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.     

Effect of soil layering on NAPL removal behavior in soil-heated vapor extraction

Soil heating has been proposed as a method to enhance the vapor extraction of NAPLs from contaminated soils. Three-dimensional fluid flow and heat transfer simulations have been performed for soil-heated vapor extraction to determine the transient system performance for a hypothetical configuration. Soil layering has been considered in evaluation of the initial non-aqueous phase liquid (NAPL) distribution and in evaporation and transport to the vapor extraction location. Results from this layered model are compared with results for a homogeneous system with an initially uniform NAPL, indicating the influence of layering, the initial NAPL distribution, the type of NAPL, and the possibility of enhanced vapor diffusion. Not only is the NAPL removal time reduced significantly with the addition of heat, but the uncertainty in the removal time owing to a number of difficult to characterize in situ factors, such as layering and the initial NAPL distribution, is much less than for standard soil vapor extraction without heating, owing to the rise in temperature and increase in NAPL vapor pressure with time.     

Current status and future needs for biological and environmental reference materials certified for methylmercury compounds.

A good quality control/quality assurance programme should be implemented in all environmental or health related studies on mercury and its organic compounds, particularly, for monomethylmercury (MeHg) which is the most toxic mercury compound. This can be achieved initially by analysing suitable certified reference materials (CRMs), which are available from various producers such as the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) from USA, National Institute of Environmental Studies (NIES), National Research Council of Canada (NRCC), Standards, Measurements and Testing programme (SM&T) of the European Commission, and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). It is well understood that these materials are not covering present needs, as most of them are of the marine origin, while many laboratories are conducting research and monitoring in terrestrial ecosystems and fresh water environment. In addition, CRMs for human exposure assessment, such as blood, urine, and hair at several levels of concentrations are still lacking. Therefore, many other actions should be undertaken to achieve, improve and/or maintain quality of data, including participation in interlaboratory studies, proficiency testing and production of laboratory reference materials. A review of these actions has shown that MeHg compounds determination in samples such as soil, sediment and water is rather difficult and the results are also method dependent. In addition, it has been shown that some of the most frequently employed analytical methods may be a subject to spurious MeHg formation in the presence of high concentrations of inorganic mercury and organic matter. These findings have put a number of previous data on MeHg in question and consequently prompt actions were undertaken by a number of well experienced laboratories and producers of CRMs. So far, it is shown that the results obtained by various laboratories using different analytical techniques agree well with certified values in all RMs certified for MeHg. This suggests that comparability of data can be achieved, which however is not a guarantee of the true values.     

Oxidative dealkylation of five phenylurea herbicides by the fungus CunninghamellaechinulataThaxter

Microorganisms isolated from soil degrade phenylurea herbicides via two major pathways: (i) direct hydrolysis by an amidase leading to N,O-dimethylhydroxylamine, CO₂ and aniline¹ and (ii) N-dealkylation, which has been described as the first step in urea herbicide degradation by a variety of organisms including mammals, plants and microbial systems (for a review see reference 2).Until now no attempts have been made to investigate the mechanism of N-demethylation of substituted ureas in soil microorganisms, due to the instability of the N-hydroxymethyl intermediates. This reaction mechanism has only been described in detail in green plants^3–5. As among soil fungi Phycomycetes are known to demethylate phenylurea herbicides^6,7 this study has been made to identify intermediate hydroxymethyl compounds from urea herbicides, when incubated with the fungus $\text{Cunninghamella echinulata Thaxter}$.     

Reviving wood-pastures for biodiversity and people: A case study from western Estonia

Wood-pastures are associated with high cultural and biodiversity values in Europe. However, due to their relatively low productivity, large areas of wood-pastures have been lost over the last century. In some areas, incentive schemes have been developed to revive wood-pastures. We investigated the effects of one such scheme in western Estonia. We compared the structure of grazed wood-pastures (old and restored) to those of abandoned wood-pastures and ungrazed forest stands to explore the effects of management, and conducted interviews with 24 farmers to investigate their motivations to carry out the management. We found a positive influence of active management on the semi-open structure of wood-pastures. Financial support was vital for management, but personal values related to tradition also played an important role. The interviewees differed widely in their range of motivations, suggesting that other strategies in addition to financial incentives would further improve the management of wood-pastures in the region.

Electronic supplementary material

The online version of this article (doi:10.1007/s13280-015-0719-8) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.     

Combustion-derived substances in deep basins of Puget Sound: historical inputs from fossil fuel and biomass combustion

Reconstructions of 250 years historical inputs of two distinct types of black carbon (soot/graphitic black carbon (GBC) and char-BC) were conducted on sediment cores from two basins of the Puget Sound, WA. Signatures of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) were also used to support the historical reconstructions of BC to this system. Down-core maxima in GBC and combustion-derived PAHs occurred in the 1940s in the cores from the Puget Sound Main Basin, whereas in Hood Canal such peak was observed in the 1970s, showing basin-specific differences in inputs of combustion byproducts. This system showed relatively higher inputs from softwood combustion than the northeastern U.S. The historical variations in char-BC concentrations were consistent with shifts in climate indices, suggesting an influence of climate oscillations on wildfire events. Environmental loading of combustion byproducts thus appears as a complex function of urbanization, fuel usage, combustion technology, environmental policies, and climate conditions.