Eduardo De Miguel

This study applies a Screening-Level Ecological Risk Assessment (SLERA) to evaluate the potential impact of trace elements on vegetation in an abandoned As–Cu mining area in northern Spain. A total of 27 soil samples were analyzed for pseudo-total (aqua regia) and phyto-available (EDTA 0.05 M) content of As, Cd, Co, Cr, Cu, Ni, Pb and Zn. Contamination and ecotoxicological risk indices were used to identify pollution hotspots and contaminants of ecological concern (COPEC). Arsenic, Cu, Co and Zn pose a potential risk to vegetation across the site. Available concentrations of these elements are high, although average phyto-availabilities are generally low (< 30%). Remarkably, some highly contaminated areas support vegetation, while others remain barren. This suggests that high phyto-available concentrations alone do not fully explain the presence or absence of vegetation. Edaphic properties, such as low soil pH and minimal organic matter content, seem to play a critical role in inhibiting vegetation growth in certain areas. These results underline the importance of considering not only trace element concentrations but also site-specific edaphic properties when assessing ecological risk and planning remediation strategies in contaminated mining areas.

Human Health Risk Assessment (HHRA) is a widely applied method to make decisions about the environmental status of sites affected by toxic substances. Its conclusions are affected by the variability and uncertainty of the input variables in the HHRA model. The aim of this work is to apply an algorithm based on 2D Monte Carlo simulations to integrate the variability and uncertainty of exposure factors, concentration, and bioaccessibility, reported by various information sources, to assess and compare their influence on the risk outcome. The method is applied to a specific case study of exposure of children to arsenic from accidental soil ingestion in a residential setting in the city of Madrid (Spain) by combining information from 12 studies. The consideration of the variability and uncertainty of the exposure parameters in the Baseline Risk Assessment (BRA, deterministic) resulted in a greater reduction in the numerical value of risk estimations than that produced by considering only the bioaccessibility factor. The results of the Probabilistic Risk Assessment (PRA) showed that the risk distribution was more sensitive to the variabilities of the accidental soil intake rate and the total arsenic concentration than to other variables such as bioaccessibility. In this case study, the uncertainty introduced by using the "default" reasonable maximum exposure factors in the HHRA model and the variability of the concentration term produce overestimates of risk that are at least in the range of those produced by omitting the bioaccessibility term. Thus, the inclusion of bioaccessibility is, alone, insufficient to improve the HHRA since the selection of the exposure factors can significantly affect the estimates of risk for the soil ingestion pathway. In other sites or for other contaminants, however, the role of the uncertainties associated with the bioaccesible fraction could be more pronounced. The method applied in this work may be useful in updating exposure factors to reduce uncertainties in HHRAs.

El paro cardiaco es un problema que causa anualmente un gran número de muertes en todo el mundo. Sin embargo, una parada cardiaca es un estado potencialmente reversible si se inicia inmediatamente una reanimación cardiaca de calidad y se utiliza un desfibrilador externo automático. En general, los simuladores utilizados en los cursos de formación no permiten evaluar objetivamente la maniobra de reanimación cardiopulmonar (RCP). Normalmente, estos simuladores solo cuentan con realimentación sonora sobre la profundidad de las compresiones. Así, tanto los alumnos mientras practican como los instructores mientras valoran la maniobra, deben evaluar y corregir la reanimación guiados por lo que perciben a simple vista y no en base a información objetiva. En este trabajo, se ha desarrollado un simulador clínico con realimentación a tiempo real, con el que se pretende facilitar el aprendizaje y la evaluación objetiva de la maniobra de RCP impartida en cursos de formación. Larraga-García, Blanca; Malo Íñiguez, Inés; Rubio Bolívar, Francisco Javier; Quintana-Díaz, Manuel; Guitérrez, Álvaro

An openly accessible cellular automaton has been developed to predict the preferential migration pathways of contaminants by surface runoff in abandoned mining areas. The site where the validation of the results of the Contaminant Mass Transfer Cellular Automaton (CMTCA) has been carried out is situated on the steep flank of a valley in the Spanish northwestern region of Asturias, at the foot of which there is a village with 400 inhabitants, bordered by a stream that flows into a larger river just outside the village. Soil samples were collected from the steep valley flank where the mine adits and spoil heaps are situated, at the foot of the valley, and in the village, including private orchards. Water and sediment samples were also collected from both surface water courses. The concentration of 12 elements, including those associated with the Cu-Co-Ni ore, were analyzed by ICP-OES (Perkin Elmer Optima 3300DV, Waltham, MA, USA) and ICP-MS (Perkin Elmer NexION 2000, Waltham, MA, USA). The spatial representation of the model’s results revealed that those areas most likely to be crossed by soil material coming from source zones according to the CMTCA exhibited higher pollution indexes than the rest. The model also predicted where the probabilities of soil mass transfer into the stream were highest. The accuracy of this prediction was corroborated by the results of trace element concentrations in stream sediments, which, for elements associated with the mineral paragenesis (i.e., Cu, Co, Ni, and also As), increased between five- and nine-fold downstream from the predicted main transfer point. Lastly, the river into which the stream discharges is also affected by the mobilization of mined materials, as evidenced by an increase of up to 700% (in the case of Cu), between dissolved concentrations of those same elements upstream and downstream of the confluence of the river and the stream.

This study evaluates the results of the characterization of air pollution in urban green areas using edible plants. To this purpose, we examined the effect of location (i.e., three different levels of pollution), substrate (peat moss and vermiculite), and plant species (oilseed rape [ Brassica napus L.] and kale [ Brassica oleracea L.]) on the accumulation of trace elements on leaves. A total of 36 samples of unwashed leaves were digested with HNO ₃ –H ₂ O ₂ and analyzed for 27 elements by inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry. Considering the location, plants exposed next to the road showed higher contents of traffic‐related elements, and additionally, outdoors samples were enriched in marine aerosol ions. Cadmium and Pb concentrations did not exceed the European legal maximum levels for vegetables, so their consumption would be safe for human health. Results support the hypothesis that edible plants such as kale and rapeseed could be used as bioindicators of atmospheric pollution. Core Ideas: Atmospheric biomonitoring using edible plants is feasible in urban environments. Vegetables grown near roadsides are enriched in traffic‐related trace elements. Hydroponic urban agriculture products seem to be safe for human consumption.