An experimental soft-release of oil-spill rehabilitated American coots (Fulica americana): I. Lingering effects on survival, condition and behavior

In spring 1995, we studied survival, condition and behavior of 37 oiled/rehabilitated (OR) American coots (Fulica americana) (RHB) and compared them to 38 wild-caught, non-oiled and non-rehabilitated coots (REF). All coots were wing-clipped to prevent long-range dispersal, mixed equally and randomly and soft-released into two fenced marshes. Twenty RHB+20 REF coots were subjected to handling and sampling four times during the 4-month study and the remainder were left undisturbed. The study ended before any coots dispersed following remige regrowth. Overall survival was significantly lower for RHB coots, regardless of the way survival was viewed (four Chi 2 tests varied between p<0.045 and p<0.006). Mortality was 2.1 times higher in RHB coots: 51% mortality in RHB coots and 24% in REF coots (4 months total). RHB coots began the experiment 9% lighter in mean body condition indices (BCI=a standardization that corrected for different-sized birds) than REF coots, but REF coots also needed a period of adjustment to captivity. BCIs then varied (p<0.02) similarly among both groups throughout the experiment. Initially, RHB coots lost more weight in comparison to REF coots (although RHB coots fed more), but those RHB coots that did survive recovered to REF-comparable BCIs after about 6 weeks: both higher and equivalent at the beginning of moult and then both equivalent but lower through the moulting period. Long-term RHB coot and REF coot survivors both had significant (p<0.001) positive correlations between their initial and ending body weights. A similar relationship was also suggested for the non-surviving REF coots, but could not be tested for statistical significance. In contrast to all other groups, however, non-surviving RHB coots failed to show any relationship between their initial and ending body weights (p>0.10), indicating that non-surviving RHB coots were unable to gain or maintain body condition for about 2-3 months following their oiling/rehabilitation experience. Throughout the experiment, RHB coots preened more on water and on land, bathed more, slept less during the day, and exhibited feeding and drinking behaviors more frequently or of greater duration than REF coots (all statistical tests with Bonferroni-corrected p<0.05).     

Mussel watch: a review of Cu and other metals in various marine organisms in Taiwan, 1991-98

This study presents the distribution of Cu, Zn, Pb, Cd, Hg and As in various marine organisms collected along the western coast of Taiwan from 1991 to 1998, and also evaluates the time variation of Cu in oysters before (1980-85) and after (1986-98) the "green oyster" incident. The results show that relatively high geometric mean (GM) concentrations of Cu, Zn, Pb, Cd, As and Hg were generally found in Crassostrea gigas (Cu=229 microg/g, Zn=783 microg/g), Gomphina aeguialtera (Pb=30.3 microg/g), Tegillarca granosa (Cd=2.85 microg/g), Thais clavigera (As=96.9 microg/g) and Parapenaeopsis cornuta (Hg=1.35 microg/g), respectively. Especially, maximum Cu and Zn concentrations (GM=229 and 783 microg/g, respectively) in oysters (C. gigas) from different culture areas were much higher than those of the other organisms by about 1.13-458 and 2.40-63.7 times, respectively. Similarly, rock-shells (Thais clavigera) had a high capacity for accumulating Cu (GM=202 microg/g) and Zn (GM=326 microg/g) under the same physico-chemical conditions. The highest GM Cu and Zn concentrations of 1108 (range from 113 to 2806) and 1567 (range from 303 to 3593) microg/g were obtained in oysters from the Hsiangshan coastal area, one of the most important oyster culture areas in Taiwan. However, the highest GM Cd and As concentrations of 6.82 and 19.3 microg/g were found in oysters from the Machu Islands. Mean Cu concentrations in the oysters from the Erhjin Chi estuary declined from 2194+/-212 microg/g in 1986-90 to 545 microg/g (GM) in 1991-96. In the Hsiganshan area, GM Cu concentrations of 909 microg/g (1991-96) and 1351 microg/g (1997-98) in oysters were significantly higher than those of 201 microg/g (1980-85) and 682 microg/g (1986-90). The gradually increasing levels of Cu and Zn in the oysters from the Hsiangshan area have been observed year by year.     

Assessment of the effects of sugar cane plantation burning on daily counts of inhalation therapy

This study was designed to evaluate the association between sugar cane plantation burning and hospital visits in Araraquara in the state of S?o Paulo, Brazil. From June 1 to August 31, 1995, the daily number of visits of patients who needed inhalation therapy in one of the main hospitals of the city was recorded and used as health impairment estimation. Sedimentation of particle mass (the amount of particles deposited on four containers filled with water) was measured daily. The association between the weight of the sediment and the number of visits was evaluated by means of Poisson regression models controlled for seasonality, temperature, day of the week, and rain. We found a significant and dose-dependent relationship between the number of visits and the amount of sediment. The relative risk of visit associated with an increase of 10 mg in the sediment weight was 1.09 (1-1.19), and the relative risk of an inhalation therapy was 1.20 (1.03-1.39) on the most polluted days (fourth quartile of sediment mass). These results indicate that sugar cane burning may cause deleterious health effects in the exposed population.     

Efficacy of various amendments for amelioration of fly-ash toxicity: growth performance and metal composition of Cassia siamea Lamk

Plants of Cassia siamea Lamk were grown in garden soil (control), fly-ash (100%) and fly-ash amended by various ameliorants (cowdung manure, press-mud, garden soil; 1:1, w/w). The plants survived in fly-ash (100%) though their growth was less in comparison to the treatments. Fly-ash+press-mud (1:1, w/w) proved to be the best combination as growth (total biomass, leaf number, photosynthetic area, total chlorophyll and protein) was significantly high in this treatment followed by cowdung manure and garden soil. Leaves and roots accumulated significant amount of Cu, Zn, Ni and and Fe. However, the concentration of all the metals was more in roots than leaves except Ni. Although, fly-ash contains high amount of metals but the metal uptake was more in the plants grown in fly-ash+press-mud mixture. Inspite of high metal availability in fly-ash and press-mud mixture, plant growth was good. This might be attributed to the some metal detoxification mechanism active in this treatment. The present study concluded that C. siamea seems to be a suitable plant for developing a vegetation cover on fly-ash dumps.     

Cadmium background content in meat,liver and kidney from cattle and its consequences to cadmium tolerance levels (x)

The natural background of cadmium content in meat, liver and kidney from 287 cattle from a non polluted area in the subalpine region of Bavaria has been analyzed during the period from 1972 to 1975. The cadmium content in meat was always below the detection limit of 0.005, in liver between < 0.005 to 1.65 (median 0.050) and in kidney 0.008 to 1.95 (median 0.229) ppm Cadmium in fresh weight. The cadmium contents are discussed and compared with preliminary suggestions for cadmium tolerance levels and their consequence for food inspection.