Environmental risks of farmed and barren alkaline coal ash landfills in Tuzla, Bosnia and Herzegovina

The disposal of coal combustion residues (CCR) has led to a significant consumption of land in the West Balkan region. In Tuzla (Bosnia and Herzegovina) we studied previously soil-covered (farmed) and barren CCR landfills including management practises, field ageing of CCR and the transfer of trace elements into crops, wild plants and wastewaters. Soil tillage resulted in mixing of cover soil with CCR. Medicago sativa showed very low Cu:Mo ratios (1.25) which may cause hypocuprosis in ruminants. Total loads of inorganic pollutants in the CCR transport water, but not pH ( approximately 12), were below regulatory limits of most EU countries. Arsenic concentrations in CCR transport water were <2microgl(-1) whereas reductive conditions in an abandoned landfill significantly enhanced concentrations in leachates (44microgl(-1)). The opposite pattern was found for Cr likely due to large initial leaching of CrVI. Public use of landfills, including farming, should be based on a prior risk assessment due to the heterogeneity of CCR.     

Chemical Compositions and Sources of Organic Matter in Fine Particles of Soils and Sands from the Vicinity of Kuwait City

Fine particles in the atmosphere from soil and sand resuspension contain a variety of organic compounds from natural biogenic and anthropogenic matter. Soil and sand samples from various sites near Kuwait city were collected, sieved to retain the fine particles, and extracted with a mixture of dichloromethane and methanol. The extracts were derivatized and analyzed by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry in order to characterize the chemical compositions and sources of the organic components. The major inputs of organic compounds were from both natural biogenic and anthropogenic sources in these samples. Vegetation was the major natural source of organic compounds and included n-alkanols, n-alkanoic acids, n-alkanes, sterols and triterpenoids. Saccharides had high concentrations (31–43%) in the sand dune and seafront samples, indicating sources from decomposed vegation materials and/or the presence of viable microbiota such as bacteria and fungi. Vehicular emission products, leakage of lubricating oils, discarded plastics and emissions from cooking operations were the major anthropogenic inputs in the samples from the urban areas. This input was mainly UCM, n-alkanes, hopanes, plasticizers and cholesterol, respectively.     

Das Biologische System der Elemente

Ohne Zusammenfassung DOI:http://dx.doi.org/10.1065/uwsf2000.02.001     

Untersuchungen zur Eignung von Neutralsalzen als Referenzmittel bei der mikrobiologisch-ökotoxikologischen Bewertung von Pflanzenschutzmitteln im Boden

Goal and Scope

The information value of microbiologicalecotoxicological investigations of pesticides in soil increases if reference compounds with known biocidal effects are included. But those reference compounds used until now often are of remarkable environmental and human toxicity and therefore are difficult to handle. Inorganic neutral salts sometimes were discussed as alternatives, but their suitability needs to be tested before.

Methods

For laboratory experiments some microbial activities in soil were selected whose effects had been proved in several microbiological-ecotoxicological investigations. They include the mineralization of carbon and nitrogen (+ nitrification) as well as the biomass-related parameters dehydrogenase activity and substrate-induced short-term respiration. Several agricultural soils were used to confirm the results.     

Towards an experimental analysis of molecular self-organization and precellular Darwinian evolution

An experimental system is described, which opens up a novel pathway towards a molecular understanding of the origin of life. The systemic conditions for the evolution of biological macromolecules are investigated in detail.     

Abfallwirtschaft: Neue Sichtweisen und Techniken

In den letzten Jahren werden in vielen Ländern eher die Abfallkomponenten als vielmehr die Stoffmischungen betrachtet. Das gesetzliche Rahmenwerk des Stoffstrommanagement kann dazu beitragen, die Probleme auf wissenschaftlicher Grundlage zu lösen. Der Einfluss der neuen Gesetzgebung in Deutschland und Europa auf das Stoffstrommanagement sowie auf die Entwicklung neuer Techniken bei Abfallentsorgung und-recycling wird in diesem Beitrag untersucht. Neue Prinzipien für das Abfallmanagement werden vom Management der Stoffströme abgeleitet.     

Effects of urbanization on heavy metal accumulation in surface soils, Beijing

Urbanization processes affect the accumulation of heavy metals in urban soils. Effects of urbanization on heavy metal accumulation in soils were studied using Beijing as an example. It has been suggested that the ecological function of vegetation covers shifting from natural to agricultural settings and then to urban greenbelts could increase the zinc(Zn) concentrations of soils successively. The Zn concentration of urban soils was significantly correlated to the percentage of the impervious land surface at the500 m × 500 m spatial scale. For urban parks, the age or years since the development accounted for 80% of the variances of cadmium(Cd) and Zn in soils. The population density,however, did not affect the heavy metal distributions in urban soils. To conclude, the urban age turned out to be a notable factor in quantifying heavy metal accumulation in urban soils.