Evaluation of the dependence of aqueous solubility of nitro compounds on temperature and salinity: a COSMO-RS simulation

The solubility in pure and saline water at various temperatures was calculated for selected nitro compounds (nitrobenzene, 1,3,5-trinitrobenzene, 2-nitrotoluene, 3-nitrotoluene, 4-nitrotoluene, 2,4-dinitrotoluene, 2,6-dinitrotoluene, 2,3-dinitrotoluene, 3,4-dinitrotoluene, 2,4,6-trinitrotoluene) using the Conductor-like Screening model for Real Solvents (COSMO-RS). The results obtained were compared with experimental values. The COSMO-RS predictions have shown high accuracy in reproducing the trends of aqueous solubilities for both temperature and salinity. The proposed methodology was then applied to predict the aqueous solubilities of 19 nitro compounds in the temperature range of 5-50 °C in saline solutions. The salting-out parameters of the Setschenow equation were also calculated. The predicted salting-out parameters were overestimated when compared to the measured values, but these parameters can still be used for qualitative estimation of the trends.     

Towards a re-evaluation of the role of finance in the causation of environmental degradation

This paper relates the long-neglected Douglas/New Age texts to contemporary concerns at the relationship between economic activity and environmental degradation. Although completed by the early 1920s, these texts anticipated the adverse social and environmental impacts of an increase of centralisation and globalisation of finance upon local policy formation.     

Comparison of white-footed mice and rice rats as biomonitors of polychlorinated biphenyl and metal contamination

A study was conducted to assess differences in contaminant assimilation among co-occurring white-footed mice (Peromyscus leucopus) and rice rats (Oryomys palustris) captured at a contaminated site. Rodents were collected from five areas at the Paducah Gaseous Diffusion Plant (PGDP), a uranium enrichment facility. Relatively few white-footed mice (8.7%) had quantifiable concentrations of PCBs compared to 42% of rice rats (chi2 = 6.49, d.f. = 1, P < 0.025), and seven of the 11 rice rats (64%) over 50 g body mass had quantifiable concentrations of PCBs in their livers. White-footed mice had higher mean concentrations of barium (P < 0.0001), chromium (P = 0.0010), copper (P = 0.0011), lead (P = 0.0335), and aluminum (P = 0.0006) than rice rats at all five sampling areas. Species-specific differences in accumulation of PCBs and metals were observed and attributed to differences in habitat use and foraging strategies.