Projects

An exchange program is proposed here with which three researchers from key institutes in Japan will be trained in Flanders in the beginning of 2012 on a specific technique to measure a soil property that affects the fate of the radiocaesium in Japanese soil. This property was described first by Prof. Adrien Cremers in 1988 (Cremers et al., 1988) and is now used by numerous researchers to screen soils for their vulnerability to this ...

Carbon, nitrogen and phosphorus losses from land and increasing concentrations in receiving waters or in the form of greenhouse gases (GHG) in the atmosphere are environmental issues of major concern. Agriculture contributes significantly to these emissions. An integrated approach is needed to overcome this, ranging from agricultural management to consumption patterns.

On 18/02/2016 the Research Council has approved the short stay of prof. Lucélia Borgo (University of São Paulo en College of Americana, Brazilië) at UHasselt chargeable to the BOF-program 'Short Stays'. During the stay, prof. Lucélia Borgo will perform research in collaboration with prof. Ann Cuypers (research group CMKMB). The stay will take place in 2016.

Toxic metal pollutions are detrimental for the environment as well as for human health. Phytoremediation is an eco-friendly remediation method that uses plants and their associated microorganisms to deal with polluted soil and groundwater. Although phytoremediation is a very promising technology, it still faces some obstacles. During phytoremediation of toxic metals, their bioavailability often is too low to be extracted from the soil within an ...

Whereas most studies focus on the effect of microbial communities and plants on the uptake, degradation and accumulation of single pollutants, in nature, this is rarely the case and multipollution with a mixture of toxic elements in different concentrations is reality. Therefore, the interaction of plants (Salix) with their associated microorganisms is investigated in a naturally contaminated soil 1) to obtain better knowledge on the underlying ...

The exploitation of mineral resources unavoidably pollutes soils and sediments with trace elements, which accumulate in the environment and affect human health and ecosystem services. Conventional remediation methods are expensive and detrimental for soil structure and fertility. Phytoremediation therefore comes into focus as a "green" alternative to stabilize, detoxify or remove pollutants from soil through a low cost and environmentally ...

According to the Argentinean Chamber of Agricultural Health and Fertilizers, every year more than 300,000 tons of pesticides are applied, which about 65% are formulations of the broad-spectrum herbicide Glyphosate (N-phosphonomethylglicine). During the past years, there was a lot of discussion about glyphosate as a cause of endocrine disruption, DNA damage, reproductive and developmental toxicity, neurotoxicity and cancer, as well as birth ...

The IOF supports projects that aim at the valorisation of research. The projects must meet the specific requirements related to the aspiration to bring a scientific advancement / breakthrough closer to the market environment. The resources should be used to close the gap between the results of already conducted research and valorisation in the form of acquired contract research, patents, licenses or spin-off companies. IOF projects of the short ...

Although the integration of the principles of sustainability in the selection of site remediation alternatives has become an important issue, most attention is still paid to the direct costs of the soil remediation and the environmental and health impact of the soil contamination. Less tangible social and economic aspects, such as non-monetary costs and benefits are only marginally addressed, whereas they are essential for a more balanced ...