Mark Button

University of British Columbia - Okanagan | UBC Okanagan · Department of Earth and Environment Sciences

A pilot study was conducted to determine the applicability of toenails as a biomarker of exposure to elevated environmental arsenic (As) levels. A total of 17 individuals were recruited for the pilot study: 8 residents living near to a former As mine, Devon, UK, forming the exposed group, plus 9 residents from Nottinghamshire, UK, with no anticipat...

Two species of arsenic (As) resistant earthworm, Lumbricus rubellus and Dendrodrillus rubidus, their host soils and soil excretions (casts) were collected from 23 locations at a former As mine in Devon, UK. Total As concentrations, measured by ICP-MS, ranged from 255 to 13,080 mg kg(-1) in soils, 11 to 877 mg kg(-1) in earthworms and 284 to 4221 mg...

Uptake, distribution and speciation of arsenic (As) were determined in the bracket fungus Fomitopsis betulina (previously Piptoporus betulinus), commonly known as the birch polypore, collected from a woodland adjacent to a highly contaminated former mine in the Southwest UK and at an uncontaminated site in Quebec, Canada, with no past or present mi...

Nanoparticles are used in many commercial products due to their beneficial optical and antimicrobial properties. As the production and utilization of nanoparticles has increased significantly so too has our need for a clear understanding of their potential behavior and impacts once released to the environment. In this research we investigate the po...

https://authors.elsevier.com/a/1gkgV,Ig4V6kD

Subduction zones are first-order features of plate tectonics on Earth, yet the mechanisms by which subduction initiates remain enigmatic and controversial. Here, we reappraise the timing of metamorphism of the rock units first detached from the leading edge of the downgoing slab during initiation of the Neotethys subduction, now preserved in the me...

When the SEGH international board released a short editorial paper back in 2019, we described an aim to increase the membership offering, whilst improving the diversity of input regionally, by scientific discipline and to ensure greater and more regular contact across the regions from 2020 onwards. Wider aspirations described in 2019 (Watts et al....

Silver nanomaterials (Ag NMs) have been used in a variety of commercial products to take advantage of their antimicrobial properties. However, there are concerns that these AgNMs can be released during/after use and enter wastewater streams, potentially impacting aquatic systems or accumulating in wastewater biosolids. Biosolids, which are a residu...

The putative Jambil meta-carbonatites of Swat, northern Pakistan, occur as discrete intrusions into the Proterozoic Manglaur formation, which are difficult to be distinguished from nearby calc-silicate marble because both rock types experienced regional metamorphism during Himalayan orogenesis that resulted in similar mosaic textures and mineral as...

Magmatic and tectonic processes can transport large volumes of magma generated in the deep crust as discrete pulses to shallower crustal depths, resulting in the incremental construction of large, composite batholiths over thousands to tens of millions of years. The Silurian to Early Devonian Donegal composite batholith in Ireland is a classic exam...

Metamorphic soles are m to ~500 m thick tectonic slices welded beneath most large- scale ophiolites (usually ~20 km thick). They typically show a steep inverted metamorphic structure where the pressure and temperature (T) conditions of crystallization increase upward, from the base of the sole (500 ± 100°C at 0.5 ± 0.2 GPa) to the contact with the...

Combined sewer overflows are contaminated with various micropollutants which pose risk to both environmental and human health. Some micropollutants, such as carbamazepine and sulfamethoxazole, are very persistent and difficult to remove from wastewater. Event loaded vertical-flow constructed wetlands (retention soil filters; RSFs) have proven to be...

The challenges of sustainable development are ever more pressing, and the skills, interests and capabilities of the SEGH member are well-placed to continue to make more meaningful contributions to the environment , society and well-being. We reflect on the historical development of the society, its response to the dynamic international research lan...

There is an increasing potential for toxic effects on the environment from the release of weathered silver nanomaterials (Ag NMs) from commercial products. In the case of wetlands, their ecosystems have an innate ability to transform a wide range of pollutants into harmless by-products mainly through their microbial communities and could be impaire...

The challenges of sustainable development are ever more pressing, and the skills, interests and capabilities of the SEGH member are well-placed to continue to make more meaningful contributions to the environment, society and well-being. SEGH has been a welcoming society for early career researchers (ECRs) over the years, providing a supportive a...

Concern regarding the potential negative impacts of released engineered nanoparticles (ENPs) on pollutant removal performance of wastewater treatment systems has received booming attention in recent years. However, the conclusions drawn from different studies often lead to fragmented overall knowledge, some of which are even contradictory. This sce...

Concern regarding the potential negative impacts of released engineered nanoparticles (ENPs) on pollutant removal performance of wastewater treatment systems has received booming attention in recent years. However, the conclusions drawn from different studies often lead to fragmented overall knowledge, some of which are even contradictory. This sce...

The aim of the present study was to elucidate the microbial community metabolic profiles in saturated constructed wetland (CW) mesocosms planted with five different wetland plant species fed with water individually spiked with 100 μg L−1 ibuprofen or iohexol. Community-level physiological profiling (CLPP) using Biolog Ecoplates was performed and co...

The recent commercialisation of antimicrobial textiles has resulted in concern regarding the incidental release of silver nanomaterials (Ag-NMs) to the environment. To date, studies have measured Ag-NMs released from unworn textiles under simulated conditions, but little is known of Ag-NMs released under actual wearing conditions. Our experiments w...

The discharge from food production greenhouses (greenhouse effluent) contains high nutrient and salt concentrations, which, if directly released, can have adverse effects on the environment. Wood-chip bioreactors are increasingly popular passive water treatment systems favoured for their economical denitrification in treating agricultural field til...

The impacts to microbial function, overall performance and eventual fate were assessed for triclosan (TCL) and sul- famethoxazole (SMX) in intensified (re-circulating) vertical subsurface flow (VSSF) constructed wetlands (CWs). The potential toxicity of each pharmaceutical to the intrinsic microbial communities was first assessed over a wide exposu...

Bioavailability and mobility of lead (Pb) in soils depend upon their partitioning between solution-solid phases and their further fractionation and redistribution among different solid-phase components. However, the dynamics of Pb in salt-affected (saline–sodic) Pb-contaminated (polluted) paddy soil need more exploration particularly under the infl...

The impacts to microbial function, overall performance and eventual fate were assessed for triclosan (TCL) and sulfamethoxazole (SMX) in intensified (re-circulating) vertical subsurface flow (VSSF) constructed wetlands (CWs). The potential toxicity of each pharmaceutical to the intrinsic microbial communities was first assessed over a wide exposure...

Microbial degradation is an important pathway during the removal of pharmaceuticals in constructed wetlands (CWs). However, the effects of CW design, plant presence, and different plant species on the microbial community in CWs have not been fully explored. This study aims to investigate the microbial community metabolic function of different types...

The objective of this study was to compare the microbial community metabolic function from both unsaturated and saturated constructed wetland mesocosms (CWs) when treating the pesticide tebuconazole. The comparison was performed for both interstitial water and substrate biofilm by community level physiological profiling (CLPP) via BIOLOG™ EcoPlates...

The objective of this research was to study the differences in microbial community metabolic function in planted and unplanted saturated constructed wetland mesocosm systems with five different wetland plant species, Typha latifolia, Phragmites australis, Iris pseudacorus, Berula erecta and Juncus effusus treating the pesticides imazalil and tebuco...

Community-level physiological profiling (CLPP) using BIOLOG® EcoPlates™ has become a popular method for characterizing and comparing the functional diversity, functional potential, and metabolic activity of heterotrophic microbial communities. The method was originally developed for profiling soil communities; however, its usage has expanded into t...

Arsenic compounds are widespread environmental contaminants and exposure elicits serious health issues, including early developmental anomalies. Depending on the oxidation state, the intermediates of arsenic metabolism interfere with a range of subcellular events, but the fundamental molecular events that lead to speciation-dependent arsenic toxici...

Western clawed frog (Silurana tropicalis) embryos were exposed to control, low (nominally 0.5 mg/L) and high (nominally 1 mg/L) arsenate (AsV) culture water concentrations to investigate the effects of arsenic (As) on different life stages, namely tadpole (Nieuwkoop and Faber stage 56, NF56) and frog stages (NF66). The effects were assessed by meas...

Plants and microbial communities are inherently interdependent and both are essential to a Constructed Wetlands (CWs) ability to treat wastewater. Plants promote microbial community development by transferring oxygen and from aerial tissues into the rhizosphere whilst plant root systems provide habitat for microbial community attachment and secrete...

Constructed Wetlands (CWs) are an increasingly popular method for wastewater treatment and a wide range of different designs are currently in operation throughout the world. The most widely employed fundamental system is the Horizontal Sub-Surface Flow (HSSF) CW but designs range in complexity from entirely passive systems to intensfied designs whi...

This paper documents the concentration of total arsenic and individual arsenic species in four soft-bottom benthic polychaetes (Perenereis cultifera, Ganganereis sootai, Lumbrinereis notocirrata and Dendronereis arborifera) along with host sediments from Sundarban mangrove wetland, India. An additional six sites were considered exclusively for surf...

Mature Lumbricus terrestris were host soils and leaf litter were collected from a former arsenic mine in Devon, UK (Devon Great Consols), a former gold mine in Ontario, Canada (Deloro), and an uncontaminated residential garden in Nottingham, UK. Arsenic concentrations determined by inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) in soils were...

Earthworms native to the former mine site of Devon Great Consols (DGC), UK reside in soils highly contaminated with arsenic (As). These earthworms are considered to have developed a resistance to As toxicity. The mechanisms underlying this resistance however, remain unclear. In the present study, non-resistant, commercially sourced Lumbricus terres...

The versatility of the arsenic specification for the measurement of arsenic species in a range of materials from Devon Great Consols (DGC), one of many former mining sites in the south- west of England has been reported. The health implications of chronic exposure to arsenic are well known, with populations exposed on a worldwide scale, the majorit...

Thesis submitted for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy at the University of Leicester, April 2009. Awarded 23 October 2009. This research details a multidisciplinary assessment of arsenic contaminated soils in terms of human exposure and environmental toxicology. Two species of earthworm (Lumbricus rubellus and Dendrodrillus rubidus) along with th...

The relationship of the total arsenic content of a soil and its bioaccumulation by earthworms (Lumbricus rubellus and Dendrodrilus rubidus) to the arsenic fraction bioaccessible to humans, measured using an in vitro physiologically-based extraction test (PBET), was investigated. Soil and earthworm samples were collected at 24 sites at the former ar...

The relationship between the total arsenic concentration and the chemical speciation of arsenic in two species of earthworm (Lumbricus rubellus and Dendrodrilus rubidus) in relation to the host soil, was investigated for 13 sites of varying arsenic content, including a background level garden soil and a former mine site at the Devon Great Consols,...

A method for the extraction and speciation of arsenic in contaminated soils was developed through modification of procedures reported in the literature. Microwave assisted extraction (MAE) and orbital shaking plus sonication were compared as extraction procedures together with different mixtures of phosphoric and ascorbic acid as the extractant. Th...