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Background. Air pollution has become a major problem around the world and is increasingly an issue in Togo due to increased vehicular traffic. Gaseous pollutants are released by engines and are very harmful to human health and the environment. The fuels used on the major road in Togo, the N2, are adulterated with unknown contents and are of poor quality. Many of the vehicles come from neighboring countries, such as Benin, Ghana and Nigeria. Objectives. The present study aims to evaluate the pollution rate in Togo through the estimation of the concentrations of sulfur dioxide (SO2), nitrogen oxides (NOx), and particular matter (PM) on the international road, the National Road N2, in Lomé, compared to the World Health Organization's (WHO) standard limit. Methods. The simulations of pollutant concentration were performed using the Industrial Source Complex Short Term Version 3 model, which is included in the United States Environmental Protection Agency Regulatory Model (USEPA) AERMOD View software. The meteorological averages data were obtained from the local station near the National Road N2 in Togo in 2018. Hourly averages were calculated according to the European Monitoring Evaluation Programme/European Environmental Agency air pollutant emission inventory guidebook 2016 and were processed using AERMET View and a terrain pre-processor, AERMAP. For the model, the sources of pollution were the vehicles traveling on the road segment. The source was a line volume with 20 m of width and 2 m of height. The estimation methodology covered exhaust emissions of NOx, SO2 and PM contained in the fuel. Results. The simulations provided average hourly, daily and annual concentrations of the different pollutants: 71.91 μg/m3, 42.41 μg/m3,11.23 μg/m3 for SO2; 16.78 μg/m3, 9.89 μg/m3, 2.46 μg/m3 for NOx and below the detection limit, 0.62 μg/m3, 0.15 μg/m3 for PM, respectively. These results indicate that on the National Road N2 in Togo, the concentrations of SO2 were high compared to those of NOx and PM. The daily average concentration of SO2 was twice the permissible limits set by the WHO. Conclusions. Emissions obtained from the AERMOD for NOx and PM were less than the permissible limits set by the WHO, while the rate of SO2 was twice the permissible limit. The fuels used on this road were very rich in sulfur. The sulfur level in fuels must be monitored by stakeholders in Togo. Competing Interests. The authors declare no competing financial interests.

The mining waste facilities in the Baia Mare region, Romania, resulted from the extraction of poly-metallic ores (including Au, Ag). Metal sulphide minerals from the mining waste facilities have a potential to produce acid rock drainage (ARD) and to generate risk for the environment, including for the water resources. Some of the mining waste deposits from the region are located near the town of Baia Mare, close to the residential areas, the agricultural lands and the surface water. The short migration path between the sources and the sensitive receptors is causing an increased environmental risk. The main contaminants found in the area are heavy metals and metalloids, such as: Pb, Zn, Cd, Cu, Ni and As. Their concentrations measured in the water samples from the area exceeded the pollution thresholds. Moreover, there were measured high concentrations of heavy metals in the groundwater from the wells in the villages located downstream of the mining waste facilities. This water is used partly as drinking water for humans and domestic animals and for other agricultural activities (ex: irrigation). The aim of the paper is to identify and to analyse the most polluted water supply sources in the area and to draw conclusions about the environmental risk due to the mining waste facilities. The results show high concentrations of heavy metals downstream the waste facilities, leading to an increased environmental risk.

The failure of process equipment due to the impact of natural hazards, the so-called Natech events, have generated several industrial accidents, such as Fukushima, Japan -2011, Ichihara, Japan -2011, Tupras, Turkey -1999, Northridge, US -1994, causing the release of large quantities of hazardous materials in the environment. Earthquakes occupy a leading position in the list of natural hazards with Natech potential, causing serious damage and the loss of containment in process equipment. The present study reveals the importance of Natech risk analyses for industrial sites. The aim of the study is to compare the Individual Risk (IR) and Societal Risk (SR) results between conventional technological risk and Natech risk, related to a possible Natech event triggered by an earthquake for two petroleum products storage tanks, located in an urban area in the South-Eastern part of Romania. The results show an increase of approximately one order of magnitude in the Natech risk compared to technological risk for the selected study area. Results highlight the fact that Natech scenarios should be included in the risk analysis process for technological sites located in natural hazard prone areas and applied for land-use planning purposes as well.