Chemical characterization of blue stains in domestic fixtures in contact with drinking water

Bluish green staining in domestic fixtures was observed in three to 9-year-old houses in the city of Talca, located 256 km. south of Santiago, the capital of Chile. The houses contained copper pipes which were exposed to soft well water, with low pH and low buffer capacity. The aim of this paper is to establish the chemical composition of the stains and to determine the conditions by which they were formed. X-ray diffraction analysis of the stains revealed the presence of malachite, a copper compound that caused green coloring in kettles and water boilers. Dioptase, which is deep green in coloring, was identified in a bathtub tile. In one house, where blue stains were found in a toilet bowl, the presence of chrysocolla was suggested by means of X-ray fluorescence. In the field conditions studied it was concluded that the bluish green stains in bathroom home appliances were generated by the precipitation of copper compounds in places were leakages occur.     

Petroleum Hydrocarbons Rhizodegradation by Sebastiania commersoniana (Baill.) L. B. SM. & Downs

Petroliferous activities in Brazil have an accelerated development in the last years. As a consequence, the incidence of environmental accidents such as oil spills and contamination of soils has increased significantly. Therefore, it is extremely necessary to develop remediation techniques with lower costs, decontamination efficiency and impact minimisation. The aim of this work was to evaluate Sebastiania commersoniana phytoremediation potential in soil contaminated by petroleum. This species, which is a native tree, was selected due to its proven capacity for surviving in areas contaminated by petroleum. Experiments were carried out with soils that were vegetated but non-contaminated, soils that were freshly contaminated (25, 50 and 75 g kg^?1) but non-vegetated, and soils that were vegetated and contaminated, samples were collected 60 and 424 days after contamination with the purpose of evaluating the percentage of petroleum degradation in relation to the time. The results obtained in the present study allow us to state that S. commersoniana proves to be tolerant to petroleum contamination with respect to plant’s growth. The degradation of petroleum hydrocarbons was evaluated by gas chromatography with a flame ionisation detector (GC-FID) equipped with a capillary column HP-5 (5% phenyl-methylpolysiloxane, 30 m; 0.25 mm; 0.25 μm). According to chromatographic analysis, samples in contact with S. commersoniana showed a significant area reduction of the hydrocarbon peaks. Analysis of the 60-day samples showed a reduction of petroleum hydrocarbons area higher than 60% and the 424-day samples showed a reduction higher than 94%, which demonstrates that a petroleum degradation process is occurring.     

Wastes of Multilayer Containers as Substrate in Composting Processes

Abstract

An evaluation of the influence and degradation of ground multilayer containers, such as Tetra Brik Aseptic (TBA), in the composting process of municipal solid wastes (MSW) is presented. Two composting piles were formed by mixing, in different proportions, an organic fraction of MSW and TBA material ground as flakes or stripes. Piles were periodically aerated by mechanical mixing. Evolution of the composting was followed by frequent measurements of suitable parameters such as temperature, moisture, ashes, total organic carbon (TOC), nitrogen, C/N ratio, pH, conductivity, nutrients, and heavy metals. As expected, aluminum and polyethylene films from TBA were not degraded during the processes, but the cardboard fraction of TBA showed a partial decomposition that was more intense in the material ground as flakes. After two months of curing, the composts were refined and analyzed to determine their nutrient and heavy-metals contents. Despite their poor aesthetic properties, mainly resulting from the presence of little pieces of plastic and aluminum films, the composts contained the required amounts of nutrients; furthermore, their heavymetals content was below the limits proposed by some official European organizations.     

Isolation of a selected microbial consortium capable of degrading methyl parathion and p-nitrophenol from a contaminated soil site

A bacterial consortium with the ability to degrade methyl parathion and p-nitrophenol, using these compounds as the only carbon source, was obtained by selective enrichment in a medium with methyl parathion. Samples were taken from Moravia, Medellin; an area that is highly contaminated, owing to the fact that it was used as a garbage dump from 1974 to 1982. Acinetobacter sp, Pseudomonas putida, Bacillus sp, Pseudomonas aeruginosa Citrobacter freundii, Stenotrophomonas sp, Flavobacterium sp, Proteus vulgaris, Pseudomonas sp, Acinetobacter sp, Klebsiella sp and Proteus sp were the microorganisms identified within the consortium. In culture, the consortium was able to degrade 150 mg L?1 of methyl-parathion and p-nitrophenol in 120 h, but after adding glucose or peptone to the culture, the time of degradation decreased to 24 h. In soil, the consortium was also able to degrade 150 mg L?1 of methyl parathion in 120 h at different depths and also managed to decrease the toxicity.     

Geostatistics under preferential sampling in the presence of local repulsion effects

Environmental and Ecological Statistics - This paper presents an extension of the Geostatistical model under preferential sampling in order to accommodate possible local repulsion effects. This...     

Using exploration expenditures to assess the climate for mineral investment

Countries that rely on private investors to find and exploit their mineral resources need reliable indicators of their investment attractiveness. This study explores the use of exploration expenditures for this purpose, focusing primarily on Chile.     

Impacts of climatic change and low frequency variability in reference series on daily maximum and minimum temperature in southern South America

Understanding the climate and its variability, in particular with regard to their socioeconomic impact, requires specific measurements of precipitation and temperature and their circulations. This becomes more important in applications to diverse systems. In order to improve knowledge about temporal changes and trends in temperature, we analyzed series of maximum and minimum daily surface temperatures at eight reference stations in southeastern South America during variable periods, with the longest periods of around 100 years. To study the evolution of the temperature series and to reduce the number of parameters, a nonhierarchical cluster analysis was performed. The algorithm assigns each day to one of four groups: warm, wet, cold and dry. Low frequency variations were found in these groups and their association with circulation structure, circulation patterns and precipitation. We concluded that the set of wet days is one of the main factors driving secular variations of maximum and minimum temperature and variations in precipitation. We also inferred that after 1920 till 1930, a low frequency oscillation is observed in the form of linear trends (increase of warm days and decrease of cold days).     

北京和上海市居民冬夏两季饮用水消费习惯

饮用水是人体暴露于有毒物质的重要暴露源,为了定量描述饮用水中污染物对暴露人群所造成的危害,世界各国的科学家们对饮用水的健康风险评价做了大量的研究.通常,健康风险评价需要污染物毒理学数据和暴露人群的暴露剂量数据.目前,针对很多的有毒污染物,国际上已经建立了应用于健康风险评价的毒理学数据库,同时积累了大量可用的有效数据.而对于暴露人群的暴露剂量数据,则是健康风险评价所要研究的重点.正确估计暴露人群的暴露剂量需要消费者提供大量的消费信息.例如,暴露人群每天消费的饮用水水量.美国环保局(EPA)认为成人每天消耗的饮用水水量为2L·d-1,此外,饮用水的消耗量会随着暴露人群的身体活动状况和所处环境状况(温度,湿度等)的改变而改变.目前,许多研究都是关于饮用水消费信息的,总体来讲这些研究结果基本上与美国环保局所采用的饮水消耗数据相一致.需要说明的是中国居民有完全不同于西方人的饮用水消费方式,如果在进行中国居民饮用水健康风险评价过程中应用美国环保局的假设会带来较大的不确定性.饮用水健康风险评价工作在我国开展并不多,尤其缺少中国居民饮用水消费习惯的数据库.这些客观条件使得在我国进行饮用水健康风险评价时只能从基础做起,积累有效的数据.本研究以北京和上海两座城市居民为研究对象,2002年到2004年分冬夏两季分别进行了4次饮用水消费习惯调查.研究采用随机入户方式(2004年至2005年),与中央电视台-索福瑞联合调查有限公司合作进行.参加调查的家庭从中央电视台入户收视率调查的基础数据库中随机抽取,在抽取过程中兼顾了不同城区、年龄结构、知识结构、收入水平等因素.研究表明,北京和上海居民冬夏两季的日均饮水量分别为2.2L·d-1、1.7L·d-1、2.0L·d-1和1.8L·d-1,这一结果和美国环保局的假设基本一致.同时本研究考察了性别、年龄、职业和季节对应用水消费习惯的影响.研究表明,日均饮水量随年龄的增加有增加的趋势,这一趋势在北京的夏季调查中趋势明显(p=0.01);男性的日均饮用水量大于女性,在上海冬季和夏季调查中均存在显著的差异(冬季:p=0.01;夏季:p=0.04);季节也同样影响被访者的日均饮水量,但是在4次调查中均未发现显著性差异.在北京冬季和夏季的调查中均发现了工作地点对饮用水消费习惯的显著影响(夏季p=0.01和冬季p=0.00).研究同样考察了居民饮用水消费类型,调查结果表明,煮沸后的自来水是中国居民最主要的日常饮品(上海夏季:58.3%;上海冬季67.9%;北京夏季:42.7%;北京冬季:60.0%).同时消费桶装纯净水的被访者也占有相当的比重(上海夏季:36.2%;上海冬季:24.7%;北京夏季:30.7%;北京冬季:60.0%).研究同时表明,在中国居民的日常生活中牛奶和豆奶已经成为重要的日常饮品.极少量的居民(北京夏季:10.7%;北京冬季5.7%;上海夏季1.2%;上海冬季0.6%)有直接饮用自来水的习惯.研究表明滞留水(在自来水水管中滞留6h以上的自来水)是对人体健康影响最大的水,而在我们的调查中,中国居民几乎不直接饮用滞留水.当前,饮用水健康风险评价在世界范围内蓬勃展开,但是这一技术在我国还处于起步阶段.本研究作为饮用水健康风险评价的前期工作,为其在中国的进一步发展提供了基础性的数据.     

Can renewable energy technologies improve the management of stressed water resources threatened by climate change? Argentine drylands case study

This work addresses increasing concerns about water management for rural productive activities in the vast dry regions of Latin America by assessing renewable energy technologies (RETs) that could be suitable for localized needs. Forecasted trends in climate change and variability make this analysis very relevant, in an area where very little published work exists. While Argentina is widely known for its fertile pampas, around 75 % of the country consists of dry lands. In addition, erosion is increasing by up to 650,000 hectares each year. The coordinated adoption of a set of actions, including land use planning and strengthening productive activities that guarantee access to water and improve water and soil management is needed. Renewable energies could help towards achieving these aims, if water is made available at affordable costs and with suitable technologies. This paper evaluates experiences with three RETs—photovoltaic pumping from deep wells, small wind turbine pumping, and high-power wind turbines, and discusses a potential role for use in rural Argentina. Although cheaper and more reliable renewable alternatives to energy sources such as diesel could be used for pumping from groundwater resources in isolated locations, limitations arise when pumping head and/or water volume requirements are large or highly seasonal. The cost increases and technical challenges of accessing this deeper water, as indicated by case studies, emphasize the importance of planning and support schemes development.