The flow of transgenes into landraces and wild relatives is an important biosafety concern. The case of transgene flow into local maize varieties in Mexico (the center of origin of maize) has been intensively debated over the past 15 years, including legal, political, and environmental disputes fanned by the existence of a significant scientific controversy over the methods used for the detecti...

Satellite observations play an important role in characterization of the interannual variation of vegetation. Here, we report anomalies of two vegetation indices for Northern Asia (40jN–75jN, and 45jE–179jE), using images from the SPOT-4 VEGETATION (VGT) sensor over the period of April 1, 1998 to November 20, 2001. The Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) and Enhanced Vegetation Index ...

The concentration of some heavy metals: Al, Ca, K, Fe, Ti, Mg, Mn, V, Cr, Zn, Ni and Co in sediments from Pulicat Lake to Vadanemmeli along Chennai Coast, Tamil Nadu has been determined using EDXRF technique. The mean concentrations of Mg, Al, K, Ca, Ti, Fe, V, Cr, Mn, Co, Ni, and Zn were found to be 1918, 25436, 9832, 9859, 2109, 8209, 41.58, 34.14, 160.80, 2.85. 18.79 and 29.12 mg kg-1 respec...

The DRASTIC index used to assess the vulnerability of aquifers contamination, has been subject various adjustments improve its reliability. These include adding and/or eliminating certain aquifer factors and modifying factor weights. Nonetheless, there is no consensus about which factors, or their respective weights, are most important for assessing vulnerability. In present study, we propose a...

Depending on such factors as the intensity and duration of the exposure, and the genetic diversity and connectedness of the starting population, exposure to elevated metal concentrations can result in population level alterations such as demographic bottlenecks or metal-induced selection. These processes can be revealed using a population genetic approach, and have important implications with r...

Objective: Metal concentrations in 53 soil samples of Shahr-e-Babak were determined.  Methods: Assessment of enrichment factor and geo-accumulation index revealed higher degree of contamination of Cd, Pb, and Cu in soil samples. Moreover, results of metal fractionation study revealed high amount of Cd and Pb are associated in weakly bounds may lead to environmental risk of these metals.  Result...

In this study, the quality of sediment and surface water in two natural wetlands, Paca Tragadero, central region Peru was evaluated using pollution indices, including geoaccumulation index, pollutant load modified degree, potential ecological risk site rank for four heavy metals. Principal component analysis used to identify metal contaminant sources. The determination Fe, Zn, Pb, As performed ...

Water and sediment samples were collected from six different stations, located along the Nil River between February and June 2015. Concentrations of cadmium, lead, zinc, and copper were determined. The extent of the sediment pollution was assessed, using the multiple pollution indices, namely contamination factor (CF), pollution load index (PLI), and the geoaccumulation index (Igeo). The result...

To assess the leakage of sanitation service in urban areas on the contamination of water streams and soil besides, a risk assessment study was conducted through the intake of edible plants from polluted irrigated suburban area of El-Zomor area, Egypt. The results revealed that concentrations of trace elements were several folds higher in the studied site compared to the background level in the ...

Water and sediment samples were collected from six different stations, located along the Nil River between February and June 2015. Concentrations of cadmium, lead, zinc, and copper were determined. The extent of the sediment pollution was assessed, using the multiple pollution indices, namely contamination factor (CF), pollution load index (PLI), and the geoaccumulation index (Igeo). The result...