Indifference curves as a tool for environment impact assessment

Use of indifference curves, defined as functionality between development index and pollution load to evaluate environmental impact, is proposed. Existing Battelle environmental evaluation methodology is subjective in its approach. The use of indifference curves lends a more objective approach to environment assessment methodology. The extent of environmental damage we are prepared to accept, for a development, can be explained by Willingness to Pay and Willingness to Accept approach. The application of proposed approach has been demonstrated taking an example of Power plant set up in forest area. The curves clearly show that cost of EMP considering mitigation of ecological damage is higher than the EMP mitigating impacts of air and water pollution only. The example stresses the need for willingness to accept along with willingness to pay.     

Luminescence spectroscopy as a screening tool for the potential carcinogenicity of asphalt fumes

A subset of polycyclic aromatic compounds (PACs), which contain 4-6 annulated rings, has been documented as the source of carcinogenicity in animal skin painting studies of petroleum products and asphalt fumes (M. L. Machado, P. W. Beatty, J. C. Fetzer, A. H. Glickman and E. L. McGinnis, Fundam. Appl. Toxicol., 1993, 21, 492; T. A. Roy, S. W. Johnson, G. R. Blackburn and C. R. Mackerer, Fundam. Appl. Toxicol., 1988, 10, 466). Because of the chemical complexity of these materials, it has been difficult to identify the specific compounds within this broad range of PACs responsible for their carcinogenicity. An alternative approach using luminescence spectroscopy was taken in this study to quantify, without identification, a subset of these compounds that appears to cause cancer. The fluorescence response at a specific wavelength pair was obtained for 39 laboratory asphalt fume condensates from animal skin painting studies, yielding a linear correlation coefficient of R2 = 0.96 between the fluorescence response in these materials and the carcinogenicity found in animal studies. In the absence of other asphalt fume condensates from animal studies, 17 petroleum oils were also evaluated using this method and compared with the available animal skin painting data. The details of the method include a clean-up step that removes the highly polar compounds and spectral subtraction of two- and three-ring PAC interference, both of which add to the fluorescence response, yet were not found to contribute to a carcinogenic response from skin painting studies. Full scan fluorescence plots also produce a fingerprint which can be used to assess contamination, such as coal tar products or mixtures of materials, that are not defined as asphalt, yet may be present in the working environment.     

Freshwater shrimp (Palaemonetes australis) as a potential bioindicator of crustacean health

Palaemonetes australis is a euryhaline shrimp found in southwestern Australian estuaries. To determine if P. australis is a suitable bioindicator species for monitoring the health of estuarine biota, they were exposed to measured concentrations of the polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon, benzo[a]pyrene (B[a]P) at 0.01, 0.1, or 1?ppm for 14?days under laboratory conditions. At the end of exposure the shrimp were sacrificed for biomarker [ethoxycoumarin O-deethylase (ECOD), 8-oxo-dG concentration, and sorbitol dehydrogenase (SDH) activity] analyses. Gender did not appear to influence biomarker responses of the shrimp in this study. ECOD activity was induced in the treatment groups in a linear fashion from three (0.01?ppm) times to 12 (1?ppm) times the negative controls. 8-oxo-dG concentration was reduced three times in treatment groups below the controls suggesting impaired DNA repair pathways. There was no increase in SDH, signifying hepatopancreatic cell damage had not occurred in any treatment group. The response of P. australis to B[a]P exposure indicates that this crustacean is suitable bioindicator species for both laboratory studies and field monitoring. A combination of ECOD and SDH activities and 8-oxo-dG concentration represent a suitable suite of biomarkers for environmental monitoring of the sublethal effects of organic pollution to crustaceans from an estuarine environment.     

A tool for rapid screening of direct DNA agents using reaction rates and relative interaction potency: towards screening environmental contaminants for hazard

DNA damage represents a potential biomarker for determining the exposure risk to chemicals and may provide early warning data for identifying chemical hazards to human health. Here, we have demonstrated a simple chromatography-based method that can be used to rapidly screen for the presence of chemical hazards as well as to determine parameters relevant to hazard assessment. In this proof-of-principle study, a simple in vitro system was used to determine the interaction of pollutants and probable carcinogens, phenyl glycidyl ether (PGE), tetrachlorohydroquinone (Cl(4)HQ), methylmethane sulfonate (MMS), styrene-7,8-oxide (SO), and benzo[a]pyrene-7,8-dihydrodiol-9,10-epoxide (BPDE), a metabolite of benzo[a]pyrene (B[a]P), with single- and double-stranded DNA probes. Differences in potency and reaction kinetics were studied for chemical and DNA type. A relative interaction potency equivalency (PEQ) of a chemical was determined by ratio of interaction potency of a chemical to BPDE as the reference chemical in the reaction with single- and double-stranded oligodeoxynucleotides. PEQs were found to be BPDE > PGE > SO > MMS > Cl(4)HQ for single-stranded oligodeoxynucleotides while they were found to be BPDE > PGE > Cl(4)HQ > MMS > SO for double-stranded oligodeoxynucleotides. Kinetics evaluation revealed that BPDE reacted with both DNA probes at a significantly faster rate, as compared to the remaining test chemicals. Equilibrium was reached within an hour for BPDE, but required a minimum of 48 h for the remaining chemicals. First-order rate constants were (1.61 ± 0.2) × 10(-3) s(-1) and (3.18 ± 0.4) × 10(-4) s(-1) for reaction of BPDE with double- and single-stranded DNA, respectively. The remaining chemicals possessed rate constants from 2 to 13 × 10(-6) s(-1) with a relative kinetic order for reaction with DNA of BPDE ? MMS > SO > PGE > Cl(4)HQ for ds-DNA and BPDE ? SO ≈ Cl(4)HQ ≈ MMS > PGE for ss-DNA. We further found that the reaction potency, defined by dose-response between chemical pollutants and DNA, depends on the form of DNA present for reaction. Noteworthy, we found that relative PEQ did not follow the same kinetic trends. However, our preliminary findings suggest that reaction kinetics, in combination with relative interaction potency, may be a significant parameter that can be used to evaluate the hazard level of environmental pollutants.     

Evaluation of geochemical associations as a screening tool for identifying anthropogenic trace metal contamination

Geochemical association plots are used as a screening tool for environmental site assessments and use empirical log–log relationships between total trace metal concentrations and concentrations of a major (i.e., reference) soil metal constituent, such as iron (Fe), to discern sites with naturally elevated trace metal levels from sites with anthropogenic contamination. Log–log relationships have been consistently observed between trace metal and reference metal concentrations and are often considered constant. Consequently, we used a regional geochemistry data set to evaluate background trace metal/Fe log–log associations across soils with highly diverse composition. Our results indicate that, although geochemical associations may be proportional, they significantly differ across predominant United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) soil orders. This suggests that highly complex interactions between soil-forming factors and variable secondary clay mineral composition affect the ratio of trace metals to Fe concentrations in soils. Also, intra-order variability in trace metal/Fe ratios generally ranged multiple orders of magnitude which suggest that the order level of the USDA soil taxonomic system is insufficient to reasonably classify background trace metal concentrations. Consequently, geochemical association plots are a useful screening tool for environmental site assessments, but ubiquitous application of generic background metal data sets could result in erroneous conclusions. Because significantly different ratios were observed across predominant USDA soil orders, an agglomerative clustering technique was used to elucidate hierarchical patterns of association. We present these results as a mechanism to aid environmental assessors in screening candidate background metal data sets for their applicability to site-specific soil composition; although site-specific background metal data should be utilized if ample pristine reference sites with similar (i.e., sub-order) soil composition can be identified and sampled.     

Multielement analysis in the fish hepatic cytosol as a screening tool in the monitoring of natural waters

The possibility of direct measurement of trace elements in hepatic cytosol of European chub (Squalius cephalus) by high-resolution inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (HR ICP-MS) after cytosol dilution with Milli-Q water and subsequent acidification was investigated. Due to low detection limits of this procedure, determination of 13 elements (As, Cd, Co, Cu, Fe, Mn, Mo, Pb, Sb, Sn, Sr, V and Zn) was possible in the chub hepatic cytosol, exhibiting excellent measurement repeatability in duplicates. Some of these elements were also measured by HR ICP-MS in acid digested cytosols (Cd, Co, Cu, Fe, Mn, Mo, Sr, V and Zn). Good agreement of the results obtained after sample dilution and sample digestion indicated that complex organic matrix of hepatic cytosol did not affect measurement reliability. Cytosolic concentrations of 13 trace elements in the chub liver were quantified in the following order: Fe, Zn>Cu>Mn>Mo>Sr, V, Cd>Co>As, Pb>Sn>Sb. Unlike Cd, Cu, Fe, Mn and Zn for which the cytosolic concentrations were previously reported after measurement by AAS, cytosolic concentrations of eight additional trace elements characteristic for the liver of chubs inhabiting the low contaminated river water were reported here for the first time (in nanogrammes per gramme)—Mo, 136.8–183.6; Sr, 32.7–63.0; V, 17.5–69.0; Co, 24.3–30.7; As, 9.9–29.5; Pb, 5.8–35.6; Sn, 5.5–12.4; and Sb, 0.9–2.6. The simultaneous measurement of large number of trace elements in the cytosolic fractions of fish tissues, which comprise potentially metal-sensitive sub-cellular pools, could be beneficial as a screening tool in the monitoring of natural waters, because it would enable timely recognition of increased fish exposure to metals.     

Pharmaceuticals as emerging organic contaminants in Umgeni River water system,KwaZulu-Natal,South Africa

The occurrences of pharmaceuticals and personal care products as emerging organic contaminants (EOCs) have been reported in several countries of the world except from African countries. This study was therefore conducted to investigate the occurrence of nine antibiotics, five antipyretics, atenolol, bezafibrate, and caffeine in wastewater and surface water samples from the Umgeni River. The water samples were extracted with solid-phase extraction using hydrophilic-lipophilic balance (HLB) and C-18 cartridges for the acidic and neutral drugs, respectively. The quantification was carried out with high-performance liquid chromatography-diode array detector (HPLC-DAD) using the standard addition method. The method limits of detections were in the range of 0.14–0.97 μg/L while the recoveries were between 53.8 and 108.1 %. The wastewater had 100 % occurrence of the analytes studied, with caffeine having the highest concentration at 61?±?5 μg/L and nalidixic acid being the most observed antibiotic at 31?±?3 μg/L. The waste treatment process reduced the influent concentrations by 43.0–94.2 % before discharge except for atenolol removal that is lower. The concentrations of the analytes were lower in the surface water with most compounds having concentrations below 10 μg/L except acetaminophen and atenolol. The estuary mouth and Blue Lagoon had the highest concentrations of some of the compounds in surface water which depict downstream load. The factors governing the fate and mobility of these compounds in this environment are not fully understood yet and will require further studies.     

Performance of semipermeable membrane devices for sampling of organic contaminants in groundwater

Lipid-filled semipermeable membrane devices (SPMDs) are receiving increasing attention as passive, in situ samplers for the assessment of environmental pollutant exposure. Although SPMDs have been successfully used in a variety of field studies in surface waters, only a few studies have addressed their characteristics as groundwater samplers. In this study, the performance of the SPMDs for monitoring organic contaminants in groundwater was evaluated in a pilot field application in an area severely contaminated by chemical waste, especially by chlorinated hydrocarbons. The spatial distribution of hydrophobic groundwater contaminants was assessed using a combination of passive sampling with SPMDs and non-target semiquantitative GC-MS analysis. More than 100 contaminants were identified and semiquantitatively determined in SPMD samples. Along the 6 field sites under investigation, a large concentration gradient was observed, which confirms a very limited mobility of hydrophobic substances in dissolved form in the aquifer. The in situ extraction potential of the SPMD is limited by groundwater flow, when the exchange volume of well water during an exposure is lower than the SPMD clearance volume for the analytes. This study demonstrates that SPMDs present a useful tool for sampling and analyzing of groundwater polluted with complex mixtures of hydrophobic chemicals and provides guidance for further development of passive sampling technology for groundwater.     

Modeling photocatalytic destruction of the organic contaminants in continuous stir flow reactor

Thin-film technique is becoming an industry standard for the preparation of TiO₂-based photocatalyst for organic destruction. The catalyst provides several advantages over the conventional powder TiO₂ in the treatment of wastewater and groundwater. In this study, a continuous stir flow reactor model is developed capable of describing the photocatalytic process. The model incorporates the following fundamental mechanisms: adsorption, diffusion, liquid-film transfer, UV attenuation, and photocatalytic reaction. All of the simulation results indicate that there exists a highly nonlinear relation between each of these parameters and the destruction rate. Various incident light intensities also are incorporated to simulate the energy efficiency. The simulations illustrate that the photocatalytic model can be used to elucidate the effect of process variables. It is also possible to “custom-design” a catalyst for the treatment of a particular waste stream.     

monitoring bioaccumulation of contaminants in the belted kingfisher (ceryle alcyon)

The belted kingfisher (Ceryle alcyon), acommon piscivore in the eastern United States, hasbecome a common endpoint in ecological riskassessments (ERA) because of their high consumptionof potentially contaminated aquatic prey. Whilebioaccumulation data and biosurveys may be used tosupport conclusions of ERAs for kingfishers, thereare currently no published data on contaminantconcentrations in kingfishers. Additionally,methods available for collecting biological samples(e.g., feathers, eggs, food debris, etc.) fromkingfisher burrows can be detrimental to thereproductive success of the birds. We present amethod for obtaining samples from burrows during orfollowing the nesting season. The method wasapplied to kingfisher burrows on the Oak RidgeReservation (ORR) in eastern Tennessee. Feathers,eggshells, and nestlings were collected from burrows and analyzed. In addition, carcasses ofthree adult kingfishers found dead on the ORR wereanalyzed. Metals and radionuclides were accumulatedby both juvenile and adult birds. Body burdens ofcadmium, lead, and cesium-137 in adult birds were belowlevels associated with toxicity. Concentrations of selenium and mercury were observed at potentiallytoxic levels. Contaminants in eggshells andnestling feathers indicate exposure, however, thereis insufficient information to evaluate thetoxicological significance of this contamination.National Laboratory Oak Ridge National Laboratory is managed for the U.S. Department of Energy by Lockheed Martin Energy Research Corp. under contract DE-AC05-96OR22464     

Construction of a chemical ranking system of soil pollution substances for screening of priority soil contaminants in Korea

The Korean government recently proposed expanding the number of soil-quality standards to 30 by 2015. The objectives of our study were to construct a reasonable protocol for screening priority soil contaminants for inclusion in the planned soil quality standard expansion. The chemical ranking system of soil pollution substances (CROSS) was first developed to serve as an analytical tool in chemical scoring and ranking of possible soil pollution substances. CROSS incorporates important parameters commonly used in several previous chemical ranking and scoring systems and the new soil pollution parameters. CROSS uses soil-related parameters in its algorithm, including information related to the soil environment, such as soil ecotoxicological data, the soil toxic release inventory (TRI), and soil partitioning coefficients. Soil TRI and monitoring data were incorporated as local specific parameters. In addition, CROSS scores the transportability of chemicals in soil because soil contamination may result in groundwater contamination. Dermal toxicity was used in CROSS only to consider contact with soil. CROSS uses a certainty score to incorporate data uncertainty. CROSS scores the importance of each candidate substance and assigns rankings on the basis of total scores. Cadmium was the most highly ranked. Generally, metals were ranked higher than other substances. Pentachlorophenol, phenol, dieldrin, and methyl tert-butyl ether were ranked the highest among chlorinated compounds, aromatic compounds, pesticides, and others, respectively. The priority substance list generated from CROSS will be used in selecting substances for possible inclusion in the Korean soil quality standard expansion; it will also provide important information for designing a soil-environment management scheme.     

Bioluminescent yeast estrogen assay (BLYES) as a sensitive tool to monitor surface and drinking water for estrogenicity

Estrogenic Endocrine Disrupting Chemicals (EDCs) are a concern due to their ubiquity and recognized adverse effects to humans and wildlife. Methods to assess exposure to and associated risks of their presence in aquatic environment are still under development. The aim of this work is to assess estrogenicity of raw and treated waters with different degrees of pollution. Chemical analyses of selected EDCs were performed by liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry, and estrogenic activity was evaluated using in vitro bioluminescent yeast estrogen assay (BLYES). Most raw water samples (18/20) presented at least one EDC and 16 rendered positive in BLYES. When EDCs were detected, the bioassay usually provided a positive response, except when only bisphenol A was detected at low concentrations. The highest values of estrogenic activity were detected in the most polluted sites. The maximum estrogenic activity observed was 8.7 ng equiv. of E2 L(-1). We compared potencies observed in the bioassay to the relative potency of target compounds and their concentrations failed to fully explain the biological response. This indicates that bioassay is more sensitive than the chemical approach either detecting estrogenic target compounds at lower concentrations, other non-target compounds or even synergistic effects, which should be considered on further investigations. We have not detected either estrogenic activity or estrogenic compounds in drinking water. BLYES showed good sensitivity with a detection limit of 0.1 ng equiv. E2 L(-1) and it seems to be a suitable tool for water monitoring.     

Wipe sampling as a tool for monitoring aerosol deposition in workplaces

As a complement to traditional exposure assessment, monitoring deposition of aerosols can be a simple and quick screening method for identifying deposited aerosols. In this presentation examples of screening studies, based on wipe sampling in combination with adequate analytical techniques, are described. These screening methods are rapid, simple and easy to carry out. The examples given in this presentation show a broad applicability and the methods are proven useful for assessing aerosol distribution in the workplace as well as to identify target spots for more extensive assessment of a worker's exposure situation.     

Remote sensing as a tool for monitoring water quality parameters for Mediterranean Lakes of European Union water framework directive (WFD) and as a system of surveillance of cyanobacterial harmful algae blooms (SCyanoHABs)

Remote sensing has been used from the 1980s to study inland water quality. However, it was not until the beginning of the twenty-first century that CHRIS (an experimental multi-angle sensor with good spectral and spatial resolutions) and MERIS (with good temporal and spectral resolutions) started to acquire imagery with very good resolutions, which allowed to develop a reliable imagery acquisition system so as to consider remote sensing as an inland water management tool. This paper presents the methodology developed, from the field data acquisition with which to build a freshwater spectral library and the study of different atmospheric correction systems for CHRIS mode 2 and MERIS images, to the development of algorithms to determine chlorophyll-a and phycocyanin concentrations and bloom sites. All these algorithms allow determining water eutrophic and ecological states, apart from generating surveillance maps of toxic cyanobacteria with the main objective of Assessment of the Water Quality as it was used for Monitoring Ecological Water Quality in smallest Mediterranean Reservoirs integrated in the Intercalibration Exercise of European Union Water Framework Directive (WFD). We keep on using it to monitor the Ecological Quality Ratio (EQR) in Spain inland water.     

Macrobenthic surveys as a valuable tool for assessing freshwater quality in the Iberian Peninsula

Relationships between natural macrobenthic communities and aquatic environmental conditions have been recently used to perform the Biological Monitoring Water Quality (BMWQ) score system for assessing freshwater quality in the Iberian Peninsula. In this paper, the second version of the BMWQ score system is applied to two selected field studies (organic and nonorganic pollution) in order to illustrate the suitable functional character of this method. The total BMWQ (t-BMWQ) score and the average BMWQ (a-BMWQ) score are calculated, and their relationships with diversity indices are also examined. The BMWQ method appears to be very sensitive to changes in freshwater quality generated by simple organic pollution, but this method appears to be less sensitive to changes generated by complex nonorganic pollution. In addition, both scores are more sensitive measures to assess macroinvertebrate response to organic pollution than total density and diversity indices, exhibiting higher positive coefficients of linear correlation with Camargo's diversity index than with Shannon's and MacArthur's diversity indices. However, the a-BMWQ score is more sensitive to changes in family composition than the t-BMWQ score, whereas this latter score is more sensitive to family richness and sample size. In this sense, the use of the a-BMWQ score is recommended for the biological assessment of freshwater quality degradation in the Iberian Peninsula. More information is obtained for less effort when the a-BMWQ score is used.     

The development of cryoprobe nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy for the rapid detection of organic contaminants in potable water

The detection of trace levels of a range of organic contaminants (including pesticides, toxins and an explosive) in potable water, using cryoprobe NMR spectroscopy with limited sample preparation and rapid acquisition times, is described. Emphasis is placed on the applicability of NMR spectroscopy for use in emergency scenarios as the unbiased nature of the technique facilitates the detection and characterization of unknown compounds at levels as low as 50 microg L(-1).     

A phycocyanin probe as a tool for monitoring cyanobacteria in freshwater bodies

In many countries, the presence of cyanobacteria in freshwater bodies used for both drinking water and recreational purposes is under increasing public health attention. Water managers are considering how to implement monitoring that leads to a minimization of the risks incurred by the users of potentially contaminated sites. To address this question, this study involved assessing the performance of a submersible probe for measuring phycocyanin-specific fluorescence as a function of cyanobacterial biomass, with the aim of applying it as a tool for surveillance management. Its advantages and limits compared to more traditional analyses are discussed. The monitoring of cyanobacteria in the water bodies of western France was carried out using a minifluorimeter specific to the fluorescence of phycocyanin, a pigment specific to cyanobacteria. The results are compared with the analyses recommended by the World Health Organisation (chlorophyll a and cell counting). This study based on nearly 800 samples shows a significant correlation between the phycocyanin content and the cyanobacterial biomass, expressed as the number of cells per mL (R2 = 0.73). This submersible probe is simple and rapid to use, making it possible to take into account horizontal and vertical heterogeneities in the proliferation growth. In this way, we are able to detect at an early stage the conditions that could potentially lead to a risk, in order to start sampling. Due to its sensitivity, this tool proves suitable for monitoring aimed at reducing the risks incurred by the users of contaminated sites and launching preventative actions. The use of the phycocyanin probe provides an effective tool to complement traditional analyses of cyanobacterial presence. It is suggested that a surveillance protocol based on phycocyanin concentration can significantly improved the accuracy of the extent of cyanobacterial bloom development in the light of spatial and temporal variabilities associated with these occurrences.     

Monitoring bio-available marine contaminants with mussels (Mytilus edulis L) in the Netherlands

After discussing the usefulness of mussels (e.g. Mytilus edulis) for investigating contamination in the marine environment, four cases are presented:

1. A survey of Cu bioavailability in and around the Eastern Scheldt during one winter (1974–1975);
2. A surveillance with a six years interval (1974; 1980) of the bioavailability of Zn along the Dutch North Sea coast.
3. A monitoring programme over the period 1972–1980 showing the decrease in bioavailable Hg in the water column of the Ems-Dollard estuary after decreased emissions at Delfzijl.
4. Retrospective monitoring of two PCB's, as a background for the effectiveness of legal restrictions to PCB use.

These four cases are considered a first step in understanding the effects of pollutants in marine ecosystems. In depth physiological, histological and biochemical studies could lay the basis for improved routine biological effect monitoring.