The relationship between whole effluent toxicity (WET) and chemical-based effluent quality assessment in Vojvodina (Serbia)

The relationship between whole effluent toxicity (WET) and chemical-based effluent quality assessment across a range of effluent types was examined for the first time in Serbia. WET was determined by Daphnia magna acute tests, while chemical-based toxicity was taken as theoretical for concentrations of priority chemicals and effluent quality assessment based on the valid Serbian regulations. A poor correlation was found between WET and chemical-based effluent quality assessment: positive toxicity tests were found, in general, in cases where samples satisfied the requirements of mandatory effluent monitoring. Statistically insignificant correlation between the predicted and observed toxicity indicated that the presence of priority substances accounted to the overall toxicity only to a certain degree, most probably due to a rather short list of priority pollutants regularly analysed in effluents. Current monitoring requirements neglect hazards that derive from potentially present toxicants and unpredictable toxicity of complex mixtures, which led to poor correlation between the WET and chemical-based results in this study.     

Principal response curves technique for the analysis of multivariate biomonitoring time series

Although chemical and biological monitoring is often used to evaluate the quality of surface waters for regulatory purposes and/or to evaluate environmental status and trends, the resulting biological and chemical data sets are large and difficult to evaluate. Multivariate techniques have long been used to analyse complex data sets. This paper discusses the methods currently in use and introduces the principal response curves method, which overcomes the problem of cluttered graphical results representation that is a great drawback of most conventional methods. To illustrate this, two example data sets are analysed using two ordination techniques, principal component analysis and principal response curves. Whereas PCA results in a difficult-to-interpret diagram, principal response curves related methods are able to show changes in community composition in a diagram that is easy to read. The principal response curves method is used to show trends over time with an internal reference (overall mean or reference year) or external reference (e.g. preferred water quality or reference site). Advantages and disadvantages of both methods are discussed and illustrated.     

Solid phase extraction of Cu(II), Ni(II), Pb(II), Cd(II) and Mn(II) ions with 1-(2-thiazolylazo)-2-naphthol loaded Amberlite XAD-1180

A new method for separation and preconcentration of trace amounts of Cu(II), Ni(II), Pb(II), Cd(II) and Mn(II) ions in various matrices was proposed. The method is based on the adsorption and chelation of the metal ions on a column containing Amberlite XAD-1180 resin impregnated with 1-(2-thiazolylazo)-2-naphthol (TAN) reagent prior to their determination by flame atomic absorption spectrometry (FAAS). The effect of pH, type, concentration and volume of eluent, sample volume, flow rates of sample and elution solutions, and interfering ions have been investigated. The optimum pH for simultaneous retention of all the metal ions was 9. Eluent for quantitative elution was 20 ml of 2 mol l(-1) HNO(3). The optimum sample and eluent flow rates were found as 4 ml min(-1), and also sample volume was 500 ml, except for Mn (87% recovery). The sorption capacity of the resin was found to be 0.77, 0.41, 0.57, and 0.30 mg g(-1) for Cu(II), Ni(II), Cd(II), and Mn(II), respectively. The preconcentration factor of the method was 200 for Cu(II), 150 for Pb(II), 100 for Cd(II) and Ni(II), and 50 for Mn(II). The recovery values for all of the metal ions were > or = 95% and relative standard deviations (RSDs) were < or = 5.1%. The detection limit values were in the range of 0.03 and 1.19 microg l(-1). The accuracy of the method was confirmed by analysing the certified reference materials (TMDA 54.4 fortified lake water and GBW 07605 tea samples) and the recovery studies. This procedure was applied to the determination of Cu(II), Ni(II), Pb(II), Cd(II) and Mn(II) in waste water and lake water samples.     

Selection and application of a rainbow trout toxicity testing procedure for screening Sacramento River Watershed, California samples

A number of procedures have been developed to assess toxic effects on the early life stages of salmonid fish. In this study 13 rainbow trout embryo development relatively short-term (7 to 90 day) procedures were reviewed. Three 7-day methods from the published literature and three modifications developed at AQUA-Science (A-S) were evaluated in the laboratory. Based on that evaluation, A-S methods were selected for screening surface water samples (A-S 1) collected in the Sacramento River watershed (California) and for conducting toxicity identification evaluations (TIE) to identify cause(s) of toxicity. Test control performance, test sensitivity, and reference toxicant response variability in the A-S 1 were superior to those in commonly used freshwater toxicity testing methods. The incidence of Sacramento River watershed samples resulting in a notable decrease in embryo development was very low. Of 260 samples screened only 16 (6%) resulted in statistically significant inhibition of embryo development. Of the 16 toxic samples, nine caused minimal (less than 20% abnormal development) and four marginal (less than 30%) toxicity. Samples collected from the agriculture-dominated Colusa Basin Drain and rangeland/forest-dominated Battle Creek on June 16, 2005 caused significant toxicity. TIE procedures indicated that cationic chemicals were the primary cause of toxicity. Metals analysis did not reveal concentrations sufficient to inhibit embryo development, so the most probable cause of toxicity in the two samples was cationic chemicals (perhaps surfactants?) or metals that were not included in the analytical screening.     

Spatiotemporal changes of landscape pattern in response to deforestation in Northeastern Turkey: a case study in Rize

Recognition and understanding of landscape dynamics as a historical legacy of disturbances are necessary for sustainable management of forest ecosystems. This study analyzes spatial and temporal changes in land use and forest cover patterns in a typical mountain forest area in Rize Forest Enterprise of the Northeastern part of Turkey. The area is investigated by evaluated the temporal changes of spatial structure of forest conditions through spatial analysis of forest cover type maps from 1984 and 2007 using GIS and FRAGSTATS. The quantative evidences presented here showed that there were drastic changes in the temporal and spatial dynamics of land use/forest cover. As an overall change between 1984 and 2007, there was a net decrease of 2.30% in total forested areas. On one hand, productive forest areas decreased 12,506 ha, on the other hand, degraded forest areas increased 14,805 ha. In examining the changes of crown closure and development stages of forest ecosystem during the study period, the forest stand area with medium crown closures increased. Regenerated area increased while the other development stages were left to grow to mature development stages in the period. These results regarding to crown closure and development stage showed that forest quality has increased but total forest areas decreased. This is partially due to out-migration of rural population in Rize and Cayeli towns. In terms of spatial configuration, analysis of the metrics revealed that landscape structure in Study area had changed substantially over the 23-year study period, resulting in fragmentation of the landscape as indicated by the large patch numbers and the smaller mean patch sizes due to heavy timber subtraction, illegal cutting, and uncontrolled stand treatments.     

Risk assessment of trihalomethanes from tap water in Fortaleza, Brazil

The cancer risks (CR) by oral ingestion, dermal absorption, and inhalation exposure of trihalomethanes (THM) from tap water of ten districts in Fortaleza, Brazil were estimated. The mean levels of THM compounds were obtained in Fortaleza tap water as follow: 63.9 microg L(-1) for chloroform (CHCl(3)), 40.0 microg L(-1) for bromodichloromethane (CHBrCl(2)), and 15.6 microg L(-1) for dibromochloromethane (CHBr(2)Cl). Bromoform (CHBr(3)) was not detected. The mean CR for THMs in tap water is 3.96 x 10(-4). The results indicate that Fortaleza residents have a higher CR by inhalation than dermal absorption and oral ingestion. The CR for CHCl(3) contributes with 68% as compared with the total CR, followed by CHBrCl(2) (21%), and CHBr(2)Cl (11%). The hazard index (HI) is about ten times lower than unity, not indicating non-cancer effects.     

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.     

Mullet and gudgeon liver histopathology and macroinvertebrate indexes and metrics upstream and downstream from a wastewater treatment plant (Febros River—Portugal)

The increased pollution in ecosystems reinforces the importance of both chemical monitoring and biological monitoring of streams and rivers, as an effective water quality-based approach to assess aquatic ecosystem health. In this study, gudgeon (Gobio gobio) and mullet (Mugil cephalus) liver histopathology (biomarker) and some macroinvertebrate community indexes and metrics (bioindicator) were used to evaluate the effect of the wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) of Febros (Avintes) in Febros River water quality and ecosystem health. Regarding macroinvertebrate communities, the Belgian Biotic Index (BBI) and Iberian Biological Monitoring Working Party (IBMWP) indexes suggested that Febros water was slightly polluted, even though the worst situation was found downstream the WWTP discharge. Concerning community metrics, upstream percent of individuals in five numerically dominant taxa (80%) was slightly more superior than the downstream (78%). The presence of intolerant or sensible individuals, determined by percent of Ephemeroptera, Plecoptera, and Trichoptera individuals and number of Ephemeroptera, Plecoptera, and Trichoptera families metrics, was higher upstream WWTP, reflecting a better water quality. The histopathology shows the presence of hepatic lesions in gudgeon and mullet. The statistical analysis of the lesion gradation showed that only necrosis was significantly higher in gudgeon captured downstream the WWTP, while differences were not observed for mullet. The multivariate analysis of data confirmed the existence of differences in hepatic lesions between gudgeon and mullet and between sampling sites. Regarding macroinvertebrate community, this analysis showed that the organic contamination reflected by the BBI and IBMWP indexes values was a determinant factor in the spatial distribution of macroinvertebrates. This work showed that the study of different biological organization levels can be used for a better assessment of ecosystem ecological integrity and can be used as a tool to reveal anthropogenic activity effects in macroinvertebrate diversity and in fish liver pathology from Febros River.     

Organic speciation of atmospheric particles in Alvão Natural Park (Portugal)

PM₁₀ continental rural background aerosols were collected during a summer field campaign (August–September 2006) at Lamas de Ôlo in the upper zone of the Alvão Natural Park, a mountain region of northern Portugal. In addition to the determination of the carbonaceous content by a thermal–optical method, the organic speciation of aerosols was performed by gas chromatography–mass spectrometry in an effort to evaluate photo-oxidation products of biogenic volatile organic compounds and other markers for source characterization. The detailed analysis revealed relatively high concentrations of polyols and short-chain dicarboxylic, tricarboxylic, hydroxycarboxylic, and oxocarboxylic acids, many of which are thought to be indicators of secondary aerosol formation, accounting for about 70% of global chromatographically resolved mass. Major photo-oxidation products of α- and β-pinene have been detected. The tracers for the photo-oxidation of isoprene comprise two diastereoisomeric 2-methyltetrols, C₅-alkene triols, and 2-methylglyceric acid, which have only recently been elucidated. In addition, the occurrence of levoglucosan and other biomass combustion tracers indicates that the site was affected by wildfires. This source contributed to more than 80% of the organic carbon mass during a period of strong forest fire influence.