium salts, and carbonaceous particles. Also, it enables some qualitative evaluation of the spatial, temporal, and patient specific effects on the particle dose upon exposure to the urban atmosphere. Results show how heavy traffic conditions increases the deposition of anthropogenic particles in the trachea and lungs of respiratory patients (here, +0.28 and +1.5 μg·h1, respectively). In addition, local and synoptic meteorological conditions were found to have a strong effect on the overall dose. However, the pathology and age of the patient was found to be more crucial, with highest deposition rates for toxic particles in adults with a mild anomaly, followed by mild asthmatic children and adults with severe respiratory dysfunctions (7, 5, and 3 μg·h1, respectively).

Abstract: Using laser microprobe mass analysis, we studied the ultrastructural localization of aluminum in liver and bone tissue of chronic-hemodialysis patients with proven aluminum-induced osteomalacia. In the liver, aluminum was observed to be almost exclusively associated with iron. Detectable aluminum and large amounts of iron were found in lysosomes of both hepatocytes and Kupffer cells. In bone, aluminum was localized at the osteoid/calcified-bone interface and also was associated with iron in some cases.

Abstract: We present here data of mineral dust variability retrieved from an ice core of the central West Antarctic, spanning the last five decades. Main evidence provided by the geochemical analysis is that northerly air mass incursions to the coring site, tracked by insoluble dust microparticles, have declined over the past 50 yr. This result contrasts with dust records from ice cores reported to the coastal West Antarctic that show increases since mid-20th century. We attribute this difference to regional climatic changes due to the ozone depletion and its implications to westerly winds. We found that the diameters of insoluble microparticles in the central West Antarctica ice core are significantly correlated with cyclone depth (energy) and wind intensity around Antarctica.

Abstract: Yamuna River sediments are more enriched in metals than those of the Ganges and average Indian river sediments. Variation of metals in suspended, bed and core sediment are due to the varying proportions of grain size and mineral content. Iron, Mn and Pb show a preference for the oxide fraction, whereas Cu and Zn are predominant in organic and carbonate fractions of sediments. Of the total elemental content, 80% Mn, 78% Fe, 69% Pb, 67% Cu and 55% Zn are available in chemically mobile phases of the sediments. The high partition coefficient of metals with respect to Mn suggests similar chemical mobility and preferences for solid phases. River sediments in the vicinity of Delhi show an increase in sorption of metals downstream, consequently metals are retained in sediments. The high correlation coefficient and significant regression relation among the metals indicate their similar behaviour during transport. At Allahabad, the contribution of the Yamuna to the Ganges is 3200 t Pb year−1, 12 100 t Zn year−1 and 8500 t Cu year−1 in particulate form.