Monitoring of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in a produced water disposal area in the Potiguar Basin,Brazilian equatorial margin

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - The Potiguar Basin has oil and gas production fields offshore and onshore. All treated produced water (PW) from these fields is discharged through...     

The relationship among biodiversity,governance, wealth,and scientific capacity at a country level: Disaggregation and prioritization

At a global level, the relationship between biodiversity importance and capacity to manage it is often assumed to be negative, without much differentiation among the more than 200 countries and territories of the world. We examine this relationship using a database including terrestrial biodiversity, wealth and governance indicators for most countries. From these, principal components analysis was used to construct aggregated indicators at global and regional scales. Wealth, governance, and scientific capacity represent different skills and abilities in relation to biodiversity importance. Our results show that the relationship between biodiversity and the different factors is not simple: in most regions wealth and capacity varies positively with biodiversity, while governance vary negatively with biodiversity. However, these trends, to a certain extent, are concentrated in certain groups of nations and outlier countries. We discuss our results in the context of collaboration and joint efforts among biodiversity-rich countries and foreign agencies.

Electronic supplementary material

The online version of this article (doi:10.1007/s13280-014-0581-0) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.     

Measurement instability and temporal bias in chemical soil monitoring: sources and control measures

Concern that human impacts on the environment may be harmful to natural resources such as soils as well as to living conditions is the major motivation for long-term environmental monitoring. However, the evidence that measurement bias is not constant through time affects time series as an artifact; this also holds true for chemical soil monitoring. Measurement instabilities occur along the whole measurement chain, from soil sampling to the expression of results. The first step in controlling measurement instability is to identify its relevant sources, and the second is to control it by stabilizing, minimizing, or quantifying measurement instability. For all five steps in the measurement process, from soil sampling to the expression of the analytical results, sources of measurement instability are identified and measures of control discussed, leading to the main conclusion concerning the requirement to continuously control the relevant environmental and measurement boundary conditions that may affect measurement instability. The innovative aspect of this paper consists in explicitly addressing measurement instability in chemical soil monitoring and tracking it along the whole measurement chain. The paper is also a plea for a change of paradigm in long-term environmental monitoring, namely to consider temporal measurements as unstable unless their degree of stability is traceably demonstrated, adequately quantified, and included in interpretation.     

Immobilization of heavy metals in polluted soils by the addition of zeolitic material synthesized from coal fly ash

The use of zeolitic material synthesized from coal fly ash for the immobilization of pollutants in contaminated soils was investigated in experimental plots in the Guadiamar Valley (SW Spain). This area was affected by a pyrite slurry spill in April 1998. Although reclamation activities were completed in a few months, residual pyrite slurry mixed with soil accounted for relatively high leachable levels of trace elements such as Zn, Pb, As, Cu, Sb, Co, Tl and Cd. Phytoremediation strategies were adopted for the final recovery of the polluted soils. The immobilization of metals had previously been undertaken to avoid leaching processes and the consequent groundwater pollution. To this end, 1100 kg of high NaP1 (Na6[(AlO2)6(SiO2)10] .15H2O) zeolitic material was synthesized using fly ash from the Teruel power plant (NE Spain), in a 10 m3 reactor. This zeolitic material was manually applied using different doses (10000-25000 kg per hectare), into the 25 cm topsoil. Another plot (control) was maintained without zeolite. Sampling was carried out 1 and 2 years after the zeolite addition. The results show that the zeolitic material considerably decreases the leaching of Cd, Co, Cu, Ni, and Zn. The sorption of metals in soil clay minerals (illite) proved to be the main cause contributing to the immobilization of these pollutants. This sorption could be a consequence of the rise in pH from 3.3 to 7.6 owing to the alkalinity of the zeolitic material added (caused by traces of free lime in the fly ash, or residual NaOH from synthesis).     

Pollution,habitat loss,fishing, and climate change as critical threats to penguins

Cumulative human impacts across the world's oceans are considerable. We therefore examined a single model taxonomic group, the penguins (Spheniscidae), to explore how marine species and communities might be at risk of decline or extinction in the southern hemisphere. We sought to determine the most important threats to penguins and to suggest means to mitigate these threats. Our review has relevance to other taxonomic groups in the southern hemisphere and in northern latitudes, where human impacts are greater. Our review was based on an expert assessment and literature review of all 18 penguin species; 49 scientists contributed to the process. For each penguin species, we considered their range and distribution, population trends, and main anthropogenic threats over the past approximately 250 years. These threats were harvesting adults for oil, skin, and feathers and as bait for crab and rock lobster fisheries; harvesting of eggs; terrestrial habitat degradation; marine pollution; fisheries bycatch and resource competition; environmental variability and climate change; and toxic algal poisoning and disease. Habitat loss, pollution, and fishing, all factors humans can readily mitigate, remain the primary threats for penguin species. Their future resilience to further climate change impacts will almost certainly depend on addressing current threats to existing habitat degradation on land and at sea. We suggest protection of breeding habitat, linked to the designation of appropriately scaled marine reserves, including in the High Seas, will be critical for the future conservation of penguins. However, large‐scale conservation zones are not always practical or politically feasible and other ecosystem‐based management methods that include spatial zoning, bycatch mitigation, and robust harvest control must be developed to maintain marine biodiversity and ensure that ecosystem functioning is maintained across a variety of scales. Contaminación, Pérdida de Hábitat, Pesca y Cambio Climático como Amenazas Críticas para los Pingüinos     

Do racial differences exist in second-trimester maternal hCG levels? a study of 23 369 patients

In Down syndrome screening by maternal serum human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG) determination at 15, 16, 17, and 18 weeks of gestation, we prospectively examined 23 369 sera from white (21 549), North African (970), black African (525), and Asian (325) patients. When expressed as multiples of the median (MOM), no difference was observed between white, North African, and black African patients. However, higher serum hCG concentrations were noted in Asians, for whom we therefore recommend correction of hCG values before calculation of the risk of Down syndrome.     

Fate and transport of monoterpenes through soils. Part II: calculation of the effect of soil temperature, water saturation and organic carbon content

This theoretical study was performed to investigate the influence of soil temperature, soil water content and soil organic carbon fraction on the mobility of monoterpenes (C10HnOn') applied as pesticides to a top soil layer. This mobility was expressed as the amount volatilized and leached from the contaminated soil layer after a certain amount of time. For this, (slightly modified) published analytical solutions to a one dimensional, homogeneous medium, diffusion/advection/biodegradation mass balance equation were used. The required input-parameters were determined in a preceding study. Because the monoterpenes studied differ widely in the values for their physico-chemical properties, the relative importance of the various determinants also differed widely. Increasing soil water saturation reduced monoterpene vaporization and leaching losses although a modest increase was usually observed at high soil water contents. Organic matter served as the major retention domain, reducing volatilization and leaching losses. Increasing temperature resulted in higher volatilization and leaching losses. Monoterpene mobility was influenced by vertical water flow. Volatilization losses could be reduced by adding a clean soil layer on top of the contaminated soil. Detailed insight into the specific behaviour of different monoterpenes was obtained by discussing intermediate calculation results; the transport retardation factors and effective soil diffusion coefficients. One insight was that the air-water interface compartment is probably not an important partitioning domain for monoterpenes in most circumstances. The results further indicated that biodegradation is an important process for monoterpenes in soil.     

Optimizing microwave-assisted solvent extraction (MASE) of pesticides from soil

Microwave-assisted solvent extraction (MASE) was investigated as an alternative for extraction of parathion (O,O-diethyl O-4-nitrophenyl phosphorothioate), methyl parathion (O,O-dimethyl O-4-nitrophenyl phosphorothioate), p,p'-DDE [1,1'-dichloro-2,2-bis(4-chlorophenyl)ethane], hexachlorobenzene (HCB), simazine (6-chloro-N2,N4-diethyl- 1 ,3,5-triazine-2,4-diamine) and paraquat dichoride (1,1'-dimethyl-4,4'-bipyridinium) from two different soils and from an earthworm-growing substrate. The matrices were fortified with 14C-radiolabeled pesticides and extracted with various solvent systems under different microwave conditions. Recoveries of more than 80% could be obtained depending on the used microwave conditions and solvent, except for paraquat whose recovery was generally less efficient. Thus, MASE can be successfully used to extract pesticides from environmental and biological samples and could be a viable alternative to conventional extraction methods. The technique uses smaller amounts of organic solvents, thereby minimizing the costs of the analysis and the disposal of waste solvent.