颗粒物对紫外线灭活二级出水中粪大肠菌的影响

用低压紫外线照射具有相同颗粒物粒径分布的一系列水样,把实验结果带入二重动力学模型进行计算,评价自然状态下颗粒物对粪大肠菌的保护作用. 结果表明,二级出水中的大部分粪大肠菌都与颗粒物交连在一起;在颗粒物<10⁵ C·mL^-1时,颗粒物的增加会明显降低紫外线对二级出水中粪大肠菌的灭活率,但当颗粒物>10⁵ C·mL^-1时,这种影响不明显.从二重动力学模型的计算结果来看,对于不同颗粒物浓度的水样,难灭活的微生物所占的比重很小且比较稳定,大多数与颗粒物结合的粪大肠菌都较易被紫外线灭活.     

The measurement of resource rents: An application to Canadian nickel

Once the ‘risk’ of the industry is recognized, there are at least two sources of higher-than-normal returns to investment in mineral extraction: Ricardian rents to resources with different economic qualities and monopoly rents. An estimate of the relative importance of these sources in the Canadian nickel industry over the period 1961-74 is made and it is found that Ricardian rents and, for one firm, monopoly rents, were important.     

Fish bioassay monitoring of waste effluents

Spills of toxic materials into bodies of water receiving industrial waste discharges can be prevented only if frequent or continuous assessments of effluent quality can be made. Currently available methods can automatically measure individual physical or chemical waste components but cannot assess toxicity caused by the interaction of components or the presence of an unsuspected material. Aquatic organisms, in contrast, respond to their total environment and in this way integrate the effects of all the various chemical and physical waste parameters.This study evaluates the possibility of using the continuously and automatically recorded responses of fish to monitor the toxicity of industrial waste effluents. A review of previously developed toxicity monitoring systems is followed by a field evaluation of a method that uses the computer-monitored ventilatory patterns of 12 bluegills (Lepomis macrochirus Rafinesque) to monitor the toxicity of an industrial waste effluent as it flows into a river. No known toxic spills occurred in the effluent during the operation of this system, but acetone added to the effluent waste caused responses from the fish at concentrations which peaked near the 96-hr LC₅₀ level. Some responses were also noted when no known toxicant was present; these were related to environmental disturbances and system design problems. Recommendations are made for the design of future biologic monitoring units.     

ECOLOGICAL MANAGEMENT PROBLEMS CAUSED BY HEATED WASTE WATER DISCHARGE INTO THE AQUATIC ENVIRONMENT1

Discharge of heated waste water may affect the entire aquatic ecosystem–the interrelated biological, chemical, physical system–and, if the temperature change is large, may destroy the capacity of the ecosystem to serve a variety of beneficial purposes. However, it is possible to discharge heated waste water in carefully controlled amounts without seriously degrading the aquatic ecosystem. There are four basic alternatives which are open to us with regard to the heated waste water problem which we may choose singly or in various combinations: (1) Placing all heated, waste water in streams, lakes, and oceans without regard to the effects. Thus considering the environmental damage as a necessary consequence of our increased power demand. (2) Using, but not abusing, existing ecosystems. This means regulating the heated waste water discharge to fit the receiving capacity of the ecosystem. (3) Finding alternative ways to dissipate or beneficially use waste heat. (4) Modifying ecosystems to fit the new temperature conditions. We are all dependent upon a life-support system which is partly industrial and partly ecological. Unfortunately, we have reached a stage of development where the non-expandable, ecological portion of our life-support system is endangered by the expanding industrial portion. Optimal function and full beneficial use of both portions of our life-support system will only be possible if a variety of disciplines and diverse points of view can cooperate and work together effectively. Since wastes in amounts that are acceptable taken one at a time may be lethal collectively, environmental management should be on a regional basis.     

FACTORS INFLUENCING ACUTE TOXICfrY OF COAL ASH TO RAINBOW TROUT (SALMO GAIRDNERI) AND BLUEGILL SUNFISH (LEPOMIS MACROCHIRUS)1

ABSTRACT: The potentially toxic components in coal ash (ash particles, heavy metals) were evaluated in laboratory static, acute (96 hr) bioassays, both separately and in various combinations with extreme pH (5.0 and 8.5), using rainbow trout (Salmo gairdneri) and bluegifi sunfish (Lepomis macrochirus). Ash particle morphology and metal distribution anlaysis, using electron microscopy and surface-subsurface analysis by ion microscopy, showed that metals could be either clumped or evenly distributed on the surface of fly ash. Surface enrichment on fly ash particles from electrostatic precipitators, as measured by ion microscopy, was found for cadmium, copper, chromium, nickel, lead, mercury, titanium, arsenic, and selenium. Bottom (heavy) ash was not acutely toxic to either fish species at concentrations of up to 1500 mg/l total suspended solids (TSS) at pH 5.0, 7.5, or 8.5. Fly ash particles were not acutely toxic to blue-gill at levels up to 1360 mg/l TSS. Rainbow trout were highly sensitive to fly ash (25 to 60 percent mortality) at concentrations of 4.3 to 20.5 mg/I TSS when dissolved metal availability was high but were not sensitive at higher particulate concentrations (58 to 638 mg/I TSS) when dissolved metals were low. When metals were acid-leached from fly ash prior to testing, no rainbow trout mortality occurred at TSS concentrations of up to 2,350 mg/l TSS. When the percent of dissolved metal was high (e.g., 50–90 percent of the total), fish mortality was increased. Rainbow trout were nearly two orders of magnitude more sensitive than bluegill when subjected to a blend of cadmium, chromium, copper, nickel, lead, and zinc. The two species were similar in their acute sensitivity to acidic pH at levels at or below 4.0 and alkaline pH of 9.1. If the pH of coal ash effluent is contained within the range 6.0 to 9.0, acute toxicity to fish can be attributed to trace element availability from fly ash but not heavy ash. Control of holding pond and effluent pH and maximizing pond residence time are important strategies for minimizing effects of ash pond discharges on fish.     

A simple,cost-effective multispecies toxicity test using organisms with a cosmopolitan distribution

Difficulties in making accurate, ecosystem-level predictions of environmental effects of chemicals, mixtures, and effluents based solely on the results of tests on single species have necessitated the development of more environmentally realistic, predictive testing methods. This paper describes a multispecies, community-level toxicity test based on the colonization of artificial substrates by microbial species. Tests examined the colonization of initially barren polyurethane foam artificial substrates by Protozoa from a species source colonized in a natural system. Differences in colonization were examined in microecosystems amended with low levels of cadmium, a very toxic heavy metal, and TFM, an organic biocide used against larval sea lamprey. Tests examined differences in colonization over 28 days. For cadmium, effect levels were estimated to be near 1 g 1^–1, in the low range of effect levels determined from chronic single species tests. For TFM, effect levels were estimated to be between 1 and 10 ppm, overlapping the concentrations used in environmental applications. The colonization response, which depends on naked microbial cells reproducing and migrating through toxicant amended water to new substrates, is very sensitive. Tests based on colonization can be adapted to use species from a target receiving system or can use species from a designated natural source. Field validation of these tests can employ nearly identical methods to those used in laboratory studies to assess the accuracy of predictions based on test system data.     

Development of an ombrotrophic peat bog (low ash) reference material for the determination of elemental concentrations

Given the increasing interest in using peat bogs as archives of atmospheric metal deposition, the lack of validated sample preparation methods and suitable certified reference materials has hindered not only the quality assurance of the generated analytical data but also the interpretation and comparison of peat core metal profiles from different laboratories in the international community. Reference materials play an important role in the evaluation of the accuracy of analytical results and are essential parts of good laboratory practice. An ombrotrophic peat bog reference material has been developed by 14 laboratories from nine countries in an inter-laboratory comparison between February and October 2002. The material has been characterised for both acid-extractable and total concentrations of a range of elements, including Al, As, Ca, Cd, Cr, Cu, Fe, Hg, Mg, Mn, Na, Ni, P, Pb, Ti, V and Zn. The steps involved in the production of the reference material (i.e. collection and preparation, homogeneity and stability studies, and certification) are described in detail.     

Acidification of a solonetzic soil by nitrogenous fertilizers

Abstract

Annual applications of (NH₄)₂SO₄ NH₄NO₃ and urea on a Solonetzic soil at 112 kg N/ha for 10 consecutive years reduced pH levels from 5.6 for the check to 4.4, 4.9 and 5.3, respectively for (NH₄)₂SO₄, NH₄NO₃ and urea. (NH₄)₂SO₄ generated twice as much exchange acidity as NH₄NO₃ and four times as much as urea. Net extractable cations leached from the Ap horizon closely approximated the amount of exchange acidity generated by (NH₄)₂SO₄ and NH₄NO₃ fertilizers. The levels of soil extractable Al and Mn were greatly enhanced by (NH₄)₂SO₄ as were plant contents. Similar acidifying effects to that produced by the (NH₄)₂SO₄ occurred when NH₄NO₃ was applied at 300 kg N/ha annually for 12 consecutive years in another field experiment on the same soil. Liming samples of the field (NH₄)₂SO₄ acidified soils in the greenhouse, significantly increased yields and lowered the Al and Mn contents of the plants to normal levels.