Natural attenuation of chlorinated solvents at Area 6, Dover Air Force Base: groundwater biogeochemistry

Monitored natural attenuation (MNA) has recently emerged as a viable groundwater remediation technology in the United States. Area 6 at Dover Air Force Base (Dover, DE) was chosen as a test site to examine the potential for MNA of tetrachloroethene (PCE) and trichloroethene (TCE) in groundwater and aquifer sediments. A "lines of evidence" approach was used to document the occurrence of natural attenuation. Chlorinated hydrocarbon and biogeochemical data were used to develop a site-specific conceptual model where both anaerobic and aerobic biological processes are responsible for the destruction of PCE, TCE, and daughter metabolites. An examination of groundwater biogeochemical data showed a region of depleted dissolved oxygen with elevated dissolved methane and hydrogen concentrations. Reductive dechlorination likely dominated in the anaerobic portion of the aquifer where PCE and TCE levels were observed to decrease with a simultaneous increase in cis-1,2-dichloroethene (cis-DCE), vinyl chloride (VC), ethene, and dissolved chloride. Near the anaerobic/ aerobic interface, concentrations of cis-DCE and VC decreased to below detection limits, presumably due to aerobic biotransformation processes. Therefore, the contaminant and daughter product plumes present at the site appear to have been naturally atteuated by a combination of active anaerobic and aerobic biotransformation processes.     

Molecular,functional, and cellular alterations of oocytes and cumulus cells induced by heat stress and shock in animals

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - Global warming is considered as the main environmental stress affecting ecosystems as well as physiological and biochemical characteristics, and...     

外源Cl-添加对不同母质土壤溶液Cd2+浓度的影响

土壤镉(Cd)的环境行为与其在土壤溶液中的存在形态以及陪伴离子有关,然而外源Cl~-与土壤溶液中Cd~(2+)的关系以及不同母质土壤对Cd~(2+)的环境行为的影响并没有明确的结论.选取2种水稻土(第四纪红色黏土母质发育的红黄泥、紫色砂页岩母质发育的紫泥田)为研究对象,添加离子态外源Cd~(2+)(0、1、2.5、5 mg·kg~(-1)),平衡老化后添加外源Cl~-(0、0.6、1.2 mg·kg~(-1)),在保持水分恒定的情况下进行模拟培养试验,研究外源Cl~-添加对土壤溶液Cd~(2+)浓度的影响.结果表明,随着外源Cd~(2+)的增加,土壤溶液Cd~(2+)的浓度提高,红黄泥土壤溶液Cd~(2+)的浓度显著高于紫泥田;添加Cl~-会使土壤溶液中Cd~(2+)浓度升高,且Cd~(2+)浓度与外源Cl~-呈显著正相关,红黄泥和紫泥田土壤溶液中Cd~(2+)的平均浓度比不添加Cl~-时Cd~(2+)的平均浓度分别增加了12.74%、51.49%;土壤对Cd~(2+)的吸附关系符合Freundlich等温吸附方程,紫泥田对Cd~(2+)的吸附量显著高于红黄泥,添加Cl~-对红黄泥Cd~(2+)的吸附影响很小,而对紫泥田的影响显著.Cl~-存在下,红黄泥和紫泥田的解吸率分别为12.50%～19.25%、14.76%～24.99%,外源Cl~-添加对Cd~(2+)解吸影响小.综合分析认为,Cl~-对不同土壤Cd~(2+)的吸附解吸行为影响有较大的差异.     

Amino acid uptake by the toxic dinoflagellate Alexandrium fundyense

A toxic axenic strain of Alexandrium fundyense is shown to be capable of removing dissolved free amino acids (DFAAs) until concentrations are similar (low nM) to those found in natural waters. Uptake is greatest during exponential growth, rather than during C and/or N-stress as is usual in diatoms and other flagellates. A wide range of amino acids can be taken up, their concentration being decreased within a few hours to the levels observed prior to DFAA addition. The maximum rate of DFAA-N uptake, during early exponential phase, was 0.8 pmol-N cell⁻¹ h⁻¹, equivalent to ≃20% of the total N requirement. More typically, the contribution of DFAA-N was only ≃5%. However, these uptake rates are not sustainable. It is apparent that this organism cannot use amino-N to support significant growth, even though it can take up DFAAs. This, and the fact that the composition of the internal amino acid pool differed from that externally, is further evidence that the N-physiology of this genus is abnormal (differences to other dinoflagellates include an abnormally high concentration of glutamine and arginine, an effective absence of amine X, and release of nitrite during the␣concurrent assimilation of nitrate and ammonium in␣darkness). There is no evidence that the use of DFAAs enhance toxin content, except when cells are supplied with very high (unnatural) concentrations of arginine. Received: 8 May 1989 / Accepted: 14 September 1998     

Human Instability in Flood Flows1

Abstract: Loss of human stability in flood flows and consequent drowning are a high personal hazard. In this paper, we review past experimental work on human instability. The results of new experiments by the Flood Hazard Research Centre (FHRC) are also reported. These new results show that low depth/high velocity flood waters are more dangerous than suggested based on previous experimental work. It is discussed how human instability can be related to two physical mechanisms: moment instability (toppling) and friction instability (sliding). Comparison of the test results with these physical mechanisms suggests that the occurrence of instability in the tests by FHRC is related to friction instability. This mechanism appears to occur earlier than moment instability for the combination of shallow depth and high flow velocity. Those concerned to identify locations where high flood flows could be a threat to human life need to modify their hazard assessments accordingly.     

Problems of correlation of global and local monitoring of air pollution

1. The Air Polluttion Monitoring System has got a significant development of late, which is in direct relation with a considerable extention and improvement of the observation network in cities and industrial areas, with creation of a new network for assessing regional and global background of the atmosphere pollution, as well as with the wide involvement of meteorologists to monitoring organization.
2. While developing a new global monitoring system, it is necessary to take into account its relationship with the local monitoring within the region of air pollution sources, i.e. at the \lsimpact\rs level. The need in such an account is dictated first of all by the physics of pollutant spreading that states: changes in air pollution over large territories must be in a certain agreement with greater changes in the vicinity of emission sources. Methods applied in the global and local monitoring have also a number of common peculiarities. White organizing regional network for observations of the background pollution of the atmosphere twin stations (one of the pair of stations located outside the city boundaries in a small community, and the other, in the nearest city with the population of 200–400 thousand inhabitants) were established in the U.S.S.R. and in a number of socialist countries in Europe.
3. Implementation of the twin-station principles in the U.S.S.R. has contributed to data interpretation and representativity assessment as well as to correction of the station location. Observation results from the Soviet background stations and those abroad have been compared by now according to a number of indices.
4. The correlation of monitoring systems of various scales tells positively both on mutual improvement and completion of observational methods. The methods of obtaining integral characteristics of air pollution were used for the global monitoring, in particular spectral actinometric observations and chemical analysis of the precipitation composition. Now they find still wider employment. Thus methods of spectral actinometric measurements and data processing were used to estimate the degree of aerosol pollution of a number of industrial centres. The theory of solar radiation spreading and aerosol contents determination in urban atmosphere has also been developed. It is a generalization of an earlier developed theory, used to estimate global atmosphere pollution basing on actinometric data. The organization of precipitation collection and analysis on a network of stations around Leningrad and in Donbass area enables us to compare the admixture content in precipitations falling in industrial and agricultural areas.
5. A considerable increase of possibilities to measure microconcentrations of sulphur dioxide, nitrogen oxides and of a number of other pollutants is connected with the use of solid solvents for sampling. Their use will allow to avoid establishment of special laboratories at background stations and only send samples by post for their analysis in centralized laboratories.

They will also allow to considerably increase precision and accuracy of measurements. The international comparisons of methods of air pollution measurements on the background level allow to judge about the effiency of these methods.     

HPLC-ICP-MS在植物有机硒形态分析中的应用现状

植物是人们摄取硒的主要来源,富硒植物中富含可开发利用的有机硒,我国湖北恩施高硒地区富硒植物资源丰富亟待开发利用。植物中硒的形态分析是研究开发富硒植物资源的基础,而高效液相色谱与电感耦合等离子体质谱联用技术(HPLC-ICP-MS)是目前硒形态分析使用最为广泛的技术,它在样品的前处理、分析灵敏度、准确性等方面均具有优势,可以实现富硒植物中含硒生物大分子、硒形态以及与氨基酸结合位点及机理的分析。因此作者综述了植物样品的预处理过程,介绍了HPLC-ICP-MS联用技术在测定植物硒形态及其应用方面的研究成果,为我国富硒植物、富硒产品中硒形态的分析测定、开发富硒植物资源提供指导。     

废气量减排对大气污染控制技术效率的要求

雾霾问题已经成为我国目前面临的主要大气环境污染问题,废气量减排是消除我国雾霾污染的有效途径之一。综述了国内外烟气量减排的现状,在此基础上分析了废气量减排对污染物排放浓度的影响。结果表明,废气量减排技术的应用对大气污染控制技术提出了更高的要求,需将除尘效率提高到99.95%,脱硫效率提高到97.5%,脱硝效率提高到75%。