Lead traceability along soil-melliferous flora-bee family-apiary products chain

Indirect measures were considered to study the lead transfer along the soil-melliferous flora-bee family-apiary products food chain. The concentrations of total and bioavailable lead in the soil were first investigated. Next, the lead level in different organs of melliferous flora and subsequently in the bee family and apiary products was measured. The results indicate a decrease in contamination as follows: honeybees > drones > propolis > wax > bee larvae > honey > royal jelly. The statistical analysis highlights the "lead pollution bioindicator" role of honeybees, honey and propolis. The risk factor parameter allows the prediction of the most impacted month and the least impacted of the melliferous season.     

Determination of selected heavy metals in air samples from the northern part of Jordan

In this work, the atmospheric concentrations of selected heavy metals including lead (Pb), iron (Fe), cadmium (Cd), copper (Cu), nickel (Ni), manganese (Mn), and zinc (Zn) were measured for two different sampling sites (urban and rural) in the northern part of Jordan (Irbid city). Samples were collected according to a certain schedule for 1 year. High volume air samplers and glass fiber filters were used to collect the samples. Collected samples were digested using a mixture of analytical grade nitric acid and analytical grade hydrochloric acid, and analyzed to evaluate the levels of heavy metals by atomic absorption spectrophotometry. Six heavy metals (Pb, Fe, Cu, Ni, Mn, and Zn) were measured in all samples; the concentrations of Cd and Co were not detected in Irbid atmosphere by atomic absorption spectroscopy. The results were used to determine the levels of heavy metal pollutants in air, possible sources, and to compare the levels of selected heavy metals in the two studied sites. Aerosols from the rural site have lower concentrations for all the metals compared to those from the urban site. The daily and monthly variations of the elements were investigated. All heavy metals in urban and rural sites reached maximum concentrations in June, July, and August. This is consistent with the increased activities leading to particulate matter emission during the summer period. The enrichment factors with respect to earth crust and correlation coefficients of heavy metals were investigated to predict the possible sources of heavy metals in air.     

Identification of heavy metal pollutants using multivariate analysis and effects of land uses on their accumulation in urban soils in Beijing, China

In order to evaluate the current state of the environmental quality of soils in Beijing, we investigated contents of 14 metals in Beijing urban soils inside the 5th ring road by even grids sampling. Statistic analyses were conducted to identify possible heavy metal pollutants, as well as the effects of land uses on their accumulation. Our results revealed that the urban soils in Beijing were contaminated by Cd, Pb, Cu, and Zn. Land uses and urbanization ages affected the accumulation of the four heavy metals in soils significantly. Soils in industrial areas have the highest average Cu and Zn contents, while Pb contents in park areas and Cd in agricultural areas are the highest. The accumulations of Pb and Zn in urban soils increase significantly with sampling plots approaching the city center. And Pb, Cd, and Zn contents in soils in traffic areas also tend to increase in the city center. However, residential areas have the lowest contents of all the four heavy metals.     

A comparative chemometric study for water quality expertise of the Athenian water reservoirs

The aim of the present study is to compare the application of unsupervised and supervised pattern recognition techniques for the quality assessment and classification of the reservoirs used as the source for the domestic and industrial water supply of the city of Athens, Greece. A new optimization strategy for sampling, monitoring, and water management is proposed. During the period of October 2006 to April 2007, 89 samples were collected from the three water reservoirs (Iliki, Mornos, and Marathon), and 13 parameters (metals and metalloids) were analytically determined. Generally, all the elements were found to fluctuate at very low levels, especially for Mornos that comprises the main water reservoir of Athens. Iliki and Marathon showed relatively elevated values, compared to Mornos, but below the legislative limits. Multivariate unsupervised statistical techniques, such as factor analysis/principal components analysis, and cluster analysis and supervised ones, like discriminant analysis and classification trees, were applied to the data set, and their classification abilities were compared. All the chemometric techniques successfully revealed the critical variables and described the similarities and dissimilarities among the sampling points, emphasizing the individual characteristics in every sample and revealing the sources of elements in the region. New data from posterior samplings (November and December 2007) were used for the validation of the supervised techniques. Finally, water management strategies were proposed concerning the sampling points and representative parameters.     

Spatial and temporal variation of metal concentrations in adult honeybees (Apis mellifera L.)

Honeybees (Apis mellifera L.) have great potential for detecting and monitoring environmental pollution, given their wide-ranging foraging behaviour. Previous studies have demonstrated that concentrations of metals in adult honeybees were significantly higher at polluted than at control locations. These studies focused at a limited range of heavy metals and highly contrasting locations, and sampling was rarely repeated over a prolonged period. In our study, the potential of honeybees to detect and monitor metal pollution was further explored by measuring the concentration in adult honeybees of a wide range of trace metals, nine of which were not studied before, at three locations in the Netherlands over a 3-month period. The specific objective of the study was to assess the spatial and temporal variation in concentration in adult honeybees of Al, As, Cd, Co, Cr, Cu, Li, Mn, Mo, Ni, Pb, Sb, Se, Sn, Sr, Ti, V and Zn. In the period of July-September 2006, replicated samples were taken at 2-week intervals from commercial-type bee hives. The metal concentration in micrograms per gram honeybee was determined by inductive coupled plasma-atomic emission spectrometry. Significant differences in concentration between sampling dates per location were found for Al, Cd, Co, Cr, Cu, Mn Sr, Ti and V, and significant differences in average concentration between locations were found for Co, Sr and V. The results indicate that honeybees can serve to detect temporal and spatial patterns in environmental metal concentrations, even at relatively low levels of pollution.     

交通干道沿线土壤重金属监测与评估综述

公路运营所带来的铅、镉、锌等重金属污染物对人体健康安全存在着潜在和长期的影响。近年来,开展交通干道沿线重金属污染监测与评估工作已经成为环境监测工作的重要内容。从监测技术、评估方法、可能影响因素等几个方面对该领域的研究进展及成果进行了综述。采样段面的选取、点位的布设与样品的收集应该同时遵循全面性和代表性的原则。在同一交通干道内,均匀布置采样段面的同时可以尽量包含高车流量、中车流量与低车流量3种类型。考虑到重金属在横向距离上的分布规律,可以在0~100 m处设置密集采样点位,在100~300 m处设置适量采样点位。评估方法一般同时采用Kriging空间插值分析、污染指数分析、多元统计分析,生态风险评价与健康风险评价等多种分析方法。     

杭州地区农业土壤中重金属的分布特征及其环境意义

为了分析杭州地区农业土壤重金属的分布特征及其环境意义,通过现场采样和室内分析检测的方法,对杭州市各区县不同作物农业土壤表层土中的Hg、As、Cu、Pb、Cr、Cd 6种重金属元素进行检测,并对其分布特征进行了分析。结果表明,杭州地区农业土壤中除As外,其他5种重金属的平均含量均低于且接近浙江省土壤背景值,个别采样点的重金属含量超过了土壤环境质量国家二级标准。总体上,杭州地区农业土壤处于安全水平。通过重金属的区域分布特征分析表明,余杭区和富阳市农业土壤中重金属平均含量普遍高于其他区域。萧山区和建德市部分农业土壤则存在Cu和Hg含量较高的情况,而淳安县农业土壤中重金属含量差异较大,土壤中出现了As、Cr和Cd含量最大值。不同作物的农业土壤重金属含量存在一定的差异,但不明显。水稻田和蔬菜地的土壤中,重金属含量较其他作物种植类型的土壤中含量高;叶菜类(蔬菜、茶叶)作物土壤中的Cd含量要比根茎类(水稻)、茄果类(水果)及其他作物种植类型的土壤中的含量低。目前杭州地区土壤中6种重金属含量均对作物的直接危害不大,但由于萧山区个别采样点Cu含量严重超标,淳安县土壤中Cd受外源性来源影响也已较明显,需要相关部门加大监管力度,防止污染事件发生。同时,为防止农业土壤中重金属含量进一步升高,需要加大大气降尘监测与治理、废气污染监管与控制治理。     

Atmospheric deposition of heavy metals (Cu, Zn, Cd and Pb) in Varanasi City, India

Rapid growth in urbanization and industrialization in developing countries may significantly contribute in heavy metal contamination of vegetables through atmospheric depositions. In the present study, an assessment was made to investigate the spatial and seasonal variations in deposition rates of heavy metals and its contribution to contamination of palak (Beta vulgaris). Samples of bulk atmospheric deposits and Beta vulgaris for analysis of Cu, Zn, Cd and Pb were collected from different sampling locations differing in traffic density and land use patterns. The results showed that the sampling locations situated in industrial or commercial areas with heavy traffic load showed significantly elevated levels of Cu, Zn and Cd deposition rate as compared to those situated in residential areas with low traffic load. The deposition rates of Cu, Zn and Cd were significantly higher in summer and winter as compared to rainy season, however, Pb deposition rate was significantly higher in rainy and summer seasons as compared to winter season. Atmospheric depositions have significantly elevated the levels of heavy metals in B. vulgaris collected during evening as compared to those collected in morning hours. The study further showed that local population has maximum exposure to Cd contamination through consumption of B. vulgaris. The present study clearly points out the urban and industrial activities of a city have potential to elevate the levels of heavy metals in the atmospheric deposits, which may consequently contaminate the food chain and thus posing health risk to the local population.     

Determination of Heavy Metals in Honey in Kahramanmaraş City, Turkey

Heavy metals in honey are of interest not only for quality control, but also for determination environmental contamination. The objective of this work was to determine distribution of the levels of selected heavy metals. Levels of copper (Cu), cadmium (Cd), manganese (Mn), Iron (Fe), magnesium (Mg) and nickel (Ni) in honey samples (21) in Kahramanmaraş region were determined by atomic absorption spectrometer (AAS). The mean values for Cu, Cd, Mn, Fe, and Mg were 0.01, 0.32, 0.03, 0.36 and 10.45 ppm, respectively. Nickel was not detected in honey samples. Kahramanmaraş honey samples were not free of heavy metals but the levels of them were found well below the permitted levels. The results suggested that honey may be useful for assessing the presence of environmental contaminants.     

乌鲁木齐市冬季重污染天气下PM_(2.5)中重金属污染特征及来源解析

通过乌鲁木齐市2013年2月5日至26日一次重污染天气过程中,在6个采样点位进行细颗粒物PM_(2.5)的采集,并对其中的13种重金属(Cu、Sr、Mo、Cd、Pb、V、Cr、Mn、Fe、Co、Ni、As、Hg)含量、Mull污染指数、空间分布以及溯源进行了分析。结果显示:采样期间乌鲁木齐市重金属浓度在0.23~178 ng/m~3之间,浓度水平排序PbMnCrFeAsVCuNiSrCdMoCoHg,其中Cd、Hg、Pb、Cr、As浓度均高于乌鲁木齐市背景值和国内外其他城市水平,且Mull污染指数处于较严重的污染水平;在重金属元素浓度的空间分布上,铁招和南公园点位重金属浓度较高,31中学和市监测站相对较低。