Pas d'enregistrements
Andrés Andrés Rodríguez Seijo
2018
MATiSSe - Microplastics on AgriculTural SoilS: assessment of their impact on physical, chemical and biological soil properties
This project proposes to study the impact of Microplastics in agricultural soils, though the assessment of several soil properties: physical (soil texture, soil structure and bulk density), chemical (pH, cation exchange capacity, organic matter, potentially toxic elements and compounds) and biological properties (soil enzymatic activity and/or soil organisms). Although this project could be developed in any region, Estarreja region offers an exceptional environment due to having a mixed area of agricultural and industrial activities, where MPs can act as carriers of potentially toxic elements and compounds, as reported for aquatic ecosystems. Further, insights brought by this project can be useful to support the development of soil management measures specifically targeting the restoration of the quality of soils from Estarreja.
María Nazaret González Alcaraz
2018
MICROCLIM - Effects of global warming on microbial populations from contaminated agricultural soils in the area of Estarreja
The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) predicts increasing air temperatures and decreasing soil moisture content, the soils being among the most affected components of terrestrial ecosystems, especially in anthropogenic-contaminated areas. Soil microorganisms are key players in terrestrial ecosystem functions and services, quickly responding to environmental stresses. MICROCLIM aims to assess how microbial populations of agricultural soils affected by the contamination derived from the Estarreja Chemical Complex may be affected under the current global warming perspective, by using changes at structural and functional level. The specific objectives are: 1) assessing structural and functional changes in microbial populations of contaminated agricultural soils induced by single climate factors (soil moisture content and air temperature and their relation to changes in soil chemical and physicochemical parameters, and 2) assessing structural and functional changes in microbial populations of contaminated agricultural soils under different climate change scenarios, simulated by climate factors combinations (soil moisture content and air temperature), and their relation to changes in soil chemical and physicochemical parameters. Climate factors ranges will be established based on the emission scenarios predicted by the IPCC by 2100. The project will rely on changes in soil microbial populations at structural (bacterial community phylogenetic composition) and functional (microbial metabolic activity) level and their relation to key soil parameters (pH, organic matter, metal(loi) availability). MICROCLIM will improve the capacity to predict the consequences of global warming in soil microbiota from anthropogenic-contaminated soils, which, in turn, will enable a better preservation and sustainability of soil ecosystem functions and services.
Alda Marques
2018
PRISMA - Pulmonary Rehabilitation: a response for patients with COPD in an InduStrialized environment and its implication on lung MicrobiotA
PRISMA capitalizes on MicroRESPIRA, which found high abundance of bacteria, allergic and pathogenic agents for the human respiratory tract above the admissible values set by the National Legislation in the homes of patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. Therefore, these people are at higher risk of having acute exacerbations, which causes severe individual, social and economic impacts. However, little has been done to improve patients’ awareness about the impact their home environment might have in their disease and quality of life. Pulmonary rehabilitation (PR) is an evidence-based intervention known to improve patients’ education, reduce symptoms, exacerbations, hospital admissions and quality of life however, it is highly inaccessible. PRISMA will overcome this barrier. It will also enhance our understanding of the mechanisms behind the effectiveness of PR by exploring the modulation of lung microbiota, since acute exacerbations might be caused by individual’s microbiota, however, this is still poorly understood.
Elisabete Figueiredo
2018
Publishing of the Book «A Fábrica e a Vida – Narrativas e Imagens dos trabalhadores do Complexo Químico de Estarreja em torno do trabalho nas fábricas, da sua complementaridade com outras atividades e do risco ambiental» (The Factory and the Life – Narrat
In 2015 we proposed a project to OHMI – Estarreja titled A Fábrica e a Vida – Narrativas e Imagens dos trabalhadores do Complexo Químico de Estarreja em torno do trabalho nas fábricas, da sua complementaridade com outras atividades e do risco ambiental», within which 30 in-depth interviews or life stories to current and former workers of the Estarreja Chemical Complex (CQE) were registered. Those life stories constitute a rich patrimony, not only to CQE itself, but also to Estarreja Municipality, as they convey the workers’ narratives about their life trajectories, about the nature of work in the factories, about environmental and health risk perceptions, as well as about the complementary activities.
Nuno Durães
2018
SOILRICE - Geochemical and ecological soil quality status in cultivated and abandoned rice paddies
Estarreja is a region of marked contrasts, where an almost unique ecological reservoir, the Baixo Vouga Lagunar (BVL), contrasts with one of the most important chemical industry of the country. Fortunately, these contrasts between nature and man’s hand are not always so marked. Integrated in this ecological reserve, man modelled the land and used the surface water reservoirs to develop there an agricultural practice dedicated to rice cultivation, and perfectly harmonized with the surrounding landscape – the “Bocage landscape”.
Serigne Abdoul Lahad Yade
2018
tesseRESPIRA – A comparative study of environmental risk factors for the progression of pulmonary diseases between Tessekéré (Senegal) and Estarreja (Portugal)
Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is a leading cause of mortality worldwide, particularly in low and middle-income countries. Historically, smoking has been identified as the leading cause of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) in the world. However, exposure to other risk factors is increasingly being recognized as a possible cause of COPD. Indoor air pollution, for example, is one of those risk factors. The sources of indoor contamination might be derived from industrial activities and/or indoor activities such as biomass burning for cooking and heating.
OHM Estarreja OHM Téssékéré
Jean-Philippe Bedell
2017
Bioavailability and ecotoxicology assessment of organic contaminants presents in Estarreja soils
Soil, an important environmental compartment, is largely affected daily by anthropogenic activities such as industries, traffic and waste disposal. These activities can bring to the soils large quantities of several contaminants and consequently they can easily enter the food chain and the trophic scale of ecosystems via plants and animals.
Ana Sousa
2017
C-GRASS – Seagrass meadows: Blue carbon spatio-temporal changes at Murtosa region (Ria de Aveiro)
Seagrass meadows are globally significant blue carbon (C) sinks contributing to climate regulation, reduce sediment erosion and increase the sediment stability; thus, playing a key role in many ecosystem functions and ecological processes. Nevertheless, seagrass loss and degradation is occurring worldwide, leading to the release of C stored over millennia at these ecosystems. In Ria de Aveiro, seagrass meadows followed the global trend, and there was a great loss along the last decades of 20th century, mainly due to hydrological changes and dredging activities in the lagoon. Subtidal seagrass meadows disappeared and there was a great reduction of intertidal meadows extension and biodiversity. The harvesting of “moliço” (a mixture of seagrasses and macroalgae) and its use as fertilizer in agriculture was a traditional activity at Ria de Aveiro until the 1960’s. “Moliço” was collected and transported using traditional boats (“moliceiro”) and was frequently unloaded and commercialized at Murtosa wharfs. However, the economic value of this activity decreased over the 20th century and is currently lost. In the context of the OHM-Estarreja research topics “Biodiversity Evolution – ‘Evaluation of changes at Ria de Aveiro ecosystems’ and ‘Interaction among species, communities, population and ecosystems’”, this proposal intends to evaluate the spatio-temporal changes in Zostera noltei meadows at Murtosa region and the impacts of its vulnerability on the blue C stock. Potential drivers of change in these meadows will also be addressed.
Paula Marinho
2017
DIGSOIL - Digital geochemical soil mapping in the areas of Estarreja, Vicdessos, Gardanne and Marseille: georeferenced stacking layers of geochemical mapping integrating environmental, urban planning, ecological and health data
The main aim of the project is to carry out a systematic geochemical soil mapping in the areas of Estarreja, Vicdessos, Gardanne and Marseille. Geochemical soil mapping is needed in order to understand the sources, transport, transformations, and fate (including human and ecosystem health) of chemical constituents in the settings of the different Observatoires Hommes-Milieux (OHMs). Geochemical soil maps will be produced by the regional interpolation of element concentration data obtained from samples collected from georeferenced sites and the digital soil maps (DSM) will be made publicly available on the Internet to potential end-users. Elemental concentrations in the soil will be determined using a field-portable X-ray fluorescence spectrometer (FPXRF). Given the multiplicity of anthropogenic sources that are characteristic of urban and industrial environments under study, isotopic studies will be carried out for tracing and quantifying mixed sources of certain potentially toxic elements (PTEs) in soils.
OHM Bassin Minier de Provence OHM Estarreja OHM Haut-Vicdessos OHM Littoral Méditerranéen
Flavio Silva
2017
DRuMBEAT - Dirt-based microorganisms towards soil bioremediation of multiple contaminants
While soils of Estarreja continue to be important sinks of persistent contaminants, existing remediation techniques are often ineffective and fail when addressing multiple contaminants. Biochar – biomass pyrolysed for enhancing carbon sequestration and other biomass productivity – presents a dual potential for improving soil decontamination: its exceptionally high porosity can both promote adsorption of contaminants and provide habitat conditions for microbial biofilm development. It is hypothesized that the microbiomes existing in contaminated soils present enhanced abilities to thrive under such adverse environments, thus allowing for a natural improvement of the ecosystem services provided by the soil. The proposed research aims at a novel technique for remediating soil contamination, through development of biochar-attached biofilms made of mixed microbial cultures taken from those “dirty” soils identified in Estarreja and stimulated to oxidize both organic and inorganic contaminants. The work programme encompasses: microbial fingerprinting of the contaminated soils, ex situ development of biofilms cultivated from those microbiomes onto biochar carriers and assessment of the contaminant uptake kinetics.
