Comparison of spontaneous antibiotic resistance frequency of Salmonella Typhimurium growth in glucose amended continuous culture at slow and fast dilution rates

The objective of the study was to determine the frequency of spontaneous acquisition of resistance to select antibiotics by Salmonella Typhimurium (ST) when grown in glucose amended continuous flow culture at slow (D = 0.025 h(-1)) or fast (D = 0.27 h(-1)) dilution rates. The bacterium was grown in LB minimal medium (pH 6.25) containing no antibiotics. Upon achieving steady state, samples were plated to tryptic soy agar (TSA) alone or supplemented (per ml) with 2 and 16 microg oxytetracycline, 4 and 16 microg tetracycline, 2 and 64 microg kanamycin, and 0.25 and 2 microg enrofloxacin. Regardless of growth rate, CFU of resistant ST from the TSA containing antibiotics was less than 2 x 10(1) except for 2 microg kanamycin and 0.25 microg enrofloxacin treatments (higher than 1 x 10(9) and 4 x 10(7) CFU of resistant ST for trials 1 and 2, respectively). Frequency of recovering resistant ST from the TSA containing the higher antibiotic concentrations was less than 1 in 10(9) for all antibiotics, but was higher on the media containing 2 microg kanamycin and 0.25 microg enrofloxacin at both slow and fast growth rates. In general, minimal susceptibility differences were detected for isolates from slow and fast dilution rates.     

Distribution and partitioning of phosphorus in solid waste and sediments from drainage canals in the industrial belt of Delhi, India

Phosphorus is an essential and often limiting nutrient in both marine and freshwater ecosystems. However, its oversupply is of great concern in many environments due to its role in eutrophication. The concentration and distribution of sediment bound phosphorus species not only record its input into the environment, but also suggest their possible sources. It is recognized that the features of phosphorus behaviour have not been extensively studied in urban environments. In this study, phosphorus in solid waste and sediments from drainage canals within the industrial belt of Delhi were fractionated into five operationally defined forms, i.e., exchangeable or loosely sorbed phosphorus (Exch-P), Fe-bound phosphorus (Fe-P), authigenic apatite, CaCO3-bound phosphorus and biogenic apatite (Acet-P), detrital apatite (Det-P) and organic-bound phosphorus (Org-P), in order to assess the potential bioavailability status in these systems.     

Long-term increases in surface water dissolved organic carbon: observations, possible causes and environmental impacts

Dissolved organic carbon (DOC) concentrations in 22 UK upland waters have increased by an average of 91% during the last 15 years. Increases have also occurred elsewhere in the UK, northern Europe and North America. A range of potential drivers of these trends are considered, including temperature, rainfall, acid deposition, land-use, nitrogen and CO2 enrichment. From examination of recent environmental changes, spatial patterns in observed trends, and analysis of time series, it is suggested that DOC may be increasing in response to a combination of declining acid deposition and rising temperatures; however it is difficult to isolate mechanisms based on monitoring data alone. Long-term DOC increases may have wide-ranging impacts on freshwater biota, drinking water quality, coastal marine ecosystems and upland carbon balances. Full understanding of the significance of these increases requires further knowledge of the extent of natural long-term variability, and of the natural "reference" state of these systems.     

Dynamics of Cd, Cu and Zn accumulation in organs and sub-cellular fractions in field transplanted juvenile yellow perch (Perca flavescens)

Juvenile yellow perch (Perca flavescens) were caught in a reference lake and transplanted to cages held within a lake impacted by mining activities, with elevated levels of aqueous bioavailable copper (Cu(2+)), zinc (Zn(2+)) and cadmium (Cd(2+)). Fish were sampled from the cages over 70 d and changes in metal concentrations were followed over time in the gills, gut, liver and kidney. In addition, the hepatic sub-cellular partitioning of the three metals was determined by differential centrifugation of liver samples, yielding the following fractions: cellular debris; organelles; heat-denaturable proteins (HDP); and heat-stable proteins (HSP) (including metallothionein). In transplanted fish, Cd concentrations increased in all the organs sampled, whereas Cu mainly increased in the gills, gut and liver but not the kidney; some slight accumulation of Zn occurred in the kidneys and gills of the transplanted fish. The sub-cellular partitioning results demonstrated that metal-handling strategies in juvenile yellow perch differed among metals. Cellular sequestration in the HSP fraction was an important strategy used by these fish in response to increased ambient Cd. Accumulation of Zn was not seen in the organs examined, indicating that transplanted perch were able to either reduce influx, or increase efflux rates of this metal. The response of yellow perch to elevated ambient Cu appeared to combine the strategies used for Cd and Zn, as both cellular sequestration and reduced accumulation were observed in transplanted fish.     

Heavy metal concentrations in soil and earthworms in a floodplain grassland

We determined accumulated heavy metal concentrations (Cd, Pb, Cu, Zn) of earthworms in moderately contaminated floodplain soils. Both soil and mature earthworms were sampled before and after flooding and earthworm species were identified to understand species specific differences in bioconcentration. Accumulated metal concentrations in floodplain earthworms differed before and after flooding. Differences in uptake and elimination mechanisms, in food choice and living habitat of the different earthworm species and changes in speciation of the heavy metals are possible causes for this observation. Regression equations taken from literature, that relate metal accumulation by earthworms in floodplains as a function of metal concentration in soil, performed well when all species specific data were combined in an average accumulation, but did not address differences in accumulation between earthworm species.     

Experimental and numerical study of the dispersion of motor vehicle pollutants under idle condition

The aim of the work presented here is to study experimentally and numerically the dispersion characteristics of vehicular exhaust plume at an idle condition in an idealized and simplified environment. The gaseous and particulate concentrations in the exhaust plume of three idling motor vehicles were measured in an isolated environment under calm weather conditions. Despite the difference in the initial concentrations, the pollutants decayed exponentially in all directions.The CFD code PHOENICS 3.3, with the k–ε eddy dissipation sub-model, was used for the numerical simulation. The simulated results match very well with the experimental results close to the source of emission but decay to the ambient concentrations much slower. The effects of the initial emission concentration, exit velocity, exit direction and crosswind intensity have been investigated parametrically. The initial pollutant concentration will increase the local concentrations but the pattern of dispersion remains the same. The exit velocity will increase the momentum of the jet, resulting in a deeper penetration downstream. The exit angle has a stronger influence on pollutant dispersion than both initial pollutant concentration and exit velocity. When the exit angle is 15°, the pollutants tend to spread on the ground region. Crosswind shows a significant effect on the dispersion of the exhaust plume also. It will divert the plume to disperse in the same direction of the wind with limited penetration in the downstream direction.     

Monitoring of the booster biocide dichlofluanid in water and marine sediment of Greek marinas

Dichlofluanid (N-dichlorofluoromethylthio-N'-dimethyl-N-phenylsulphamide) is used as booster biocide in antifouling paints. The occurrence of dichlofluanid and its metabolite DMSA (N'-dimethyl-N-phenyl-sulphamide) was monitored in seawater and marine sediment from three Greek marinas. Seawater and sediment samples were collected at three representative positions and one suspected hotspot in each marina and shipped to the laboratory for chemical analysis. As part of the project, an analytical method had been developed and validated. Furthermore, some additional experiments were carried out to investigate the potential contribution of paint particle bound dichlofluanid on the total concentration in the sediment. As expected, given its known high hydrolytic degradation rate, no detectable concentrations of dichlofluanid were measured in any of the seawater samples. DMSA was detected in seawater samples at very low concentrations varying from <3 ng l(-1) (LOD) to 36 ng l(-1). During method validation, it had already been demonstrated that dichlofluanid is unstable in sediment and can therefore only be determined as its metabolite DMSA. In a separate experiment, in which marine sediment was spiked with artificial paint particles containing dichlofluanid and then analysed according to the validated method, it was demonstrated that if there is any dichlofluanid originating from paint particles, this would be determined as DMSA. No DMSA was detected in any of the sediment samples. It could therefore be concluded that there were no significant concentrations of dichlofluanid in the sediment samples.     

Selection of an electrolyte to enhance the electrochemical decolourisation of indigo. Optimisation and scale-up

The investigation presented here focussed on the electrochemical decolourisation of a commercial, textile indigo dye, in an undivided electrochemical cell using graphite electrodes. The decolourisation values obtained employing halide salts--sodium chloride, potassium bromide and potassium iodide--and a reductive agent--sodium meta-bisulphite--as electrolytes are higher than those attained when no electrolyte was used. The highest decolourisation value at a low level of electric power consumption was obtained with sodium chloride. Besides, this electrolyte is usually found in the coloured wastewaters of textile industry. Thus, a detailed study was carried out to determine the influence of electrolyte--sodium chloride--and dye concentration on the efficiency of the process expressed in terms of energy consumption and extension of the decolourisation reaction. The scale-up of the treatment with sodium chloride was satisfactorily tested in a 20 l cell.     

Heavy metal and Pb isotopic compositions of aquatic organisms in the Pearl River Estuary, South China

The accumulation of trace metals in aquatic organisms may lead to serious health problems through the food chain. The present research project aims to study the accumulation and potential sources of trace metals in aquatic organisms of the Pearl River Estuary (PRE). Four groups of aquatic organisms, including fish, crab, shrimp, and shellfish, were collected in the PRE for trace metal and Pb isotopic analyses. The trace metal concentrations in the aquatic organism samples ranged from 0.01 to 2.10 mg/kg Cd, 0.02 to 4.33 mg/kg Co, 0.08 to 4.27 mg/kg Cr, 0.15 to 77.8 mg/kg Cu, 0.17 to 31.0 mg/kg Ni, 0.04 to 30.7 mg/kg Pb, and 8.78 to 86.3 mg/kg Zn (wet weight). High concentrations of Cd were found in crab, shrimp and shellfish samples, while high concentration of Pb was found in fish. In comparison with the baseline reference values in other parts of the world, fish in the PRE had the highest elevated trace metals. The results of Pb isotopic compositions indicated that the bioaccumulation of Pb in fish come from a wide variety of food sources and/or exposure pathways, particularly the anthropogenic inputs.