From proposal to decision: Suggestions for tightening up the “NEPA process”

Although the process of documenting compliance with NEPA (the National Environmental Policy Act) requires no drastic revisions, it can be managed more rigorously. Suggestions for revision can be grouped under five major steps: 1) getting a complete proposal from the applicant; 2) getting the decision-making process onto the right decision-making path; 3) modifying the applicant's proposal 4) going down a shorter path through the EA/FONSI (environmental assessment and finding of no significant impact) or through categorical exclusion review; and 5) going down the longer path through the EIS. Step 2 is perhaps the most critical, because there a decision must be made whether to write an EA/FONSI or an EIS, on the basis of whether the proposal would “significantly affect … the … environment.” In the past, this decision has not always been made promptly or rigorously. Accordingly, we suggest that the agency responsible for NEPA compliance should develop a system (a “black box”), consisting of a core group of specialists working with an interdisciplinary team, using sophisticated techniques for modeling impacts and directing both their research and their writing according to the concept of significance. By determining more efficiently and reliably whether the impacts of a proposal would be significant, such an approach would improve management of the total process.     

Pesticide burden on some insects of economic importance in Lucknow (India)

Some insects of economic importance from Lucknow (India) have been investigated for their pesticide burden. Chlorinated pesticide residues of DDT, BHC and aldrin along with their metabolites and isomers have been detected in crop pollinating insects, honeybees (Apis indica) and butterflies (Danais chrysippus and Eurema sp.) and predators, dragonfly (Platythemis sp.) and wasps (Polistes herebreus). DDT and their metabolites were present in concentrations which varied from 231–796 ng g^–1, followed by BHC (10–60 ng g^–1), and aldrin (0.26–6.68 ng g^–1). This finding is likely to stimulate newer interest in the area of pesticide research and start meaningful investigation to find if bioaccumulated pesticides would have adverse impact on otherwise beneficial potentials of such insects in our ecosystems.     

TPH-contaminated Mexican Refinery Soil: Health Risk Assessment and the First Year of Changes

The soil of a coastal Mexican refinery is quite contaminated, especially by hydrocarbons, with detected concentrations up to 130000 mg kg(-1) as TPHs (total petroleum hydrocarbons). The main sources of contamination are pipelines, valves, and old storage tanks, besides the land disposal of untreated hydrocarbon sediments derived from the cleaning of storage tanks. A health risk assessment (HRA) was carried out in order to measure the risk hazard indexes and clean-up standards for the refinery soil. HRA suggested the following actions to be taken: benzene concentrations must be reduced in eight of the 16 studied refinery zones to 0.0074-0.0078 mg kg(-1). Also, vanadium concentration must be reduced in two zones up to a concentration of 100 mg kg(-1). In only one of all of the studied zones, benzo(a)pyrene concentration must be reduced to 0.1 mg kg(-1). After 1 yr, TPHs showed a diminution of about 52%. Even though TPHs concentrations were variable, during 1999 the average concentrations were as much as 15.5 times the goal concentration. For year 2000, TPHs concentrations were only 7.4-fold the proposed value. For the 1999-2000 period, PAHs (polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons) concentrations decreased by 82%. Some PAHs with 2, 3, 4, and 5 aromatic rings were removed up to 100% values.     

Determination of arsenic species in fish, crustacean and sediment samples from Thailand using high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) coupled with inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS)

Suitable techniques have been developed for the extraction of arsenic species in a variety of biological and environmental samples from the Pak Pa-Nang Estuary and catchment, located in Southern Thailand, and for their determination using HPLC directly coupled with ICP-MS. The estuary catchment comprises a tin mining area and inhabitants of the region can suffer from various stages of arsenic poisoning. The important arsenic species, AsB, DMA, MMA, and inorganic arsenic (As III and V) have been determined in fish and crustacean samples to provide toxicological information on those fauna which contribute to the local diet. A Hamilton PRP-X100 anion-exchange HPLC system employing a step elution has been used successfully to achieve separation of the arsenic species. A nitric acid microwave digestion procedure, followed by carrier gas nitrogen addition- (N2)-ICP-MS analysis was used to measure total arsenic in sample digests and extracts. The arsenic speciation of the biological samples was preserved using a Trypsin enzymatic extraction procedure. Extraction efficiencies were high, with values of 82-102%(As) for fish and crustacean samples. Validation for these procedures was carried out using certified reference materials. Fish and crustacean samples from the Pak Pa-Nang Estuary showed a range for total arsenic concentration, up to 17 microg g(-1) dry mass. The major species of arsenic in all fauna samples taken was AsB, together with smaller quantities of DMA and, more importantly, inorganic As. For sediment samples, arsenic species were determined following phosphoric acid (1 M H3PO4) extraction in an open focused microwave system. A phosphate-based eluant, pH 6-7.5, with anion exchange HPLC coupled with ICP-MS was used for separation and detection of AsIII, AsV, MMA and DMA. The optimum conditions, identified using an estuarine sediment reference material (LGC), were achieved using 45 W power and a 20 minute heating period for extraction of 0.5 g sediment. The stability and recovery of arsenic species under the extraction conditions were also determined by a spiking procedure which included the estuarine sediment reference material. The results show good stability for all species after extraction with a variability of less than 10%. Total concentrations of arsenic in the sediments from the Pak Pa-Nang river catchment and the estuary covered the ranges 7-269 microg g(-1)and 4-20 [micro sign]g g(-1)(dry weight), respectively. AsV was the major species found in all the sediment samples with smaller quantities of AsIII. The presence of the more toxic inorganic forms of arsenic in both sediments and biota samples has implications for human health, particularly as they are readily 'available'.     

Development of an ombrotrophic peat bog (low ash) reference material for the determination of elemental concentrations

Given the increasing interest in using peat bogs as archives of atmospheric metal deposition, the lack of validated sample preparation methods and suitable certified reference materials has hindered not only the quality assurance of the generated analytical data but also the interpretation and comparison of peat core metal profiles from different laboratories in the international community. Reference materials play an important role in the evaluation of the accuracy of analytical results and are essential parts of good laboratory practice. An ombrotrophic peat bog reference material has been developed by 14 laboratories from nine countries in an inter-laboratory comparison between February and October 2002. The material has been characterised for both acid-extractable and total concentrations of a range of elements, including Al, As, Ca, Cd, Cr, Cu, Fe, Hg, Mg, Mn, Na, Ni, P, Pb, Ti, V and Zn. The steps involved in the production of the reference material (i.e. collection and preparation, homogeneity and stability studies, and certification) are described in detail.     

Naphthalene and its biomarkers as measures of occupational exposure to polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons

Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH) include compounds with two or more fused benzene rings, many of which are carcinogens. Industrial sources produce hundreds of PAH, notably in the coke- and aluminium-producing industries. Because PAH are distributed at varying levels between gaseous and particulate phases, exposure assessment has been problematic. Here, we recommend that occupational exposures to naphthalene be considered as a potential surrogate for occupational PAH exposure for three reasons. Naphthalene is usually the most abundant PAH in a given workplace; naphthalene is present almost entirely in the gaseous phase and is, therefore, easily measured; and naphthalene offers several useful biomarkers, including the urinary metabolites 1- and 2-hydroxynaphthalene. These biomarkers can be used to evaluate total-body exposure to PAH, in much the same way that 1-hydroxypyrene has been applied. Using data from published sources, we show that log-transformed airborne levels of naphthalene are highly correlated with those of total PAH (minus naphthalene) in several industries (creosote impregnation: Pearson r= 0.815, coke production: r= 0.917, iron foundry: r= 0.854, aluminium production: r= 0.933). Furthermore, the slopes of the log-log regressions are close to one indicating that naphthalene levels are proportional to those of total PAH in those industries. We also demonstrate that log-transformed urinary levels of the hydroxynaphthalenes are highly correlated with those of 1-hydroxypyrene among coke oven workers and controls (r= 0.857 and 0.876), again with slopes of log-log regressions close to one. These results support the conjecture that naphthalene is a useful metric for occupational PAH exposure. Since naphthalene has also been shown to be a respiratory carcinogen in several animal studies, it is also argued that naphthalene exposures should be monitored per se in industries with high levels of PAH.     

High frequency monitoring of the coastal marine environment using the MAREL buoy

The MAREL Iroise data buoy provides physico-chemical measurements acquired in surface marine water in continuous and autonomous mode. The water is pumped 1.5 m from below the surface through a sampling pipe and flows through the measuring cell located in the floating structure. Technological innovations implemented inside the measuring cell atop the buoy allow a continuous cleaning of the sensor, while injection of chloride ions into the circuit prevents biological fouling. Specific sensors for temperature, salinity, oxygen and fluorescence investigated in this paper have been evaluated to guarantee measurement precision over a 3 month period. A bi-directional link under Internet TCP-IP protocols is used for data, alarms and remote-control transmissions with the land-based data centre. Herein, we present a 29 month record for 4 parameters measured using a MAREL buoy moored in a coastal environment (Iroise Sea, Brest, France). The accuracy of the data provided by the buoy is assessed by comparison with measurements of sea water weekly sampled at the same site as part of SOMLIT (Service d'Observation du Milieu LIToral), the French network for monitoring of the coastal environment. Some particular events (impact of intensive fresh water discharges, dynamics of a fast phytoplankton bloom) are also presented, demonstrating the worth of monitoring a highly variable environment with a high frequency continuous reliable system.