Phosphate adsorption characteristics at the sediment–water interface and phosphorus fractions in Nansi Lake, China, and its main inflow rivers

Phosphorus fractions and phosphate adsorption characteristics of 16 sediments from a shallow freshwater lake (Nansi Lake, China) and its inflow estuaries were investigated. In the present study, the sediment phosphorus is fractionated into exchangeable P (exch-P), Al-P, Fe-P, Ca-P, organic P (OP), inorganic P (IP) and total P (TP). The results show that the total phosphorus (TP) content in the sediments ranges from 571.67 to 1,113.55 mg kg(-1), and calcium bound phosphorus (Ca-P) is the main fraction of IP. The biologically available phosphorus (BAP) ranges from 32.02 to 229.67 mg kg(-1) in the Nansi Lake sediments. Phosphate adsorption on the sediments mainly occurs within 10 h and is completed within 48 h. The content of native adsorbed phosphorus (omega(NAP)) varies greatly from 6.05 to 194.37 mg kg(-1), showing a significant correlation with the total maximal amount of phosphorus adsorbed (TQ(max)). Adsorption efficiency (m) ranges from 574.79 to 3,220.68 l kg(-1) and zero equilibrium phosphorus concentration (C(EPC)) ranges from 0.010 to 0.157 mg l(-1). After the South-to-North Water Diversion Project, the inherent phosphorus present in sediments will be a major threat to the diverted water quality and be a predominant factor determining the trophic status of the lake even if the external load is reduced.     

Risk assessment and distribution of soil Pb in Guangdong, China

In this study, the spatial distributions of soil lead (Pb) concentration in three horizontal soils in Guangdong, China, were surveyed and analyzed using geostatistics and geography information systems (GIS). Findings indicated that the Pb geometric mean concentration of 23.3 mg/kg in surface soils was found to be higher than those in global soils, which ranged from 2.3–235 mg/kg. In addition, the Pb geometric mean concentrations from A- to C-horizon were found to be 23.3, 27.2, and 28.6 mg/kg, respectively. The classification of a soil Pb environmental risk in an area was likewise presented based on the different levels of environmental quality of Pb and was done by GIS technology. Accordingly, there is a higher local concentration of Pb in the surrounding areas of Guangzhou where there is higher population density and in the north of Guangdong, which is a historic mining area. The results obtained by the environmental risk assessment reveal that about 46% of total surveyed area was above the background value, that is, 2.7% of the total area was at risk of pollution.     

Assessment and significance of phytoplankton species composition within Chesapeake Bay and Virginia tributaries through a long-term monitoring program

Phytoplankton and water quality long term trends are presented from a 20-year monitoring program of Chesapeake Bay and several of its major tributaries. Increasing phytoplankton biomass and abundance are ongoing within this estuarine complex, with diatoms the dominant component, along with chlorophytes and cyanobacteria as sub-dominant contributors in the tidal freshwater and oligohaline regions. Diatoms, dinoflagellates, and cryptomonads are among the major flora downstream in the tributaries and within the Chesapeake Bay. Water quality conditions within the three tributaries have remained rather stable over this time period; while there are long term trends of reduced nutrients, increasing bottom oxygen, and decreasing water clarity for the lower Chesapeake Bay. Of note is an increasing trend of cyanobacteria biomass at 12 of the 13 stations monitored at tributary and Chesapeake Bay stations, plus the presence of 37 potentially harmful taxa reported for these waters. However, the overall status of the phytoplankton populations is presently favorable, in that it is mainly represented and dominated by taxa suitable as a major food and oxygen source within this ecosystem. Although potentially harmful taxa are present, they have not at this time exerted profound impact to the region, or replaced the diatom populations in overall dominance.     

IFTCIP: An Integrated Optimization Model for Environmental Management under Uncertainty

In this study, an interval-fuzzy two-stage chance-constrained integer programming (IFTCIP) method is developed for supporting environmental management under uncertainty. The IFTCIP improves upon the existing interval, fuzzy, and two-stage programming approaches by allowing uncertainties expressed as probability distributions, fuzzy sets, and discrete intervals to be directly incorporated within a general mixed integer linear programming framework. It has advantages in uncertainty reflection, policy investigation, risk assessment, and capacity-expansion analysis in comparison to the other optimization methods. Moreover, it can help examine the risk of violating system constraints and the associated consequences. The developed method is applied to the planning for facility expansion and waste-flow allocation within a municipal solid waste management system. Violations of capacity constraints are allowed under a range of significance levels, which reflects tradeoffs between the system cost and the constraint-violation risk. The results indicate that reasonable solutions for both binary and continuous variables have been generated under different risk levels. They are useful for generating desired decision alternatives with minimized system cost and constraint-violation risk under various environmental, economic, and system-reliability conditions. Generally, willingness to take a higher risk of constraint violation will guarantee a lower system cost; a strong desire to acquire a lower risk will run into a higher system cost.     

Optimal Selection of Priority Development Areas Considering Tradeoffs Between Hydrology and Development Configuration

Mixed-integer linear programs are proposed for siting development and conservation areas in watersheds, addressing economic objectives (development perimeter and proximity) and ecological objectives. Links between watershed hydrology and ecology need not be well defined. Parameters for the linear programs are obtained from linearization of the SWAT hydrologic model.     

Effects of cement flue dusts from a Nigerian cement plant on air, water and planktonic quality

Effects of cement flue dust from Ewekoro cement Kilns were monitored at some aquatic receptor locations. High levels of total suspended particulates (TSPs) and atmospheric deposition rates (ADRs) were recorded within the factory compared to ancillary locations outside the factory. The TSP and ADR levels which were location dependent were significantly higher (P?<?0.05) during the dry periods than in the wet season. Irrespective of seasonal variations, the key elements in the emissions were Ca^2?+? and Fe^2?+?. The concentrations of Zn^2?+?, Mn^2?+? and Pb^?+? which were trace elements were significantly higher (P?<?0.05) in the deposited than in the airborne particulates. The planktonic flora and fauna of the river systems draining the area were poor with 16 phytoplanktonic and nine zooplanktonic species. Numerically, the phytoplanktons were dominated by diatoms (Bacillariophyta) with Synedra sp. being the most abundant species. The zooplanktonic fauna dominated by rotifers had Lecane curvicornis as a regular occurrence in all the three catchment rivers. The physicochemical parameters assayed were significantly higher (P?<?0.05) in the factory effluent discharges than in water samples from each of the catchment rivers. Seasonal variations inclusive, HCO $_{3}^{-}$ , CO $_{3}^{2-}$ , Ca^2?+? and Mg^2?+? constituted the major ionic component of water samples analysed irrespective of location. Alaguntan River which receives effluents directly from the factory had significantly higher levels (P?<?0.05) of the assayed ions than the other two rivers draining the cement factory catchment areas.     

Essential (Cu) and nonessential (Cd and Pb) metals in ichthyofauna from the coasts of Sinaloa state (SE Gulf of California)

With the aim of giving an overview on concentration and distribution of Cd, Cu, and Pb in fish from the coasts of Sinaloa state (SE Gulf of California), specimens with different feeding habits were collected in five locations. Sampling occurred between June 2003 and March 2004. Metal analyses on fish tissues were made by graphite furnace (Cd, Pb) and flame (Cu) atomic absorption spectrophotometry. Metal concentrations in tissues of carnivorous fish were grouped together and compared with corresponding concentrations in non-carnivorous fish; Cu and Pb levels were significantly (p?<?0.05) higher in liver of non-carnivorous species. Though no samples exceeded the maximum level set in international legislation for fish, from the perspective of the public health and considering the legal limits of fishery products for human consumption, Cu concentrations were exceeded (in tissues different from muscle) in four carnivorous and five non-carnivorous species according to the Australian legislation. In the case of Cd, two carnivorous species (Pomadasys leuciscus and Caulolatilus princeps) and one non-carnivorous species (Mugil cephalus), showed concentrations over the maximum level of 2 μg g^???1 dry weight considered in the Mexican legislation. Considering average amounts of fish consumption in Mexico, daily mineral intake (DMI) values for Cu and percentage weekly intake (PWI) of Cd and Pb were estimated; none of the analyzed metals in edible portion of analyzed fish could be detrimental to humans.     

Use of preserved museum fish to evaluate historical and current mercury contamination in fish from two rivers in Oklahoma, USA

We examined the effects of a commonly used preservation technique on mercury concentration in fish tissue. After fixing fish muscle tissue in formalin followed by preservation in isopropanol, we found that mercury concentration in fish muscle tissue increased by 18%, reaching an asymptote after 40 days. We used formalin–isopropanol-preserved longear sunfish (Lepomis megalotis) from the Sam Noble Oklahoma Museum of Natural History to examine historical changes and predict current mercury concentrations in fish from two rivers in southeastern Oklahoma. Glover River was free-flowing, while Mountain Fork River was impounded in 1970 and a coldwater trout fishery was established upstream from the collection site in 1989. Mercury concentrations in longear sunfish from Glover River showed no historical changes from 1963 to 2001. Mercury concentrations in longear sunfish from Mountain Fork River showed no change from 1925 to 1993 but declined significantly from 1993 to 2003. We also compared mercury concentrations of the most recently collected longear sunfish in the museum to mercury concentrations of unpreserved fish collected from the rivers in 2006. Concentrations of mercury in museum fish were not significantly different from mercury concentrations in unpreserved fish we collected from the rivers. Our study indicates that preserved museum fish specimens can be used to evaluate historical changes and predict current levels of mercury contamination in fish.     

The 210Po and 210Pb levels in surface sediment samples in the Izmir Bay (Aegean Sea-Turkey)

Bottom sediments reflect in general the relative contamination of a sea area. Therefore, a great deal of monitoring work has been dedicated to the analysis of bottom sediments. Izmir Bay is a very important pollution centre in Turkish Aegean coast region due to a densely populated community, industrial complex and maritime transportation, and there are many streams flowing into the bay that pass through a number of industrial and agricultural areas. It had received the majority of domestic and industrial wastewaters until the wastewater treatment plant was constructed. It is well known that sediments play an important role as reservoirs of a fraction of the pollution in aquatic systems. Therefore, sediment samples were collected monthly from three stations which are located in the inner part of the bay during the period January to December 2003. Temporal variations and seasonal changes on their ²¹⁰Po and ²¹⁰Pb contents were examined, and the activity concentrations of ²¹⁰Po and ²¹⁰Pb were found to vary from 43±6 to 132±12 and 27±5 to 91±9 Bq kg^???1 dry wt, respectively. The highest values of those natural radionuclides were measured at Kar??yaka Station because of the current systems of the bay. Seasonally, the ²¹⁰Pb levels were found to increase during the winter time for all the stations.     

Estimation of pollutant partition in sandy soils with different water contents

The objectives of this work were: (1) to identify an isotherm model to relate the contaminant contents in the gas phase with those in the solid and non-aqueous liquid phases; (2) to develop a methodology for the estimation of the contaminant distribution in the different phases of the soil; and (3) to evaluate the influence of soil water content on the contaminant distribution in soil. For sandy soils with negligible contents of clay and natural organic matter, contaminated with benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene, xylene, trichloroethylene (TCE), and perchloroethylene (PCE), it was concluded that: (1) Freundlich’s model showed to be adequate to relate the contaminant contents in the gas phase with those in the solid and non-aqueous liquid phases; (2) the distribution of the contaminants in the different phases present in the soil could be estimated with differences lower than 10% for 83% of the cases; and (3) an increase of the soil water content led to a decrease of the amount of contaminant in the solid and non-aqueous liquid phases, increasing the amount in the other phases.