Petronela Cozma | "Gheorghe Asachi" Tehnical University of Iasi (original) (raw)

Papers by Petronela Cozma

2020 International Conference on e-Health and Bioengineering (EHB)

Heavy metals (e.g. nickel, cadmium, lead, copper, chromium, zinc) and persistent organic pollutan... more Heavy metals (e.g. nickel, cadmium, lead, copper, chromium, zinc) and persistent organic pollutants (e.g. organochlorine pesticides, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), bromide compounds (BFRs), per-fluorinated compounds (PFCs), dioxins and furans) may be found in soil as a result of various industrial and agricultural activities. Due to their toxic and negative effects, the presence of these pollutants in soil may pose a risk to the environment and human health (e.g. reduce soil fertility and agricultural productivity; present carcinogenic, mutagenic, teratogenic effects on living organism). Soil bioremediation using microorganisms and plants, as well as plant-bacteria synergism represents a viable alternative from economic, social and environmental point of view. The main objective of this paper is to highlight the beneficial role that microorganisms play in the phytoremediation process for the removal of some pollutants from soil.

Environmental Engineering and Management Journal

Nowadays, in all sectors we are dealing with an intense development of technology, necessary on t... more Nowadays, in all sectors we are dealing with an intense development of technology, necessary on the one hand for our everyday lifestyle, but however with a major impact on the environment due to the lack of a proper infrastructure. In the case of electrical and electronic equipment waste (WEEE) management, due to their volume and composition, further expertise is needed for the collection and processing of electronic waste in an ecological way. Although different laws are adopted at national and international level, many illegal practices are registered among producers, consumers and stakeholders for the end-of-life of WEEE management. The purpose of this study is to raise the awareness of stakeholders regarding the assurance of sustainable development, by reducing the impact on the environment and natural resources conservation, following the best practices recommended for an eco-friendly management. Through this paper, useful strategies applied in several developed countries for the management of WEE have been studied and analyzed, and future perspectives regarding the management of electronic waste (e-waste) are suggested. In addition, human population should be more conscious regarding the significance of handling and recycling of WEEE..

Heavy metals found in soils from different industrial sources or mining activities are persistent... more Heavy metals found in soils from different industrial sources or mining activities are persistent inorganic pollutants able to bioaccumulate along the food chain and cause negative effects in theenvironment and for human health. Differentphysical, chemical and biological processes are applied for their removal from soil environments. Biological processes become more and more preferred, since bioremediation strategies have often proved to be more advantageous than the conventional remediation tools, mainly because these processes can be implemented directly onto the contaminated sites (in situ). In this context, the present paper examines the abilityof microorganisms and plants to remove heavy metals from soil, in terms of tolerance and bioaccumulation. A particular interest is given to the bioaccumulation processes of metals by proteobacteria, bacilli and actinobacteria, alone or in synergismwith indigenous plants. Also, some advances in the biosorption of highly toxic heavy metal i...

The main objective of this work addresses kinetic studies on the dissipation of 12 pesticides app... more The main objective of this work addresses kinetic studies on the dissipation of 12 pesticides applied in single recommended doseand double dose treatments in apples, considering 6kinetic models which determine the statistical parameters describingpesticide behavior, including their half-lives. The half-lives of pesticides in apples at BBCH (Biologische Bundesanstalt, Bundessortenamt and CHemical industry) scale 76-79 resultedfrom the linear regression equations considering single dose treatments were between 0.01 days (for λ-cyhalothrin) and 74.90 days (for myclobutanil).Data on the rate of dissipation and half-lives of pesticides in various plant compartments are particularly significant for pesticide monitoring and human health impacts and risk assessment

2021 International Conference on e-Health and Bioengineering (EHB), 2021

The environmental pollution is still a major concern for both the scientific community and popula... more The environmental pollution is still a major concern for both the scientific community and population due to the direct and indirect impacts on human health. Biosorption, is an eco-friendly process, developed to ensure the quality of life through the use of biosorbents. To have a correct vision regarding the biosorption process impact on the environment and human health, a Life Cycle Analysis is appropriate. In the scientific literature there are different methodologies to evaluate the impacts caused by environmental pollution. For the environmental impact the most useful methodology is Life Cycle Assessment (LCA), followed by the cost impacts, which are calculated by applying Life Cycle Cost (LCC) methodology. These two methodologies are defined by ISO 14040/44 to assess environmental impacts associated with all the stages of a product’s/process’ life from raw material extraction through materials processing, use, maintenance, and disposal or recycling. In this study, we propose a view towards the sustainable cost indicators identification by considering the LCC framework. Application of this methodology allows us to identify the stages of biosorption that are appropriate to be developed and implemented as they are, and to improve the stages that show different issues, to ensure the sustainability of the process.

2021 International Conference on e-Health and Bioengineering (EHB), 2021

Due to massive industrialization and intensive agriculture techniques, sustainable solutions for ... more Due to massive industrialization and intensive agriculture techniques, sustainable solutions for environmental contamination with persistent pollutants are required to avoid their effects not only for the environment, but also for ecological and human health. The present work briefly investigates and describes the presence of heavy metals and persistent organic pollutants in waters and their effects within the whole environmental system including human health, followed by the interaction between microorganisms and pollutants considering the biosorption process, a low-cost and sustainable alternative to conventional processes used for wastewater treatment.

2021 International Conference on e-Health and Bioengineering (EHB), 2021

Phytoremediation/phytoextraction is a plant-based technology widely applied for the removal of po... more Phytoremediation/phytoextraction is a plant-based technology widely applied for the removal of potentially toxic elements (PTEs) such as heavy metals, from contaminated soils. Basically, the plants used in the phytoextraction process are able to bioaccumulate metals in their roots and, depending on the ability of the plant to uptake the pollutants along with other influencing factors, metals can be further translocated from roots to the aerial parts of the plant. The main drawback of phytoextraction is associated with the resulted waste biomass which is identified as a secondary pollutant due to its high metal content. The resulted biomass can create further pollution problems, so additional treatment such as incineration, composting, pyrolysis and either direct disposal can be applied to treat contaminated biomass resulted from phytoextraction. The main objective of the present paper is to discuss the possibility of integrating phytoremediation with plant biomass valorization and metal recovery as promising alternatives instead of direct disposal of waste biomass.

2020 International Conference on e-Health and Bioengineering (EHB), 2020

As a result of the evolution of the industrial production of electrical and electronic equipment ... more As a result of the evolution of the industrial production of electrical and electronic equipment and the increase of the population demand for these products, the amount of waste of electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE, e-waste) has increased substantially in the last decades. The paper makes a brief analysis of the risks that poor WEEE management can generate for the environment and human health and offers some solutions for a sustainable WEEE management model. One of these refers to the use of WEEE as a secondary source for critical metals, such as cobalt, lithium etc., which can be obtained from used batteries, by specific pyrometallurgical or (bio) hydrometallurgical processes.

2020 International Conference on e-Health and Bioengineering (EHB), 2020

Over time, the enormous amount of waste, generated worldwide, induces threats to the environment.... more Over time, the enormous amount of waste, generated worldwide, induces threats to the environment. Most of the total waste, generated globally, is represented by food waste, which is produced annually. The most relevant sources are the food and beverage industry as well as households. The purpose of the study is to: (i) identify risk factors on human health generated by the production of food waste; (ii) analyze and highlight the best management alternatives for the recovery and recycling valuable components of food waste, to reduce the environmental impacts and human health risks and diminish the pressure on natural resources.

2020 International Conference on e-Health and Bioengineering (EHB), 2020

One of the fundamental problems of mankind is represented by environmental pollution due to vario... more One of the fundamental problems of mankind is represented by environmental pollution due to various practices (industrial development, heavy cars traffic, spills, various agricultural practices, excessive fertilization, various storage practices), and this has detrimental effects on the chemical composition of plants. By accumulating pollutants in the environmental compartments (water, air, soil), medicinal plants can easily absorb toxic substances, and in this way human health can be endangered by consumption. By means of this paper we will try to answer the question “Are medicinal plants safe for consumption?”

2017 E-Health and Bioengineering Conference (EHB), 2017

The reduction of production waste impact started to be an important subject in the context of ind... more The reduction of production waste impact started to be an important subject in the context of industrial development. In the last years the authorities became to be interested in the reduction of impacts generated by the large amount of waste, by recycling or reuse in processes. In this context, the present study is developed to help decision makers to take the best decision regarding the management of production waste from paper manufacturing so as to mitigate its impacts. According to the results obtained after an analysis of the production waste conducted in the Life Cycle Analysis (LCA) framework, the recycling of this type of waste can reduce considerable the impact on the environment and human health by reducing tree cutting and increasing the absorption capacity of CO2 from the environment.

Modern Biotechnologies – Solutions to the Challenges of the Contemporary World. Symposium Proceedings, 2021

Processes, 2020

For the protection of human and ecological receptors from the effects of soil pollution with chem... more For the protection of human and ecological receptors from the effects of soil pollution with chemical compounds, we need to know the behavior and transport of pollutants in soil. This work investigated the Congo red (CR) acid dye sorption on three natural soils collected from central and northeastern regions of Romania, symbolized as IS-65, IS-T, and MH-13. To define the mechanism of sorption and identify the rate governing step, various diffusion models such as Weber–Morris intraparticle diffusion, Boyd, film and pores diffusion, and mass transfer analysis have been verified. The intraparticle diffusion analysis of Congo red sorption onto soils has been described by a multi-linear plots, showing that the sorption process takes place by surface sorption and intraparticle diffusion in macro, meso, and micropores. The values of intraparticle diffusion coefficient kid increased with any rise of the initial concentration of pollutant. The results show that the values of pore diffusion c...

Plants, 2021

The potential of the model crop Brassica napus L. (rapeseed) for the phytoremediation of soils po... more The potential of the model crop Brassica napus L. (rapeseed) for the phytoremediation of soils polluted with metals was investigated at laboratory scale. The first step consists in the evaluation of the seed germination and growth of the Brassica napus L. plant in a controlled environment, followed by the determination of the photosynthetic pigments content represented by chlorophyll a and b and carotenoids. The degree of metal accumulation in rapeseed has been evaluated by the bioaccumulation factor (BAC), the bioconcentration factor (BCF) and the translocation factor (TF). Phytotoxicity tests were performed in Petri dishes with filter papers moistened with metal solutions in the range of 0 to 300 mg/L Pb(II) or Cd(II). At the highest concentration of the lead and cadmium treatments (300 mg/L), B. napus L. showed the lowest germination degree (56.67% and 43.33%, respectively). According to Tukey test results, Pb(II) concentrations of up to 300 mg/L do not significantly affect the l...

Sustainability, 2020

This study is focused on the assessment of risks caused by pesticide residues to Romanian and oth... more This study is focused on the assessment of risks caused by pesticide residues to Romanian and other European populations, by modelling the acute and chronic risks considering short- and long-term exposures to pesticide residues in specific fruits and vegetables from different Romanian regions. Data were obtained from the Romanian 2016 official monitoring programme. For assessing the dietary risk, we used the Pesticide Residue Intake model—PRIMo. According to the official data, it was found that 50.44% of fruit samples and 28.25% of vegetable samples were contaminated with pesticides. Our study focused on acute risks and chronic risks (in a maximalist worst-case scenario) posed by pesticide residues in strawberries, apples, lettuce and potatoes, given both their high degree of consumption and contamination with pesticides. The short-term exposure assessment of children’s health due to consumption of apples, lettuce and potatoes contaminated with dimethoate, chlorothalonil and carbend...

Environmental Engineering and Management Journal, 2013

Biogas can be used as a renewable and green energy source by upgrading to natural gas. Water scru... more Biogas can be used as a renewable and green energy source by upgrading to natural gas. Water scrubbing, which is one of the most widely-applied upgrading technologies, involves an accurate knowledge of the solubility of the main biogas components in water, which is essential to the design and optimization of the biogas upgrading process. In this work, we use several thermodynamic models available in the Aspen Plus software modeling environment to calculate the solubility of the main biogas components (CO 2 , CH 4 , H 2 S, N 2 , O 2) in water, considering physical absorption processes. Our modeling results are then compared with experimental data from the related literature, and the most suitable thermodynamic model is thus determined. Such an appropriately-selected model can then be efficiently applied for further analyses, such as the simulation of the water scrubbing process.

Journal of Environmental Management, 2019

This study is focused on the dissipation behavior of 7 fungicides and 5 insecticides applied in t... more This study is focused on the dissipation behavior of 7 fungicides and 5 insecticides applied in tomatoes after a third spraying at recommended and double doses by considering 6 kinetic models which allow estimating the pesticides half-lives (t 1/2). Except studying the pesticides dissipation, another scope of our manuscript was investigating the risk to human health after application of different pesticide treatments in tomatoes. The pesticides analysis in tomatoes at harvest showed that the residues were below the maximum residue level (MRL), with the exception of chlorotalonil (included in Group 2B-"Possibly carcinogenic to humans") and bifenthrin for recommended dose treatments, while for double dose treatments, the MRLs was exceeded for 7 pesticides, once again including chlorotalonil. For recommended dose treatments, the 1st order kinetic model is confirmed only for metalaxyl-M. The values of pesticides t 1/2 ranged from 0.006 days (for chlorothalonil) to 48.59 days (for myclobutanil). For double dose treatments, the 1st order kinetic model is confirmed for deltamethrin and triadimenol. In this case, the values of pesticides t 1/2 ranged from 0.32 to 10.67 days. Further, consumers' exposure was estimated by calculating the long-term risk based on hazard quotient (HQ). The results indicated that the risks generated by pesticide residues in tomatoes applied in recommended or double doses are in an acceptable limit, except for chlorothalonil which may pose a threat for children health. However, if we consider the cumulative hazard index (HI) values which were higher than 1, consumption of tomatoes containing pesticides residues may cause harmful non-carcinogenic health effects.

tuiasi.ro

Emissions of carbon dioxide (CO 2) and other greenhouse gases have become a major environmental i... more Emissions of carbon dioxide (CO 2) and other greenhouse gases have become a major environmental issue due to their intensive contribution on the global warming. In the last decades the removal of CO 2 from gas mixtures has become an important industrial operation due to the necessity of different gases purification and from recovery reasons taking into accounts the large applications of CO 2 in chemical and food industry. Various techniques have applied for CO 2 removal. These technologies are based on different physical, chemical or biological processes. In addition several types of contactors have been reported for CO 2 removal such as stirred tanks, packed columns, bubble columns and membrane contactors. This paper discusses the most recent application of airlift reactors in flue gas treatment, in particular the potential of application for the effective CO 2 removal from contaminated flue gases taking into account the most important advantages of these devices: simple design and construction, no moving parts, high mass and heat transfer, intensive mixing, low shear stress to cells, low energy consumption, low operational costs. The most relevant characteristics and properties of CO 2 as well as the most applied technologies for CO 2 removal are reviewed in this paper, based on the information from literature data.

CLEAN – Soil, Air, Water, 2013

The aim of this work was to assess the burdens of a process in terms of environmental and health ... more The aim of this work was to assess the burdens of a process in terms of environmental and health impacts, resource depletion issues, and energy demand based on the ability of the Life Cycle Assessment methodology to link the environmental impacts with the mass and energy flows. The analysis was done in terms of process and environmental performances of high pressure water scrubbing (HPWS) system applied for biogas upgrading. The application of process simulation based on the Aspen Plus® software has been considered as supportive for the calculation of mass and energy balances.Data processed using GaBi 4: Software showed that global warming, acidification, and human toxicity potentials were the main impact categories associated with the HPWS process. These indicators are largely related to the exhaust gas from the desorption column and the indirect emissions generated during energy consumption. The life cycle inventory study resulted in the development of a database with a vast inven...

Processes

In this study, bacteria from the genus of Azotobacter, Bacillus and Pseudomonas were isolated fro... more In this study, bacteria from the genus of Azotobacter, Bacillus and Pseudomonas were isolated from the roots of Phaseolus vulgaris and used as plant growth-promoting bacteria for Sinapis alba L., Brassica napus L., Amaranthus retroflexus L., Linum usitatissimum L., Panicum miliaceum L. and Rumex patientia L. plants. The results showed that all three bacteria had different effects on plants growth considering both sterile and non-sterile soil. Bacillus sp. induced the greatest influence in terms of the root length of Sinapis alba L. grown in sterile soil (with 28%), while considering non-sterile soil, Pseudomonas sp. increased the root and shoot length by 11.43% and 25.15%, respectively, compared to the blank sample. Azotobacter sp. exerted the highest beneficial influence on Brassica napus L. growth in non-sterile soil, since the root and shoot lengths were stimulated with 27.64% and 52.60%, respectively, compared to uninoculated plants. Bacillus sp. had a positive effect on the gro...

2020 International Conference on e-Health and Bioengineering (EHB)

Heavy metals (e.g. nickel, cadmium, lead, copper, chromium, zinc) and persistent organic pollutan... more Heavy metals (e.g. nickel, cadmium, lead, copper, chromium, zinc) and persistent organic pollutants (e.g. organochlorine pesticides, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), bromide compounds (BFRs), per-fluorinated compounds (PFCs), dioxins and furans) may be found in soil as a result of various industrial and agricultural activities. Due to their toxic and negative effects, the presence of these pollutants in soil may pose a risk to the environment and human health (e.g. reduce soil fertility and agricultural productivity; present carcinogenic, mutagenic, teratogenic effects on living organism). Soil bioremediation using microorganisms and plants, as well as plant-bacteria synergism represents a viable alternative from economic, social and environmental point of view. The main objective of this paper is to highlight the beneficial role that microorganisms play in the phytoremediation process for the removal of some pollutants from soil.

Environmental Engineering and Management Journal

Nowadays, in all sectors we are dealing with an intense development of technology, necessary on t... more Nowadays, in all sectors we are dealing with an intense development of technology, necessary on the one hand for our everyday lifestyle, but however with a major impact on the environment due to the lack of a proper infrastructure. In the case of electrical and electronic equipment waste (WEEE) management, due to their volume and composition, further expertise is needed for the collection and processing of electronic waste in an ecological way. Although different laws are adopted at national and international level, many illegal practices are registered among producers, consumers and stakeholders for the end-of-life of WEEE management. The purpose of this study is to raise the awareness of stakeholders regarding the assurance of sustainable development, by reducing the impact on the environment and natural resources conservation, following the best practices recommended for an eco-friendly management. Through this paper, useful strategies applied in several developed countries for the management of WEE have been studied and analyzed, and future perspectives regarding the management of electronic waste (e-waste) are suggested. In addition, human population should be more conscious regarding the significance of handling and recycling of WEEE..

Heavy metals found in soils from different industrial sources or mining activities are persistent... more Heavy metals found in soils from different industrial sources or mining activities are persistent inorganic pollutants able to bioaccumulate along the food chain and cause negative effects in theenvironment and for human health. Differentphysical, chemical and biological processes are applied for their removal from soil environments. Biological processes become more and more preferred, since bioremediation strategies have often proved to be more advantageous than the conventional remediation tools, mainly because these processes can be implemented directly onto the contaminated sites (in situ). In this context, the present paper examines the abilityof microorganisms and plants to remove heavy metals from soil, in terms of tolerance and bioaccumulation. A particular interest is given to the bioaccumulation processes of metals by proteobacteria, bacilli and actinobacteria, alone or in synergismwith indigenous plants. Also, some advances in the biosorption of highly toxic heavy metal i...

The main objective of this work addresses kinetic studies on the dissipation of 12 pesticides app... more The main objective of this work addresses kinetic studies on the dissipation of 12 pesticides applied in single recommended doseand double dose treatments in apples, considering 6kinetic models which determine the statistical parameters describingpesticide behavior, including their half-lives. The half-lives of pesticides in apples at BBCH (Biologische Bundesanstalt, Bundessortenamt and CHemical industry) scale 76-79 resultedfrom the linear regression equations considering single dose treatments were between 0.01 days (for λ-cyhalothrin) and 74.90 days (for myclobutanil).Data on the rate of dissipation and half-lives of pesticides in various plant compartments are particularly significant for pesticide monitoring and human health impacts and risk assessment

2021 International Conference on e-Health and Bioengineering (EHB), 2021

The environmental pollution is still a major concern for both the scientific community and popula... more The environmental pollution is still a major concern for both the scientific community and population due to the direct and indirect impacts on human health. Biosorption, is an eco-friendly process, developed to ensure the quality of life through the use of biosorbents. To have a correct vision regarding the biosorption process impact on the environment and human health, a Life Cycle Analysis is appropriate. In the scientific literature there are different methodologies to evaluate the impacts caused by environmental pollution. For the environmental impact the most useful methodology is Life Cycle Assessment (LCA), followed by the cost impacts, which are calculated by applying Life Cycle Cost (LCC) methodology. These two methodologies are defined by ISO 14040/44 to assess environmental impacts associated with all the stages of a product’s/process’ life from raw material extraction through materials processing, use, maintenance, and disposal or recycling. In this study, we propose a view towards the sustainable cost indicators identification by considering the LCC framework. Application of this methodology allows us to identify the stages of biosorption that are appropriate to be developed and implemented as they are, and to improve the stages that show different issues, to ensure the sustainability of the process.

2021 International Conference on e-Health and Bioengineering (EHB), 2021

Due to massive industrialization and intensive agriculture techniques, sustainable solutions for ... more Due to massive industrialization and intensive agriculture techniques, sustainable solutions for environmental contamination with persistent pollutants are required to avoid their effects not only for the environment, but also for ecological and human health. The present work briefly investigates and describes the presence of heavy metals and persistent organic pollutants in waters and their effects within the whole environmental system including human health, followed by the interaction between microorganisms and pollutants considering the biosorption process, a low-cost and sustainable alternative to conventional processes used for wastewater treatment.

2021 International Conference on e-Health and Bioengineering (EHB), 2021

Phytoremediation/phytoextraction is a plant-based technology widely applied for the removal of po... more Phytoremediation/phytoextraction is a plant-based technology widely applied for the removal of potentially toxic elements (PTEs) such as heavy metals, from contaminated soils. Basically, the plants used in the phytoextraction process are able to bioaccumulate metals in their roots and, depending on the ability of the plant to uptake the pollutants along with other influencing factors, metals can be further translocated from roots to the aerial parts of the plant. The main drawback of phytoextraction is associated with the resulted waste biomass which is identified as a secondary pollutant due to its high metal content. The resulted biomass can create further pollution problems, so additional treatment such as incineration, composting, pyrolysis and either direct disposal can be applied to treat contaminated biomass resulted from phytoextraction. The main objective of the present paper is to discuss the possibility of integrating phytoremediation with plant biomass valorization and metal recovery as promising alternatives instead of direct disposal of waste biomass.

2020 International Conference on e-Health and Bioengineering (EHB), 2020

As a result of the evolution of the industrial production of electrical and electronic equipment ... more As a result of the evolution of the industrial production of electrical and electronic equipment and the increase of the population demand for these products, the amount of waste of electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE, e-waste) has increased substantially in the last decades. The paper makes a brief analysis of the risks that poor WEEE management can generate for the environment and human health and offers some solutions for a sustainable WEEE management model. One of these refers to the use of WEEE as a secondary source for critical metals, such as cobalt, lithium etc., which can be obtained from used batteries, by specific pyrometallurgical or (bio) hydrometallurgical processes.

2020 International Conference on e-Health and Bioengineering (EHB), 2020

Over time, the enormous amount of waste, generated worldwide, induces threats to the environment.... more Over time, the enormous amount of waste, generated worldwide, induces threats to the environment. Most of the total waste, generated globally, is represented by food waste, which is produced annually. The most relevant sources are the food and beverage industry as well as households. The purpose of the study is to: (i) identify risk factors on human health generated by the production of food waste; (ii) analyze and highlight the best management alternatives for the recovery and recycling valuable components of food waste, to reduce the environmental impacts and human health risks and diminish the pressure on natural resources.

2020 International Conference on e-Health and Bioengineering (EHB), 2020

One of the fundamental problems of mankind is represented by environmental pollution due to vario... more One of the fundamental problems of mankind is represented by environmental pollution due to various practices (industrial development, heavy cars traffic, spills, various agricultural practices, excessive fertilization, various storage practices), and this has detrimental effects on the chemical composition of plants. By accumulating pollutants in the environmental compartments (water, air, soil), medicinal plants can easily absorb toxic substances, and in this way human health can be endangered by consumption. By means of this paper we will try to answer the question “Are medicinal plants safe for consumption?”

2017 E-Health and Bioengineering Conference (EHB), 2017

The reduction of production waste impact started to be an important subject in the context of ind... more The reduction of production waste impact started to be an important subject in the context of industrial development. In the last years the authorities became to be interested in the reduction of impacts generated by the large amount of waste, by recycling or reuse in processes. In this context, the present study is developed to help decision makers to take the best decision regarding the management of production waste from paper manufacturing so as to mitigate its impacts. According to the results obtained after an analysis of the production waste conducted in the Life Cycle Analysis (LCA) framework, the recycling of this type of waste can reduce considerable the impact on the environment and human health by reducing tree cutting and increasing the absorption capacity of CO2 from the environment.

Modern Biotechnologies – Solutions to the Challenges of the Contemporary World. Symposium Proceedings, 2021

Processes, 2020

For the protection of human and ecological receptors from the effects of soil pollution with chem... more For the protection of human and ecological receptors from the effects of soil pollution with chemical compounds, we need to know the behavior and transport of pollutants in soil. This work investigated the Congo red (CR) acid dye sorption on three natural soils collected from central and northeastern regions of Romania, symbolized as IS-65, IS-T, and MH-13. To define the mechanism of sorption and identify the rate governing step, various diffusion models such as Weber–Morris intraparticle diffusion, Boyd, film and pores diffusion, and mass transfer analysis have been verified. The intraparticle diffusion analysis of Congo red sorption onto soils has been described by a multi-linear plots, showing that the sorption process takes place by surface sorption and intraparticle diffusion in macro, meso, and micropores. The values of intraparticle diffusion coefficient kid increased with any rise of the initial concentration of pollutant. The results show that the values of pore diffusion c...

Plants, 2021

The potential of the model crop Brassica napus L. (rapeseed) for the phytoremediation of soils po... more The potential of the model crop Brassica napus L. (rapeseed) for the phytoremediation of soils polluted with metals was investigated at laboratory scale. The first step consists in the evaluation of the seed germination and growth of the Brassica napus L. plant in a controlled environment, followed by the determination of the photosynthetic pigments content represented by chlorophyll a and b and carotenoids. The degree of metal accumulation in rapeseed has been evaluated by the bioaccumulation factor (BAC), the bioconcentration factor (BCF) and the translocation factor (TF). Phytotoxicity tests were performed in Petri dishes with filter papers moistened with metal solutions in the range of 0 to 300 mg/L Pb(II) or Cd(II). At the highest concentration of the lead and cadmium treatments (300 mg/L), B. napus L. showed the lowest germination degree (56.67% and 43.33%, respectively). According to Tukey test results, Pb(II) concentrations of up to 300 mg/L do not significantly affect the l...

Sustainability, 2020

This study is focused on the assessment of risks caused by pesticide residues to Romanian and oth... more This study is focused on the assessment of risks caused by pesticide residues to Romanian and other European populations, by modelling the acute and chronic risks considering short- and long-term exposures to pesticide residues in specific fruits and vegetables from different Romanian regions. Data were obtained from the Romanian 2016 official monitoring programme. For assessing the dietary risk, we used the Pesticide Residue Intake model—PRIMo. According to the official data, it was found that 50.44% of fruit samples and 28.25% of vegetable samples were contaminated with pesticides. Our study focused on acute risks and chronic risks (in a maximalist worst-case scenario) posed by pesticide residues in strawberries, apples, lettuce and potatoes, given both their high degree of consumption and contamination with pesticides. The short-term exposure assessment of children’s health due to consumption of apples, lettuce and potatoes contaminated with dimethoate, chlorothalonil and carbend...

Environmental Engineering and Management Journal, 2013

Biogas can be used as a renewable and green energy source by upgrading to natural gas. Water scru... more Biogas can be used as a renewable and green energy source by upgrading to natural gas. Water scrubbing, which is one of the most widely-applied upgrading technologies, involves an accurate knowledge of the solubility of the main biogas components in water, which is essential to the design and optimization of the biogas upgrading process. In this work, we use several thermodynamic models available in the Aspen Plus software modeling environment to calculate the solubility of the main biogas components (CO 2 , CH 4 , H 2 S, N 2 , O 2) in water, considering physical absorption processes. Our modeling results are then compared with experimental data from the related literature, and the most suitable thermodynamic model is thus determined. Such an appropriately-selected model can then be efficiently applied for further analyses, such as the simulation of the water scrubbing process.

Journal of Environmental Management, 2019

This study is focused on the dissipation behavior of 7 fungicides and 5 insecticides applied in t... more This study is focused on the dissipation behavior of 7 fungicides and 5 insecticides applied in tomatoes after a third spraying at recommended and double doses by considering 6 kinetic models which allow estimating the pesticides half-lives (t 1/2). Except studying the pesticides dissipation, another scope of our manuscript was investigating the risk to human health after application of different pesticide treatments in tomatoes. The pesticides analysis in tomatoes at harvest showed that the residues were below the maximum residue level (MRL), with the exception of chlorotalonil (included in Group 2B-"Possibly carcinogenic to humans") and bifenthrin for recommended dose treatments, while for double dose treatments, the MRLs was exceeded for 7 pesticides, once again including chlorotalonil. For recommended dose treatments, the 1st order kinetic model is confirmed only for metalaxyl-M. The values of pesticides t 1/2 ranged from 0.006 days (for chlorothalonil) to 48.59 days (for myclobutanil). For double dose treatments, the 1st order kinetic model is confirmed for deltamethrin and triadimenol. In this case, the values of pesticides t 1/2 ranged from 0.32 to 10.67 days. Further, consumers' exposure was estimated by calculating the long-term risk based on hazard quotient (HQ). The results indicated that the risks generated by pesticide residues in tomatoes applied in recommended or double doses are in an acceptable limit, except for chlorothalonil which may pose a threat for children health. However, if we consider the cumulative hazard index (HI) values which were higher than 1, consumption of tomatoes containing pesticides residues may cause harmful non-carcinogenic health effects.

tuiasi.ro

Emissions of carbon dioxide (CO 2) and other greenhouse gases have become a major environmental i... more Emissions of carbon dioxide (CO 2) and other greenhouse gases have become a major environmental issue due to their intensive contribution on the global warming. In the last decades the removal of CO 2 from gas mixtures has become an important industrial operation due to the necessity of different gases purification and from recovery reasons taking into accounts the large applications of CO 2 in chemical and food industry. Various techniques have applied for CO 2 removal. These technologies are based on different physical, chemical or biological processes. In addition several types of contactors have been reported for CO 2 removal such as stirred tanks, packed columns, bubble columns and membrane contactors. This paper discusses the most recent application of airlift reactors in flue gas treatment, in particular the potential of application for the effective CO 2 removal from contaminated flue gases taking into account the most important advantages of these devices: simple design and construction, no moving parts, high mass and heat transfer, intensive mixing, low shear stress to cells, low energy consumption, low operational costs. The most relevant characteristics and properties of CO 2 as well as the most applied technologies for CO 2 removal are reviewed in this paper, based on the information from literature data.

CLEAN – Soil, Air, Water, 2013

The aim of this work was to assess the burdens of a process in terms of environmental and health ... more The aim of this work was to assess the burdens of a process in terms of environmental and health impacts, resource depletion issues, and energy demand based on the ability of the Life Cycle Assessment methodology to link the environmental impacts with the mass and energy flows. The analysis was done in terms of process and environmental performances of high pressure water scrubbing (HPWS) system applied for biogas upgrading. The application of process simulation based on the Aspen Plus® software has been considered as supportive for the calculation of mass and energy balances.Data processed using GaBi 4: Software showed that global warming, acidification, and human toxicity potentials were the main impact categories associated with the HPWS process. These indicators are largely related to the exhaust gas from the desorption column and the indirect emissions generated during energy consumption. The life cycle inventory study resulted in the development of a database with a vast inven...

Processes

In this study, bacteria from the genus of Azotobacter, Bacillus and Pseudomonas were isolated fro... more In this study, bacteria from the genus of Azotobacter, Bacillus and Pseudomonas were isolated from the roots of Phaseolus vulgaris and used as plant growth-promoting bacteria for Sinapis alba L., Brassica napus L., Amaranthus retroflexus L., Linum usitatissimum L., Panicum miliaceum L. and Rumex patientia L. plants. The results showed that all three bacteria had different effects on plants growth considering both sterile and non-sterile soil. Bacillus sp. induced the greatest influence in terms of the root length of Sinapis alba L. grown in sterile soil (with 28%), while considering non-sterile soil, Pseudomonas sp. increased the root and shoot length by 11.43% and 25.15%, respectively, compared to the blank sample. Azotobacter sp. exerted the highest beneficial influence on Brassica napus L. growth in non-sterile soil, since the root and shoot lengths were stimulated with 27.64% and 52.60%, respectively, compared to uninoculated plants. Bacillus sp. had a positive effect on the gro...