Antimicrobial activity of metal oxide nanoparticles supported onto natural clinoptilolite

The antimicrobial activity of Cu₂O, ZnO and NiO nanoparticles supported onto natural clinoptilolite was investigated in the secondary effluent under dark conditions. After 24 h of contact the Cu₂O and ZnO nanoparticles reduced the numbers of viable bacterial cells of Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus in pure culture for four to six orders of magnitude and showed consistent 100% of antibacterial activity against native E. coli after 1 h of contact during 48 exposures. The antibacterial activity of NiO nanoparticles was less efficient. The Cu₂O and NiO nanoparticles showed 100% of antiprotozoan activity against Paramecium caudatum and Euplotes affinis after 1 h of contact, while ZnO nanoparticles were less efficient. The morphology and crystallinity of the nanoparticles were not affected by microorganisms. The metal oxide nanoparticles could find a novel application in the disinfection of secondary effluent and removal of pathogenic microorganisms in the tertiary stage of wastewater treatment.     

Beyond the Prevention of Harm: Animal Disease Policy as a Moral Question

European animal disease policy seems to find its justification in a “harm to other” principle. Limiting the freedom of animal keepers—e.g., by culling their animals—is justified by the aim to prevent harm, i.e., the spreading of the disease. The picture, however, is more complicated. Both during the control of outbreaks and in the prevention of notifiable, animal diseases the government is confronted with conflicting claims of stakeholders who anticipate running a risk to be harmed by each other, and who ask for government intervention. In this paper, we first argue that in a policy that aims to prevent animal diseases, the focus shifts from limiting “harm” to weighing conflicting claims with respect to “risks of harm.” Therefore, we claim that the harm principle is no longer a sufficient justification for governmental intervention in animal disease prevention. A policy that has to deal with and distribute conflicting risks of harm needs additional value assumptions that guide this process of assessment and distribution. We show that currently, policies are based on assumptions that are mainly economic considerations. In order to show the limitations of these considerations, we use the interests and position of keepers of backyard animals as an example. Based on the problems they faced during and after the recent outbreaks, we defend the thesis that in order to develop a sustainable animal disease policy other than economic assumptions need to be taken into account.     

Shoal composition, body size and foraging in sticklebacks

Individuals which deviate from the majority in groups are likely to be most vulnerable to predation. This oddity effect, by definition, is frequency dependent, eventually fading at equal frequencies of the phenotypes in a group. It has been hypothesized that the increased predation risk of odd individuals may play an important role in the formation of phenotypically uniform shoals of fish. However, recent work has indicated that individuals may experience, or value, their predation hazard differently depending on their own size in relation to that of other group members: single large fish, but not small ones, appear concerned about their oddity in a shoal. Here I show that the apparent wariness of large fish is also expressed in a frequency-dependent manner, closely conforming to what is predicted if the oddity effect is responsible for their behavior. Using foraging activity of individuals as a means to evaluate their predation risk, I demonstrate with shoals comprising 12 threespine sticklebacks (Gasterosteus aculeatus) that large fish forage least actively when in a shoal consisting of 2 large and 10 small fish. An increase in the number of large fish to 4 among 8 small individuals clearly results in an increase in their foraging activity. However, having reached an equal frequency with small fish in a shoal, large fish do not seem to change their foraging activity much even when their number in a shoal increases further. In contrast, foraging activity of small sticklebacks remains fairly constant throughout the entire range of tested shoal compositions, providing further evidence that small and large fish respond to their oddity differently. Received: 12 February 1998 / Accepted after revision: 7 May 1998     

Pesticide cocktails can interact synergistically on aquatic crustaceans

Background, aim and scope  

The ergosterol biosynthesis-inhibiting (EBI) fungicide prochloraz can enhance the effect of other pesticides in a range of animal species. Approximately 50% of the fungicides used in Denmark are EBI fungicides. Hence, if they all have synergising potential, a risk assessment of pesticide mixtures based on additivity might not suffice. This study investigates the synergising potential of six different EBI fungicides representing the imidazoles (prochloraz), the triazoles (epoxiconazole, propiconazole and tebuconazole), the piperidines (fenpropidin) and the morpholines (fenpropimorph) together with the pyrethroid insecticide alpha-cypermethrin.     

Effects of riparian forest buffers on in-stream nutrient retention in agricultural catchments

In northeastern Austria, marshlands have been turned into the most productive arable land of the country. As a result, most headwater streams show structurally degraded channels, lacking riparian buffer zones, which are heavily loaded with nutrients from the surrounding crop fields. The present study examines whether longitudinally restricted riparian forest buffers can enhance the in-stream nutrient retention in nutrient-enriched headwater streams. We estimated nutrient uptake from pairwise, short-term addition experiments with NH, NH, PO, and NaCl within reaches with riparian forest buffers (RFB) and degraded reaches (DEG) of the same streams. Riparian forest buffers originated from the conservation of the pristine vegetation or from restoration measures. Hydrologic retention was calculated with the model OTIS-P on the basis of conductivity break-through curves from the salt injections. A significant increase in surface transient storage was revealed in pristine and restored RFB reaches compared with DEG reaches due to the longitudinal step-pool pattern and the frequent occurrence of woody debris on the channel bed. Ammonium uptake lengths were significantly shorter in RFB reaches than in DEG reaches, resulting from the higher hydrologic retention. Uptake velocities did not differ significantly between RFB and DEG reaches, indicating that riparian forest buffers did not affect the biochemical nutrient demand. Uptake of NH was mainly driven by autotrophs. Net PO uptake was not affected by riparian forest buffers. The study shows that the physical and biogeochemical effects of riparian forest buffers on the in-stream nutrient retention are limited in the case of highly eutrophic streams.     

Trace element levels in adults from the west coast of Canada and associations with age, gender, diet, activities, and levels of other trace elements

The purpose of this study was to assess trace element levels in whole blood, serum and urine of 61 non-smoking adults living on the west coast of Canada and to determine their association with the following variables: age, gender, diet, participation in certain hobby and/or occupational activities, and levels of other trace elements. Participants or their spouses were employed as oyster growers and were originally recruited to study the absorption of cadmium from oyster consumption. Trace elements were measured using inductively-coupled plasma mass spectrometry. A telephone interview was used to assess participant's intake of selected foods and the amount of time they have spent on certain activities over the lifetime. Comparison of results to previous studies revealed that blood lead, blood mercury, serum nickel, serum selenium and urine molybdenum levels were generally higher in this study than have previously been measured, possibly due to higher consumption of seafood in this sample. Men had statistically higher levels of serum iron, blood lead, and serum selenium, while women had statistically higher levels of serum copper and blood manganese. Blood lead levels increased with age. Diet had a statistically significant association with several elements. Consumption of spinach, seaweed, organ meats, and shellfish tended to be positively correlated with trace element concentrations and consumption of various forms of potatoes tended to be negatively correlated. Several statistically significant correlations were also observed between trace elements.     

Risk assessment and prioritisation of contaminated sites on the catchment scale

Contaminated sites pose a significant threat to groundwater resources worldwide. Due to limited available resources a risk-based prioritisation of the remediation efforts is essential. Existing risk assessment tools are unsuitable for this purpose, because they consider each contaminated site separately and on a local scale, which makes it difficult to compare the impact from different sites. Hence a modelling tool for risk assessment of contaminated sites on the catchment scale has been developed. The CatchRisk screening tool evaluates the risk associated with each site in terms of its ability to contaminate abstracted groundwater in the catchment. The tool considers both the local scale and the catchment scale. At the local scale, a flexible, site specific leaching model that can be adjusted to the actual data availability is used to estimate the mass flux over time from identified sites. At the catchment scale, a transport model that utilises the source flux and a groundwater model covering the catchment is used to estimate the transient impact on the supply well. The CatchRisk model was tested on a groundwater catchment for a waterworks north of Copenhagen, Denmark. Even though data scarcity limited the application of the model, the sites that most likely caused the observed contamination at the waterworks were identified. The method was found to be valuable as a basis for prioritising point sources according to their impact on groundwater quality. The tool can also be used as a framework for testing hypotheses on the origin of contamination in the catchment and for identification of unknown contaminant sources.     

Is the growth stimulation by low doses of glyphosate sustained over time?

The herbicide, glyphosate, has been shown to stimulate growth in a range of species when applied at doses of 5-60 g a.e. ha⁻¹, corresponding to realistic spray drift events. This study investigates growth of shoot parameters over time to detect whether the glyphosate induced growth increase was sustained and had a final effect on reproduction. The results showed that an actual biomass growth rate increase took place within the first week after spraying with glyphosate doses <60 g a.e. ha⁻¹. This initial growth boost kept treated plants larger than untreated plants for up to six weeks, but at harvest there was no significant difference between control plants and treated plants. Possible effects of glyphosate hormesis on the competitive ability of spray drift affected plants are discussed.     

微波-过氧乙酸联合作用处理剩余污泥的研究

采用微波-过氧乙酸(PAA)联合作用处理剩余污泥,考察了微波辐照时间、微波功率、PAA投加量对剩余污泥分解效果的影响.同时以单独微波作用为对比,考察了微波-PAA联合作用下剩余污泥性质的变化.结果表明,当微波功率为600 W,PAA投加量为0.24 g/g(以干质量SS计)时,微波辐照60 s后剩余污泥分解率可达35%...     

Hydrological and geochemical factors affecting leachate composition in municipal solid waste incinerator bottom ash: Part I: The hydrology of Landfill Lostorf, Switzerland

The objective of the investigation of the municipal solid waste incinerator (MSWI) bottom ash landfill, Landfill Lostorf, was to determine the residence time of water in the landfill and the flow paths through the landfill. Over a period of 22 months, measurements of rainfall, landfill discharge and leachate electrical conductivity were recorded and tracer experiments made. Over the yearly period 1995, approximately 50% of the incident rainfall was measured in the discharge. An analysis of single rain events showed that in winter, 90–100% of rainfall was expressed in the landfill discharge, whereas in summer months, the value was between 9 and 40% depending on the intensity of the rain event. The response to rainfall was rapid. Within 30–100 h, approximately 50% of water discharged in response to a rain event had left the landfill. The discharge was less than 4 l/min for approximately 50% of the measurement periods. Qualitative tracer studies with fluorescein, pyranine and iodide clearly showed the existence of preferential flow paths. This was further substantiated by quantitative tracer studies of single rain events using / ratios and electrical conductivity measurements. The proportion of rainwater passing directly through the landfill was found to be between 20 and 80% in summer months and around 10% in winter months. The difference has been ascribed to the water content in the landfill. The average residence time of the water within the landfill has been estimated to be roughly 3 years and this water is the predominant component in the discharge over a yearly period.