Determinations of PCB within a project to develop cleanup methods for PCB-containing elastic sealant used in outdoor joints between concrete blocks in buildings

Determinations of PCB were carried out as part of a project aimed at developing cleanup methods for PCB-containing elastic sealant used in outdoor joints between concrete blocks. The goals of the project were to develop methods, which minimise the spread of PCB to the outdoor environment and to indoor air, and which keep the PCB levels as low as reasonably possible in the workplace environment whilst removing the elastic sealant. The following PCB determinations were carried out: (1) concentration in the elastic sealant; (2) concentration in the concrete close to the sealant; (3) concentration in soil; (4) concentration in the indoor air; and (5) concentration in the air in the workplace environment. The cleanup process consisted of a number of different steps: (1) cutting the elastic sealant with an oscillating knife; (2) grinding the concrete with a mechanical machine; (3) sawing the concrete with a mechanical saw and (4) cutting the concrete with a mechanical chisel. In all these different steps a high capacity vacuum cleaner connected to the machines was used. The elastic sealant contained 4.7 to 8.1% total PCB of a technical product with a composition most similar to Clophene A40. The concrete close to the sealant (first 2 mm) contained 0.12 and 1.7% total PCB at two different places. The pattern of the PCB in the concrete resembled that of the sealant. PCB concentrations in the soil from the ground close to the building were 0.1 and 0.3 ppm at two different places before the remedial action. The source of the PCB in the soil is most likely the sealant as the PCB pattern is similar for the two materials. The PCB levels in the workplace air at the beginning of the project, when the techniques were not fully developed, were generally above the occupational exposure limit of 10 micrograms m-3 (up to 120 micrograms m-3). Later when the techniques were optimised to better take care of dust and gases produced during the cutting and grinding etc., the levels were below or close to 10 micrograms m-3. The pattern of the PCB in the workplace air was different from that of the sealant and contained higher levels of lighter components. The PCB concentrations in the indoor air were measured before and during the remedial process. The levels were around 600 ng m-3 and there was no significant increase during the removal of the sealant. The PCB level after the remedial action will be measured later. The pattern of the PCB in the indoor air was different from that of the sealant as well as from that of the workplace air. Higher levels of the lighter PCB were present indoors compared to the composition in both workplace air and in sealant. Extracts of PCB were analysed by GC-MS with a SIM method (selected ion monitoring). Standard procedures were used for extraction of solid materials. For the air samples an OVS tube was used with XAD-2 as adsorbent. The filter and adsorbent were extracted with toluene. This work shows that it is important to perform remedial action of PCB-containing elastic sealant as: (1) there is a spread of PCB to the indoor air giving high enough concentrations to make this the main PCB load on humans living in the apartments studied in this project; (2) large amounts are spread to the soil from these sealants; and (3) many of the PCB-containing elastic sealants used need to be changed from a functional perspective.     

CLFUG: A GIS‐scaleable model of pesticide fate in the soil–groundwater system based on clearance and fugacity paradigms

A model of pesticide transport through the soil profile based on clearance and fugacity paradigms is presented, and an example of its application in a GIS environment is shown. A validation of the model at the field plot scale is presented using data obtained at a crop in a semiarid irrigated agricultural basin which was treated with Lindane. The adequacy at the regional scale is tested by inspection of the model predictions and the measured concentrations of the pesticide obtained from a regional phreatimetric net. The clearance concept is used to obtain estimates of the volumes of some environmental phases. These are further used to solve the equations of thermodynamic equilibrium at equal fugacity and obtain concentration estimates. The model closely reproduces the observed percolation trends, and is consistent with the regional pattern of Lindane distribution in groundwater. An application of the model as unitary module for the simulation of non‐point pesticide sources in a raster GIS frame is shown. Its performance (run time, data needed, etc.) is comparable to that of other existing algorithms, and presents some advantages to planners and evaluators of environmental quality in that it incorporates an explicit 2‐D approach and allows the identification of polluted areas downslope with respect to those directly treated with the pesticides. Further, it can be implemented in a variety of GIS and spatial data processors.     

Background levels of some major,trace, and rare earth elements in indigenous plant species growing in Norway and the influence of soil acidification,soil parent material,and seasonal variation on these levels

Baseline levels of 43 elements, including major, trace, and rare earth elements (REEs) in several native plant species growing in boreal and alpine areas, are presented. Focus is placed on species metal levels at different soil conditions, temporal variations in plant tissue metal concentrations, and interspecies variation in metal concentrations. Vegetation samples were collected at Sogndal, a pristine site in western Norway, and at Risdalsheia, an acidified site in southernmost Norway. Metal concentrations in the different species sampled in western Norway are compared with relevant literature data from Norway, Finland, and northwest Russia, assumed to represent natural conditions. Except for aluminium (Al) and macronutrients, the levels of metals were generally lower in western Norway than in southern Norway and may be considered close to natural background levels. In southern Norway, the levels of cadmium (Cd) and lead (Pb) in particular appear to be affected by air pollution, either by direct atmospheric supply or through soil acidification. Levels of some elements show considerable variability between as well as within plant species. Calcium (Ca), magnesium (Mg), and potassium (K) are higher in most species at Sogndal compared to Risdalsheia, despite increased extractable concentrations in surface soil in the south, probably attributed to different buffer mechanisms in surface soil. Antagonism on plant uptake is suggested between Ca, Mg, and K on one hand and Al on the other. Tolerance among calcifuges to acid conditions and a particular ability to detoxify or avoid uptake of Al ions are noticeable for Vaccinium vitis-idaea.     

Neutralization/prevention of acid rock drainage using mixtures of alkaline by-products and sulfidic mine wastes

Backfilling of open pit with sulfidic waste rock followed by inundation is a common method for reducing sulfide oxidation after mine closure. This approach can be complemented by mixing the waste rock with alkaline materials from pulp and steel mills to increase the system’s neutralization potential. Leachates from 1 m³ tanks containing sulfide-rich (ca.30 wt %) waste rock formed under dry and water saturated conditions under laboratory conditions were characterized and compared to those formed from mixtures. The waste rock leachate produced an acidic leachate (pH?<?2) with high concentrations of As (65 mg/L), Cu (6 mg/L), and Zn (150 mg/L) after 258 days. The leachate from water-saturated waste rock had lower concentrations of As and Cu (<2 μg/L), Pb and Zn (20 μg/L and 5 mg/L), respectively, and its pH was around 6. Crushed (<6 mm) waste rock mixed with different fractions (1–5 wt %) of green liquid dregs, fly ash, mesa lime, and argon oxygen decarburization (AOD) slag was leached on a small scale for 65 day, and showed near-neutral pH values, except for mixtures of waste rock with AOD slag and fly ash (5 % w/w) which were more basic (pH?>?9). The decrease of elemental concentration in the leachate was most pronounced for Pb and Zn, while Al and S were relatively high. Overall, the results obtained were promising and suggest that alkaline by-products could be useful additives for minimizing ARD formation.     

Plant and Vegetation Dynamics on Disko Island,West Greenland: Snapshots Separated by Over 40 Years

We report on a revisit in 2009 to sites where vegetation was recorded in 1967 and 1970 on Disko Island, West Greenland. Re-sampling of the same clones of the grass Phleum alpinum after 39 years showed complete stability in biometrics but dramatic earlier onset of various phenological stages that were not related to changes in population density. In a fell-field community, there was a net species loss, but in a herb-slope community, species losses balanced those that were gained. The type of species establishing and increasing in frequency and/or cover abundance at the fell-field site, particularly prostrate dwarf shrubs, indicates a possible start of a shift towards a heath, rather than a fell-field community. At the herb-slope site, those species that established or increased markedly in frequency and/or cover abundance indicate a change to drier conditions. This is confirmed both by the decrease in abundance of Alchemilla glomerulans and Epilobium hornemanii, and the drying of a nearby pond. The causes of these changes are unknown, although mean annual temperature has risen since 1984.     

Multi-decadal changes in tundra environments and ecosystems: synthesis of the International Polar Year-Back to the Future project (IPY-BTF)

Understanding the responses of tundra systems to global change has global implications. Most tundra regions lack sustained environmental monitoring and one of the only ways to document multi-decadal change is to resample historic research sites. The International Polar Year (IPY) provided a unique opportunity for such research through the Back to the Future (BTF) project (IPY project #512). This article synthesizes the results from 13 papers within this Ambio Special Issue. Abiotic changes include glacial recession in the Altai Mountains, Russia; increased snow depth and hardness, permafrost warming, and increased growing season length in sub-arctic Sweden; drying of ponds in Greenland; increased nutrient availability in Alaskan tundra ponds, and warming at most locations studied. Biotic changes ranged from relatively minor plant community change at two sites in Greenland to moderate change in the Yukon, and to dramatic increases in shrub and tree density on Herschel Island, and in subarctic Sweden. The population of geese tripled at one site in northeast Greenland where biomass in non-grazed plots doubled. A model parameterized using results from a BTF study forecasts substantial declines in all snowbeds and increases in shrub tundra on Niwot Ridge, Colorado over the next century. In general, results support and provide improved capacities for validating experimental manipulation, remote sensing, and modeling studies.     

Metal sorption by peat and algae treated peat: kinetics and factors affecting the process

The article presents a new approach that can be used for the purification of water contaminated by heavy metals. The treatment of peat with microalgae showed to be an effective way of increasing metal uptake by peat. Metal sorption was studied for a multimetal solution containing Cu, Cd, Ni, Zn, Cd, and Pb. Cu and Pb were found to be the metals having the highest affinity to peat. Water hardness has a strong effect on the uptake of borderline metals (Cd, Ni, Zn, Cd) from a solution. The use of algae for peat treatment resulted in less time to reach an equilibrium (24 h vs. 72 h for pure peat), and the effect of water hardness (Ca²⁺) on metal uptake was considerably reduced. Both peat and algal-treated peat were able to take up metals from rather acidic solutions (pH 3.0). pH had less influence on the metal uptake compared with water hardness. The affinity of heavy metals to peat was the following: Pb > Cu > Ni > Cd > Zn > Co. It slightly changed to Pb > Cu > Ni > Cd ≈ Co ≈ Zn when the combined sorbent, peat treated with microalga, was applied.     

Influence of Prey and Nutritional Status on the Rate of Nitrogen Uptake by Prymnesium parvum (haptophyte)1

Lindehoff, Elin, Edna Granéli, and Patricia M. Glibert, 2010. Influence of Prey and Nutritional Status on the Rate of Nitrogen Uptake by Prymnesium parvum (Haptophyte). Journal of the American Water Resources Association (JAWRA) 46(1):121-132. DOI: 10.1111/j.1752-1688.2009.00396.x Abstract: We studied how the specific nitrogen (N) uptake rates of nitrate (NO₃⁻), urea, and the amino acids, glutamic acid and glycine, by Prymnesium parvum were affected by (1) the change from N-deficient status to N-sufficient status of the P. parvum cells, (2) presence of prey from a natural Baltic Sea plankton community, and (3) the composition of prey as affected by additions of terrestrial originated dissolved organic matter (DOM) or inorganic nutrients. Nitrogen-deficient P. parvum (16 μM NO₃⁻ and 4 μM PO₄⁻, molar N:P ratio of 4:1) were mixed with a natural Baltic plankton community and given PO₄³⁻ and (1) NO₃⁻ (control) or (2) high molecular weight DOM, >1 kDa concentrated from sewage effluent (+DOM), in a molar N:P ratio of 9-10:1. With additions of ¹⁵N-enriched substrates, rates of N uptake from NO₃⁻, urea, and the amino acids glycine and glutamic acid were measured every 24 h for 72 h. Initial N-deficient P. parvum were highly toxic (3.7 ± 0.9 × 10⁻⁴ mg Sap equiv/cell) and toxic allelochemicals were released into the medium causing the natural plankton community to lyse. Rates of N uptake differed between the “control” and the “+DOM” treatments over time; total (sum of the N substrates measured) absolute uptake rates (ρ_cell, fmol N/cell/h) at ambient culture conditions were significantly higher (ANOVA, p < 0.05) in the more toxic “control” treatments compared with the “+DOM” treatments after 48 h. In the “control” treatment, the total ρ_cell increased significantly (ANOVA, p < 0.01) from time 0 to 48 h, while in the “+DOM” treatment there was no significant increase. Released organic nutrients from the lysed plankton cells may have increased uptake rates of amino acids and urea by P. parvum. All uptake rates declined in all treatments by 72 h. Total dissolved N uptake rates at ambient culture conditions were estimated to make up about 10% of the N P. parvum are potentially capable of ingesting from particulate prey.     

Do associated zooxanthellae and the nature of the substratum affect survival,attachment and growth of Cliona viridis (Porifera: Hadromerida)? An experimental approach

Massive specimens of Cliona viridis, collected off the coast of Blanes (North-Western Mediterranean Sea) in January 1987, were exposed to different light (natural day-night irradiance/constant darkness) and substrata (calcareous/siliceous) conditions to assess their influence on growth, survival and attachment rates. Sponges cultured under natural irradiance displayed higher growth rates with increasing temperature; those cultured in the dark did not respond to increased temperature, but adapted faster to laboratory conditions. Differences in growth rates between these two culture conditions are ascribed to the presence of a healthy symbiotical zooxanthellae population on individuals cultured under conditions of natural irradiance. Attachment rates of the cut sides of the sponges which were in direct contact with the substratum, also increased with increasing temperature, whilst sponge survival was not significantly dependent on temperature. The chemical nature of the substratum clearly affected survival rates, which were higher on calcified than on siliceous substrata.     

Effect of an uncontrolled fire and the subsequent fire fight on the chemical composition of landfill leachate

Landfill leachates sampled during and after an accidental landfill fire were analysed and the levels of selected metals and chemical compounds compared to those occurring in the leachate under normal conditions. The fire at the landfill site was put out by excavation and cooling by use of water. The investigation during the fire and fire fight revealed a moderate increase in the level of nitrogen and also in pH and conductivity. Heavy metals and COD in the leachate showed considerably increased levels. In general, the determined variables appeared to normalise within one week after the fire was extinguished. It can be concluded that landfill fires extinguished by excavation may lead to elevated leachate levels of especially COD and heavy metals, but that this is only a short-term effect.