Evaluating the fish safety level of river water and wastewater with a larval medaka assay

A larval medaka (Oryzias latipes) assay was proposed to evaluate the fish safety level of river waters and wastewaters. Organic toxicants were 10-100 times concentrated with adsorption cartridges from 4 l of river water or 1-10 times concentrated from 400 ml of wastewater. Toxicity of these concentrated solutions was determined by exposing 48-72 h post-hatch age larvae for 48 h. The method effectively revealed a variation of the median lethal concentration ratio (LCR50) from 13 to >100 in 125 river water samples, and from <1 to >10 in five typical wastewater samples. Ayase River, which takes water mostly from agricultural or household discharge, showed significantly (P<0.001) lower LCR50 than Sagami River that takes natural water as the source. Safety Levels in both Sagami River and Ayase River were influenced by the irrigation activity, LCR50 at some sites showing a seasonal-specific decrease in winter. Pollution from pulp and paper industries contributed to the low LCR50 in several tributaries of Ayase River. Required little manpower in sampling, pretreatment and testing, the proposed larval medaka assay was proved as an efficient tool for screening those high risk sites for priority management.     

Effect of Tinospora cordifolia on the reduction of ultraviolet radiation‐induced cytotoxicity and DNA damage in PC12 cells

The safety of Tinospora cordifolia and its potential to protect against ultraviolet radiation‐induced cytotoxicity and DNA damage in PC12 cells were investigated. To evaluate the safety of T. cordifolia, cell viability and agarose gel electrophoresis were carried out using PC12 cells treated with 0 to 100 μg mL^?1 of methanol extract of T. cordifolia. T. cordifolia extracts did not show cytotoxicity ranging 0 to 100 μg mL^?1. In addition, T. cordifolia extracts significantly increased cell viability at 1 ng, 10 ng and 1 μg mL^?1 concentrations in serum‐deprived medium compared to control. To confirm the protective role against UV‐induced damage, PC12 cells alone or in the presence of 10 ng, 100 ng, or 1 μg mL^?1 of T. cordifolia extract were exposed to 250, 270 and 290 nm of UV radiation, which corresponded to doses of 120, 150 and 300 mJ cm^?2, respectively. Treatment with T. cordifolia extracts significantly increased the cell survival rate irradiated at 290 nm. In addition, T. cordifolia extracts significantly reduced cyclobutane pyrimidine dimer formation induced by UV irradiation at all wavelengths. In conclusion, T. cordifolia is not toxic and safe for cells. Our findings can support its application as phototherapy in the medical sector.     

Organic pollutants and their correlation with stable isotopes in vegetation from King George Island, Antarctica

Vegetation samples from King George Island, Antarctica (62°05'S, 058°23'W) were collected in the austral summer of 2004-2005. Lichens (Usnea aurantiaco-atra and Usnea antarctica), mosses (Sanionia uncinata, Syntrichia princeps and Brachytecium sp.), and one angiosperm (Colobanthus quitensis) species were analyzed for persistent organic pollutants as well as δ(13)C and δ(15)N stable isotopes. The following contaminants were found above the method detection limit (MDL): HCB (0.141-1.06 ng g(-1) dry weight), HCHs (相似文献   

Behavior and prediction of photochemical degradation of chlorinated polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in cyclohexane

The photochemical degradation of 11 chlorinated polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (ClPAHs) and the corresponding 5 parent PAHs was examined to simulate the compound’s fate on aerosol surfaces. All the ClPAHs and PAHs decayed according to the first-order reaction rate kinetics. The photolysis rates of ClPAHs varied greatly according to the skeleton of PAHs; the rates of chlorophenanthrenes (ClPhes) and 1-chloropyrene were higher than those of corresponding parent PAHs, whereas chlorofluoranthenes, 7-chlorobenz[a]anthracene and 6-chlorobenzo[a]pyrene were more stable under irradiation compared to respective parent PAH. Considering the photoproducts of ClPhes detected, the oxidation could occur immediately at positions of the highest frontier electron density. Finally, the quantitative structure-property relationship models were developed for direct photolysis half-lives and average quantum yields of the ClPAHs and parent PAHs, in which the significant factors affecting photolysis were E_LUMO+1, total energy and surface area, and E_LUMO, E_LUMO − E_HOMO and total energy, respectively.     

Designing a purification process for chromium-, copper- and arsenic-contaminated wood

The disposal of chromated copper arsenate (CCA)-treated wood is becoming a serious problem in many countries due to increasing levels of contamination by the hazardous elements, chromium, copper and arsenic. The present experiment was conducted as a preliminary step toward one-step solvent extraction of CCA-treated wood. Because chromium, copper and arsenic have different chemical characteristics, it is best to consider them separately prior to designing a one-step extraction process. As a basis, various two-step extraction processes were first designed and tested experimentally to determine feasibility. Among these combinations, the treatment combining oxalic acid as the 1st step and a sodium oxalate solution under acidic conditions (pH 3.2) as the 2nd step was found to be an effective way of extracting CCA elements from treated wood. Extraction efficiency reached 100% for arsenic and chromium and 95.8% for copper after a 3-h sodium oxalate treatment, following a 1-h pre-extraction process with oxalic acid. On the other hand, the same combination under alkaline conditions (pH 11.2) during the 2nd step was ineffective for copper removal, indicating that pH plays an important role in complexation with sodium oxalate solution. The present results suggest that the extraction of CCA elements using a combination of oxalic acid and acidic sodium oxalate solution is a promising basis for application to a one-step extraction method.     

A predictive mechanism for mercury oxidation on selective catalytic reduction catalysts under coal-derived flue gas

This paper introduces a predictive mechanism for elemental mercury (Hg(o)) oxidation on selective catalytic reduction (SCR) catalysts in coal-fired utility gas cleaning systems, given the ammonia (NH3)/nitric oxide (NO) ratio and concentrations of Hg(o) and HCl at the monolith inlet, the monolith pitch and channel shape, and the SCR temperature and space velocity. A simple premise connects the established mechanism for catalytic NO reduction to the Hg(o) oxidation behavior on SCRs: that hydrochloric acid (HCl) competes for surface sites with NH3 and that Hg(o) contacts these chlorinated sites either from the gas phase or as a weakly adsorbed species. This mechanism explicitly accounts for the inhibition of Hg(o) oxidation by NH3, so that the monolith sustains two chemically distinct regions. In the inlet region, strong NH3 adsorption minimizes the coverage of chlorinated surface sites, so NO reduction inhibits Hg(o) oxidation. But once NH3 has been consumed, the Hg(o) oxidation rate rapidly accelerates, even while the HCl concentration in the gas phase is uniform. Factors that shorten the length of the NO reduction region, such as smaller channel pitches and converting from square to circular channels, and factors that enhance surface chlorination, such as higher inlet HCl concentrations and lower NH3/NO ratios, promote Hg(o) oxidation. This mechanism accurately interprets the reported tendencies for greater extents of Hg(o) oxidation on honeycomb monoliths with smaller channel pitches and hotter temperatures and the tendency for lower extents of Hg(o) oxidation for hotter temperatures on plate monoliths. The mechanism also depicts the inhibition of Hg(o) oxidation by NH3 for NH3/NO ratios from zero to 0.9. Perhaps most important for practical applications, the mechanism reproduces the reported extents of Hg(o) oxidation on a single catalyst for four coals that generated HCl concentrations from 8 to 241 ppm, which covers the entire range encountered in the U.S. utility industry. Similar performance is also demonstrated for full-scale SCRs with diverse coal types and operating conditions.     

Analysis of coordinated circling and linear flights of a lycaenid butterfly species

Circling and linear flights of a hairstreak Chrysozephyrus smaragdinus were recorded in natural habitat with a high-speed video camera. Circling flight paths were resolved into rotation and shift components; values on X- and Y-coordinates of the butterfly position were separately extracted against time and fitted with a regression line composed of a sinusoidal curve and a linear line. From the obtained parameters, diameter, rotation number, and flight velocity were calculated. Flapping movements were also analyzed. Two types of circling flights, horizontal and vertical, were discriminated. In both flights, the rotation diameter was about 10 cm, rotation number of 3/s, flight velocity of 0.9 m/s, and wing-beat frequency of 20/s. The coordination of paired butterflies in circling flight showed a higher correlation in the horizontal circling flight. In the vertical circling flight, butterflies accelerated the downstroke speed of the wing in the ascending phase. They flew about four times faster in linear flights than in circling flights due to the higher frequency of wing beats.     

Identification and estrogenic characterization of impurities in commercial bisphenol A diglycidyl ether (BADGE)

A sample of commercial BADGE was fractioned by HPLC and eight impurities including novel propyl derivatives (2), (5) and (6) were identified by NMR spectrometry, FAB-MS and GC-MS. The estrogenicity, both agonist and antagonist, of fractions containing these impurities was measured with a yeast two-hybrid assay incorporating the human (hER alpha) and a competitive binding assay for hER alpha (ELISA). In the yeast two-hybrid assay, estrogenic antagonist activity was found in two fractions, while estrogenic agonist activity was not found in any. In the ELISA method, the binding affinity to hER alpha was found in three fractions. It is probable that a comprehensive assessment of the estrogenic properties of commercial BADGE, and their implications for human health, will require examination of all its components as described here.     

Molecular taxonomy of vestimentiferans of the western Pacific,and their phylogenetic relationship to species of the eastern Pacific III. Alaysia-like vestimentiferans and relationships among families

The phylogenetic status of Alaysia-like vestimentiferans, which were collected at eight sites in the western Pacific, was analyzed on the basis of the nucleotide sequence of part of a mitochondrial gene for cytochrome oxidase I. The 123 individuals analyzed were tentatively classified into four species, which inhabit, respectively, seep areas off the central part of the Japanese mainland, hydrothermal vent fields in the Mid-Okinawa Trough, hydrothermal vent fields in the southern Okinawa Trough, and both seep and vent sites in the Bismarck Sea. From six additional lamellibrachiid specimens from two sites in the Bismarck Sea, two new tentative species were recognized, namely, one from a seep area off Papua New Guinea and another from the hydrothermal vent field at the DESMOS site in the Manus Basin. Phylogenetic analysis using all available sequences of six vestimentiferan families and Alaysia-like vestimentiferans revealed that vestimentiferans could be divided into three groups, namely, lamellibrachiids, escarpiids, and others, even though the monophyly of the third group was supported by only low bootstrap probabilities. Within the first group, the earliest divergence of a tentative lamellibrachiid species from the DESMOS site was apparent. All Alaysia-like vestimentiferans formed a monophyletic group with Arcovestia ivanovi from the Manus Basin, and it is suggested that this group might be derived from vestimentiferans that are endemic to the hydrothermal sites in the Eastern Pacific Rise.     

On the Estimation of Dispersal Kernels from Individual Mark-Recapture Data

We present a new method for estimating a distribution of dispersal displacements (a dispersal kernel) from mark-recapture data. One conventional method of calculating the dispersal kernel assumes that the distribution of displacements are Gaussian (e.g. resulting from a diffusion process) and that individuals remain within sampled areas. The first assumption prohibits an analysis of dispersal data that do not exhibit the Gaussian distribution (a common situation); the second assumption leads to underestimation of dispersal distance because individuals that disperse outside of sampling areas are never recaptured. Our method eliminates these two assumptions. In addition, the method can also accommodate mortality during a sampling period. This new method uses integrodifference equations to express the probability of spatial mark-recapture data; associated dispersal, survival, and recapture parameters are then estimated using a maximum likelihood method. We examined the accuracy of the estimators by applying the method to simulated data sets. Our method suggests designs for future mark-recapture experiments. Received: January 2004 / Revised: July 2005