Monitoring of radionuclides contamination of soils in Shatsk National Natural Park (Volyn region, Ukraine) during 1994-2001

The results of studies of radionuclide contamination of the soils in the western part of the territory of Shatsk National Natural Park (ShNNP), Volyn region, Ukraine, performed during 1994-2001 are presented. Based on the experimental results, the three-dimensional plot of the 137Cs density contamination for the soils at the territory under investigation has been constructed. The monitoring during 1994-2001 of the 137Cs vertical distributions in the different kinds of soils from the Park and the forecasting of the distribution changes of the depth down to 50 cm for the sod loamy sandy gleyed loamy sand soil of the Park up to 2086 have been performed.     

Radiocesium accumulation in mosses from highlands of Serbia and Montenegro: chemical and physiological aspects

The aim of this work was (i) to determine the activity levels of 137Cs in mosses from highland ecosystems of Serbia and Montenegro, (ii) to find out if radiocesium is associated with essential biomacromolecules, and (iii) to investigate 137Cs distribution among intracellular compartments. It was found that biomolecules of mosses do not bind significant amounts of radiocesium (2.3-3.3% of the absorbed 137Cs), a behavior that was independent of the moss species. Cellular fractionation of mosses showed that membranes are the primary 137Cs-binding sites at the cellular level. They contained 26.1-43.1% of the initial radiocesium activity. It seems that 137Cs-binding molecules in different mosses are of similar chemical nature, and their distribution between various cellular compartments is not species specific.     

An Ecologically Destabilized Environment: Its Effect on Small-Mammal Populations

Characteristics of the small-mammal populations inhabiting forest biocenoses in the Middle Ural state reserves have been analyzed over in the period from 1987 to 2002. During this period, the habitats of these animals were considerably destabilized due to windfalls and fires. The environmental characteristics of animal microhabitats at different stages of environment destabilization have been described quantitatively. Changes in the long-term cycles of the population dynamics of the dominant forest vole species caused by the destabilizing factors have been found. Redistribution of species dominance with respect to abundance has been demonstrated.     

The Frequency of Micronuclei among Newborns from Kragujevac, Central Serbia, after NATO Bombing in the Spring of 1999

Kragujevac, as an important industrial and economic center of the region, is now placed on the top of the list of environmentally endangered cities in our country. The aim of this biomonitoring study was to evaluate cytogenetic damage in a sample of newborns from Kragujevac after contamination of the environment entailed by the intensive bombing of the industrial zone of this city in the spring of 1999. The frequency of micronuclei (MN) in peripheral blood lymphocytes in a total of 61 phenotypically healthy newborns was analyzed before and after the NATO bombing. Analysis of micronuclei has been performed using the cytokinesis-block technique (CB MN test). Average MN frequency in lymphocytes of newborns before the bombing (N = 25) was 5.77 ± 0.85/1000 analyzed cells. After the bombing (N = 36), the average frequency of MN increased by a factor of 1.4 (8.11 ± 0.85), compared to the control frequency before the bombing. Statistical difference (p < 0.05) was established by Student's t-test. Our data suggest that such changes in genetic material were a direct consequence of contamination of the living environment.     

Estimating the quantity of solid waste generation in Oyo, Nigeria.

The study established waste multipliers that could be used in conjunction with the population figure of a city to estimate the quantity of solid waste generation in the developing world. Oyo, a traditional city in Nigeria was the focus of the study. Two sets of data were collected. The first was the information on the socio-economic attributes of residents obtained from 648 households through questionnaires administered using a systematic random sampling technique. The second was the measurement of waste generated in 25% of the households for a week in each of the 12 months of the year. The study established that 23.3% of the residents surveyed have educational qualifications beyond secondary school, with 51.2% engaged in occupations requiring very little or no formal education and 50.9% were in the low-income group. The daily per capita solid waste generation was 0.129 kg. The highest (9.8%) and lowest (6.5%) of the annual quantities of waste were produced in October and February, respectively. Similarly, 20.2% of the weekly generation was produced on Saturday and the 10.2% produced on Thursday was the lowest. Animal dung, which accounted for 18.0%, constituted the highest component of the total solid waste generated. The study further established that the organic component of the waste generation was 75.4%. The results of the regression analysis R2 significant at 0.001 showed that income, household size, social status, occupation, education and season of the year explained 88.8% of waste generation in Oyo. It was established that 50.90 tonnes of solid waste was generated per day in the city in 2005, and the daily generation in the year 2008 is estimated to be 55.20 tonnes. The study concluded that with an average annual population growth of 13 000 people for the town, an additional 1.3 acres of land will need to be legally acquired annually, implying that 10.92-19.68 hectares ill be required as dump site(s) over the next 20-30 years.     

Lake pollution in Ibadan,Nigeria

An investigation was made of the sources and degree of pollution of Ogunpa lake, situated in Ibadan, Nigeria. It was shown that the lake receives a variety of waste effluents from domestic and industrial sources which discharge into the Ogunpa stream. These waste effluents have caused an odour nuisance in the lake, and little or no dissolved oxygen is present. The discharge of nutrients (N and P) to the lake has resulted in excessive growth of aquatic weeds. All these impacts on the lake have resulted in a reduced fish production. Some suggestions for the prevention of pollution and the recovery of the lake are presented.     

Trace zinc and copper concentration in roadside surface soils and vegetation—measurement of local atmospheric pollution in Alice, South Africa

Surface soil and grass samples were collected from ten locations perpendicular to a major road in Alice and were analyzed for zinc and copper. The results revealed an association between zinc concentration and distance from road traffic. An association was also revealed between soil zinc and grass zinc which suggests same source for the metal in samples. The results for copper did not show any correlation between sample concentration and distance from road traffic. Neither did it show any correlation between soil zinc and soil copper or between grass zinc and grass copper which suggests different sources for the elements.     

Occurrence of carcinogenic amino-alpha-carbolines in some environmental samples

The carcinogenic amino-alpha-carbolines, 2-amino-9H-pyrido[2,3-b]indole and AalphaC, have been measured in airborne particles, rain water, soil and cigarette-smoke-polluted indoor air by high-performance liquid chromatography. These carcinogens were found in all kinds of environmental samples examined, although MeAalphaC was not detected in soil. Considering the present results, together with the previous findings that these carcinogens were present in foodstuffs, cigarette smoke and diesel-exhaust particles, amino-alpha-carbolines are likely to be ubiquitous environmental pollutants. Our data also support the hypothesis that amino-alpha-carbolines are formed through combustion of various materials such as food, grass and petroleum.     

Two methods to define and compute visual buffer strips in a forested environment

Several approaches can be used to define and construct visual buffer strips around proposed new facility sites in a forested environment. A visual buffer strip of a given value, defines a region around an object within which the probability of an unblocked view of all or portions of it by an observer are less than the buffer strip probability value. Two primary approaches are used to define visual buffer strips that take into account the size of the vegetative elements and their individual effects on visibility. Several variations and combinations of the approaches are possible. One approach defines a visual buffer strip based on the average probability of a clear view of points along the object by an observer; the other approach is based on the visibility of the feature as a whole. The computation and construction of visual buffer strips based on these two concepts are presented. Comparisons of the two approaches for specific feature shapes are also described.