Joaquim Góis

In the Valongo Belt, with an extension of about 90 km, located very close to Porto, northern Portugal, dozens of ore deposits of various metallic minerals and coal were exploited in the 19th and 20th centuries. One of the metals most intensely exploited was antimony, with or without associated gold mineralization. This research intends to verify the extent of the current environmental legacy of ancient antimony mining. A typical old mine was selected. The main objectives were to verify whether the environmental legacy still manifests today, how natural processes contributed to an environmental dispersion of the mining footprint and whether the environmental legacy was absorbed by developments in a new landscape modified by anthropic activities. The topography of the area was captured using a Light Detection and Ranging (LIDAR) based drone system. The regional background was characterized by the geo-referenced chemical analysis of 157 soil samples, collected in a 35 × 35 m grid. The former mining area was characterized by 58 supplementary samples. The mining area is distinct from the background by higher antimony and zinc levels, constituting two distinct populations, as confirmed by statistical tests. In the samples collected in the industrial zone, six elements were considered contaminants: As, Cu, Mo, Sb, Sn and Zn. The concentrations of these elements were statistically examined using multivariate statistical analyses (principal component analysis and correspondence analysis). The main conclusions are: (a) the mining heritage area is discernible from the highly mineralized background; (b) in the mining zone, it is possible to distinguish the processing industrial area from the waste rock storage; (c) the natural processes of environmental dispersion were of little relevance; (d) the environmental legacy was smoothed and mostly incorporated into the new post-industrial landscape created by anthropic activities.

Background: Work accidents (WA) due to percutaneous or mucocutaneous injury are extremely frequent among health professionals. The notification of these accidents ensures not only the compliance with legal requirements, but it also enables health institutions to develop, implement and evaluate strategies to prevent them. This study aimed to estimate the proportion of underreporting of work accidents caused by percutaneous and mucocutaneous lesions in a hospital setting, as well as its determinants. Methods: A self-administered questionnaire was made available to all hospital employees. Age, gender, professional category and type of service adjusted odds ratios (OR) and 95% confidence intervals (95%CI) were computed by multivariate logistic regression models. Results: Underreporting of WA associated with biological risk factors was high, particularly in accidents by mucocutaneous injury (80.9%). Physicians were the professional category that least reported this type of work accidents (OR=4.64; 95%CI 2.20-9.78). The main determinants of underreporting were the underestimation of the risk of transmission and the excessive bureaucracy. Conclusions: The underreporting of work accidents associated with biological risk factors was considerable and it contributes to a high degree of uncertainty on accidents’ characterization.

A comprehensive study of the environmental radioactivity covered in a distance up to 20 km from a point source—two stacks of a coal-fired power plant. Airborne particulate matter was collected, and the element composition on the 30 cm soil profile was determined. The range of activity concentrations of ²²⁶Ra, ²³²Th and ⁴⁰K from the studied areas varies from 8 Bq/kg to 41 Bq/kg, 5 to 72 Bq/kg and 62 to 795 Bq/kg, respectively. The activities values are increased by 44% for ²²⁶Ra, 37% for ⁴⁰K, and 75% for ²³²Th in the prevailing wind direction. For some elements, the respective concentration in the soil is above the maximum permissible level for all types of soil use, particularly for the arsenic concentration. The deposition flux ranged from 0.36 to 5.70 (g m⁻² per month) in the first sampling campaign and from 0.02 to 3.10 (g m⁻² per month) for the second sampling campaign. Maps on the spatial distribution of gamma dose rates, radionuclides activity concentrations, deposition flux and trace metals in topsoil were developed for the study region. These maps are in accordance with higher values in specific locations in the vicinity of the coal-fired power plant, showing the influence of point sources, and for locations within 6 and 20 km from the stacks, particularly in the prevailing wind direction.

The aim of this research was to build an index model capable of assessing and monitoring the performance of cities as age-friendly ones. The hierarchy of the variables was determined using the "Hierarchical Process Analysis" technique based on the weight assigned by the social actors in a selected municipality in northern Portugal (Trofa). The "Principal Component Analysis" resulted in the Age-Friendly Cities Performance Index (AgeCPI) model, with 29 indicators validated by the participation of the Local Council of Social Action. This case study, evidence the potentiality of the model for the diagnosis of the municipality status, in relation to all municipalities participating in the research.

Demand growth for metallic minerals has been faced with the need for new techniques and improving technologies for all mining life-cycle operations. Nowadays, the exploitation of old tailings and mine-waste facilities could be a solution to this demand, with economic and environmental advantages. The Panasqueira Mine has been operating for more than a century, extracting tungsten and tin ore. Its first processing plant, “Rio”, was located near the Zêrere river, where mineral-processing residues were deposited on the top hillside on the margin of this river in the Cabeço do Pião tailings dam. The lack of maintenance and monitoring of this enormous structure in the last twenty years represents a high risk to the environment and the population of the surrounding region. A field-sample campaign allowed the collection of data, and resulted from laboratory tests to use regression optimization. Re-mining the tailings by hydrometallurgical methods was considered to satisfy the two conditions of metal demand and environmental risk. The metal content in Cabeço do Pião was shown be enough for environmental restoration. The re-mining solution was studied, taking into account the technical, economic, social, and environmental aspects.

Este estudo teve como objetivo validar e priorizar um sistema de indicadores para avaliar o desempenho de Cidades Amigas do Idoso. Os procedimentos metodológicos consistiram na aplicação do modelo de validação de conteúdo de indicadores do sistema desenvolvido por Fehring em 1987 e utilizou o método multicritério Analytical Hierarchy Process para priorização. Nestas análises, houve um nível satisfatório de consistência e correspondência entre a posição dos especialistas na priorização de questões de envelhecimento ativo em ambientes urbanos.Palavras-chave: Cidades Amigas dos Idosos; Envelhecimento Ativo; Políticas Públicas; Medidas de Desempenho; Decisão Multicritério.

The aim of this study was to examine the relationship between the occurrence of cold episodes and excess hospital admissions for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) in Porto, Portugal, in order to further understand the effects of cold weather on health in milder climates. Excess COPD winter morbidity was calculated from admissions for November to March (2000–2007) in the Greater Porto Metropolitan Area (GPMA). Cold spells were identified using several indices (Díaz, World Meteorological Organization, Cold Spell Duration Index, Australian Index and Ondas’ Project Index) for the same period. Excess admissions in the periods before and after the occurrence of cold spells were calculated and related to the cold spells identified. The COPD seasonal variation admission coefficient (CVSA) showed excess winter admissions of 59 %, relative to other months. The effect of cold spell on the aggravation of COPD occurs with a lag of at least 2 weeks and differs according to the index used. This study indicates the important role of the persistence of cold periods of at least 2 weeks duration in the increase in COPD admissions. The persistence of moderate temperatures (Tmin ≤5 °C) for a week can be more significant for increasing COPD admissions than very low temperatures (Tmin ≤ 1.6 °C) for just a few days. The Ondas projects’ index provides the most accurate detection of the negative impacts of cold persistency on health, while the Diaz index is better at evaluating the consequences of short extreme cold events.