Determination and distribution characteristics of degradation products of nonylphenol polyethoxylates in the rivers of Taiwan

Concentrations of degradation products of nonylphenol polyethoxylates (NPEOs) were analyzed in river water samples in order to determine the distribution characteristic of these alkylphenolic compounds in 18 major rivers of Taiwan. The degradation products of NPEOs were detected in all river samples, with the dicarboxylates alkylphenolic degradation products (CAPEC) being detected most frequently and at the highest concentrations. Concentrations of NP and NP1EO in rivers ranged from n.d. to 5.1 μg l⁻¹ and n.d. to 0.5 μg l⁻¹, respectively. The total concentrations of shortened carboxylates (i.e., NP1EC + NP2EC + NP3EC) and dicarboxylates alkylphenolic degradation products (CAP1EC + CAP2EC) ranged from n.d. to 63.6 μg l⁻¹ and n.d. to 94.6 μg l⁻¹, respectively. Concentrations of NP2EC, NP3EC and all CAPEC residues were determined semi-quantitatively by comparing with the internal standard. Significantly higher concentrations of CAPEC residues were detected in the river waters as compared to those of NP, NP1EO and NPEC degradation products and the average proportions of these compounds in the samples of the rivers were as follows: NP + NP1EO was 5 ± 2.5%, total NPEC was 25 ± 12%, and total CAPEC was 70 ± 12%. The high concentration ratios of CAPEC/NPEC illustrate that aerobic biodegradation plays a main route in the fate of NPEO in the rivers of Taiwan.     

Accumulation of copper in brown rice and effect of copper on rice growth and grain yield in different rice cultivars

A pot experiment with 38 commonly cultured rice cultivars showed that the effect of Cu (100 mg kg(-1)) on rice growth, grain yield and accumulation of Cu in brown rice varied greatly with different cultivars. Although the average Cu concentration in brown rice of the 38 cultivars was significantly increased (P<0.01) compared with the control, in none of the cultivars did Cu concentration in brown rice exceed the maximum permissible limit of 10 mg Cu kg(-1). This suggests that rice grown in Cu-contaminated paddy soil (100 mg Cu kg(-1)) will not adversely affect human health through the food chain. Because of the significant negative correlation between grain weight and Cu concentration in brown rice with the soil Cu treatment, screening for cultivars with low Cu accumulation in brown rice and high grain yield for Cu-contaminated areas is feasible. The present research led to the recommendation of three such cultivars: Jiahua, Zhenxian 866, Zhe 733. The average grain yield under Cu treatment (100 mg Cu kg(-1) soil) was significantly (P<0.01) reduced compared with the control. The decreases or increases of grain yields mainly resulted from the combined effects of the panicles per pot, spikelets per panicle and filled spikelets per panicle under the soil Cu treatment. Furthermore, there were significant (r=0.869, P<0.01) positive correlations between the RC (relative changes) of spikelets per panicle and filled spikelets per panicle under the soil Cu treatment.     

Effects of metsulfuron-methyl on the microbial population and enzyme activities in wheat rhizosphere soil

The effects of metsulfuron-methyl, a sulfonylurea herbicide, on the wheat soil microorganisms were evaluated by the methods of microbial inoculation culture, and the activities of three enzymes were measured using the colorimetric method. The tolerant microorganisms that can resist 500 microg x g(-1) metsulfuron-methyl in the counting culture medium were studied specially. Metsulfuron-methyl distinctly inhibited the common aerobic heterotriphic bacteria, but the effects on common fungi and common actinomycete were not evident. In the meantime, the number of tolerant fungi increased greatly in the rhizosphere after the application of metsulfuron-methyl in contrast to the significant decrease of the amount of tolerant actinomycete. It indicates that fungi might turn into the dominant microbial type and actinomycete is the sensitive factor in the soil polluted by sulfonylurea residues. The population of aromatic compounds-decomposing bacteria, aerobic azotobacter, and nitrite bacteria all increased in the earlier period, but the aerobic azotobacter decreased rapidly in number 30 days later, and the amount of nitrite bacteria also showed a temporary decrease with time 15 days later. However, the denitrifying bacteria just began to increase significantly after the crops had grown for 50 days. The amount of sulfur-oxidizing bacteria gradually decreased with the growth of crops, and so were the sulfate-reducing bacteria after metsulfuron-methyl application. To all types of microorganisms, there were more microbes in rhizosphere samples than those in nonrhizosphere except aerobic azotobacter. It means the growth of wheat root system can stimulate the growth of most microorganisms. The activities of hydrogen peroxidase and polyphenol oxidase in soil samples after metsulfuron-methyl application were notably lower than those in the control, and the difference of the activities between the samples of rhizosphere and nonrhizosphere was evident. On the contrary, the activity of dehydrogenase was not inhibited by the application of metsulfuron-methyl, and the rhizosphere effect was not obvious either.     

Toxicokinetics/toxicodynamics of arsenic for farmed juvenile milkfish Chanos chanos and human consumption risk in BFD-endemic area of Taiwan

This paper presents a toxicokinetic/toxicodynamic analysis to appraise arsenic (As) bioaccumulation in farmed juvenile milkfish Chanos chanos at blackfoot disease (BFD)-endemic area in Taiwan, whereas probabilistic incremental lifetime cancer risk (ILCR) and hazard quotient (HQ) models are also employed to assess the range of exposures for the fishers and non-fishers who eat the contaminated fish. We conducted a 7-day exposure experiment to obtain toxicokinetic parameters, whereas a simple critical body burden toxicity model was verified with LC50(t) data obtained from a 7-day acute toxicity bioassay. Acute toxicity bioassay indicates that 96-h LC50 for juvenile milkfish exposed to As is 7.29 (95% CI: 3.10-10.47) mg l(-1). Our risk analysis for milkfish reared in BFD-endemic area indicates a low likelihood that survival is being affected by waterborne As. Human risk analysis demonstrates that 90%-tile probability exposure ILCRs for fishers in BFD-endemic area have orders of magnitude of 10(-3), indicating a high potential carcinogenic risk, whereas there is no significant cancer risk for non-fishers (ILCRs around 10(-5)). All predicted 90%-tiles of HQ are less than 1 for non-fishers, yet larger than 10 for fishers which indicate larger contributions from farmed milkfish consumptions. Sensitivity analysis indicates that to increase the accuracy of the results, efforts should focus on a better definition of probability distributions for milkfish daily consumption rate and As level in milkfish. Here we show that theoretical human health risks for consuming As-contaminated milkfish in the BFD-endemic area are alarming under a conservative condition based on a probabilistic risk assessment model.     

火灾探测的原理和方法(下)

简述了火灾现象的物理特征、火灾探测的基本原理并对火灾探测算法的建立及发展作了介绍。对产生火灾误报警的原因进行了分析，指出要改善火灾探测的准确性，缺少的不是思路和技术，而是火灾科学基础研究的积累。     

Effect of Earthworm（Pheretima sp.） Density on Revegetation of Lead/zinc Metal Mine Tailings Amended with Soil

The objective of this study was to investigate the effects of earthworm density on the availability of nutrients and heavy metals in metal contaminated soils. Pb/Zn mine tailings were mixed throughly with a red yellow podzolic soil at the ratio （w/w） of 75：25. Earthworms （Pheretima sp.） were introduced to the mixture at four different densities, zero, three, six and nine individuals per pot planted with ryegrass （Loliun multiflorum）. The results indicated that earthworm activity significantly enhanced ryegrass shoot biomass. However, as denser earthworm population was introduced, shoot biomass tended to decrease. Earthworm activity significantly increased soil pH and availability of N, P and K in the tailings and soil mixture. There was a general tendency that uptake of Zn by ryegrass increased after earthworm inoculation, although the increase in extractable Zn in tailings and soil mixture was not significant. On the contrary, there seemed to be a lower uptake of Pb by ryegrass under earthworm inoclation, despite the fact that higher extractable Pb concentrations were observed. The present project indicated that the improved growth of ryegrass was due to improved nutrient availability and other soil conditions, by inoculation of earthworms at an appropriate rate. Further studies are needed to illustrate the relationship between metal availability and earthworm activity in the field.     

Concentrations of anthropogenic Pt and Pd in urban roadside soils in Xuzhou, China

The potential accumulation of platinum group elements (PGE) in the environment from automobile catalysts is high in urban areas, with the major sinks being roadside soils. Therefore, this investigation presented the detailed study on characterized concentrations of Pt and Pd and their enrichment ratios in urban roadside soils in Xuzhou, China in March 2003. Data from 21 roadside topsoil samples analyzed by inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometer (ICP-MS) illustrated that the medians of concentrations of Pt and Pd were 2.9 and 2.8 ng/g, respectively. Hierarchical clustering analysis indicated that Pt and Pd were mainly from traffic emissions. Compared to unpolluted soils, computation of Pt and Pd enrichment ratios suggested that the Xuzhou roadside soils had average enrichment factors of 3.53 for Pt (in range of 1.22–5.73) and of 3.37 for Pd (in range of 1.35–4.46). Lower Pt/Pd ratios (in range of 0.35–2.86) in relation to similar studies in other countries were observed, which might be due to the different Pt/Pd ratios in Chinese automobile catalytic converters. Moreover, fine fraction (<250 μm) contained higher concentrations of Pt and Pd compared to the coarse fraction (250–500 μmm).     

Comparison of portable and onboard navigation system for the effects in real driving

Navigation systems are very useful and popular tools which display a user’s location and make use of graphics, text and voice information to guide him to a predetermined destination. Recently, some researches had revealed that drivers choose to receive driving directions using portable devices owing to their price and convenience. This study aimed to survey whether the driving efficiency and controlling are different as using portable and onboard navigation systems. A smartphone (2.7″ screen) and driving support system we instructed (8.9″ display interface) were adopted as the portable and onboard navigation systems respectively. Thirty subjects were paid to participate in this study, and field experiments were executed in urban and rural environments. Participants were randomly divided into two groups with equal numbers and drove according to instructions provided by one of these systems. The results indicated that the performance of drivers using the portable navigation system is better than that of the onboard one, in terms of efficiency and car handling, both in the urban and rural environments, despite the fact that the display screen of the phone is so small.     

石油野外作业工人体力劳动强度分级调查

据ＧＢ３８６９—８３标准对江汉油田测量、地震、钻井、井下四类野外作业３４名工人、２４个工种进行了体力劳动强度分级调查，其结果：测量作业为Ⅰ～Ⅱ级；钻井作业Ⅱ级占５／８，Ⅲ级占１／４；井下作业Ⅲ级占２／３；地震作业Ⅲ、Ⅳ级各占４／９、２／９。说明前两类基本属中等强度劳动，后两类大部分属重强度劳动。