Abstract:The impact of a phosphatic fertilizer plant on the adjacent environment was examined. Selected rare earth elements, heavy metals and metalloids were determined in substrates and products, waste by-product, and grass and soil samples. Concentration gradients of elements in grass and soil samples along the southerly and easterly directions were examined and compared with the content of interior soil and grass samples, substrates, and products. Results were compared with available data on soil permissible element concentration levels. Two fuzzy principal component analysis (FPCA) methods for robust estimation of principal components were applied and compared with classical PCA. The efficiency of the new algorithms is illustrated. The investigation explored the impact of the plant on the adjacent environment. The most reliable results, in good agreement with types of samples, were produced using the FPCA-O algorithm.
The impact of a slide bearings factory on its workers was examined. Urine and blood samples were collected from 42 workers and six people employed in the offices in the same factory (control group). Concentrations of Al, Cu, Pb and Zn in blood and urine samples were measured twice (before and after chelation therapy) by ICP-MS technique using standard addition method. The essential differences in concentrations of elements for workers and control group were evaluated using non-parametric Mann-Whitney U-test. Significant differences between workers and control group were found for Pb in blood and Al in urine samples. The study was also undertaken to indicate correlation between blood and urine element content, workers' ages, their period of work and work section. It was also found that intravenous administration of 1 g of calcium-disodium versanate significantly increased urinary excretion of Pb and Zn, but not Al.
Neutron Activation Analysis (NAA) was performed for the determination of 25 elements in hair, toenails, and PM2.5 (particles smaller than 2.5 microm in aerodynamic diameter) to assess how human tissues of occupational staff and inhaled particles follow the industrial exposure of Gdansk Phosphatic fertilizer plant in Poland. Statistical analysis was used to elucidate this exposure. The results obtained were compared using box and whiskers plot and the parametric t-test and nonparametric Mann-Whitney U- test. The comparison showed a statistically significant difference between workers and control group concerning for example Br, Ca, Cl, La, Mn, Sm, U and V in hair, Cu, Dy, La, Sm, Ti and U in toenails and Al, As, Cl, I, K, La, Mg, Mn, Na, Sm and Zn in PM2.5 samples.
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