Changes in microcystin content and environmental parameters over the course of a toxic cyanobacteria bloom in a hypertrophic regulated river, South Korea

Cyanobacterial blooms and associated microcystins in hypertrophic stagnant West-Nakdong River were investigated at weekly intervals from April to August, 1999. Microcystis spp. accounted for over 85% of the numeric abundance of total phytoplankton. Microcystins were present in the blooms sampled between May and August. The peak of total microcystin (microcystin-LR + -RR) levels (maximum level; 612 microg g(-1)) was detected in the initial stage of the bloom (mid May), at the same time as high N/P ratio and high Microcystis biomass. This study indicated that total microcystins of this regulated river was positively correlated to Microcystis biomass, absolute nutrient concentration and TN/TP ratio.     

Relevance of element content of bark for the distribution of epiphytic lichens in a montane spruce forest affected by forest dieback

Element content in the bark on Norway spruce (Picea abies) was measured in a montane forest heavily affected by forest dieback and compared to that in a nearby intact stand. Bark contained less S, K, Fe, Mn, Pb, Cu, and H+ and more N, Ca, Mg, and Zn in the dieback-affected stand than in the intact one. Diversity of epiphytic lichen vegetation was higher in the dieback-affected stand than in the intact one. Cover of the foliose lichen Hypogymnia physodes was negatively correlated with Mn and Cu content of bark. Cover of the extremely acidophytic species Lecanora conizaeoides decreased with increasing Mg and increased with increasing Cu content of bark. The measurements support the hypothesis that chemical site factors are decisive for the high lichen diversity in dieback-affected montane spruce forests.     

Estrogenic effects of phenolic compounds on glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase in MCF-7 cells and uterine glutathione peroxidase in rats

In this study, we tested phenolic compounds such as bisphenol A (BPA), 4-nonylphenol (NP), 4-octylphenol (OP) and 4-propylphenol (PP) by using glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase (G6PD) in estrogen sensitive human breast cancer cells (MCF-7 cells) and glutathione peroxidase (GPx) in female immature Sprague-Dawley (SD) rats. This study was designed to investigate whether phenolic compounds have estrogenic effects in these useful screening methods for endocrine disruptors. We chose 6 h as the incubation period for the G6PD assay through a preliminary experiment using 17beta-estradiol (E2). Above the concentration of 1 x 10(-8) M, BPA significantly increased the G6PD activity in a concentration-dependent manner, relative to the control. NP (over the concentration of 1 x 10(-9) M) also enhanced the G6PD activity by about 1.8 times that of the control. OP produced weaker effects on G6PD than NP, and showed a tendency to increase the G6PD activity. PP did not affect the G6PD activity. These results show that BPA and NP have the effect of enhancing G6PD activities in MCF-7 cells. In the in vivo GPx assay, both BPA and E2 significantly increased the uterus wet weights and dramatically enhanced uterine GPx activities in immature female rats in a dose-dependent manner. Treatment with NP (500 mg/kg/day) increased significantly both the uterine GPx activity and the uterus wet weights in immature female rats. OP (500 mg/kg/day) also caused a significant increase in uterine GPx activity, but had no effect on the uterus wet weights. This finding indicates that the change in uterine GPx activities could be a more sensitive parameter than that of uterus wet weights in immature rats. This study implies that phenolic compounds have a weak estrogenic effects.     

Formation and emission status of PCDDs/PCDFs in municipal solid waste incinerators in Korea

This study was carried out to examine the formation and the emission status of polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins/polychlorinated dibenzofurans (PCDDs/PCDFs) in the flue gases of commercial-scale municipal solid waste (MSW) incinerators, and thus to provide the engineering data for the reduction of PCDDs/PCDFs emitted from MSW incinerators. The formation concentrations of the PCDDs/PCDFs generated at the outlet of waste heat boilers (WHB) were in the range of 1.18-29.61 ng-TEQ/N m3 (average 5.75 ng-TEQ/N m3), while the emission concentrations at the stacks were in the range of 0.026-4.548 ng-TEQ/N m3 (average 0.924 ng-TEQ/N m3). Two major 2,3,7,8-substituted congeners were 2,3,4,7,8-PeCDF and 2,3,4,6,7,8-HxCDF, and their concentrations were up to 50% and 64% of total TEQ values at the outlet of WHB and the stack, respectively. From the results of multi-regression analysis, the formation concentration of PCDDs/PCDFs could be predicted as follows with the correlation factor of r2 = 0.962: PCDDs/PCDFs (ng-TEQ/N m3) = 3.036 (Cl) + 0.094 (T1) - 0.472 (Combustibles) + 0.059 (CO) - 0.039 (THC) - 3.366 (H) + 22.157, where T1 (degrees C) is the temperature at the outlet of the WHB. Cl, Combustibles and H are given as percentages and the others are in parts per million.     

Deponiesickerwässer: Bestimmung zytotoxischer Wirkungen mit dem Pollenschlauchwachstumstest

For risk assessment of environmental samples, rapid and sensitive screening assays for detection of toxic potencies are required. Using leachates from waste deposites in the industrial region Leipzig-Halle (Germany) as an example, we present a simple test procedure suitable for the detection of cytotoxic effects of samples. This method, the pollen tube growth test (PTG), works as follows: Pollen of tobacco (Nicotiana sylvestris Spegazz, & Comes) are suspended in mixtures of growth medium and buffered (pH 6,3 to 7,0) dumping ground leachates. After an 18h-incubation period, growth of pollen tubes is quantified by staining with Alcian blue and subsequent measurment of optical density in a photometer. Sample induced inhibition of pollen tube growth is calculated in relation to controls maintained in pure growth medium. The PTG test shows high sensitivity towards leachates of different chemical composition, and it shows good agreement with assay results from luminescent bacteria tests. We conclude that the PTG test is well suited to assess the hazardous potential of aqueous environmental samples.     

Ultra-low concentration of total organic carbon in ultrapure water using ion-exchange resin embedding silanized magnetic nanoparticles

Regeneration of pure water is an important issue not only for the healthy life but also for the fine control of precise processes in various industries.One important issue in ultrahigh purified water is to reduce the amount of total organic carbon(TOC).Herein,we introduce a new approach to reduce the TOC using the surface silanized nanoparticles,in which the magnetic nanoparticles(mNPs) are silanized and then complexed with ion exchange resin(IER) beads.The Fe_3O_4 mNPs are surface modified by using high concentrated vinyltrimethoxysilane(VTMS) and then adhered on the surface of IER beads.The surface modified mNPs have a thick-shell of polysiloxane layer varying from 5 to 22 nm depending on the amount of VTMS used,which leads the significant increase of specific surface area.The IER beads embedding VTMS-silanized mNPs achieves about 7 μg/L of the TOC level in ultrapure water system,which is two orders less than 228 μg/L of the feeding water and one order less than 96 μg/L from the system using pristine IER beads.This result is mainly attributed to the polysiloxane layer forming broccoli-like surface structure and some part by the vinyl group of VTMS exposed to the amines in the water.