Wavelet analysis of some rivers in SE Europe and selected climate indices

The influence of some climatic oscillations and sunspot number on river flows in Romania, Ukraine, and Moldova is verified by using standard wavelet analyses. The selected climate oscillations are Arctic Oscillation (AO), Antarctic Oscillation (AAO), East Atlantic Oscillation (EAO), East Atlantic/West Russia Oscillation (EAWRO), NINO3.4, North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO), Pacific/North America Oscillation (PNAO), Pacific Decadal Oscillation (PDO), Polar/Eurasia Oscillation (PEO), Scandinavian Oscillation (ScandO), Southern Oscillation (SO), and West Pacific Oscillation (WPO). Forty-five hydrological stations from an area of 45,000 km² were used in order to discover the spatial evolution of the periodicities found in rivers. The wavelet analysis is novel for the rivers in the study area. There is an important difference between the periodicities found in mountain and plateau areas and those found in the plain area. There is a general downstream increase in the confidence level of the identified periods, even if the atmospheric precipitation has more relevant periodicities in the mountain area. The periodicities can be grouped into two compact groups: 1–16.5 and 27.8–55.6 years. The correlation matrix of the global wavelet spectrum (GWS) values indicates that NAO, EAWRO, PDO, and the sunspot number are the main factors that generate the periodicities in rivers. It is the first time when the influence of PDO on local rivers is proven. All river periodicities smaller than 16 years have a confidence level of 0.95 or above, as proven by the GWS analysis of the daily discharge data, and are caused by multiple external factors.     

Molybdenum distributions and variability in drinking water from England and Wales

An investigation has been carried out of molybdenum in drinking water from a selection of public supply sources and domestic taps across England and Wales. This was to assess concentrations in relation to the World Health Organization (WHO) health-based value for Mo in drinking water of 70 μg/l and the decision to remove the element from the list of formal guideline values. Samples of treated drinking water from 12 water supply works were monitored up to four times over an 18-month period, and 24 domestic taps were sampled from three of their supply areas. Significant (p?p?>?0.05) were detected. Tap water samples collected from three towns (North Wales, the English Midlands, and South East England) supplied uniquely by upland reservoir water, river water, and Chalk groundwater, respectively, also showed a remarkable uniformity in Mo concentrations at each location. Within each, the variability was very small between houses (old and new), between pre-flush and post-flush samples, and between the tap water and respective source water samples. The results indicate that water distribution pipework has a negligible effect on supplied tap water Mo concentrations. The findings contrast with those for Cu, Zn, Ni, Pb, and Cd, which showed significant differences (p?England and Wales.     

Occurrence of pharmaceuticals in urban wastewater of north Indian cities and risk assessment

Six pharmaceuticals of different categories, such as nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (ibuprofen, ketoprofen, naproxen, diclofenac), anti-epileptic (carbamazepine), and anti-microbial (trimethoprim), were investigated in wastewater of the urban areas of Ghaziabad and Lucknow, India. Samples were concentrated by solid phase extraction (SPE) and determined by high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) methods. The SPE-HPLC method was validated according to the International Conference on Harmonization guidelines. All the six drugs were detected in wastewater of Ghaziabad, whereas naproxen was not detected in Lucknow wastewater. Results suggest that levels of these detected drugs were relatively higher in Ghaziabad as compared to those in Lucknow, and diclofenac was the most frequently detected drug in both the study areas. Detection of these drugs in wastewater reflects the importance of wastewater inputs as a source of pharmaceuticals. In terms of the regional distribution of compounds in wastewater of two cities, higher spatial variations (coefficient of variation 112.90–459.44 %) were found in the Lucknow wastewater due to poor water exchange ability. In contrast, lower spatial variation (162.38–303.77 %) was observed in Ghaziabad. Statistical analysis results suggest that both data were highly skewed, and populations in two study areas were significantly different (p?NSAIDs) posed high (RQ >1) risk to all the test species. The present study would contribute to the formulation of guidelines for regulation of such emerging pharmaceutical contaminants in the environment.     

Effect of pH,ionic strength,and background electrolytes on Cr(VI) and total chromium removal by acorn shell of Quercus crassipes Humb. & Bonpl.

The ability of Quercus crassipes acorn shells (QCS) to remove Cr(VI) and total chromium from aqueous solutions was investigated as a function of the solution pH, ionic strength, and background electrolytes. It was found that Cr(VI) and total chromium removal by QCS depended strongly on the pH of the solution. Cr(VI) removal rate increased as the solution pH decreased. The optimum pH for total chromium removal varied depending on contact time. NaCl ionic strengths lower than 200 mM did not affect chromium removal. The presence of 20 mM monovalent cations and anions, and of divalent cations, slightly decreased the removal of Cr(VI) and total chromium by QCS; in contrast, divalent anions (SO₄ ^2?, PO₄ ^2?, CO₃ ^2?) significantly affected the removal of Cr(VI) and total chromium. The biosorption kinetics of chromium ions followed the pseudo-second-order model at all solution pH levels, NaCl ionic strengths and background electrolytes tested. Results suggest that QCS may be a potential low-cost biosorbent for the removal of Cr(VI) and total chromium from aqueous solutions containing various impurities.     

Source apportionment for sediment PAHs using hybrid genetic pattern search treatment of a chemical mass balance receptor model: application to the Pearl River Delta region,China

In order to solve the collinear problem and improve the estimation accuracy of the chemical mass balance (CMB) model which can be essentially regarded as a constrained optimization process, in this study, a hybrid genetic pattern search algorithm (HGPS) was proposed and applied to apportion the source contributions for sediment polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in the Pearl River Delta (PRD) region, China. Simulation results with developed synthetic datasets indicated that the estimated source contributions by HGPS were more close to the true values than CMB8.2. Utilizing the HGPS-CMB, residential coal and traffic tunnel were apportioned as the major sources of sediment PAHs in the PRD region. For freshwater surface sediments, the average contribution from residential coal ranged from 32 to 55 %, and traffic tunnel ranged from 13 to 33 %, while the major sources for marine sediments were traffic tunnel (10?~?56 %). These results provide information for developing better PAH pollution control strategies for the PRD.     

Heavy Metal Transport in the Hindon River Basin, India

Total mass transfers of heavy metal in dissolved and particulate form has been determined in the downstream section of river Hindon, an important tributary of river Yamuna (India). The contribution of different point sources to the river Hindon has also been assessed. The river Kali has the largest contribution to the river Hindon. The highest metal loads were related to the highest flow of the river and thereby increased both by surface runoff and sediment resuspension. The contribution of monsoon months to the total transported load was also calculated and it was observed that monsoon months contributes more than 40% of total loading annually for all the metals. The metal fluxes from the river Hindon were compared with other rivers of Indian sub-continent.     

Occurrence of aflatoxin M1 in UHT milk and infant formula samples consumed in Burdur,Turkey

Aflatoxins are toxic fungal metabolites found in foods and feeds. Aflatoxin M₁ (AFM₁), a metabolite of the potent carcinogen aflatoxin B₁ (AFB₁), occurs in milk from animals consuming feed contaminated with AFB₁. The aim of this study was to investigate the occurrence and levels of AFM₁ in ultra-high temperature (UHT) milk and infant formula samples consumed in Burdur City. During 2011, 41 samples of UHT milk and 33 samples of infant formula were randomly collected from different supermarkets and drug stores. The occurrence and contamination levels of AFM₁ in the samples were investigated using the competitive enzyme-linked immunoabsorbent assay (ELISA) method. AFM₁ was detected in 30 samples (73.2 %) in concentrations ranging from 6.42 to 71.33 ng/L (mean level, 17.76 ng/L). Altogether, only three (7.3 %) samples of UHT milk were contaminated at levels above the Turkish legal limit (50 ng/L). However, AFM₁ was not detected in all infant formula samples. It is concluded that despite the widespread occurrence of AFM₁ in UHT milk samples, the contamination levels were not serious for public health.     

Sensitivity Analysis and Water Quality Modeling of a Tidal River Using a Modified Streeter–Phelps Equation with HEC-RAS-Calculated Hydraulic Characteristics

A modified Streeter–Phelps equation and the Hydrological Engineering Centers River Analysis System (HEC-RAS) were combined to assess water quality of the Tan-Sui River and its tributaries. The Tan-Sui River is the main source of water supply for northern Taiwan, and the water quality of its stream is significantly affected by tides. In this study, HEC-RAS was employed to assess the impact of tides on water quality and to calculate reoxygenation coefficients. The modified Streeter–Phelps equation was used to calculate water quality in terms of contaminant degradation and reoxygenation. Biochemical oxygen demand (BOD) and ammonia nitrogen (NH₃–N), the most important identified sources of water pollution in the rivers investigated, were evaluated. Dissolved oxygen (DO) was also simulated, since it is often used as a staple of water quality. Results showed that employing HEC-RAS for hydraulic calculations improves the modified Streeter–Phelps simulation. In river sections without tidal influence, water quality was sensitive to the BOD and NH₃–N degradation constants. Downstream of Chin-Mei Creek, while the BOD degradation constant decreased by 80%, BOD and DO concentrations increased from 7.1?mg/L to 10.7?mg/L and 5.0?mg/L to 7.2?mg/L, respectively, indicating that water quality was not as sensitive to variations of the BOD degradation constant as expected. The concentrations of DO and BOD at the river mouth had a significant impact on water quality for the tidal sections of the investigated rivers due to mixing of tidal and river waters. The BOD and NH₃–N degradation constants in the tidal sections had little impact on water quality simulations. This study demonstrated the innovative combination of the modified Streeter–Phelps equation and HEC-RAS to assess the impact of tidal variation and to simulate the water quality of a tidal river when available data is rather limited.     

Influence of urban form on landscape pattern and connectivity in metropolitan regions: a comparative case study of Phoenix,AZ, USA,and Izmir,Turkey

Although ecological connectivity conservation in urban areas has recently been recognized as an important issue, less is known about its relationship to urban form and landscape pattern. This study investigates how urban morphology influences regional ecosystem pattern and landscape connectivity. Two metropolitan landscapes, Phoenix, AZ, USA, and Izmir, Turkey, were compared, both of which are fast-growing regions in their national context. A wide range of variables were considered for identifying natural and urban properties. The natural characteristics include typology of urban ecosystems, urban to natural cover ratio, dominant habitat type, urban biodiversity, landscape context, and connectivity conservation efforts. Urban parameters examine urban form, urban extent, urban cover proportion, growth rate, populations, urban gradient, major drivers of urbanization, urban density, and mode/approach of urban development. Twelve landscape metrics were measured and compared across the natural patches. Results show that there is little difference in landscape connectivity in the rural zones of Phoenix and Izmir, although Phoenix has slightly higher connectivity values. The connectivity variance in urbanized areas, however, is significantly dependent on the region. For example, Phoenix urban zones have substantially lower connectivity than either urban or suburban zones in Izmir. Findings demonstrate that small and compact urban settlements with more dense populations are more likely to conserve landscape connectivity compared to multiple-concentric but amalgamated urban form spreading all over the landscape (aka urban sprawl).     

Ecological vulnerability: seasonal and spatial assessment of trace metals in soils and plants in the vicinity of a scrap metal recycling factory in Southwestern Nigeria

The concentrations of selected heavy metals in the soil and vegetation in the immediate vicinity of a metal scrap recycling factory were determined in the dry and wet seasons using the Atomic Absorption Spectrophotometer. The results showed that the soil pH in all the sites indicated slight acidity (from 5.07 to 6.13), high soil organic matter content (from 2.08 to 5.60 %), and a well-drained soil of sandy loam textural composition. Soil heavy metal content in the dry season were 0.84–3.12 mg/kg for Pb, 0.26–0.46 mg/kg for Cd, 9.19–24.70 mg/kg for Zn, and 1.46–1.97 mg/kg for Cu. These values were higher than those in the wet season which ranged from 0.62–0.69 mg/kg for Pb, 0.67–0.78 mg/kg for Cd, 0.84–1.00 mg/kg for Zn, and 1.26–1.45 mg/kg for Cu. Except for cadmium in the dry season, the highest concentrations occurred in the northern side of the factory for all the elements in both seasons. An increase in the concentrations of the elements up to 350 m in most directions was also observed. There was no specific pattern in the level of the metals in the leaves of the plant used for the study. However, slightly elevated values were observed in the wet season (Pb 0.53 mg/kg, Cd 0.59 mg/kg, Cu 0.88 mg/kg) compared with the dry season values (Pb 0.50 mg/kg, Cd 0.57 mg/kg, Cu 0.83 mg/kg). This study showed that the elevated concentrations of these metals might be associated with the activities from the recycling plant, providing the basis for heavy metal pollution monitoring and control of this locality that is primarily used for agricultural purposes.     

Determination and study on dissipation and residue determination of cyhalofop-butyl and its metabolite using HPLC-MS/MS in a rice ecosystem

Cyhalofop-butyl is an aryloxyphenoxypropionate postemergence herbicide with good control of barnyard grass in rice paddies. In this study, method for the determination of cyhalofop-butyl and its metabolite was developed with high-performance liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry. Dissipation and residue levels of cyhalofop-butyl and its metabolite in rice ecosystems were also investigated. Recoveries and relative standard deviations of cyhalofop-butyl and cyhalofop acid in six matrices at three spiking levels ranged from 76.1 to 107.5 % and 1.1 to 8.2 %, respectively. The limit of quantitation (LOQ) of cyhalofop-butyl and cyhalofop acid was 0.01 mg/kg in paddy water, paddy soil, rice plant, rice straw, rice hulls, and husked rice. For field experiments, the results showed that cyhalofop-butyl degraded to cyhalofop acid quickly, and the half-lives of cyhalofop acid in paddy water, paddy soil, and rice plant were 1.01–1.53, 0.88–0.97, and 2.09–2.42 days, respectively. Ultimate residues of cyhalofop-butyl and its metabolite in the rice samples were not detectable or below 0.01 mg/kg at harvest.     

Phosphorus leaching from a sandy soil in the presence of modified and un-modified adsorbents

Phosphorus (P) leaching from a sandy soil was investigated in the presence of modified and unmodified clay minerals and nanoparticles (NPs). Compared with control soil, amended soil with NPs had the highest percentage of P retention than amended soil with clay minerals. Among the adsorbents used, the highest percentage of P retention was produced by Al₂O₃-chitosan while the lowest percentage of P retention was by zeolite. Data measured for P leaching after using adsorbents were used to predict P leaching using transport model. PHREEQC model was able to model P leaching from control and amended soil. After leaching, P values in control and amended soil were fractionated by a sequential extraction procedure. Concentration of P in Ca-bound fraction (HCl–P) after application of modified and unmodified clay minerals and NPs (except TiO₂ and Al₂O₃) increased and decreased, respectively. Saturation indices (SIs) and P speciation were assessed using the Visual MINTEQ version 2.3 program. According to the SIs, leaching P from control and amended soil with different adsorbent was controlled by dissolution of hydroxyapatite. The results indicated that used adsorbents can reduce P leaching from the sandy soil. Thus, retention of P by amended soil reduced a risk in terms of groundwater contamination with P.     

Reproductive health indicators of fishes from Pennsylvania watersheds: association with chemicals of emerging concern

Fishes were collected at 16 sites within the three major river drainages (Delaware, Susquehanna, and Ohio) of Pennsylvania. Three species were evaluated for biomarkers of estrogenic/antiandrogenic exposure, including plasma vitellogenin and testicular oocytes in male fishes. Smallmouth bass Micropterus dolomieu, white sucker Catostomus commersonii, and redhorse sucker Moxostoma species were collected in the summer, a period of low flow and low reproductive activity. Smallmouth bass were the only species in which testicular oocytes were observed; however, measurable concentrations of plasma vitellogenin were found in male bass and white sucker. The percentage of male bass with testicular oocytes ranged from 10 to 100 %, with the highest prevalence and severity in bass collected in the Susquehanna drainage. The percentage of males with plasma vitellogenin ranged from 0 to 100 % in both bass and sucker. Biological findings were compared with chemical analyses of discrete water samples collected at the time of fish collections. Estrone concentrations correlated with testicular oocytes prevalence and severity and with the percentage of male bass with vitellogenin. No correlations were noted with the percentage of male sucker with vitellogenin and water chemical concentrations. The prevalence and severity of testicular oocytes in bass also correlated with the percent of agricultural land use in the watershed above a site. Two sites within the Susquehanna drainage and one in the Delaware were immediately downstream of wastewater treatment plants to compare results with upstream fish. The percentage of male bass with testicular oocytes was not consistently higher downstream; however, severity did tend to increase downstream.     

Extraction of the metagenomic DNA and assessment of the bacterial diversity from the petroleum-polluted sites

The assessment of the microbial diversity of the entire community of a given habitat requires the extraction of the total environmental DNA. Metagenomic investigations of a petroleum-polluted habitat have its unique challenges. The specific methods were developed for the extraction of high-quality metagenome in good quantity from the petroleum-polluted saline and non-saline sites in Gujarat (India). The soil samples were washed to remove the toxic, hazardous organic pollutants which might interfere with the recovery of the metagenomic DNA. The metagenomic DNA extraction results were encouraging with the mechanical bead beating, soft lysis, and combination of both. The extracted DNA was assessed for its purity and yield followed by its application in the amplification of the 16S rRNA region. The amplicons were used for judging the molecular diversity by the denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis (DGGE). The microbial diversity was also analyzed statistically by calculating various diversity indices and principal component analysis (PCA). The results on the metagenomic diversity of the bacterial population among the three cohorts based on the culture-independent technique exhibited significant difference among the PAH sites and Okha–Madhi and Porbandar Madhavpur habitats.     

Monitoring of pesticide residues of five notable vegetables at Agbogbloshie market in Accra,Ghana

The study monitored the concentrations of pesticide residues in vegetables arriving at Agbogbloshie, a central market in the Accra Metropolis from different parts of Ghana and beyond. A total of 810 samples of 5 different vegetables from Central, Volta, Greater Accra, Ashanti, Eastern Regions, and neighboring country (Togo) were collected from January 2009 through to December 2011. In all, 18 % of the samples had no detectable residues, 62 % were below the maximum residue limits (MRLs), and 20 % also exceeded the EU (MRLs) adopted values. Overall, lettuce contained the highest number of residues above their MRLs besides cucumber and cabbage. The pesticide residues were mainly organophosphates and synthetic pyrethroids. The results demonstrate the need for continuous monitoring of pesticide residues in vegetables arriving at the various major markets in Ghana.     

Chironomidae and Oligochaeta for water quality evaluation in an urban river in southeastern Brazil

Considering the importance of benthic macroinvertebrates for diagnosis of variations in the ecological conditions of aquatic habitats, the aim of this study was to investigate the structure of the Chironomidae and Oligochaeta assemblages along an organic pollution gradient. The fauna specimens were obtained with the use of artificial substrates, and the environmental variables were recorded at five sites of the São Lourenço River, during 12 months. Metrics of the assemblage and detrended correspondence analysis were used to verify the response of the fauna to the pollution gradient. Procrustes analysis was used to verify whether the data on the Chironomidae and Oligochaeta assemblages, as well as the taxonomic and numerical resolution of these groups, provide similar results in relation to the pollution gradient. The richness, evenness, and taxonomic composition of the Chironomidae and Oligochaeta assemblages varied significantly among the collection sites, with distinct conservation conditions. Genera of the subfamilies Orthocladiinae and Tanypodinae were associated with the sites upstream of the urban area, where the dissolved oxygen levels are higher. Species of Oligochaeta and the genus Chironomus were associated with more organically polluted sites. No concordance was observed in the response of the Chironomidae and Oligochaeta assemblages in relation to the environmental variables, indicating the need to use both groups in biomonitoring studies. On the other hand, both the data on composition (presence or absence) and those on the lowest taxonomic resolution (abundance of subfamilies) were effective to diagnose the pollution gradient in the river studied. Therefore, when the environmental conditions along a river’s gradient are contrasting, we suggest the use of the lowest taxonomic resolution of Chironomidae and Oligochaeta in biomonitoring. That procedure considerably reduces the assessment time, besides being a method that can be used by people not specializing in the taxonomy of groups.     

Evaluating environmental performance using new process capability indices for autocorrelated data

Traditionally, the process capability index is developed by assuming that the process output data are independent and follow normal distribution. However, in most environmental cases, the process data are autocorrelated. The autocorrelated process, if unrecognized as an independent process, can lead to erroneous decision making and unnecessary quality loss. In this paper, three new capability indices with unbiased estimators are proposed to relieve the independence assumption for the-nominal-the-best and the-smaller-the-better cases. Furthermore, we use mean squared error (MSE) and mean absolute percent error (MAPE) to compare the accuracy of our proposed indices to previous autocorrelated indices. The results show that our proposed capability indices outperform the predecessors.     

Odour emission characteristics of 22 recreational rivers in Nanjing

The odour emission characteristics of 22 recreational rivers in Nanjing were investigated and analysed. Eight odorous compounds (ammonia (NH₃), hydrogen sulphide (H₂S), sulphur dioxide (SO₂), carbon disulphide (CS₂), nitrobenzene (C₆H₅NO₂), aniline (C₆H₅NH₂), dimethylamine (C₂H₇N), and formaldehyde (HCHO)) were measured in odour emission samples collected using a custom-made emission flux hood chamber. The results showed that all odorants were detected in all monitoring rivers. NH₃ was the main odorant, with emission rates ranging from 4.86 to 15.13 μg/min m². The total odour emission rate of the Nan River, at 1 427.07 OU/s, was the highest of the all investigated rivers. H₂S, NH₃ and nitrobenzene were three key odour emission contributors according to their contributions to the total odour emission. A correlation analysis of the pollutants showed there was a significant positive correlation between the emission rate of NH₃ and the concentration of ammonia nitrogen (NH₄ ⁺-N) and total nitrogen (TN). The H₂S and SO₂ emission rates had a significant positive correlation with sulphides (S^2?) and available sulphur (AS) in the water and sediment. The content of TN, NH₄ ⁺-N, S^2? and AS in the water and sediment affected the concentration of H₂S, SO₂ and NH₃ in the emission gases. NH₄ ⁺-N, S^2? and AS are suggested as the key odour control indexes for reducing odours emitted from these recreational rivers. The study provides useful information for effective pollution control, especially for odour emission control for the recreational rivers of the city. It also provides a demonstrate example to show how to monitor and assess a contaminated river when odour emission and its control need to be focused on.     

PAHs in PM2.5 in Zhengzhou: concentration,carcinogenic risk analysis,and source apportionment

Ambient air samples were collected at two different locations between 2011 and 2012 in Zhengzhou, China in order to assess the concentration level, health risks, as well as the sources of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in particulate matter (PM_2.5). The mean annual levels of PM_2.5 observed at industry site and residential site were 172?±?121 and 160?±?72 μg m^?3, respectively, which were about five times the annual value of proposed PM_2.5 standard (35 μg m^?3) in China. The PM_2.5 in all daily samples (n?=?47) exceeds the proposed PM_2.5 standard in China (75 μg m^?3) at both industrial and residential sites. Seasonal variations of PM_2.5 showed a clear trend of winter?>?autumn?>?spring?>?summer at both sites. The total concentrations of 16 PM_2.5-associated PAHs ranged from 61?±?51 to 431?±?281 and 38?±?25 to 254?±?189 ng m^?3, with mean value of 176?±?233 and 111?±?146 ng m^?3 at industry and residential sites, respectively. The major species were fluoranthene, pyrene, chrysene, benzo[b]fluoranthene and benzo[k]fluoranthene, and the concentration levels of PAHs in PM_2.5 were higher in winter than those of other seasons at both sites. The annual mean values of toxicity equivalency concentrations of ∑₁₆PAHs in PM_2.5 were 22.8 and 13.5 ng m^?3 in industry and residential area, respectively. In this study, the risk level of adult citizens through inhalation exposure to PAHs was calculated. The average estimates of lifetime inhalation cancer risks were approximately 8.9?×?10^?7 and 6.3?×?10^?7 for industry and residential sites, respectively. The main sources of 16 PAHs from both diagnostic ratios and principle component analysis identified as vehicular emissions and coal combustion.