Kathryn M Conko (Former Employee)

Waters co-produced with hydrocarbons in the Appalachian Basin are of notably poor quality (concentrations of total dissolved solids (TDS) and total radium up to and exceeding 300,000 mg/L and 10,000 pCi/L, respectively). Since 2008, a rapid increase in Marcellus Shale gas production has led to a commensurate rise in associated wastewater while generation of produced water from...

Soil and house dust collected in and around Hg mines and a processing facility in Horlivka, a mid-sized city in the Donets Basin of southeastern Ukraine, have elevated As and Hg levels. Surface soils collected at a former Hg-processing facility had up to 1300 mg kg−1 As and 8800 mg kg−1 Hg; 1M HCl extractions showed 74–93% of the total As, and 1–13% of the total Hg to be solubilized...

Sepiolite is a hydrous magnesium silicate formed by precipitation of near-surface brackish or saline waters, under semi-arid climatic conditions. Four major influences on the distribution of sepiolite are source materials, climate, physical parameters and associated phase relations. Two major pathways governing the occurrence of sepiolite and palygorskite are direct precipitation from...

This study evaluates biomarkers of mercury exposure among residents of Horlivka, a city in eastern Ukraine located in an area with geologic and industrial sources of environmental mercury, and residents of Artemivsk, a nearby comparison city outside the mercury-enriched area. Samples of urine, blood, hair, and nails were collected from study participants, and a questionnaire was...

Mercury-rich coals in the Donets Basin (Donbas region) of Ukraine were sampled in active underground mines to assess the levels of potentially harmful elements and the potential for dispersion of metals through use of this coal. For 29 samples representing c11 to m3 Carboniferous coals, mercury contents range from 0.02 to 3.5 ppm (whole-coal dry basis). Mercury is well correlated with...

There is considerable evidence suggesting that metals play a central role in the pathogenesis of Alzheimer's disease. Reports suggest that elevated dietary metals may both precipitate and potentiate an Alzheimer's disease phenotype. Despite this, there remain few studies that have examined the behavioral consequences of elevated dietary metals in wild type and Alzheimer's disease animals...