On Evaluating Compliance With Air Pollution Levels “Not To Be Exceeded More Than Once A Year”

Five years (1969-1973) of sulfate and nitrate fractions were analyzed from high-volume particulate samples at 8 stations in the San Francisco Bay Area. These particulate data have been compared with simultaneous SO₂ and NO_x gas data and emission inventory data. On an annual basis, the sulfate and nitrate particulates closely track the emission inventory data, while the gas data vary more widely in response to local sources and to meteorological factors. The area-wide five year mean for sulfates is 2.68 µ/m³, only slightly above the remote nonurban sulfate background level. However, the similar five year nitrate mean of 2.78 µ/m³ is well above the national urban average. On isolated occasions, when extreme cold required "in-terruptible" sources to switch from natural gas to fuel oil, both sulfate and nitrate fractions showed 24 hour values in excess of 20 µ/m³.     

The Mass Distribution of Large Atmospheric Particles

This paper describes the results of a study to determine the total mass and the mass distribution of atmospheric aerosols, especially that mass associated with particles greater than 10 μm diameter. This study also determined what fraction of the total aerosol mass a standard high-volume air sampler collects and what fraction and size interval settle out on a dust fall plate. A special aerosol sampling system was designed for this study to obtain representative samples of large airborne particles. A suburban sampling site was selected because no local point sources of aerosols existed nearby. Samples were collected under various conditions of wind velocity and direction to obtain measurements on different types of aerosols.

Study measurements show that atmospheric particulate matter has a bimodal mass distribution. Mass associated with large particles mainly ranged from 5 to 100 μm in size, while mass associated with small particles ranged from an estimated 0.03 to 5 μm in size. Combined, these two distributions produced a bimodal mass distribution with a minimum around 5 μm diameter. The high-volume air sampler was found to collect most of the total aerosol mass, not just that fraction normally considered suspended particulate. Dust fall plates did not provide a good or very useful measure of total aerosol mass. The two fundamental processes of aerosol formation, condensation and dispersion appear to account for the formation of a bimodal mass distribution in both natural and anthropogenic aerosols. Particle size distribution measurements frequently are in error because representative samples of large airborne particles are not obtained. Considering this descrepancy, air pollution regulations should specify or be based upon an upper particle size limit.     

Environmental Progress and Problems: A Chemical Industry Perspective

From 1995 to 2004, in Genoa, Italy, daily concentrations of twelve polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) were measured in particulate phase (PM10), around a coke oven plant in operation from the 1950s and closed in 2002. The study permitted to identify the coke oven as the main PAH source in Genoa, causing constant exceeding of benzo(a)pyrene (BaP) air quality target (1.0 ng/m3) in the urban area till 1,900 meters distance downwind the plant. For this reason the plant was closed. Distance and daily hours downwind the coke plant were the main sources of variability of toxic BaP equivalent (BaPeq) concentrations and equations that best fitted these variables were experimentally obtained. During full plant activity, annual average BaPeq concentrations, measured in the three sampling sites aligned downwind to the summer prevalent winds, were: 85 ng/m3 at 40 m (site 2, industrial area), 13.2 ng/m3 at 300 m (site 3, residential area) and 5.6 ng/m3 at 575 m (site 4, residential area).

Soon after the coke oven's closure (February 2002) BaPeq concentrations (annual average) measured in residential area, decreased drastically: 0.2 ng/m3 at site 3, 0.4 ng/m3 at site 4. Comparing 1998 and 2003 data, BaPeq concentrations decreased 97.6% in site 3 and 92.8% in site 4.

Samples collected at site 3, during the longest downwind conditions, provided a reliable PAH profile of fugitive coke oven emissions. This profile was significantly different from the PAH profile, contemporary found at site 5, near the traffic flow.

This study demonstrates that risk assessment based only on distance of residences from a coke plant can be heavily inaccurate and confirmed that seasonal variability of BaPeq concentrations and high variability of fugitive emissions of PAHs during coke oven activities require at least one year of frequent and constant monitoring (10-15 samples each month).

Implications: Around a coking plant, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), concentrations depend mainly on downwind hours and distance. Equations that best fit these variables were experimentally calculated. Fugitive emissions of an old coke oven did not comply with the threshold BAP air concentration proposed by the World Health Organization (WHO), up to 1,900 m distance. The study identified the PAH profile of fugitive emissions of a coke oven, statistically different from the profile of traffic emissions. During its activity, in the Genoa residential area, 575 m away from the plant, 92.8% of found PAHs was due to coke oven emission only.     

Evidence of nuclear reactions in the Pd lattice

An operating Pd//D₂O, Li⁺, Cl⁻//Pt cell, placed in an external electrostatic field, yielded unexpected results, viz. (i) Morphological changes in the form of discrete sites exhibiting molten-like features, i.e. features that require substantial energy expenditure. (ii) Presence of elements (Al, Mg, Ca, Si, Zn, ...) that could not be extracted from cell components and deposited on discrete sites. The cell design and the experimental protocol assuring reproducibility is described in detail.     

Evaluation of PCR-based quantification techniques to estimate the abundance of atrazine chlorohydrolase gene atzA in rhizosphere soils

There are many challenges in the accurate quantification of bacterial genes, such as the atrazine-degrading enzyme antA from Pseudomonas sp. strain ADP, from soil samples. We compared four quantitative methods for enumeration of atrazine-degrading bacteria in rhizosphere environments and utilized the optimal probe-based real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR)-based method in an ongoing bioremediation experiment to monitor atzA copy number over time. We compared three quantitative PCR (qPCR) based methods--quantitative competitive PCR and two real-time qPCR methods--to traditional dilution-plate counting techniques. The optimal real-time qPCR assay was then used to monitor atzA copy number over time in the robust atrazine-degrading Pseudomonas sp. strain ADP-spiked rhizosphere environment. The use of sensitive and reliable probe-based real-time qPCRs for the enumeration of bacterial catabolic genes allows for their detection from soil samples and monitoring of potential degradative populations over time. The addition of arrazine-biodegrading bacteria into arrazine-contaminated sites to remove entrapped atrazine is a promising approach for mitigating atrazine pollution and its metabolites. The methodology contained herein will allow for optimal monitoring of atzA in rhizosphere soil with or without the addition of biodegradative Pseudomonas sp. strain ADP of bacteria.     

Computer-Intensive Methods in Traffic Safety Research

The analysis of traffic safety data archives has improved markedly with the development of procedures that are heavily dependent upon computers. Three such procedures are described here. The first procedure involves using computers to assist in the identification and correction of invalid data. The second procedure makes greater computational demands, and involves using computerized algorithms to fill in the “gaps” that typically occur in archival data when information regarding key variables is not available. The third and most computer-intensive procedure involves using data mining techniques to search archives for interesting and important relationships between variables. These procedures are illustrated using examples from data archives that describe the characteristics of traffic accidents in the USA and Australia.     

Oxygen isotope fractionation between bird bone phosphate and drinking water

Oxygen isotope compositions of bone phosphate (δ¹⁸O_p) were measured in broiler chickens reared in 21 farms worldwide characterized by contrasted latitudes and local climates. These sedentary birds were raised during an approximately 3 to 4-month period, and local precipitation was the ultimate source of their drinking water. This sampling strategy allowed the relationship to be determined between the bone phosphate δ¹⁸O_p values (from 9.8 to 22.5‰ V-SMOW) and the local rainfall δ¹⁸O_w values estimated from nearby IAEA/WMO stations (from ?16.0 to ?1.0‰ V-SMOW). Linear least square fitting of data provided the following isotopic fractionation equation: δ¹⁸O_w = 1.119 (±0.040) δ¹⁸O_p ? 24.222 (±0.644); R ² = 0.98. The δ¹⁸O_p–δ¹⁸O_w couples of five extant mallard ducks, a common buzzard, a European herring gull, a common ostrich, and a greater rhea fall within the predicted range of the equation, indicating that the relationship established for extant chickens can also be applied to birds of various ecologies and body masses. Applied to published oxygen isotope compositions of Miocene and Pliocene penguins from Peru, this new equation computes estimates of local seawater similar to those previously calculated. Applied to the basal bird Confuciusornis from the Early Cretaceous of Northeastern China, our equation gives a slightly higher δ¹⁸O_w value compared to the previously estimated one, possibly as a result of lower body temperature. These data indicate that caution should be exercised when the relationship estimated for modern birds is applied to their basal counterparts that likely had a metabolism intermediate between that of their theropod dinosaur ancestors and that of advanced ornithurines.     

Contrasting community and corporate perceptions of sustainability: A case study within the platinum mining region of South Africa

The concept of sustainable development is debatable within the mining context as the fact that mineral resources are non-renewable makes mining inherently unsustainable. The need for a realistic definition of sustainability that can be applied to mining is important, in light of claims by the industry that sustainable development principles underpin aspects of their operations. Furthermore, the socio-economic upliftment that should logically follow the implementation of these principles is not visible in many mining areas. Within the theoretical frameworks of intermediate sustainability, our study aimed to determine the level of sustainability that is appropriate for the mining context. The evaluation of community perspectives within the Rustenburg platinum region in South Africa as a case study, based on qualitative information derived from structured questionnaires and informal interviews brings further clarity. We found out that the environmental and social costs associated with mining were high, while economic benefits to surrounding communities were low. The perceptions of community and corporations were found to contrast sharply: the reality experienced by community members fell well short of the optimistic scenarios presented in the corporate social responsibility reports of the mining companies, which has implications for the mining industry in the area. The Rustenburg region is typical of mining areas, more especially the developing world, and application of a realistic sustainable development concept here can help the mining industry elsewhere to move its operations onto a genuinely more sustainable path.     

Application of remote and in situ information to the management of wetlands in Poland

The protection and regeneration of wetlands has been of crucial importance as a goal in ecological research and in nature conservation for some time and is more important than ever now. Knowledge about the biophysical properties of wetlands' vegetation retrieved from satellite images enables us to improve the monitoring of these unique areas, which are otherwise very often impenetrable and therefore difficult to examine, analyze and assess by means of site visits. The Biebrza Wetlands are situated in the North-East part of Poland and are one of the largest areas made up of marshes and swamps in the entire EU. This is still one of the wildest areas and one of the least destroyed, damaged or changed by human impact. However, in the recent decades there have been attempts made to intensify and overexploit the natural resources of the region and implement new agriculture practices in the area. In this period, drainage canals have been built, and a good deal of the area has been drained. The area of this precious ecosystem covers 25 494 ha. This valuable area of peat with unique vegetation species and with very special birds is one of the most valuable areas in Europe and in 1995 was added to the list of Ramsar sites. The investigation of wetlands in the Biebrza River Valley has been carried out at ground level by taking measurements of soil moisture, evapotranspiration, Leaf Area Index, wet and dry biomass and the levels of ground water and meteorological parameters. Also examined were radiative temperature, detailed vegetation mapping, and APAR. For some years the deterioration of peat lands has been noticed due to the drying out of the area and the frequent outbreak of fires. The consequence is the succession of new vegetation and the appearance of new ecosystems. The Remote Sensing Centre in the Institute of Geodesy and Cartography has undertaken the investigation by applying ERS-2.SAR and ENVISAT ASAR of IS2 and IS4 and VV, HH, HV polarization for the purpose of modeling soil moisture and humidity changes of the area under investigation. The investigation also aimed at finding the best biophysical properties of wetlands' vegetation to characterize marshland habitats and its changes. At the same time as registering the microwave data, the optical data from Landsat ETM+, SPOT VEGETATION, ERS-2.ATSR, ENVISAT MERIS, and NOAA/AVHRR have been registered and information about the biomass and heat fluxes as sensible and latent heat has also been calculated. The vegetation indices are calculated from EO satellite data taking into account jointly the features of vegetation responsible for reflection in various bands and combining this information from several spectral bands. Also, the changes in the humidity of the area have been examined by extracting the backscattering coefficients from two SAR images that were taken at a similar period of the year but with a gap of 5 years. The information about soil moisture as retention, soil moisture changes, heat fluxes and evapotranspiration are all very important for estimates of CO(2) sequestration. The ENVISAT images have been obtained for the ESA AO-ID122 project. Also the SMOS and ALOS data will be applied for the Biebrza Wetlands in the future.     

Early detection of abdominal pregnancy by maternal serum AFP+ screening

We present two cases of abdominal pregnancy identified in our maternal serum screening programme—an additional, as yet unreported benefit of AFP+ (multiple analyte) maternal serum oncofetal antigen screening in pregnancy.