AIR, SOIL & WATER POLLUTION & QUALITY

PQ1 - Arsenic and the Environment: From Geology to Medicine through the Food Chain

Exposure to As may occur through several anthropogenic sources and also natural sources via ingestion, inhalation and dermal contact. Millions of people face the problem of acute and chronic As exposure via drinking water and contaminated foods (i.e. rice) in many countries, where the concentration of As in water is very high (>100 ppm). Geochemists, mineralogists, clinicians, food technologists are involved in defining the As mobility and fate, the risk assessment, the concentrations in foods since the risk associated to As intake from diet is of paramount importance. Therefore, this session is an inter- and multidisciplinary platform of information exchange, making an effort to link the occurrence of geogenic As and the potential mobilization and consequent contamination of ground- and surface water, soil and air and the propagation of As in the food chain, the chronic affects of As ingestion by humans, and their toxicological and related public health consequences.

Conveners: Jochen Bundschuh, Jiin-Shuh Jean, Prosun Bhattacharya, Andrea Masotti
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PQ2 - Analytical and Biological Techniques for Detection of Pollutants

During the last decades, tremendous improvements in analytical instrumentation and biological techniques have allowed a better detection of pollutant in soils, sediments and water. However monitoring of pollution of ecosystems by persistent pollutants is still an ongoing challenge for the analyst. Due to the extensive and increasing number of pollutants and to the difficulty of predicting their collective effects in receiving ecosystems, there is a need for screening methods in environmental monitoring. In the one hand, new pollution-control programs mean lower detection limits of well known pollutants such as heavy metals and pesticides to be reached. In the other hand, number of substances liable to appear on directives increased. Hormone, metabolites of medicines, formaldehyde and platinum are examples amongst various new pollutants potentially harmful in the environment. The increase in such new pollutants calls for fast, cost-effective analytical or biological techniques to be used in extensive monitoring programs.

Conveners: Claude Geffroy
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PQ3 - High Tech Metals and Health

Beryllium, Ga, Ge, Ir, In, Li, Nb, Pt, Pd, Rh, Ru, Ta and rare earth elements (REE) are examples of high tech-metals. Although these metals are needed only small amounts in the high technology production, they are strategically very important. The economic growth of developed countries is greatly dependent on new technological innovations based on new metallic alloys. High tech-metals are critical in the production based on a new technology, e.g. tantalum on mobile phone and indium in flat panel television (LCD TV) productions. High tech-metals often occur as the by-products of the mining. Indium, for example, is available as the by-product in zinc mining. The health effects of the high tech-metals are not well-known. The scientific publications of the bioavailability of high tech-metals from soil or water to humans is scanty available. High tech-metals are probably not necessary trace elements for human health, but vice versa there are indications that they are harmful, maybe toxic. The increased global processing of high tech metals is the reason why it should be important to highlight studies on their geochemical circulation and potential health disorders.

Conveners: Anne Kousa, Maria Nikkarinen
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PQ4 - Infiltration Reservoirs: a Low Cost, Sustainable Approach to providing Clean Water and Reversing Desertification/Salination of Soils

Infiltration is a low cost sustainable method of water disposal. This session will consider the use of infiltration (particularly in arid areas/semi-arid areas/coastal areas/areas with episodic or intermittent rainfall) to create perched reservoirs in clayey sediments to provide (i) treated drinking water (including removal of leached metals, micro-organisms, and organic chemicals), (ii) localised raised groundwater levels to support specific agriculture activities and remove the adverse effects of leaching, (iii) reclaimation of salinized/sodicized/desertified land to provide increased crop yields, (iv) improved water quality in areas where the deep groundwater aquifers are affected by leached saline waters associated with irrigation projects, and (v) low cost, rapid supply, high volume sources of treated water in the aftermath of natural/ anthropogenic disasters.

Conveners: David J. Antia
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PQ5 - Impact of Alterations in Water Environment on Human Health

This session invites papers investigating human health related consequences of natural and anthropogenic alterations of the water environment. Human activities and/or climate change, such as water development and changes in precipitation patterns, can cause alternations in the water environment. These include variation of water quality and the spatial and temporal distribution of water resources, which have great potential to impact human health. Dissolution of metals from sediments and aquifers may result in elevated metal concentrations in drinking water. Ecological changes caused by such alterations may be important if vectors are involved in disease transmission. Interdisciplinary studies that include epidemiological, ecological, and hydrological aspects are essential to investigate the critical impact on human health caused by alterations of the water environment.

Conveners: Satoshi Takizawa, Motomu Ibaraki, Anwar Zahid
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PQ6 - Inherent Toxicity in Rocks and its Impact on Human Health

The concentration of toxic elements in certain rocks is relatively high. Therefore, it is important to understand about the presence of these toxic elements in rocks so as to take protective measures against excessive exposure. In most parts of the world the heavy metal toxicity is common that lead to release of toxic elements into soil and groundwater. This session invites work related to the i) investigation of the uptake of toxic elements by flora and fauna and the understanding of the bio-accumulation of these elements in the food chain; ii) quantification of the rate and path of transport of the toxic substances from the rocks to the biological environment and its impact on ecosystem and biodiversity.

Conveners: L. Elango, K. Sankaran
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Last update: June 13, 2010