Cultivation of garden vegetables in Peoria Pool sediments from the Illinois River: a case study in trace element accumulation and dietary exposures

This case study was conducted to evaluate the use of reclaimed lake sediment as a growth media for vegetable production and to estimate whether accumulation of micronutrients and heavy metals in the vegetables would impact human nutrition or health, respectively. Five plant species, bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L.), broccoli (Brassica oleracea L.), carrot (Daucus carota L.), pepper (Capsicum annum L.), and tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum L.), were grown in pots containing either reclaimed sediment from the Illinois River or a reference soil. Edible and vegetative tissues from the plants were analyzed for 19 elements, including As, Cd, Cr, Cu, Hg, Mo, Ni, Pb, Se, and Zn. Tomato and pepper grown in sediment showed significantly greater biomass and yield as compared to plants from the reference soil. Elemental analysis of the tissues revealed that Zn and Mo were the only elements that were significantly greater in sediment-grown plants on a consistent basis. While significant, Zn concentrations were no more than 3-fold higher than those in plants from the reference soil. The same trend was observed for Mo, except for bean tissues, which showed a 10-fold greater concentration in sediment-grown plants. The projected dietary intake of Cu, Mo, and Zn from consumption of sediment-grown vegetable tissues was significantly higher than for soil-grown plants, although the contribution to the recommended dietary allowances (RDAs) for these elements was substantial only for Mo. Intake of sediment-grown beans would have provided 500% of the dietary Mo RDA. While this is below the lowest observable adverse effect level (LOAEL) value for this element, there is no evidence to indicate that there would be a nutritional or therapeutic benefit from the consumption of bean containing this level of Mo. The dietary exposures to Cd and Pb would have been below the pertinent limits for all age and gender groups with the exception of the cumulative dietary Cd exposure to the 1-3 year age group. The results from this study suggest that this reclaimed sediment can be utilized for the production of vegetables intended for human consumption. The results from this case study also suggest that sediment material with similar physicochemical characteristics and elemental concentrations that fall within the pertinent regulatory guidelines should also be a suitable and safe medium for vegetable production.     

Sustainable production in circular economy: aerogel upscaling production

Environmental Science and Pollution Research -     

Ecosystems for future generations

Environmental Science and Pollution Research -     

Growth responses of Avicennia germinans and Batis maritima seedlings to weathered light sweet crude oil applied to soil and aboveground tissues

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - Oil spills are a significant stressor to coastal and maritime environments worldwide. The growth responses of Batis maritima and Avicennia germinans...     

Unmanned aerial vehicle images in the machine learning for agave detection

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - In this study, six supervised classification algorithms were compared. The algorithms were based on cluster analysis, distance, deep learning, and...     

Contribution of warm habitat to cold-water fisheries

A central tenet of landscape ecology is that mobile species depend on complementary habitats, which are insufficient in isolation, but combine to support animals through the full annual cycle. However, incorporating the dynamic needs of mobile species into conservation strategies remains a challenge, particularly in the context of climate adaptation planning. For cold-water fishes, it is widely assumed that maximum temperatures are limiting and that summer data alone can predict refugia and population persistence. We tested these assumptions in populations of redband rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss newberrii) in an arid basin, where the dominance of hot, hyperproductive water in summer emulates threats of climate change predicted for cold-water fish in other basins. We used telemetry to reveal seasonal patterns of movement and habitat use. Then, we compared contributions of hot and cool water to growth with empirical indicators of diet and condition (gut contents, weight–length ratios, electric phase angle, and stable isotope signatures) and a bioenergetics model. During summer, trout occurred only in cool tributaries or springs (<20 °C) and avoided Upper Klamath Lake (>25 °C). During spring and fall, ≥65% of trout migrated to the lake (5–50 km) to forage. Spring and fall growth (mean [SD] 0.58% per day [0.80%] and 0.34 per day [0.55%], respectively) compensated for a net loss of energy in cool summer refuges (–0.56% per day [0.55%]). In winter, ≥90% of trout returned to tributaries (25–150 km) to spawn. Thus, although perennially cool tributaries supported thermal refuge and spawning, foraging opportunities in the seasonally hot lake ultimately fueled these behaviors. Current approaches to climate adaptation would prioritize the tributaries for conservation but would devalue critical foraging habitat because the lake is unsuitable and unoccupied during summer. Our results empirically demonstrate that warm water can fuel cold-water fisheries and challenge the common practice of identifying refugia based only on summer conditions.