Reto Gieré

• PhD
• Professor (Full) at University of Pennsylvania

The human brain can both synthesize minerals in situ and accumulate exogenous phases from the surrounding environment. Some of the biogenic phases may represent evolutionary remains, whereas others are crucial for many physiological functions of the neurological system. Yet an excess concentration of these minerals in the brain may be a precursor a...

Tire- and road-wear particles (TRWPs) are one of the main types of primary microplastics in the environment. Generated through driving a vehicle, they accumulate on roads, where they are often found encrusted with varying amounts of road dust. Here, we report physical and chemical data for individual TRWPs (> 150 µm across), which were collected in...

FORESIGHT Brief Early Warning, Emerging Issues and Futures Vehicle tyre particles in the environment Background The Foresight Briefs are published by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) to, among others, highlight a hotspot of environmental change, feature an emerging science topic, or discuss a contemporary environmental issue. The pub...

The present paper reports the first finding of oriented triphylite (LiFe2+PO4) rods in fluorapatite. This observation was made in the contact zone between a metamorphosed rare-element pegmatite and its amphibolite wall rock at the Stankuvatske Li-ore deposit in the Ukrainian Shield. This contact zone consists of an exocontact, in which hornblende w...

Amphibole asbestos is related to multiple diseases, mainly those targeting the lungs. Asbestos-related malignancies can also be caused by non-regulated asbestiform minerals and some elongated mineral particles (EMPs). In particular, the role of nano- and micro-sized EMPs internalized by lung epithelial cells must be clarified. This is of major impo...

Members of the childrenite–eosphorite series, ideally (Fe1−xMnx)AlPO4(OH)2⋅H2O, from the highly evolved Homolka granite, in the southern Czech Republic, were characterized using a multi-analytical approach. They occur as anhedral grains, up to ∼0.2 mm in size, associated with quartz, muscovite, albite, and K-feldspar. Tiny inclusions of probable ur...

Calcium oxalate phytoliths are one of the most prominent types of Ca speciation in the plant kingdom, and they store extensive amounts of carbon in crystalline form. Ca phytoliths were investigated in the root, trunk, and bark of Vitis vinifera Chasselas from a vineyard in Alsace, France. A multi-analytical approach was used, which included SEM cou...

The Fe content and the morphometry of asbestos are two major factors linked to its toxicity. This study explored the use of microbe-mineral interactions between asbestos (and asbestos-like) minerals and thermophilic chemolithoautotrophic microorganisms as possible mineral dissolution treatments targeting their toxic properties. The removal of Fe fr...

Zusammenfassung Es gibt 6 Arten länglicher Mineralpartikel (EMP), die bestimmten dimensionalen und morphologischen Kriterien entsprechen und als Asbest bekannt sind. Da Asbest für Gesundheitsprobleme wie die Asbestose und das maligne Mesotheliom verantwortlich ist, wurde er gut erforscht. Trotzdem kommt es weltweit weiterhin zu einer erheblichen Ex...

The Palaeoproterozoic (~2.0−1.8 Ga) Stankuvatske Li deposit (Ukrainian Shield, Central Ukraine) represents an uncommon case of recrystallised, fine-grained petalite ± spodumene meta-pegmatite dykes with LCT affinity hosted in amphibolites and meta-ultrabasic rocks. The meta-pegmatite dykes show remnants of primary, pre-metamorphic zoning, with domi...

Driving a vehicle on a road is inevitably associated with the generation of tire-abrasion particles. Annually, nearly six million tons of this material are released into the environment globally. Most of the tire debris is encrusted to variable extent with other particles, which are derived from brake and road wear, as well as from soil. First emit...

There are six elongate mineral particles (EMPs) corresponding to specific dimensional and morphological criteria, known as asbestos. Responsible for health issues including asbestosis, and malignant mesothelioma, asbestos has been well researched. Despite this, significant exposure continues to occur throughout the world, potentially affecting 125...

Childhood lead poisoning is an issue that continues to plague major U.S. cities. Despite efforts by the Philadelphia Department of Public Health to curtail systemic childhood lead poisoning, children continue to be identified with elevated blood lead levels. The persistence of elevated blood lead levels in children is concerning because lead poison...

Road sediment is a pervasive environmental medium that acts as both source and sink for a variety of natural and anthropogenic particles and often is enriched in heavy metals. Road sediment is generally understudied in the United States (U.S.) relative to other environmental media and compared to countries such as China and the United Kingdom (U.K....

Revision submitted to Journal of Hazardous Materials----- Road sediment is a pervasive environmental medium that acts as both source and sink for a variety of natural and anthropogenic particles and often is enriched in heavy metals. Road sediment is generally understudied in the United States (U.S.) relative to other environmental media and compa...

Amphibole asbestos is related to lung fibrosis and several types of lung tumors. The disease-triggering mechanisms still challenge our diagnostic capabilities and are still far from being fully understood. The literature focuses primarily on the role and formation of asbestos bodies in lung tissues, but there is a distinct lack of studies on amphib...

There are several Li-mica and spodumene deposits in Central Europe. The Cínovec deposit on the border of the Czech Republic and Germany is the largest known hard-rock Li deposit in Europe and is currently being explored. Weathering and mining of such deposits could release Li and F to the environment. Both elements are associated with potential hea...

Lead (Pb) soil contamination in urban environments represents a considerable health risk for exposed populations, which often include environmental justice communities. In Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (PA), Pb pollution is a major concern primarily due to extensive historical Pb-smelting/processing activity and legacy use of Pb-based paints and leade...

A multi-analytical geochemical investigation of Pb-contaminated collocated road dust and soils, at two size fractions, was performed in Fishtown, Philadelphia, PA, USA. The combinations of methods employed in this case study were chosen to better characterize the contamination, enhance identification of pollution sources, improve understanding of t...

In this paper, we present the results of a multi-analytical characterization of a glaucophane sample collected in the Piedmont region of northwestern Italy. Investigation methods included optical microscopy, powder X-ray diffraction, Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy, µ-Raman spectroscopy, Mössbauer spectroscopy, electron probe microanalysis,...

For centuries, solid biomass fuels, such as charcoal and firewood, have been distinctly dominant sources of energy for cooking in sub-Saharan Africa. This form of energy still plays a significant role in this energy transition era. Lightweight, indestructible and inexpensive, charcoal is transported on trucks from various rural sites to mainly serv...

Background: Chronic beryllium disease (CBD), a granulomatous disease with similarities to sarcoidosis, arises only in individuals exposed to beryllium. Inhaled beryllium can elicit a T-cell-dominated alveolitis leading non-necrotizing granulomata. CBD can be distinguished from sarcoidosis by demonstrating beryllium sensitization in a lymphocyte pr...

Pollution from heavy metals in urban environments is a topic of growing concern because many metals, including Pb and Cr, are a human health hazard. Exposure to Pb and Cr has been linked to the inhibition of neurological development as well as toxic effects on many organs. Yellow traffic paint (YTP) is a mixture that contains organic polymers, bind...

The aim of the present method is to reduce the dimensional variability of asbestos, elongated mineral particles, fibrous, and other asbestiform minerals for use in biological assays. Here, the pristine mineral sample is filtered through two nylon meshes of different sizes to obtain a narrower dimensional distribution following a power law. Furtherm...

Neutrophilic, microaerobic Fe(II)‐oxidizing bacteria (FeOB) from marine and freshwater environments are known to generate twisted ribbon‐like organo‐mineral stalks. These structures, which are extracellularly precipitated, are susceptible to chemical influences in the environment once synthesized. In this paper, we characterize the minerals associa...

Substitution of cement clinker with suitable excess materials from other processes is an effective way to reduce CO2 emissions of cement production. Moreover, specific properties of the resulting mortar or concrete can be designed with different clinker replacement materials and their mixing ratios. In this study, bottom and fly ashes from six biom...

This study presents the latest results of the groundwater monitoring of a research project, which tested an innovative pump and treat method in combination with an in-situ remediation. This technique was assessed on an abandoned site in Austria, where two hot spots of hexavalent chromium (Cr(VI)) were located. For the in-situ remediation, a strong...

Road dust was investigated within Philadelphia, a major United States city with a long history of industrial activities, in order to determine pollution levels. Almost all of the investigated minor elements were enriched relative to the continental crust. Furthermore, mean concentrations of Cr, Co, Cu, and Pb were high compared with those reported...

The correct presentation of the 4th sentence in the 2nd paragraph of section Remediation method is shown in this paper.

The demand for lithium (Li) is growing as a result of increasing electric vehicle production [1]. To meet this demand, many new sources of Li will be developed [2]. Currently, only 25% of Li is sourced from hard-rock deposits, mostly spodumene [3]. Lepidolite and zinnwaldite are Li-bearing minerals likely to become important in the future. There is...

Determination of the oxidation state and coordination geometry of iron in Fe-bearing minerals expands our knowledge obtained by standard mineralogical characterization. It provides information that is crucial in assessing the potential of minerals to interact with their surrounding environment and to generate reactive oxygen species, which can disr...

Around the world, charcoal has persisted as an energy resource and retained unequivocal dominance in the energy consumption mix of some nations many years on since modern alternatives were invented. Furthermore, it has secured unyielding significance as a commodity on local and international markets and remained an aggressive competitor to electric...

The ferrierite crystal structure has often been subject to discussion because of the possible lowering of symmetry from the space group Immm. It mainly occurs in nature with a fibrous crystal habit, and because of the existence of line/planar defects in the framework, texture and preferred orientation effects it has been difficult to obtain an exac...

One of the open questions regarding the asbestos problem is the fate of the mineral fibres in the body once inhaled and deposited in the deep respiratory system. In this context, the present paper reports the results of an electron microscopy study of both mineral fibres and asbestos bodies found in the lung tissue of a patient who died of malignan...

Bottom and fly ash samples from six biomass power plants with different power scales and various flue gas treatment strategies were collected and analyzed in regard to their mineralogical composition, and their bulk major and trace element contents, all of which are of concern for regulations on biomass ash for further utilization. Furthermore, ind...

In nature, asbestos is often associated with minerals and other non-asbestiform morphologies thought to be harmless, but not much is known about the potential toxic effects of these phases. Therefore, the characterization of natural assemblages should not be limited to asbestos fibers only. This paper combines a multi-analytical characterization of...

In this paper, we report the results of the first study focused on the thermal stability and dehydration dynamics of the natural zeolite mineral ferrierite. A sample from Monastir, Sardinia [(Na0.56K1.19Mg2.02Ca0.52 Sr0.14) (Al6.89Si29.04)O72·17.86H2O; a = 19.2241(3) Å; b = 14.1563(2) Å; c = 7.5106(1) Å, V = 2043.95(7) ų] was investigated by therm...

The new mineral species hydrokenopyrochlore, ideallyA(0,#)2BNb2XO6·YH2O, has been discovered in the Antandrokomby pegmatite, Sahatany Pegmatite Field, Antananarivo Province, Madagascar. It occurs as tan to beige subhedral crystals, up to 1 mm in size, with a resinous luster, associated with quartz, tourmaline, orthoclase, Li-bearing mica, hübnerite...

Vibrational spectroscopies (Fourier Transform Infra Red, FTIR, and Raman) are exceptionally valuable tools for the identification and crystal–chemical study of fibrous minerals, and asbestos amphiboles in particular. Raman spectroscopy has been widely applied in toxicological studies and thus a large corpus of reference data on regulated species is...

Online https://doi.org/10.1080/02772248.2018.1520234 High urban atmospheric pollution is caused by economic and industrial growth, especially in developing countries. The objective of this study was to assess possible relationships between in vitro effects on human alveolar epithelial cells of source-related dust types collected at Sulaimani City...

Vibrational spectroscopies (FTIR, Raman) are exceptionally valuable tools for the identification and crystal-chemical study of fibrous minerals, and asbestos amphiboles in particular. Raman spectroscopy has been widely applied in toxicological studies and thus a large corpus of reference data on regulated species is found in the literature. However...

Traffic-related non-exhaust particulate matter mainly consists of tire wear, brake wear, and road wear. For this study, passive-samplers were placed near highly frequented roads in industrial, agricultural, and urban environments with the aim of collecting and characterizing super-coarse (> 10 µm) airborne particles. Single-particle analysis using...

A reverse approach to toxicology can be seen as the description of the transformation of the toxic mineral (agent) during its interaction with the target organism. The step-by-step visualization and comprehension of these nanoscale transformations could lead to a full description of the mechanisms and discrete steps leading to instant damages to ba...

Particulate and gaseous emissions of two medium-sized district heating facilities (400 kW, fueled with miscanthus, and 1.5 MW, fueled with wood chips) were characterized for different operational conditions, and compared to previously obtained results for household wood and pellet stoves. SO2 and NOx emission factors (reported in mg MJFuel⁻¹) were...

The currently available technologies applied to obtain secondary raw materials from asbestos waste are known to be expensive, energy-consuming and to use additional hazardous materials to destroy the native asbestos fibers. These technologies include but are not limited to high temperatures, acid/base dissolution or microwave radiation. The incompl...

Possible microbial transformation of asbestos minerals to possibly remediate asbestos waste in the environment and reduce asbestos toxicity to human health.

This study presents a detailed mineralogical and chemical characterization of a chromium contamination in alluvial deposits underlying a leather tannery in Austria. Drill cores revealed that the contamination is represented by a black layer that exhibits sharp boundaries with adjacent brown alluvial sediments. This black layer is located below the...

Tungsten-rich oxycalciobetafite occurs in complex Ti-rich hydrothermal veins emplaced within dolomite marble in the contact aureole of the Adamello batholith, northern Italy, where it occurs as overgrowths on zirconolite. The betafite is weakly zoned and contains 29–34 wt% UO2. In terms of end-members, the betafite contains approximately 50 mol% Ca...

(https://doi.org/10.1016/j.atmosenv.2017.05.019) Inhalation of particulate matter (PM) from residential biomass combustion is epidemiologically associated with cardiovascular and pulmonary diseases. This study investigates PM0.4-1 emissions from combustion of commercial Miscanthus straw (MS), softwood chips (SWC) and beech wood chips (BWC) in a do...