METAL CONTAMINATION

May 08 2025ENVIRONMENT

Coastal Mining's Lingering Impact on Marine Life

The Canari site in Corsica has been a hotspot for asbestos mining for over two decades. This has led to some serious issues for the marine environment. Researchers have been keeping an eye on sediment, water, and marine life in the area to see how bad the damage is. The findings are not pretty. Near the mine, sediment samples showed alarmingly high levels of chromiu...

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Apr 23 2025ENVIRONMENT

Lakes and Heavy Metals: A Hidden Danger?

Lakes are often seen as peaceful places, but they can hide dangers. Heavy metals in freshwater lakes can be a big problem. These metals can harm both the lake's ecosystem and the people who eat fish from these lakes. This issue has not been studied much, especially in lakes affected by water diversions. Water diversions are big projects that move water from one ...

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Feb 14 2025ENVIRONMENT

Metal in Fish: Surprising Findings in a Polluted River

In a river tainted by mining waste, scientists found something unexpected. They checked out six metals in a type of salmon called masu salmon. The metals were copper, zinc, cadmium, lead, arsenic, and selenium. They looked at nine spots in the polluted river and a nearby clean river. The goal was to see if the metals in the fish would cause any harm to the fish or ot...

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Jan 05 2025ENVIRONMENT

Metal Pollution in Moscow's Road Dust: A Closer Look

In Moscow, scientists have been investigating the tiny particles of dust that float in the air, specifically those smaller than 1 micron, called PM1. This dust is found in traffic zones, residential parking areas, and parks. They discovered that the types of metals and metal-like substances, or MMs, in this dust can vary greatly depending on where it's collected. For...

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Dec 24 2024SCIENCE

Heavy Metals in Soil: How Kaolin Changes Their Movement

Heavy metals, like copper (Cu), lead (Pb), cadmium (Cd), and zinc (Zn), are a big worry because they stick around in the environment and can be harmful. Scientists wanted to know how these metals move and stick in porous soil, like what you'd find underground. They did tests using columns filled with sand and added kaolin (a type of clay) to see what happened. These...

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Dec 18 2024ENVIRONMENT

Dust in Plastic Sports Facilities: A Closer Look at Toxic Metals

Imagine thousands of kids playing on plastic sports courts and synthetic turf fields. Sounds fun, right? But what if these seemingly safe surfaces are hiding a secret? The dust released from these facilities contains higher levels of toxic metals like lead (Pb), zinc (Zn), copper (Cu), and even cadmium (Cd). In a study from Beijing, researchers found that these metal...

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Dec 17 2024ENVIRONMENT

A Quick-Check Tool: Using DGT to Monitor Trace Metals in Aquaculture Waters

Have you ever thought about how to quickly and efficiently check for harmful metals in the water where seafood grows? Scientists are exploring a method called Diffusive Gradients in Thin-films, or DGT for short. They tested it in coastal aquaculture waters by using scallops named Argopecten irradians. Interestingly, the metals found in the water through DGT were quit...

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Nov 21 2024ENVIRONMENT

The Microplastic Boom: How Storms Shift Pollution in Chennai

Imagine diving into the coastal waters of Thiruvottiyur after a storm. Researchers spotted something alarming: a surge in tiny plastic pieces, known as microplastics. Before Cyclone Michaung, these debris were just 150 per kilogram of sediment and 1. 28 per liter of seawater. But after the cyclone, the numbers spiked to 186 per kilogram and 3. 65 per liter! Why the c...

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