Cancer incidence in people with residential exposure to a municipal waste incinerator: An ecological study in Modena (Italy), 1991–2005

We conducted a retrospective ecological study to assess cancer incidence during the period 1991–2005 in proximity of a municipal waste incinerator (MWI) in Modena (Italy). We identified three bands of increasing distance from the MWI, up to a radius of 5 km and used the residence as surrogate marker of the exposure. Residential history for Modena’s population was reconstructed and residents were associated to the most appropriate census unit. Age-standardized incidence ratios (ASR) and standardized incidence ratios (SIR) were estimated for all cancers and selected sites. Variations in cancer incidence were investigated using space and space–time scan statistic. Deprivation index was taken into account as potential confounding factor. During the 15-year study period, 16,443 new cases of cancer were diagnosed among residents in Modena. The space–time clustering test identified three significant clusters but their shapes were not associable to the MWI exposition. The purely spatial analysis not showed statistically significant clusters. The SIR computed for all cancers and selected sites did not show any excess of risk in the area closest to the plant. Higher SIR for leukaemia was found in the second band from MWI (2–3.5 km) for females (SIR, age and DI adjusted: 1.35, 95%CI: 1.01–1.79) and for both sexes (SIR, age and DI adjusted: 1.28, 95%CI: 1.03–1.57), but not a spatial trend was observed, thus excluding a possible link with MWI. In conclusion, bearing in mind the intrinsic limits of the study, the results suggest that there is no detectable increase of cancer risk for people living in proximity to the Modena MWI.     

Screening of short- and medium-chain chlorinated paraffins in selected riverine sediments and sludge from the Czech Republic

Wide distribution of chlorinated paraffins in the environment has already been demonstrated in several studies; however, information about their levels in the Central Europe is still very limited. First study focused on the SCCP contamination of the Czech aquatic environment have been performed recently, and its results motivated the authors to analyze sediments from a wide set of the Czech rivers in order to obtain more detailed information. Thirty-six sediment samples from eleven rivers and five drainage vents neighboring the chemical factories were analyzed; special attention was paid to the industrial areas. For the first time in the Czech Republic, medium-chain in addition to short-chain chlorinated paraffins were analyzed using GC-ECNI-MS. Chlorinated paraffins were detected in sediment samples on the concentration levels up to 347 ngg(-1) for short-chain chlorinated paraffins, and 5575 ngg(-1) for medium-chain chlorinated paraffins. Average chlorination degree of SCCPs was 65%.     

Dioxin- and POP-contaminated sites—contemporary and future relevance and challenges

BACKGROUND, AIM AND SCOPE: Once they have been generated, polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins (PCDDs) and dibenzofurans (PCDFs) and other persistent organic pollutants (POPs) can persist in soils and sediments and in waste repositories for periods extending from decades to centuries. In 1994, the US EPA concluded that contaminated sites and other reservoirs are likely to become the major source of contemporary pollution problems with these substances. With this in mind, this article is the first in a new series in ESPR under the title 'Case Studies on Dioxin and POP Contaminated Sites--Contemporary and Future Relevance and Challenges', which will address this important issue. The series will document various experiences from sites contaminated with PCDD/F and other POPs. This article provides an overview of the content of the articles comprising the series. In addition, it provides a review of the subject in its own right and identifies the key issues arising from dioxin/POP-contaminated sites. Additionally, it highlights the important conclusions that can be drawn from these examples. The key aim of this article and of the series as a whole is to provide a comprehensive overview of the types of PCDD/F contaminated sites that exist as a result of historical activities. It details the various processes whereby these sites became contaminated and attempts to evaluate their contemporary relevance as sources of PCDD/Fs and other POPs. It also details the various strategies used to assess these historical legacies of contamination and the concepts developed, or which are under development, to effect their remediation. MAIN FEATURES: Special sessions on 'Contaminated sites--Cases, remediation, risk and policy' were held at the DIOXIN conferences in 2006 and 2007, and this theme will be continued at DIOXIN 2008 to be held in Birmingham. Selected cases from the approximately 70 contributions made to these sessions, together with some additional invited case studies are outlined together with the key issues they raise. By evaluating these cases and adding details of experiences published in the current literature, an overview will be given of the different features and challenges of dioxin and POP-contaminated sites. RESULTS: This article provides a systematic categorisation of types of PCDD/F and POP-contaminated sites. These are categorised according to the chemical or manufacturing process, which generated the PCDD/Fs or POPs and also includes the use and disposal aspects of the product life cycle in question. The highest historical PCDD/F and dioxin-like polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB) contamination burdens have arisen as a result of the production of chlorine and of chlorinated organic chemicals. In particular, the production of chlorinated pesticides, PCBs and the related contaminated waste streams are identified being responsible for historical releases of toxic equivalents (TEQs) at a scale of many tonnes. Along with such releases, major PCDD/F contaminated sites have been created through the application or improper disposal of contaminated pesticides, PCBs and other organochlorine chemicals, as well through the recycling of wastes and their attempted destruction. In some extreme examples, PCDD/F contaminated sites have also resulted from thermal processes such as waste incinerators, secondary metal industries or from the recycling or deposition of specific waste (e.g. electronic waste or car shredder wastes), which often contain chlorinated or brominated organic chemicals. The examples of PCDD/F and dioxin-like PCB contamination of fish in European rivers or the impact of contaminated sites upon fishing grounds and upon other food resources demonstrate the relevance of these historical problems to current and future human generations. Many of the recent food contamination problems that have emerged in Europe and elsewhere demonstrate how PCDD/F and dioxin like PCBs from historical sources can directly contaminate human and animal feedstuffs and indeed highlight their considerable contemporary relevance in this respect. Accordingly, some key experiences and lessons learnt regarding the production, use, disposal and remediation of POPs from the contaminated sites are summarised. DISCUSSION: An important criterion for evaluating the significance and risks of PCDD/Fs and other POPs at contaminated sites is their present or future potential for mobility. This, in turn, determines to a large degree their propensity for off-site transport and environmental accessibility. The detailed evaluation of contaminated site cases reveals different site-specific factors, which influence the varied pathways through which poor water-soluble POPs can be mobilised. Co-contaminants with greater water solubility are also typically present at such sites. Hence, pumping of groundwater (pump and treat) is often required in addition to attempting to physically secure a site. At an increasing number of contaminated sites, securing measures are failing after relatively short time spans compared to the time horizon, which applies to persistent organic pollutant contamination. Due to the immense costs and challenges associated with remediation of contaminated sites 'monitored natural attenuation' is increasingly gaining purchase as a conceptual remediation approach. However, these concepts may well prove limited in their practical application to contaminated sites containing persistent organic pollutants and other key pollutants like heavy metals. CONCLUSIONS: It is inevitable, therefore, that dioxin/POP-contaminated sites will remain of contemporary and future relevance. They will continue to represent an environmental issue for future generations to address. The securing and/or remediation of dioxin/POP-contaminated sites is very costly, generally in the order of tens or hundreds of millions of dollars. Secured landfills and secured production sites need to be considered as constructions not made for 'eternity' but built for a finite time scale. Accordingly, they will need to be controlled, supervised and potentially repaired/renewed. Furthermore, the leachates and groundwater impacted by these sites will require ongoing monitoring and potential further remediation. These activities result in high maintenance costs, which are accrued for decades or centuries and should, therefore, be compared to the fully sustainable option of complete remediation. The contaminated site case studies highlight that, while extensive policies and established funds for remediation exist in most of the industrialised western countries, even these relatively well-regulated and wealthy countries face significant challenges in the implementation of a remediation strategy. This highlights the fact that ultimately only the prevention of contaminated sites represents a sustainable solution for the future and that the Polluter Pays Principle needs to be applied in a comprehensive way to current problems and those which may emerge in the future. RECOMMENDATIONS AND PERSPECTIVES: With the continuing shift of industrial activities in developing and transition economies, which often have poor regulation (and weak self-regulation of industries), additional global challenges regarding POPs and other contaminated sites may be expected. In this respect, a comprehensive application of the "polluter pays principle" in these countries will also be a key to facilitate the clean-up of contaminated areas and the prevention of future contaminated sites. The threats and challenges of contaminated sites and the high costs of securing/remediating the problems highlight the need for a comprehensive approach based upon integrated pollution prevention and control. If applied to all polluting (and potentially polluting) industrial sectors around the globe, such an approach will prove to be both the cheapest and most sustainable way to underpin the development of industries in developing and transition economies.     

Effects of pore volume-transmissivity correlation on transport phenomena

The relevant velocity that describes transport phenomena in a porous medium is the pore velocity. For this reason, one needs not only to describe the variability of transmissivity, which fully determines the Darcy velocity field for given source terms and boundary conditions, but also any variability of the pore volume. We demonstrate that hydraulically equivalent media with exactly the same transmissivity field can produce dramatic differences in the displacement of a solute if they have different pore volume distributions. In particular, we demonstrate that correlation between pore volume and transmissivity leads to a much smoother and more homogeneous solute distribution. This was observed in a laboratory experiment performed in artificial fractures made of two plexiglass plates into which a space-dependent aperture distribution was milled. Using visualization by a light transmission technique, we observe that the solute behaviour is much smoother and more regular after the fractures are filled with glass powder, which plays the role of a homogeneous fault gouge material. This is due to a perfect correlation between pore volume and transmissivity that causes pore velocity to be not directly dependent on the transmissivity, but only indirectly through the hydraulic gradient, which is a much smoother function due to the diffusive behaviour of the flow equation acting as a filter. This smoothing property of the pore volume-transmissivity correlation is also supported by numerical simulations of tracer tests in a dipole flow field. Three different conceptual models are used: an empty fracture, a rough-walled fracture filled with a homogeneous material and a parallel-plate fracture with a heterogeneous fault gouge. All three models are hydraulically equivalent, yet they have a different pore volume distribution. Even if piezometric heads and specific flow rates are exactly the same at any point of the domain, the transport process differs dramatically. These differences make it important to discriminate in situ among different conceptual models in order to simulate correctly the transport phenomena. For this reason, we study the solute breakthrough and recovery curves at the extraction wells. Our numerical case studies show that discrimination on the basis of such data might be impossible except under very favourable conditions, i.e. the integral scale of the transmissivity field has to be known and small compared to the dipole size. If the latter conditions are satisfied, discrimination between the rough-walled fracture filled with a homogeneous material and the other two models becomes possible, whereas the parallel-plate fracture with a heterogeneous fault gouge and the empty fracture still show identifiability problems. The latter may be solved by inspection of aperture and pressure testing.     

Novel approach to monitoring of the soil biological quality

In this study, a new approach to interpretation of results of the simple microbial biomass and respiration measurements in the soil microbiology is proposed. The principle is based on eight basal and derived microbial parameters, which are standardized and then plotted into sunray plots. The output is visual presentation of one plot for each soil, which makes possible the relative comparison and evaluation of soils in the monitored set. Problems of soil microbiology, such as the lack of benchmarking and reference values, can be avoided by using the proposed method. We found that eight parameters provide enough information for evaluation of the status of the soil microorganisms and, thus, for evaluation of the soil biological quality. The usage of rare parameters (potential respiration PR, ratio of potential and basal respiration PR/BR, biomass-specific potential respiration PR/C(bio), available organic carbon C(ext), and biomass-specific available organic carbon C(ext)/C(bio)) can be recommended, besides classical and well-known parameters (microbial biomass C(bio), basal respiration BR, metabolic coefficient qCO(2)). The combination of basal parameters and derived coefficients can also extend our knowledge about the condition of the soil microorganisms. In monitoring the case studies presented, we observed that soils evaluated to possess good biological quality displayed generally higher values of organic carbon, total nitrogen, clay, and cation exchange capacity. The soils of good biological quality can display higher levels of contaminants. This is probably related with the higher content of organic carbon and clay in these soils.     

Eutrophication of Buttermilk Bay,a cape cod coastal embayment: Concentrations of nutrients and watershed nutrient budgets

Nutrient concentrations in Buttermilk Bay, a coastal embayment on the northern end of Buzzards Bay, MA, are higher in the nearshore where salinities are lower. This pattern suggests that freshwater sources may contribute significantly to nutrient inputs into Buttermilk Bay. To evaluate the relative importance of the various sources we estimated inputs of nutrients by each major source into the watershed and into the bay itself. Septic systems contributed about 40% of the nitrogen and phosphorus entering the watershed, with precipitation and fertilizer use adding the remainder. Groundwater transported over 85% of the nitrogen and 75% of the phosphorus entering the bay. Most nutrients entering the watershed failed to reach the bay; uptake by forests, soils, denitrification, and adsorption intercepted two-thirds of the nitrogen and nine-tenths of the phosphorus that entered the watershed. The nutrients that did reach the bay most likely originated from subsoil injections into groundwater by septic tanks, plus some leaching of fertilizers.Buttermilk Bay water has relatively low nutrient concentrations, probably because of uptake of nutrients by macrophytes and because of relatively rapid tidal flushing. Annual budgets of nutrients entering the watershed showed a low nitrogen-to-phosphorus ratio of 6, but passage of nutrients through the watershed raised N/P to 23, probably because of adsorption of PO₄ during transit. The N/P ratio of water that leaves the watershed and presumably enters the bay is probably high enough to maintain active growth of nitrogenlimited coastal producers. There is a seasonal shift in N/P in the water column of Buttermilk Bay. N/P exceeded the 161 Redfield ratio during midwinter; the remainder of the year N/P fell below 161. This suggests that annual budgets do not provide sufficiently detailed data with which to interpret nutrient-limitation of producers. Further, some idea of water turnover is also needed to evaluate impact of loading rates. Urbanization of watersheds seems to increase loadings to nearshore environments, and to shift the nutrient loadings delivered to coastal waters to relatively high N-to-P ratios, potentially stimulating growth of nitrogen-limited primary producers.