Projets de recherche
99 résultats
Líder de projeto: Isabel Da Silva Henriques
Líder de projeto: Horst Wilhem Engels
Líder de projeto: Marina Marques Da Silva Cabral Pinto
Líder de projeto: Sara Moreno Pires
Líder de projeto: Carla Patinha
Participantes:
Líder de projeto: Carla Patinha
Líder de projeto: Carlos Fonseca
Líder de projeto: Isabel Da Silva Henriques
Líder de projeto: Ricardo Mateus
Líder de projeto: Virginia Pereira
Líder de projeto: Manuela Inácio
Disciplinas:
ChimieSante publiquePalavras chave:
Contaminaçãoindustria químicaprodutos agrícolassolosResumo:
São vários os estudos que envolvem alguns poluentes em solos da área envolvente ao Complexo Químico de Estarreja (CQE), mas é desconhecida a sua transferência para os produtos agrícolas consumidos/usados pela comunidade local, tornando-se pois indispensável a sua avaliação. Neste trabalho, determinou-se a concentração em As, Hg, Cu, e Zn (EPPs - Elementos Potencialmente Perigosos) nos solos e na parte comestível da couve, do tomate e do milho recolhidos em hortas.particulares na envolvente do CQE. Verificou-se que 46%, 15% e 11,5% dos solos apresentam, respectivamente para o As, Cu e Hg, concentrações superiores aos valores permitidos na legislação canadiana para solos agrícolas. Nos produtos agrícolas verificou-se a tendência para as folhas da couve concentrarem mais As, Hg e Zn e o tomate mais Cu. Locais com teores considerados preocupantes devem continuar a ser investigados, alargando o estudo a outras culturas e hábitos alimentares para se estimar potenciais riscos para a saúde pública.
Participantes:
Orquídia Neves, Virgínia Pereira, Eduardo SilvaLíder de projeto: Fátima Alves
Resumo:
Constitui objectivo geral deste projecto, proceder ao estudo da ocupação do território e urbanização, durante as últimas cinco décadas, no conselho de Estarreja. Como objectivos específicos, temos: · Compreender as alterações dos usos do solo; · Analisar com profundidade as transferências de usos de solo na área de estudo; · Traçar um perfil de padrões evolutivos das transformações ocorridas; · Disponibilizar um instrumento de informação e apoio à gestão municipal.
Líder de projeto: Jean Claude Pineau
Resumo:
L’objectif de cette étude est double : - Evaluer et comparer la croissance staturo pondérale et la corpulence (évaluée par le BMI) entre 6 et 14 ans dans la zone contaminée et dans la zone blanche - Déterminer le degré de corrélation éventuel entre cette croissance et le taux urinaire de deux contaminants, présents en grande quantité dans l’environneemnt immédiat du complexe chimique : l’arsenic et le mercure.
Líder de projeto: Carla Patinha
Resumo:
The purposes of this project are: - to delimitate the extension and the magnitude of the contamination plume in the groundwater system of the study area; - to determine the spatial and temporal evolution of the contamination, and probable effects on biodiversity and agricultural practices, leading to modifications on dietary habits of the population; - to identify “hot spots” for a targeted selection of wells and boreholes to collect the water samples; - to determine VOCs and nitrate, and their most common mixtures in selected samples of untreated groundwater used for domestic consumption; These organic compounds were selected as: - Nitrate is a common contaminant of drinking water closely associated with agricultural activities. Nitrate in groundwater results primarily from fertilizer use (4). Nitrate in drinking water is particularly dangerous to infants and small children. In proportion to their body weight, infants consume a much larger amount of water than older children and adults. Also, a baby’s immature digestive system facilitates the reduction of nitrate to nitrite much more easily than a mature, adult digestive tract. - VOCs are extremely persistent in groundwater, due to their low reactivity, and these chemicals may be transported for long distances. They originate rom many areas of human activity, both domestic and industrial, including septic system cleaning, pest and weed control, dry cleaning, and fumigation. Many of the VOCs present in drinking water are known carcinogens. Ingestion of VOCs can also cause damage to the central nervous system, the kidneys, or the liver. If inhaled, VOCs can damage the tissue of the lungs, and they may also cause irritation if they come into contact with the skin. VOCs vaporize at a much faster rate than water, causing serious health threats when contaminated water is used for showering or cooking.
Líder de projeto: Amélia Reis
Resumo:
In 2011 a research project untitled « Analyse comparée de la perception de la pollution atmosphérique en milieu urbain et industriel. Société, géochimie et analyse spatiale » was financed by the ROHM. Such project aims a comparative study on atmospheric pollution between two OHMs, the Bassin Minier de Provence (BMP) and Estarreja. These are urban/industrial sites with some similarities but also with significant differences. The project gets together two research teams working on different, but complementary, fields of the earth sciences. Such interdisciplinary and inter-institutional collaboration resulted in an adjustment to the proposed plan of studies. The research teams decided to collect ground-level dust samples in both sites with the objective of comparing the chemical and mineralogical composition of the atmospheric particles with those of ground-level dusts. Dusts are a mixture of displaced soil and airborne particles that settle at the ground-level but that can be easily suspended by the action of wind, mainly the finer particles that are also those having higher probability of being inhaled and reach the human respiratory tract (< PM10). Potentially harmful elements to human health (PHE) such as lead, arsenic or aluminium are still being released to the environment in both sites and one major pathway of exposure to these PHE is through the inhalation/ingestion of contaminated dusts. Many models are being used for health exposure and risk assessment, which are applied in the evaluation of contaminated areas. But, such models normally assume that all 100% of potentially harmful elements are bioavailable (fraction of the PHE that reaches the human systemic circulation). Yet, researchers now recognize that the total concentration of a contaminant in the solid phase embraces large fractions that are unavailable to humans, and therefore onlyrepresent a minimal risk to human health. The main reason is that PHE occur in the solid-phase as discrete mineral phases, co-precipitated, in the form of sorbed species associated with minerals or organic matter, etc. The occurrence and distribution of an element among these various phases, and the physical relation between the phases and the solid, will control the element’s dissolution properties and, hence, its bioavailability and bioaccessibility (metal fraction that is soluble in the human gastrointestinal (GI) fluids or lung fluids, if dust ingestion or inhalation occurs). Ground-level dust samples were collected in the BMP and in Estarreja. Total concentrations and oral bioaccessible estimates of some PHE were determined in the dust samples. Bioaccessibility testing was carried out using the UBM method, developed by the Bioaccessibility Research Group of Europe, which is an in vitro test that reproduces the human GI tract and estimates the PHE fraction that is in bioaccessible forms (is soluble in the GI fluids and therefore available to cross the intestinal epithelium and reach systemic circulation). The mineralogical composition of the same dusts was determined by XRD and SEM. The preliminary results indicate that the mineralogical and chemical composition of the dusts raises some concern in terms of public health and that additional, detailed studies are necessary to assess the actual risk posed by the metal-laden dust particles.