Phosphorus in waters from sewage sludge amended lysimeters

In surface waters, phosphorus (P) concentrations exceeding 0.05 mg liter(-1) may cause eutrophic conditions. This study was undertaken to measure total P concentrations in runoff and tile drainage waters from land receiving either inorganic fertilizer or anaerobically digested sewage sludge. Total P was measured in runoff and tile drainage waters during 2 years of sample collections from instrumented, large-scale lysimeters planted to corn (Zea mays L.). During the 3 years prior to monitoring P concentrations, six of the lysimeter plots had been amended with anaerobically digested sewage sludge which supplied 5033 kg P per ha. Additional sludge applications supplied 1058 and 1989 kg P per ha during the first and second years of monitoring operations, respectively. Another six lysimeters were annually treated with fertilizer which included P applications amounting to 112 kg ha(-1). For years 1 and 2, respectively, annual losses from lysimeters treated with sewage sludge were 4.27 and 0.35 kg P per ha in runoff and 0.91 from 0.91 and 0.51 kg Per P per ha in drainage waters. Parallel annual losses of P from lysimeters treated with superphosphate were 2.15 and 0.17 kg ha(-1) in runoff and 0.53 and 0.35 kg ha(-1) in tile drainage waters. Sludge applications did not significantly change absolute soil contents of organic P, but did decrease the per cent of total P present in organic forms. Sludge and soil, respectively, contained 21 and 36% of their total P contents in organic forms. In sludge and soil about 85 and 64% of their respective total inorganic P contents were associated with the Al and Fe fractions. Sludge applications significantly increased soil contents of P in the saloid (water-soluble plus P extracted with 1 N NH(4)Cl), Al, Fe and reductant soluble P fractions, but contents of Ca-bound P were not changed. Total P contents of the soil below a depth of 30 cm were not affected by sludge incorporated to a depth of about 15 cm by plowing.     

Natural variability in distribution of an intertidal population of Macoma balthica subject to potential oil pollution at Port Valdez,Alaska

Natural variability in the abundance of an intertidal population of the lamellibranch Macoma balthica (Linnaeus, 1758) was measured during 1971 and 1972 in a study area near the proposed oil storage and tankship loading facility at the southern terminus of the Trans-Alaska pipeline in Port Valdez, Alaska. M. balthica were divided for analysis into a large and a small size category. Small temporal changes in population densities throughout the entire study area were detected for both size categories over several of the 7 sampling times of the 2-year period. Large and persistent differences in density were found among elevation contour intervals for either size category; however, variations in the density profiles on elevation occurred among sampling times. Large M. balthica became more equitably distributed and the small category less equitably distributed among elevation contours over the 2-year period. Densities of both size categories were more stable at the higher elevations of the study site. Large M. balthica were more homogeneously distributed along a given elevation contour interval than the small category. Mobility and time available to redistribute at a horizontal location would explain the more homogeneous distribution of large M. balthica if competition for food resources exists.     

A passive sampling device for determining formaldehyde in indoor air

A passive sampling device based on the principle of diffusion has been developed for the determination of formaldehyde in ambient air. The sampler consists of a capped glass tube (with approximate dimensions of 2.4 × 9 cm) containing a glass-fiber filter treated with NaHSO₃. In the field, the device collects a sample by being uncapped for a specified sampling time. After being recapped and returned to the laboratory, the filter is analyzed by the chromotropic acid (CTA) method. Laboratory validation studies were conducted by exposing the sampling devices for 1 week to dry formaldehyde gas generated by passing trioxane vapor over an acid catalyst bed. In these tests, formaldehyde concentrations ranged from 0.05 to 0.80 mL/m³. Reproducibility was excellent, with relative standard deviations averaging 5.4% for five constant concentrations. The lower detection limit was determined to be 3.6 mL/m³ h. In an occupational environment an 8-h sample would be sufficient to detect compliance with the OSHA permissible exposure limit of 3 mL/m³; in a residential environment a 1-week sample would allow detection of 0.025 mL/m³ for indoor air quality audits.     

Response of a coral-associated crustacean community to eutrophication

Seventy-five samples of the crustacean fauna associated with the coral Madracis mirabilis (Duchassaing and Michelotti) were obtained at five sites along the west coast of Barbados in 1985. Samples were analyzed to determine whether any community response to eutrophication was evident. Ordination (multidimensional scaling) and classification (group average clustering) based on Bray-Curtis dissimilarity measures separated the fauna of highly eutrophied sites from those that were less eutrophied. Dominance plots based on relative abundance and log-normal plotting methods were ineffective in distinguishing the fauna of eutrophied sites. The crustacean fauna responded to eutrophication mainly by reduction of density of animals. No differences in species richness, number of site endemic species or rare species were observed between highly eutrophied and less eutrophied sites. Nine indicator species of eutrophy were identified on the basis of strong density differences between sites.     

Dynamique des populations de Tisbe holothuriae (Crustacea: Copepoda) en élevage sur trois régimes artificiels différents

The influence of three different artificial diets (Tetramin, Bioter food and Renutryl) on the life cycle of Tisbe holothuriae Humes, 1957 has been investigated under constant experimental conditions (19°C; 38 S). Females (F2) whose life history has been followed, were obtained from a common mother (F1). They were bred in 50 ml dishes and transferred into a fresh container as soon as they produced a new egg-sac. Offspring (F3) resulting from successive egg-layings were counted as soon as they moulted into adults. Larval mortality was estimated in two ways: (1) by enumeration of adults issuing from a known number of nauplii; (2) by comparison of the average number of eggs from egg-sacs of F2 with the average number of adult offspring F3. The life-span of F2 females, including the larval stages, varies between 23.6 days (Renutryl diet) and 33.4 days (Tetramin diet). The first egg-sac appears about 12 days after hatching, whatever diet is used. The first copulation immediately follows the last moult, about 8 days after hatching. The reproductive period lasts for 6.5 (Renutryl) to 10.4 days (Bioter). The average number of successive egg-sacs laid is minimal with Renutryl (3.7) and maximal with Tetramin (5.1), but actual egg production is higher with Renutryl (86 eggs/sac) than with Bioter (67) or Tetramin (58). Nevertheless, as a result of varying larval mortality with the different diets, eventual numbers of adult F3 obtained are significantly higher with Bioter (310) than with Tetramin and Renutryl (216 and 188, respectively). The offspring F3 sex-ratio varies in successive broods and with the nature of the food offered: more females are produced with Bioter or Renutryl than with the Tetramin diet. Then net reproduction rate, R ₀, is higher with Bioter, because of the low larval mortality, high fertility, and high ratio of females resulting from this diet. The intrinsic rate of natural increase (r _m) is similar with Renutryl and Bioter diets (0.298 and 0.301, respectively), a lower value (0.260) occurs with the Tetramin diet. These different values are discussed and compared with previous data for Tisbe species fed natural diets.     

Barriers to interlock implementation

This commentary reviews current and past vehicle interlock programs for impaired driving offenders with a focus on the challenges that courts and motor vehicle departments face in attempting to implement mandatory programs as required by current federal legislation. There are few offenders in interlock programs compared to the large number of impaired drivers arrested each year. This suggests that, to increase participation, courts will have to threaten more severe sanctions for those offenders who reject interlock programs. A combination of electronic house arrest with interlock programs is suggested as a method of maximizing interlock use.     

Prediction of cervical spine injury risk for the 6-year-old child in frontal crashes

This article presents a series of 49 km/h sled tests using the Hybrid III 6-year-old dummy in a high-back booster, a low-back booster, and a three-point belt. Although a 10-year review at a level I trauma center showed that noncontact cervical spine injuries are rare in correctly restrained booster-age children, dummy neck loads exceeded published injury thresholds in all tests. The dummy underwent extreme neck flexion during the test, causing full-face contact with the dummy's chest. These dummy kinematics were compared to the kinematics of a 12-year-old cadaver tested in a similar impact environment. The cadaver test showed neck flexion, but also significant thoracic spinal flexion which was nonexistent in the dummy. This comparison was expanded using MADYMO simulations in which the thoracic spinal stiffness of the dummy model was decreased to give a more biofidelic kinematic response. We conclude that the stiff thoracic spine of the dummy results in high neck forces and moments that are not representative of the true injury potential.     

The impact of mandatory versus voluntary participation in the Alberta ignition interlock program

Research has demonstrated that participation in an interlock program significantly reduces the likelihood of subsequent driving while intoxicated (DWI) convictions at least so long as the interlock device is installed in the vehicle. Despite the growing number of jurisdictions that allow interlock programs and the demonstrated success of these programs, the proportion of DWI offenders who actually have the device installed is minimal. In an effort to increase the proportion of offenders using interlocks, some jurisdictions require offenders to install an interlock as a condition of license reinstatement whereas others merely offer offenders a reduction in the period of hard suspension if they voluntarily participate in an interlock program. The objective of the present study was to determine the extent to which voluntary interlock participants are more or less successful in terms of subsequent recidivism than those for whom interlock program participation has been mandated. The issue was addressed using data from the interlock program in Alberta, Canada, which provides for both mandatory and voluntary participation. The recidivism experience of voluntary and mandatory interlock participants was examined both during and after the period of interlock installation. Cox regression revealed that, after controlling for (or equating) the number of prior DWI offenses, the survival rates of DWI offenders who were ordered to participate in the interlock program did not differ from those of voluntary participants. These results suggest that further use of mandatory interlock programs should be just as successful as voluntary programs when offenders share characteristics with those studied in Alberta.