Platin in Klärschlammasche und an Gräsern

Concentrations of platinum and lead were measured in common grass sampled near the Autobahn. Additionally, platinum was determined in spot checks of ash from seawage sludge incinerators to 1972. The increase in Pt levels since 1987 was traced back to releases from automobile catalytic converters. The emission rate of a car equipped with a catalytic converter has been estimated by comparison with Pb.     

Review of Pesticide Retention Processes Occurring in Buffer Strips Receiving Agricultural Runoff1

Arora, Kapil, Steven K. Mickelson, Matthew J. Helmers, and James L. Baker, 2010. Review of Pesticide Retention Processes Occurring in Buffer Strips Receiving Agricultural Runoff. Journal of the American Water Resources Association (JAWRA) 46(3):618-647. DOI: 10.1111/j.1752-1688.2010.00438.x Abstract: Review of the published results shows that the retention of the two pesticide carrier phases (runoff volume and sediment mass) influences pesticide mass transport through buffer strips. Data averaged across different studies showed that the buffer strips retained 45% of runoff volume (ranging between 0 and 100%) and 76% of sediment mass (ranging between 2 and 100%). Sorption (soil sorption coefficient, K_oc) is one key pesticide property affecting its transport with the two carrier phases through buffer strips. Data from different studies for pesticide mass retention for weakly (K_oc < 100), moderately (100 < K_oc < 1,000), and strongly sorbed pesticides (K_oc > 1,000) averaged (with ranges) 61 (0-100), 63 (0-100), and 76 (53-100) %, respectively. Because there are more data for runoff volume and sediment mass retention, the average retentions of both carrier phases were used to calculate that the buffer strips would retain 45% of weakly to moderately sorbed and 70% of strongly sorbed pesticides on an average basis. As pesticide mass retention presented is only an average across several studies with different experimental setups, the application of these results to actual field conditions should be carefully examined.     

Perennial filter strips reduce nitrate levels in soil and shallow groundwater after grassland-to-cropland conversion

Many croplands planted to perennial grasses under the Conservation Reserve Program are being returned to crop production, and with potential consequences for water quality. The objective of this study was to quantify the impact of grassland-to-cropland conversion on nitrate-nitrogen (NO3-N) concentrations in soil and shallow groundwater and to assess the potential for perennial filter strips (PFS) to mitigate increases in NO3-N levels. The study, conducted at the Neal Smith National Wildlife Refuge (NSNWR) in central Iowa, consisted of a balanced incomplete block design with 12 watersheds and four watershed-scale treatments having different proportions and topographic positions of PFS planted in native prairie grasses: 100% rowcrop, 10% PFS (toeslope position), 10% PFS (distributed on toe and as contour strips), and 20 PFS (distributed on toe and as contour strips). All treatments were established in fall 2006 on watersheds that were under bromegrass (Bromus L.) cover for at least 10 yr. Nonperennial areas were maintained under a no-till 2-yr corn (Zea mays L.)--soybean [Glycine max. (L.) Merr.] rotation since spring 2007. Suction lysimeter and shallow groundwater wells located at upslope and toeslope positions were sampled monthly during the growing season to determine NO3-N concentration from 2005 to 2008. The results indicated significant increases in NO3-N concentration in soil and groundwater following grassland-to-cropland conversion. Nitrate-nitrogen levels in the vadose zone and groundwater under PFS were lower compared with 100% cropland, with the most significant differences occurring at the toeslope position. During the years following conversion, PFS mitigated increases in subsurface nitrate, but long-term monitoring is needed to observe and understand the full response to land-use conversion.     

Wie gef?hrlich ist Feinstaub?

Ohne Zusammenfassung     

Modeling phosphorus transport in an agricultural watershed using the WEPP model

The Water Erosion Prediction Project (WEPP) model has been tested for its ability to predict soil erosion, runoff, and sediment delivery over a wide range of conditions and scales for both hillslopes and watersheds. Since its release in 1995, there has been considerable interest in adding a chemical transport element to it. Total phosphorus (TP) loss at the watershed outlet was simulated as the product of TP in the soil, amount of sediment at the watershed outlet, and an enrichment ratio (ER) factor. WEPP can be coupled with a simple algorithm to simulate phosphorus transport bound to sediment at the watershed outlet. The objective of this work was to incorporate and test the ability of WEPP in estimatingTP loss with sediment at the small watershed scale. Two approaches were examined. One approach (P-EER) estimated ER according to an empirical relationship; the other approach used the ER calculated by WEPP (P-WER).The data used for model performance test were obtained from two side-by-side watersheds monitored between 1976 and 1980. The watershed sizes were 5.05 and 6.37 ha, and each was in a corn (Zea mays L.)-soybean [Glycine max (L.) Merr.] rotation. Measured and simulated results were compared for the period April to October in each year. There was no statistical difference between the mean measured and simulated TP loss. The Nash-Sutcliffe coefficient was 0.80 and 0.78 for the P-EER and P-WER methods, respectively. It was critical for both methods that WEPP adequately represent the biggest sediment yield events because sediment is the main driver for TP loss so that the model can adequately simulate TP losses bound to sediment. The P-WER method is recommended because it does not require use of empirical parameters to estimate TP loss at the watershed outlet.