Storage mediums affect metal concentration in woodlice (Isopoda)

Terrestrial invertebrates are becoming widely established as tools to assess heavy metal pollution at contaminated sites. A practical and time saving method to sample terrestrial invertebrates consist of pitfall traps, often filled with a 4% formaldehyde solution and some detergent. The reliability of metal concentrations based on organisms captured and stored in this solution might however be questioned and we therefore tested the effect of formaldehyde on Zn, Cu, Cd and Pb concentration experimentally in three isopod species. Our results showed that in many cases, significant decreases in Cu concentrations compared to animals stored in a freezer were observed that could be as high as 40%, while Zn, Cd and Pb concentrations increased. A regression analysis of individual dry weight on individual size revealed that formaldehyde decreases the dry weight substantially and in that way causes increased measurements of Zn, Cd and Pb concentrations. We conclude that pitfall traps with formaldehyde should better not be used to collect animals in which concentrations of heavy metals or other toxic substances will be determined.     

Einflu? chemischer Kontaminanten (insbesondere Schwermetalle) auf die Bodenorganismen und ihre ?kologisch bedeutenden Aktivit?ten

Für die Vorsorge- und Sanierungsma?nahmen im Rahmen des Bodenschutzes ist es notwendig, Auswirkungen anthropogener Bodenbelastungen auf die im Boden lebenden Organismen und auf ihre ?kologisch bedeutenden Aktivit?ten zu kennen und voll zu berücksichtigen. Der vorliegende Aufsatz bringt eine übersicht insbesondere betreffend den Einflu? von Schwermetallen auf (a) die quantitative und qualitative Zusammensetzung der Population von Bodenorganismen; (b) die mikrobiellen Umsetzungen kohlenstoff- und stickstoffhaltiger Substrate; (c) die Enzymaktivit?ten im Boden; (d) den Abbau von Pflanzenrückst?nden; (c) die Resistenzerscheinungen bei Bodenmikroorganismen und (f) die Auswirkungen abiotischer Bodenfaktoren auf die biologische Wirksamkeit der Schadstoffe. Aus den zahlreichen durch Referenzen belegten Erkenntnissen werden Schlu?folgerungen gezogen, die auf die Eignung von Mikrobenpopulationen und ihrer Aktivit?ten für die Beurteilung der anthropogenen Bodenbelastungen hinweisen.     

Terrestrial ecosystem recovery--modelling the effects of reduced acidic inputs and increased inputs of sea-salts induced by global change

The reduced emissions of acidifying sulfur and nitrogen in Europe since the late 1970s will be further reduced when the Gothenburg protocol is fully implemented by 2010. Here we address the consequences for the recovery of acidified terrestrial ecosystems using the acidification model MAGIC applied to 3 large-scale "clean rain" experiments, the so-called roof experiments at Risdalsheia, Norway; G?rdsj?n, Sweden, and Klosterhede, Denmark. Implementation of the Gothenburg protocol will initiate recovery of the soils at all 3 sites by rebuilding base saturation. The rate of recovery is small and base saturation increases less than 5% over the next 30 years. A climate-induced increase in storm severity will increase the sea-salt input to the ecosystems. This will provide additional base cations to the soils and more than double the rate of the recovery, but also lead to strong acid pulses following high sea-salt inputs as the deposited base cations exchange with the acidity stored in the soil. Future recovery of soils and runoff at acidified catchments will thus depend on the amount and rate of reduction of acid deposition, and in the case of systems near the coast, the frequency and intensity of sea-salt episodes as well.     

Mercury baseline levels in Flemish soils (Belgium)

It is important to establish contaminant levels that are normally present in soils to provide baseline data for pollution studies. Mercury is a toxic element of concern. This study was aimed at assessing baseline mercury levels in soils in Flanders. In a previous study, mercury contents in soils in Oost-Vlaanderen were found to be significantly above levels reported elsewhere. For the current study, observations were extended over two more provinces, West-Vlaanderen and Antwerpen. Ranges of soil Hg contents were distinctly higher in the province Oost-Vlaanderen (interquartile range from 0.09 to 0.43 mg/kg) than in the other provinces (interquartile ranges from 0.7 to 0.13 and 0.7 to 0.15 mg/kg for West-Vlaanderen and Antwerpen, respectively). The standard threshold method was applied to separate soils containing baseline levels of Hg from the data. Baseline concentrations for Hg were characterised by a median of 0.10mg Hg/kg dry soil, an interquartile range from 0.07 to 0.14 mg/kg and a 90% percentile value of 0.30 mg/kg. The influence of soil properties such as clay and organic carbon contents, and pH on baseline Hg concentrations was not important. Maps of the spatial distribution of Hg levels showed that the province Oost-Vlaanderen exhibited zones with systematically higher Hg soil contents. This may be related to the former presence of many small-scale industries employing mercury in that region.     

Enantiomer fractions of chiral organochlorine pesticides and polychlorinated biphenyls in standard and certified reference materials

Enantiomeric ratios (ERs) and enantiomeric fractions (EFs) of a number of chiral organochlorine pesticides and PCB atropisomers were measured by chiral gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (GC/MS) in five standard (SRM) and certified (CRM) reference materials: SRM 1588a (organics in cod liver oil), SRM 1945 (organics in whale blubber), Marine Mammal Quality Assurance Exercise Control Material IV (NIST IV, organics in whale blubber), CRM trout, and CRM EC-5 (sediment). Target analytes were cis- and trans-chlordane, heptachlor exo-epoxide, oxychlordane, U82, MC5, MC6, MC7, o,p^′-DDT, and PCB congeners 91, 95, 136, 149, 174, 176, and 183. Measured ERs and EFs are in close agreement with the few literature values reported for some of these analytes in SRMs and CRMs. Chiral PCB ERs and EFs measured by one-dimensional chiral GC/MS were similar to values measured using multidimensional chiral GC/MS. Non-racemic chiral compositions are in agreement with known uptake and biotransformation in the respective environmental matrices. These values should aid in the quality assurance/quality control methodologies for chiral environmental chemistry using standardized reference materials.     

Critical Loads – Is There A Need For A New Concept?

The concept of critical loads has been an important andsuccessful tool for the development of control strategiesfor transboundary air pollution in Europe. The use of theconcept has led us to a situation where very few areas inEurope will have an exceedance of critical loads foracidification in 2010, indicating that the benefits offurther control acidifying substances will be lessuseful. The critical loads concept does not, however,take into account the large benefits of further controlin damaged systems but where critical loads are nolonger exceeded. In this paper we discuss the importanceof widening the critical loads concept to include thesebenefits and we propose an additional effect-relatedmeasure, Dynamic Impact Analysis, to be included infurther control strategies and assessments. With such aconcept the actual situation and its further developmentwill be included in assessments and control strategies.     

Indications of Recovery from Hypoxia in the Inner Stockholm Archipelago

Improved benthic conditions compared to the 1990s were found during benthic investigations, including sediment and benthic macrofauna in the inner Stockholm archipelago during 2008. In the 1990s, these areas were dominated by black and laminated surface sediments and very sparse fauna. A clear relationship was found when comparing sediment status with the benthic macrofauna. Reduced surface sediment and impoverished macroinvertebrate community was only found at one sampling station representing an enclosed part of the inner archipelago, whereas the other seven stations, with depths ranging from 20 to 50 m, had oxidized surface sediments and considerable biomasses of benthic macrofauna (6–65 g m⁻²) dominated by the invading polychaete Marenzelleria neglecta. An extrapolation of the results shows that, within the investigated area, the coverage of reduced surface sediments had decreased from approximately 17% in the late 1990s to 4% in 2008.     

Inter-laboratory exercise on steroid estrogens in aqueous samples

An inter-laboratory comparison exercise was organized among European laboratories, under the aegis of EU COST Action 636: “Xenobiotics in Urban Water Cycle”. The objective was to evaluate the performance of testing laboratories determining “Endocrine Disrupting Compounds” (EDC) in various aqueous matrices. As the main task three steroid estrogens: 17α-ethinylestradiol, 17β-estradiol and estrone were determined in four spiked aqueous matrices: tap water, river water and wastewater treatment plant influent and effluent using GC-MS and LC-MS/MS. Results were compared and discussed according to the analytical techniques applied, the accuracy and reproducibility of the analytical methods and the nature of the sample matrices. Overall, the results obtained in this inter-laboratory exercise reveal a high level of competence among the participating laboratories for the detection of steroid estrogens in water samples indicating that GC-MS as well as LC-MS/MS can equally be employed for the analysis of natural and synthetic hormones.     

Road dust emissions from paved roads measured using different mobile systems

Very few real-world measurements of road dust suspension have been performed to date. This study compares two different techniques (referred to as Sniffer and Emma) to measure road dust emissions. The main differences between the systems are the construction of the inlet, different instruments for recording particulate matter (PM) levels, and different loads on the wheel axes (the weight of Sniffer was much higher than that of Emma). Both systems showed substantial small-scale variations of emission levels along the road, likely depending on-road surface conditions. The variations observed correlated quite well, and the discrepancies are likely a result of variations in dust load on the road surface perpendicular to the driving direction that cause variations in the measurements depending on slightly different paths driven by the two vehicles. Both systems showed a substantial influence on the emission levels depending on the type of tire used. The summer tire showed much lower suspension than the winter tires (one nonstudded and one studded). However, the relative importance of the nonstudded versus studded tire was rather different. For the ratio of studded/nonstudded, Emma shows higher values on all road sections compared with Sniffer. Both techniques showed increased emission levels with increasing vehicle speed. When the speed increased from 50 to 80 km hr(-1), the relative concentrations increased by 30-170% depending on the tire type and dust load. However, for road sections that were very dirty, Sniffer showed a much higher relative increase in the emission level with the nonstudded tire. Sniffer's absolute concentrations were mostly higher than Emma's. Possible reasons for the differences are discussed in the paper. Both systems can be used for studying relative road dust emissions and for designing air quality management strategies.     

Trampling impact on vegetation of embryonic and stabilised sand dunes in Montenegro

Trampling is one of the human activities that are harmful for plant species and communities of sand dune ecosystems. The aim of this study was to compare the vegetation of embryonic and shifting Ammophila sand dunes with and without fencing to limit trampling. Fenced sand dunes appeared to be richer in species but differences were more prominent in embryonic sand dunes. Some species (Cakile maritima, Pancratium maritimum) were missing on trampled embryonic dunes. The positive impact of trampling exclusion on embryonic sand dunes was indicated by a lowered slope in a Whittaker graph as well as by rarefaction curves that showed higher species richness on the lower slope. Changes in the vegetation of more stabilised shifting Ammophila sand dunes due to trampling are not evident, although species composition is also impoverished. Fencing of parts of sand dunes proved to be an effective measure for vegetation conservation. In addition to physical exclusion of visitors, fences can also have symbolic value for raising public awareness.