River Benue, the second largest river in Nigeria, serves as the major source of municipal water supplies for towns and villages
along its course. Water samples from the river were collected at ten stations in the Makurdi metropolitan area (7°44′ N, 8°32′ E) in Benue State, Central Nigeria, for 12 months and analyzed for their heavy metals concentration, along with other water-quality
parameters such as turbidity, pH, total dissolved solids and total solids. The results revealed that the mean concentrations
of heavy metals in the river was in the following ascending order, Cd < Cu < Zn < Mn < Pb < Cr < Fe. The levels of most of
the parameters determined, with the exception of Cd, Cr and Pb were, generally, within acceptable limits for drinking water.
From the present study, it is concluded that the River Benue is only moderately contaminated with regard to heavy metals,
in the Makurdi metropolitan area. 相似文献
Soil contamination by heavy metals has become a serious problem mainly because, above certain concentrations, all metals have adverse effects on human health. In particular, the accumulation of heavy metals in agricultural soils leads to elevated uptake by crops and affects food quality and safety. In this paper, we present the results of a study carried out over a decade for evaluating the impact of a new industrial settlement in an area geared to agriculture and livestock and far from urban sites. We focus our study on the bioavailable fraction of Cd, Co, Cr, Cu, Fe, Mn, Ni, Pb and Zn in soil samples. Heavy metal concentrations in soil are analysed with both univariate and multivariate statistical procedures. The main goal of this paper is the development of a statistical procedure, based on a mix of multivariate analysis, able to compare field surveys carried out during different years and to characterize spatial and temporal changes in soil heavy metals concentrations. 相似文献
A novel hybrid anaerobic-contact oxidation biofilm baffled reactor (HAOBR) was developed to simultaneously remove nitrogenous and carbonaceous organic pollutants from decentralized molasses wastewater in the study. The study was based on the inoculation of anaerobic granule sludge in anaerobic compartments and the installation of combination filler in aerobic compartments. The performance of reactor system was studied regarding the hydraulic retention time (HRT), microbial characteristics and the gas water ratio (GWR). When the HRT was 24h and the GWR was 20:1, total ammonia and chemical oxygen demand (COD) of the effluent were reduced by 99% and 91.8%, respectively. The reactor performed stably for treating decentralized molasses wastewater. The good performance of the reactor can be attributed to the high resistance of COD and hydraulic shock loads. In addition, the high solid retention time of contact oxidation biofilm contributed to stable performance of the reactor. 相似文献
In the Panasqueira mine area of central Portugal, some environmental media show higher metal(loid) concentrations when compared with the local geochemical background and the values proposed in the literature for these environmental media. In order to evaluate the effect of the external contamination on selected indexes of internal dose, As, Cd, Cu, Cr, Fe, Hg, Mg, Mn, Mo, Ni, Pb, S, Se, Si, and Zn were quantified by inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry and inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectrometry in blood, urine, hair and nail samples from individuals environmentally (N = 41) and occupationally exposed (N = 41). A matched control group (N = 40) was also studied, and data from the three groups were compared. Results obtained agreed with those reported by environmental studies performed in this area, pointing to populations living nearby and working in the mine being exposed to metal(loid)s originated from mining activities. Arsenic was the element with the highest increase in exposed populations. The concentration of other elements such as Cr, Mg, Mn, Mo, Ni, Pb, S, Se, and Zn was also increased, although at a lesser extent, specifically in the individuals environmentally exposed and in females. These findings confirm the need for competent authorities to act as soon as possible in this area and implement strategies aimed to protect exposed populations and the entire ecosystem. 相似文献
The distribution of organisms at small spatial scales and their use of microhabitats are important determinants of species-level interactions. In many ubiquitous rocky shore invertebrates, use of intertidal microhabitats has previously been studied with relation to thermal and desiccation stress, ontogenetic changes and predation. Here, the effects of parasitism on the microhabitat use and movement of two New Zealand littorinid hosts, Austrolittorina antipodum and A. cincta, were investigated by examining the effect of infection by a philophthalmid trematode parasite. Alterations in microhabitat use and movement of infected versus uninfected individuals were found during both field mark-recapture and laboratory experiments, carried out from August 2012 to March 2013 in Otago Harbour, New Zealand (45.83°S, 170.64°E). Specifically, a trend towards increased use of rock surface habitats and a reduction in the distance moved by infected snails was observed. In addition, decreased downward movement was observed for some infected individuals. This alteration in individual distribution is likely to increase the availability of infected individuals to predators, hence aiding the successful transmission of the trematode parasite. These results highlight the importance of including parasitism as a biotic factor in studies of gastropod movement and spatial distribution. 相似文献
A comparison of different transportation route types and their combined effects on landscape diversity was conducted within Tiaoxi watershed (China) between 1994 and 2005. Buffer analysis and Mann–Kendall’s test were used to quantify the relationships between distance from transportation routes (railway, highway, national, and provincial road) and a family of landscape diversity parameters (Simpson’s diversity index, Simpson’s evenness index, Shannon’s diversity index, and Shannon’s evenness index). One-way ANOVA was further applied to compare influences from different route types and their combined effects. Five other landscape metrics (patch density, edge density, area-weighted mean shape index, connectance index, and Euclidean nearest neighbor distance) were also calculated to analyze the associations between landscape diversity and landscape pattern characteristics. Results showed that transportation routes exerted significant impacts on landscape diversity. Impact from railway was comparable to that from highway and national road but was more significant than that from provincial road. The spatial influential range of railway and national road was wider than that of highway and provincial road. Combined effects of routes were nonlinear, and impacts from different route types were more complex than those from the same type. The four landscape diversity metrics were comparably effective at the buffer zone scale. In addition, landscape diversity can be alternatively used to indicate fragmentation, connectivity, and isolation at route buffer scale. This study demonstrates an applicable approach to quantitatively characterize the impacts from transportation routes on landscape patterns and has potential to facilitate route network planning. 相似文献
The consumption and production of food products in the municipality of Lisbon in the 1890–1900 decade is assessed with the support of historical cartography and statistical resources. For the first time, food production in a municipality in the turn to the twentieth century is accounted and simultaneously subject of a visual analysis of the land used for agriculture and of the water infrastructures that supported such uses. Agriculture occupied at least 40 % of the territory of the city, while the built environment occupied no more than 16 % of the territory. However, local production of food was far from supplying most of the citizens’ needs, and substantial food imports were needed. In this context, the municipality behaved like a heterotrophic system, highly dependent on the external supply of resources. Moreover, comparing to other European cities at the time Lisbon was facing in the end of the nineteenth century a late and slow transition from an agrarian social metabolism to an industrial one, suggesting that Lisbon was still relatively high-solar-powered as compared to other European cities at the time that were already highly fossil-fuel-powered. 相似文献
This work aimed to determine the seasonal variations of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in airborne PM10 at two background sites (Masná—MS, Líšeň—LN) in Brno over a 5-year period (2009–2013). Samples were collected on quartz filters using a low-volume sampler by continual filtration. Concentrations of PAHs in collected PM10 samples were determined using a gas chromatography with a mass spectrometer as a detector. A different number of PAHs were determined to be at each site, i.e., 11 PAHs at the MS site and six PAHs at the LN site, and similarities between them were identified using non-parametric analysis of variance. Potential sources were identified using principal component analysis (PCA) and PAHs diagnostic ratios. The work also focused on health risk assessment. This was estimated using toxic equivalent factors to calculate individual lifetime cancer risk, which quantifies risk of exposure to PAHs for specific age groups. The average 11-PAH concentrations in M|S site annually ranged from 19.28 ± 19.02 ng m−3 (2011) to 40.37 ± 21.35 ng m−3 (2013). With regard to the LN site, the average six-PAH concentrations annually ranged from 3.64 ± 3.87 ng m−3 (2009) and 5.27 ± 6.19 ng m−3 (2012). PCA and diagnostic ratios indicate the main sources to be traffic emissions and coal combustion. Health risk assessment showed carcinogenic risk under limit value in all cases.