Selectivity in the complexation of actinides by humic substances

The interactions of a range of actinide elements (Th, U, Np, Pu, Am) with humic substances from the Needle's Eye natural analogue site were studied by gel permeation chromatography. Bulk humic substances were isolated by ammonia extraction, followed by dialysis against distilled water and freeze-drying. The gel permeation results suggest that Needle's Eye humic substances can be fractionated into three incompletely resolved fractions with average molecular weights determined by analytical ultracentrifugation around 49 000 for Fraction 1, around 14 700 for Fraction 2 and around 8000 for Fraction 3. Although there are significant differences between the organic matter elution patterns in individual gel permeation experiments, presumably due to differences in column packing, these are much smaller than the differences between metal ions. The uranium that is naturally present in these humic substances is largely bound in the late-eluting fraction. Spikes of the early actinides, including Np and Pu in controlled valency states, have been added to the humic substances, and gel permeation of the spiked humic substances shows that the three humic fractions vary greatly in their effectiveness and selectivity as ligands for early actinides.     

Patterns of soil copper contamination and temporal changes in vegetation in the vicinity of a copper rod rolling factory

Patterns of soil copper contamination have been examined in the vicinity of a copper rod rolling plant in Prescot, Merseyside, UK. The site, established in 1975, was found to possess clear patterns of soil copper contamination, with the highest levels of HNO3 and water-extractable fractions encountered in the factory grounds adjacent to the location of the furnace chimney. The majority of the copper had accumulated in the upper soil horizons. The site is surrounded by planted lawns, established at different times after the commissioning of the plant. The species composition of the extant grassland communities, found at sites with differing soil copper levels, was compared to the composition of the original seed mixtures sown at each of ten sites. These surveys clearly showed that different levels of soil copper contamination had produced significant changes in grassland composition with time. At the most polluted site, copper tolerant Agrostis capillaris clones were the main grasses present only two years after the area was sown with a four-species mixture of non-tolerant grass seed. Lolium perenne possessed extreme sensitivity to copper. A number of dicotyledonous species, normally considered sensitive to elevated copper levels, were found to be unaffected where such conditions had arisen after plants had established from seed.     

Enzymatic degradation of poly([R,S] β-hydroxybutyrate)

The synthetic analogue of a bacterially produced polyester, poly(-hydroxybutyrate) (PHB) was synthesized from racemic -butyrolactone using anin situ trimethyl aluminum-water catalyst. The polymer was fractionated into samples differing in molecular weight and isotactic diad content. The latter was closely related to degree of crystallinity. The biodegradation of these fractions were examined by monitoring mass loss over time in the presence of anAlcaligenes faecalis T1 extracellular bacterial poly(-hydroxybutyrate) depolymerase. The fraction with high isotactic diad tacticity content showed little or no degradation over a 50 hour incubation period, whereas the fraction of intermediate isotactic diad content degraded in a continuous steady fashion at a rate that was less than that for bacterial PHB. The low isotactic diad fraction underwent a rapid initial degradation, followed by no further mass loss. The presence of stereoblocks in the polymer structure of the various fractions was an influence on the degree of susceptibility towards degradation and is related to sample crystallinity.     

Book reviews

Rebuilding the City: Property‐led Urban Regeneration

P. Healey, S. Davoudi, M. O'Toole, S. Tavsanoglu & D. Usher (Eds)

London, E. & F. N. Spon, 1992, 312 pp., £30

Der Wert stadtnaher Wälder als Erholungsraum: Eine ökonomishce Analyse am Beispiel von Lugano (Value of Urban Forests as Recreational Areas: An Economic Analysis on the Case of Lugano)

Claudia Nielsen

Chur (Switzerland), Verlag Rüegger, 1992, 261 pp., SFr 48

Urban Planning under Thatcherism: The Challenge of the Market

A. Thornley

London, Routledge, 1991, 253 pp., £14.99

Sustainable Development and Urban Form, European Research in Regional Science 2

M. J. Breheny (Ed)

London, Pion, Limited, 1992, 292 pp., £28.00.

Tourism, Museums and the Local Economy: The Economic Impact of the North of England Open Air Musuem at Beamish

Peter Johnson & Barry Thomas

Cheltenham, Edward Elgar, 1992, 160 pp., £29.50     

The fate of endosulfan in aquatic ecosystems

Endosulfan, one of the major pesticides used in cotton-growing, is of environmental concern because of its toxicity to fish and its apparent persistence in the environment. This study examines the distribution and degradation pathways for endosulfan in an aquatic system and the processes by which it is removed. In the alkaline waters of the cotton region, hydrolysis is the dominant degradation process. By this mechanism alone, the expected half-lives for the alpha- and beta-endosulfan isomers were found to be 3.6 days and 1.7 days, respectively. Partitioning studies showed, however, that the major proportion of endosulfan would associate with the sediments (log Koc(alpha) 3.6 and log Koc(beta) 4.3). Field studies confirmed the presence of high concentrations in sediments. Microcosm experiments showed that loss of endosulfan was slower than predicted from hydrolysis rates. Models are presented to explain how desorption from sediment limits the loss of endosulfan from a system.     

The response of Lemna trisulca L. to cadmium

Lemna trisulca was grown, using aseptic culture techniques in a filter-sterilized medium, a portion of which was replaced regularly during experiments. L. trisulca responded to the addition of 0.64 microM Cd with a reduction in multiplication rate (MR) 2 +/- 1 days after exposure. The internal Cd content reached 1000 +/- 140 microg Cd/g (dry wt) within 2 days exposure to 0.64 microM Cd. The final yield was reduced by an average of c.8% for each day of exposure to 0.64 microM Cd in a 14 day experiment. This implies that an equilibration period should be used for short-term bioassay tests before the effect of a toxicant is determined. Pretreating L. trisulca with 0.08 or 0.32 microM Cd for 6 weeks had no significant effect on MR or Cd uptake when plants were subsequently exposed to a range of Cd concentrations or grown in a control medium. This suggests that L. trisulca does not become acclimated to elevated Cd concentrations. The MR of L. trisulca fluctuated over a period of almost 600 days and the doubling time ranged from 1.6 to 2.4 days. This produced more than a fivefold difference in final yield in experiments of 14 days duration. The reduction in MR in response to 0.32 microM Cd during this same 600 days period averaged 24% with a coefficient of variation of 38%, and varied with the MR of control cultures. Fluctuations in the intrinsic growth rate and the effect of a toxicant on L. trisulca could potentially confound the assessment of toxicity and must be carefully considered when designing test protocols for aquatic plants.     

Short-term Pb accumulation by slugs sampled from clean and contaminated sites when fed artificial Pb-spiked diets

Slugs (Deroceras reticulatum and Arion subfuscus) were sampled from two distinct sites, an uncontaminated site at Dinas Powys and a Pb-contaminated, disusedmine site at Llantrisant. Batches of the slugs were exposed for ten days under laboratory conditions to an artificial diet consisting of a 5% (w/v) agar + 5% (w/v) sucrose matrix contaminated with different concentrations of Pb, as Pb (NO(3))(2). The food 'cubes' contained approximately 0, 10, 100, and 1000 microg Pb ml(-1). Tissue-Pb concentrations increased with increasing dietary-Pb concentration in both species. However, at the highest Pb exposure (1000 microg ml(-1)) the tissue-Pb concentrations in D. reticulatum and A. subfuscus sampled originally from the clean site were higher than those in their counterparts from the contaminated site, even though the Llantrisant slugs had significantly higher baseline Pb concentrations than the Dinas Powys slugs. It is suggested that these observations indicate metal tolerance phenotypically expressed as reduced accumulation in the populations with a history of Pb-exposure in their natural habitat. We discuss how biomonitoring may be affected by the way in which different slug populations deal with metals.     

Petroleum and hazardous chemical spills in Newark Bay, New Jersey, USA from 1982 to 1991

Newark Bay, New Jersey, is particularly vulnerable to ecological damage from petroleum and chemical spills, as a result of the enclosed nature and shallow depth of the bay, the high frequency of shipping traffic, and the numerous chemical and petroleum transfer terminals located alongs its shores. To evaluate the potential impacts to the natural resources of this coastal estuarine ecosystem, chemical and petroleum accidents reported to the US Coast Guard (USCG) between 1982 and 1991 were compiled to determine the frequency and volume of these incidents in Newark Bay and in each of its major tributaries. Records obtained from the USCG National Response Center's computerized database indicated that more than 1453 accidental incidents, resulting in the release of more than 18 million US gallons of hazardous materials and petroleum products, occurred throughout Newark Bay during this period of time. The bulk of the materials released to the aquatic environment consisted of petroleum products, specifically No. 6 Fuel Oil (103 spills, 12 829 272 US gal) and gasoline (207 spills, 48 816 US gal). The majority of the reported incidents occurred in the Arthur Kill and its tributaries, as well as in the Kill Van Kull and the Passaic River. The results of this study indicated that the accidental discharge of petroleum and hazardous chemicals represents a significant source of chemical pollution in Newark Bay. Based on the frequency of spills and the volume of materials released to the aquatic environment, it is likely that these events are having a deleterious effect on the Newark Bay ecosystem.     

Cellular and ultrastructural changes in the endoderm of the temperate sea anemone Anemonia viridis as a result of increased temperature

Exposure of the temperate sea anemone Anemonia viridis Forskål to increased seawater temperature (from 16 to 26°C) reduced the lysosomal latency of coelenterate tissues. Lysosomes in the mesenterial filaments of anemones were destabilised by increased temperature, with greater destabilisation in heat-shocked symbiotic anemones than in heat-shocked aposymbiotic anemones in the early stages of the experiment. Lysosomal enzyme activity in zooxanthellae from heat-shocked symbiotic anemones was associated with the algal membranes and the cytoplasm of degenerate algal cells. While the relationship between host coelenterate and symbiotic alga may confer many benefits under normal conditions, comparison of the responses of symbiotic and aposymbiotic anemones to heat shock suggests that there may be disadvantages for symbiotic anemones under stress.