Biomonitoring of persistent organochlorine pesticides, PCDD/PCDFs and dioxin-like PCBs in blood of children from South West Germany (Baden-Wuerttemberg) from 1993 to 2003

In the context of a monitoring program, persistent organic pollutants (POPs) were quantified in the blood of 10 year old children at four different demographic regions in Baden-Wuerttemberg, a highly industrialised federal state in South West Germany. DDE, HCB, PCB 138, PCB 153 and PCB 180 were measured in 1996/1997, 1998/1999, 2000/2001 and 2002/2003 in individual samples of about 400 children per year. PCDD/PCDFs and some relevant coplanar PCBs were determined in pooled samples from children in seven cycles from 1993 to 2003. Blood concentrations of the investigated compounds decreased in that time period by a factor of 2-4 with the exception of most PCDFs. The concentrations of POPs in the blood of the children were distinctly lower than the concentrations reported for adults. Breast feeding was associated with about 30% higher median concentrations of DDE, HCB, PCBs and a 30% increase for mean PCDD/PCDF concentrations. Concerning demographic differences, significant lower concentrations of HCB, PCBs and PCDD/PCDFs could be seen in children from Mannheim compared to the region of Aulendorf. About 10-20% higher concentrations were found in boys compared to girls for HCB, indicator PCBs and PCDD/PCDFs. The pattern of non-ortho and mono-ortho PCBs in the blood of children was similar to the pattern reported for mother's milk, and PCB 126 and PCB 156 contributed about 70% to the toxicity of dioxin-like PCBs and about one-third to total TEQ including PCDD/PCDFs.     

Effect of aerobic pretreatment of waste on the rate of anaerobic treatment processes

The efficiency of waste degradation can be expressed by the rate of waste decomposition in individual phases. This article presents the durations of degradation phases of pretreated and untreated waste stabilized in anaerobic laboratory reactors. In this investigation, the quantities of organic and nitrogen contaminants emitted from the waste during the study are presented. The study confirmed the beneficial effects of aerobic pretreatment of waste before landfilling on reducing the duration of hydrolysis and acid phases, and speeding up the start of the stable methane phase. In the pretreated waste reactor, the stable methane phase began about 19 weeks earlier than in the untreated waste. The total amounts of contaminants removed from the aerobic pretreatment waste were lower than from untreated waste, with values of COD, TOC, BOD₅, and VFA corresponding to 21, 18, 6, and 23 %, respectively, and values of TKN and NH₄ of 7 and 50 %, respectively.     

Distribution of metals (Fe, Mn, Zn, Cu) in fish tissues in two lakes of different trophy in Northwestern Poland

This study presents concentrations of iron, manganese, zinc, and copper in selected tissues of two fish species: pike (Esox lucius L.) and bream (Abramis brama L.) living in lakes Ińsko and Wisola, Northwestern Poland. The lakes differ in their trophic status. The effect of gender and environmental conditions on metals accumulation was also investigated. Metal analyses were performed using inductively coupled plasma atomic emission spectroscopy. Considering all studied fish species and tissues, the average metal concentrations (micrograms per gram wet weight) in both lakes occurred in the following ranges: Fe 0.8–240.6, Mn 0.2–8.4, Zn 3.0–185.9, and Cu 0.14–7.76. The lowest levels of the studied metals were always detected in the muscles. The spleen, kidneys, and liver were found to accumulate the highest amounts of Fe. In the case of the other metals, the highest levels were found, as follows: Mn in skin, gills, and gonads, Zn in digestive tract and gills, Cu in liver. Heavy metal content in fish gonads was observed to be sex dependent.     

Coltan from Central Africa,international trade and implications for any certification

The exploitation of coltan in Central Africa can be considered a case of conflict minerals due to its nature. Many international organizations and bodies, national governments and private sector organizations seek to address this conflict, in particular via transparency, certification and accountability along the material supply chain. This paper analyses the international trade dimension of coltan and gives evidence on the dimension of illicit trade of coltan. The authors start from the hypothesis that illicit trade of coltan sooner or later will enter the market and will be reflected in the statistics. The paper is structured in the following manner: first, a short section gives a profile of coltan production and markets; second, an overview of the mining situation in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and related actors. The third section addresses mechanisms, actors and measurement issues involved in the international trade of coltan. The final part draws lessons for certification and conflict analysis and offers some guidance for future research.     

Multi-level discrepancies with sharing data on protected areas: what we have and what we need for the global village

Protected areas present a global heritage. Assessing conservation achievements in protected areas is of crucial importance with respect to the on-time delivery of international biodiversity conservation targets. However, monitoring data from publicly accessible databases for comparative studies of conservation achievements in the protected areas of the world are very scarce, if not non-existent. At first glance this is surprising because, with regards to protected areas, at least according to well established protected area management guidelines and widely accepted public mandates, a great deal of monitoring work and data gathering is to be conducted. This would imply that data on changes of biodiversity in protected areas could be expected to exist, and the constant progress in information technologies and Web tools engenders hope that some of it might even be available online for the global public. This review article presents the results of an extensive online search and review of existing monitoring data from freely accessible online databases for its use in an assessment of conservation achievements in a larger sample of protected areas. Results show two contrary sides to the status quo of accessible data from the World Wide Web for conservation science: data overkill and data scarcity with poor metadata provision. While ever more research is, in fact, based on open-access online data, such as extrapolations of species ranges used in conservation management and planning, it remains almost impossible to obtain a basic set of information for an assessment of conservation achievements within a larger number of protected areas. This awareness has triggered a detailed discussion about the discrepancies in sharing data at the level of protected areas; mismatching relationships between expected activities in protected areas and the capacity for delivering these requirements are certainly among the main challenges. In addition, the fear of data misuse potentially resulting in harm for nature, careers, and competencies still seems to be a critical barrier strictly controlling the willingness to share data. Various initiatives aimed at tackling technical and cultural obstacles are introduced and discussed to reach the goal of a modern resource management based on adaptive management using digital opportunities of the new millennium for a sustainable global village.     

Heavy metal content in the femora of yellow-necked mouse (Apodemus flavicollis) and wood mouse (Apodemus sylvaticus) from different types of polluted environment in Slovakia

Heavy metal content in the femora of yellow-necked mouse (Apodemus flavicollis) and wood mouse (Apodemus sylvaticus) caught in different polluted biotopes of a low hill level in Slovakia (Nováky and Kolín?any) was investigated in the present study. Length, weight and histological structure of mouse bones have also been analysed. According to our results, higher concentrations of Cd, Ni, Fe, Cu and Zn were detected in the femora of A. flavicollis from Kolín?any area. Similarly, we observed higher concentrations of Ni, Fe, Cu and Zn in the bones of A. sylvaticus trapped at the same biotope. Significant differences were observed for concentrations of Ni and Zn in both species (P?<?0.05). The measured values for bone length and bone weight were higher in yellow-necked mice and wood mice from Nováky locality (P?<?0.01). Histological observation of thin sections from femora of A. flavicollis and A. sylvaticus revealed an outer and inner non-vascular lamellar layer around a poorly developed reticular layer. We did not identify demonstrable changes in qualitative histological characteristics of the femora between the mice (A. flavicollis and A. sylvaticus separately) from different types of polluted environment. Also, no statistically significant differences for all the measured variables of primary osteons’ vascular canals were observed. Correlation analysis in yellow-necked mouse showed high positive relation between bone weight and bone length (r?=?0.66), area and perimeter (r?=?0.87) and perimeter and maximum diameter (r?=?0.87). In wood mouse, high positive correlation between bone weight and bone length (r?=?0.80), area and perimeter (r?=?0.72), area and maximum diameter (r?=?0.66) and perimeter and maximum diameter (r?=?0.74) was found. Our results demonstrate slightly elevated accumulation of some heavy metals in the femora of yellow-necked mouse and wood mouse from Kolín?any biotope and thus give an evidence of a contamination of the environment.     

Biodegradation of PCBs by ligninolytic fungi and characterization of the degradation products

The aim of the present study was to compare the degrading capabilities of eight ligninolytic fungal representatives towards a technical mixture of polychlorinated biphenyls (Delor 103). Axenic cultures of the fungi, either in complex or N-limited liquid media, were spiked with the technical mixture of Delor 103. All of the fungal strains were able to degrade the pollutant significantly after 6weeks of incubation in both media. Outstanding results were achieved by the treatment with Pleurotus ostreatus, which removed 98.4% and 99.6% of the PCB mixture in complex and mineral media, respectively. This fungus was the only one capable of breaking down penta- and hexachlorinated biphenyls in the complex medium. Ecotoxicological assays performed with the luminescent bacterium Vibrio fischeri demonstrated that all of the fungal strains employed in this study were able to remove the toxicity only temporarily (e.g., after 28d of incubation), while P. ostreatus was capable of suppressing the toxicity associated to PCBs along the whole incubation period in both media. We also performed an extensive set of qualitative GC/MS analyses and chlorinated derivatives of hydroxy- and methoxy-biphenyls were detected along with monoaromatic structures, i.e. chlorobenzoic acids, chlorobenzaldehydes and chlorobenzyl alcohols. This results indicate that both intracellular (cytochrome P-450 monooxigenase, aryl-alcohol dehydrogenase and aryl-aldehyde dehydrogenase) and extracellular (ligninolytic enzymes) enzymatic systems could be involved in the biotransformation of PCB by ligninolytic fungi. The data from this work also document that the fungi are able to degrade further the main metabolites on the PCB pathway (i.e. chlorobenzoic acids) simultaneously with PCBs.