End‐state land uses,sustainably protective systems,and risk management: A challenge for remediation and multigenerational stewardship

This article discusses creating a sustainably protective engineered and human management system in perpetuity for sites with long‐lived radiological and chemical hazards. This is essential at this time because the federal government is evaluating its property as assets and attempting to reduce its holdings, while seeking to assure that health and ecosystems are not put at risk. To assist those who have a stake in the remediation, management, and stewardship of these and analogous privately owned sites, this article discusses current end‐state planning by reviewing the federal government's accelerated efforts to reduce its footprint and how those efforts relate to sustainability. The article also provides a list of questions organized around six elements of risk management and primary, secondary, and tertiary disease and injury prevention. Throughout the article, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) is used as an example of an organization that seeks to reduce its footprint, manage its budget, and be a steward of the sites that it is responsible for. However, the approach and questions are appropriate for land controlled by the Department of Defense (DOD), the General Services Administration (GSA), and other public and private owners of sites with residual contamination. © 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Lead shot toxicity to passerines

This study evaluated the toxicity of a single size 7.5 lead shot to passerines. No mortalities or signs of plumbism were observed in dosed cowbirds (Molothrus ater) fed a commercial diet, but when given a more natural diet, three of 10 dosed birds died within 1 day. For all survivors from which shot were recovered, all but one excreted the shot within 24 h of dosing, whereas, the dead birds retained their shot. Shot erosion was significantly greater (P < 0.05) when weathered shot were ingested compared to new shot, and the greatest erosion was observed in those birds that died (2.2-9.7%). Blood lead concentrations of birds dosed with new shot were not significantly different (P = 0.14) from those of birds exposed to weathered shot. Liver lead concentrations of birds that died ranged from 71 to 137 ppm, dry weight. Despite the short amount of time the shot was retained, songbirds may absorb sufficient lead to compromise their survival.     

Size exclusion chromatography for the removal of pigments from extracellular ligninolytic enzyme extracts from decayed wheat straw

Solid-state fermentation of wheat straw was carried out by a native white rot basidiomycete Daedaleopsis flavida strain 5A. Extract prepared from the 12-day decayed wheat straw contained extracellular ligninolytic enzymes like manganese peroxidase (MnP), manganese-independent peroxidase (MIP), lignin peroxidase (LiP) and laccase along with straw-degraded products and pigments. Sephacryl S-200 size exclusion chromatography in 16/100 column was used for the separation of these ligninolytic enzymes and straw-degraded products and pigments. Recovery of pigment-free ligninolytic enzyme activities as protein was 40% of the total proteins loaded and specific LiP activity increased 34 fold after size exclusion chromatography. Thus accurate estimation of LiP by veratryl alcohol oxidation assay was possible only after the removal of interfering pigments. The reproducibility of size exclusion chromatography is adjudged satisfactory from the consistent results obtained after seven repetitive uses of matrices.     

Effects of Phos-Chek G75-F and Silv-Ex on red-winged blackbird (Agelaius phoeniceus) embryos

Effects of field application levels of wildfire control chemicals, Phos-Chek G75-F (PC) and Silv-Ex (SE), were examined on red-winged blackbird (Agelaius phoeniceus) embryos. Embryos were more sensitive to PC and SE when eggs were immersed for 10s at an early developmental stage (days 3-5 of incubation) than at a later stage (days 6-9 of incubation). The LC(50) (concentration causing 50% mortality) for early stage embryos exposed to PC was 213.3g/L (slope=1.6; 95% confidence interval [CI]=129.1-326.1). The no observed effect concentration (NOEC) was below 135g PC/L, which caused a significant increase in embryonic mortality and represents the lowest field coverage level of 1gal/100feet(2). The LC(50) for early stage embryos exposed to SE was 19.8g/L (slope=1.5; 95% CI=11.7-52.2). Significant mortality was observed at 10g SE/L and marginal at 7.5g SE/L with an apparent NOEC around 5g SE/L. Neither chemical resulted in apparent developmental malformations.     

Early sonographic diagnosis of body stalk anomaly

Ultrasonographic features of a fetus at 18 weeks of gestation suggesting a body stalk anomaly are presented. These included a large abdominal anterior wall defect in apparent continuity with the placenta, severe kyphoscoliosis of the lower spine, the absence of one kidney, and a very short umbilical cord with only one umbilical artery. The amniotic fluid was reduced and the fetus was almost immobile at short-interval ultrasound examinations. The pregnancy was terminated and autopsy of the fetus showed abnormalities compatible with maldevelopment of both cephalic and caudal embryonic folds.     

Lead poisoning of passerines at a trap and skeet range

Our objective was to determine if ground foraging passerines in a woodland surrounding a trap and skeet range were subject to lead poisoning. Lead availability to birds was determined by shot counts and soil and earthworm analysis. Avian exposure to lead was identified by measuring free-erythrocyte protoporphyrin levels in blood and lead in tissues of three passerine species. Results showed that most shot were found in the top 3 cm of soil. Lead measurements ranged from 110 to 27,000 ppm (dry wt) in soil and were 660 and 840 ppm in earthworms. Sparrows held in an aviary at the range (p=0.02) and free-flying juncos (p=0.0005) mist-netted at the range displayed significantly higher protoporphyrin levels than those at an uncontaminated site. Sparrow and cowbird carcasses from the aviary carried 37 and 39 ppm lead (dry wt), respectively, whereas a junco liver contained 9.3 ppm lead.     

Development and application of a methodology for determining background groundwater quality at the Savannah River Site

A statistical methodology formulated for defining background or baseline levels of constituents of concern in groundwater is presented. The methodology was developed for the case where prior delineation of unimpacted areas is not possible because of site history and a large set of groundwater monitoring measurements exists. Consideration was given to spatial and temporal trends, outliers, and final segregation of wells into impacted or unimpacted categories to develop probability distributions and summary statistics for each constituent evaluated. The formulated approaches were applied to groundwater monitoring data for the U.S. Department of Energy Savannah River Site facility, and results for four representative constituents (aluminum, arsenic, mercury, and tritium) are discussed.     

Health problems among workers of iron welding machines: an effect of electromagnetic fields

The possible effects of EMFs on 100 workers were studied by means of structured interview and rating of subjective symptoms. As control 41 sewing machine operators and assembly workers were chosen, interviewed and likewise tested. The present Indian ceiling value of 250 Tesla for the equivalent power density was exceeded in more than 50% of the machines. The highest leakage fields, for EMFs, were found near machines, which gave a high exposure to the hands. Eye irritation complaints were reported by 40% of the workers. The fertility outcome did not show any significant result.     

The Influence of Study Species Selection on Estimates of Pesticide Exposure in Free-Ranging Birds

Field studies of pesticide effects on birds often utilize indicator species with the purpose of extrapolating to other avian taxa. Little guidance exists for choosing indicator species to monitor the presence and/or effects of contaminants that are labile in the environment or body, but are acutely toxic, such as anticholinesterase (anti-ChE) insecticides. Use of an indicator species that does not represent maximum exposure and/or effects could lead to inaccurate risk estimates. Our objective was to test the relevance of a priori selection of indicator species for a study on pesticide exposure to birds inhabiting fruit orchards. We used total plasma ChE activity and ChE reactivation to describe the variability in anti-ChE pesticide exposure among avian species in two conventionally managed fruit orchards. Of seven species included in statistical analyses, the less common species, chipping sparrow (Spizella passerina), showed the greatest percentage of exposed individuals and the greatest ChE depression, whereas the two most common species, American robins (Turdus migratorius) and gray catbirds (Dumatella carolinensis), did not show significant exposure. Due to their lower abundance, chipping sparrows would have been an unlikely choice for study. Our results show that selection of indicator species using traditionally accepted criteria such as abundance and ease of collection may not identify species that are at greatest risk. Our efforts also demonstrate the usefulness of conducting multiple-species pilot studies prior to initiating detailed studies on pesticide effects. A study such as ours can help focus research and resources on study species that are most appropriate.