Optimized microwave extraction for trace detection of 2,4,6-trinitrotoluene in soil samples

An optimized microwave assisted extraction method for determination of trinitrotoluene (TNT) and related compounds in soil is presented. The new enhanced method exhibits improved extraction recovery and precision as well as sample handling time. For the separation and detection gas chromatography coupled to a thermoionic probe was used achieving TNT and dinitrotoluene detection limits per injection at the femtogram level. The generated extraction recovery and precision data are given for spiked and certified soil. Determined TNT and related compounds residues in soil collected from different parts of the world are presented.     

Hydroxylated and methoxylated polybrominated diphenyl ethers and polybrominated dibenzo-p-dioxins in red alga and cyanobacteria living in the Baltic Sea

Hydroxylated polybrominated diphenyl ethers (OH-PBDEs) and methoxylated polybrominated diphenyl ethers (MeO-PBDEs) are present in the ecosystem of the Baltic Sea. OH-PBDEs are known to be both natural products from marine environments and metabolites of the anthropogenic polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs), whereas, MeO-PBDEs appear to be solely natural in origin. Polybrominated dibenzo-p-dioxins (PBDDs) are by-products formed in connection with the combustion of brominated flame retardants (BFRs), but are also indicated as natural products in a red alga (Ceramium tenuicorne) and blue mussels living in the Baltic Sea. The aims of the present investigation were to quantify the OH-PBDEs and MeO-PBDEs present in C. tenuicorne; to verify the identities of PBDDs detected previously in this species of red alga and to investigate whether cyanobacteria living in this same region of the Baltic Sea contain OH-PBDEs, MeO-PBDEs and/or PBDDs. The red alga was confirmed to contain tribromodibenzo-p-dioxins (triBDDs), by accurate mass determination and additional PBDD congeners were also detected in this sample. This is the first time that PBDDs have been identified in a red alga. The SigmaOH-PBDEs and SigmaMeO-PBDEs concentrations, present in C. tenuicorne were 150 and 4.6 ng g(-1) dry weight, respectively. In the cyanobacteria 6 OH-PBDEs, 6 MeO-PBDEs and 4 PBDDs were detected by mass spectrometry (electron capture negative ionization (ECNI)). The PBDDs and OH-PBDEs and MeO-PBDEs detected in the red alga and cyanobacteria are most likely of natural origin.     

Emissions of gaseous nitrogen species from manure management: a new approach

A procedure for the assessment of emissions of nitrogen (N) species (ammonia, nitrous oxide, nitric oxide, di-nitrogen) from the manure management system is developed, which treats N pools and flows including emissions strictly according to conservation of mass criteria. As all relevant flows in the husbandry of mammals are depicted, the methodology is considered a Tier 3 approach in IPCC terminology or a detailed methodology in UN ECE terminology. The importance of accounting for all N species is illustrated by comparing emission estimates obtained using this approach with those obtained from the application the present detailed/Tier 2 methodology.     

Organohalogen pollutants in herring from the northern Baltic Sea: concentrations, congener profiles and explanatory factors

Organohalogen contaminants were investigated in Baltic herring caught from three catchment areas in the Baltic Sea, off the coasts of Finland. Pools of both small and large herring were analysed for polychlorinated biphenyls (PCB), dibenzo-p-dioxins, dibenzofurans, naphthalenes, camphenes (toxaphene), polybrominated diphenyl ethers and the pesticide DDT and its metabolites. PCB concentrations per fresh weight in small herring were at the same level in all catchment areas, i.e. the Bothnian Bay, the Bothnian Sea and the Gulf of Finland, revealing no hot spots and reflecting most likely long term emissions and atmospheric deposition. Differences in the levels and/or congener profiles of other contaminants between catchment areas may be explained by point sources. Similar concentrations in small and large herring in the Gulf of Finland were possibly due to their common nutrition. In the other areas, differences between small and large herring most likely reflected their different food sources.     

Occurrence and distribution of triclosan in the German Bight (North Sea)

The potential of triclosan (TCS) acting as an endocrine disruptor has led to growing concern about the presence of TCS in the environment. In this study, seawater samples were collected from the German Bight during sampling campaigns conducted with the German research ships Gauss and Ludwig Prandtl. TCS was determined both in the dissolved phase and in the suspended particulate matters with concentrations ranging 0.8-6870 pg L⁻¹ and <1-95 pg L⁻¹, respectively. High concentrations of TCS were present in the estuaries of the Elbe and the Weser, indicating significant input of TCS by the river discharge. The correlation coefficient (R²) between the dissolved concentration and salinity was 0.79 for the data obtained from the Gauss cruise, showing an obvious declining trend from the coast to the open sea.     

Flows of Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients Originating from Health Care Practices on a Local, Regional, and Nationwide Level in Germany—Is Hospital Effluent Treatment an Effective Approach for Risk Reduction?

Pharmaceuticals are designed to be bioactive and therefore are among the most important chemical compounds manufactured. In recent years pharmaceuticals have been detected in a range of environment compartments, with concerns raised that they may impose a risk to both humans and environmental organisms. To support informed management of any associated risks, knowledge about their substance flows is indispensable. However, little is known about sources and attributable substance flows with regard to the use of human pharmaceuticals. Often data available on a national level are used to judge local or regional situations and to calculate expected concentrations. In this paper, computations on the use of active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs) of drugs used in human medicine at the local, regional and national levels were conducted. Different data sources were used and raw-data were scaled up- or downwards and compared. Results of this analysis indicated that hospitals are, by far, minor sources of pharmaceuticals to the aquatic environment in comparison to non-point emissions from households. Differences in flows at the local, regional and national scales are also identified.     

Sources of Alkylphenols and Alkylphenol Ethoxylates in Wastewater—A Substance Flow Analysis in Stockholm, Sweden

This is a study of the sources of alkylphenol and alkylphenol ethoxylates in wastewater, including the new observation that the main contribution is from textiles. Alkylphenols and alkylphenol ethoxylates are widely used chemicals in various applications that are partly under environmental restrictions within Europe. The study sets out to analyze the most important sources of this large group of organic compounds in an urban wastewater system. A substance flow analysis (SFA) of the technosphere in Stockholm, Sweden in 2004 was conducted, allowing a comparison of 13 groups of goods’ emissions to wastewater. It was found that the groups of textiles and cleaning agents were the major sources to wastewater, while the group’s personal care products and paint and lacquers give smaller contributions. The content of alkylphenol ethoxylates in goods, especially in textiles, is a most significant source and is probably valid for other urban areas as well.     

Performance and Environmental Impact of Biodegradable Films in Agriculture: A Field Study on Protected Cultivation

The performance, the degradability in soil and the environmental impact of biodegradable starch-based soil mulching and low tunnel films were assessed by means of field and laboratory tests. The lifetime of the biodegradable mulches was 9 months and of the biodegradable low-tunnel films 6 months. The radiometric properties of the biodegradable films influenced positively the microclimate: air temperature under the biodegradable low tunnel films was 2 °C higher than under the low density polyethylene films, resulting in an up to 20% higher yield of strawberries. At the end of the cultivation period, the biodegradable mulches were broken up and buried in the field soil together with the plant residues. One year after burial, less than 4% of the initial weight of the biodegradable film was found in the soil. According to ecotoxicity tests, the kinetic luminescent bacteria test with Vibrio fischeri and the Enchytraeus albidus ISO/CD 16387 reproduction potential, there was no evidence of ecotoxicity in the soil during the biodegradation process. Furthermore, there was no change in the diversity of ammonia-oxidizing bacteria in the soil determined on the basis of the appearance of amoA gene diversity in denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis.     

Landsat ETM+ Images in the Estimation of Seasonal Lake Water Quality in Boreal River Basins

We investigated the use of Landsat ETM+ images in the monitoring of turbidity, colored dissolved organic matter (CDOM), and Secchi disk transparency (Z(SD)) in lakes of two river basins located in southern Finland. The ETM+ images were acquired in May, June, and September 2002 and were corrected for atmospheric disturbance using the simplified method of atmospheric correction (SMAC) model. The in situ measurements consisted of water sampling in the largest lake of the region, routine monitoring results for the whole study area, and Z(SD) observations made by volunteers. The ranges of the water quality variables in the dataset were as follows: turbidity, 0.6-25 FNU; absorption coefficient of CDOM at 400 nm, 1.0-12.2 m(-1); Z(SD), 0.5-5.5 m; and chlorophyll a concentration, 2.4-80 mug L(-1). The estimation accuracies of the image-specific empirical algorithms expressed as relative errors were 23.0% for turbidity, 17.4% for CDOM, and 21.1% for Z(SD). If concurrent in situ measurements had not been used for algorithm training, the average error would have been about 37%. The atmospheric correction improved the estimation accuracy only slightly compared with the use of top-of-atmospheric reflectances. The accuracy of the water quality estimates without concurrent in situ measurements could have been improved if in-image atmospheric parameters had been available. The underwater reflectance simulations of the ETM+ channel wavelengths using water quality typical for Finnish lakes (data from 1113 lakes) indicated that region-specific algorithms may be needed in other parts of the country, particularly in the case of Z(SD). Despite the limitations in the spectral and radiometric resolutions, ETM+ imagery can be an effective aid, particularly in the monitoring and management of small lakes (<1 km(2)), which are often not included in routine monitoring programs.     

Searching efficient protection strategies for the eutrophied Gulf of Finland: the combined use of 1D and 3D modeling in assessing long-term state scenarios with high spatial resolution

An experiment combining the use of two ecosystem models was conducted to search for effective protection strategies for the Gulf of Finland (Baltic Sea). Reference and scenario simulations were first run with a one-dimensional (1D) model for seven main basins of the entire Baltic Sea until steady state was achieved. The obtained basinwise distributions of inorganic nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P), as well as sediment labile P, were then used to initiate 5-y simulations with a three-dimensional (3D) ecosystem model. The results suggest that relatively small local load reductions (the "Finland" scenario) would improve only the state of adjacent coastal waters significantly. This would be the case, even for runs covering several decades, which clearly exceed the residence times of nutrients in the Gulf of Finland. A significant decrease from a substantial loading source to the Gulf (the "St. Petersburg" scenario) would decrease cyanobacterial biomasses in the entire Gulf of Finland and also immediately outside it. A reduction in the current Polish nutrient loads would improve the situation in the whole Baltic Proper and cause an extensive decline in cyanobacterial biomasses in the Gulf of Finland, as well. However, it would take several decades until the improvement caused by reducing loads in the "Poland" scenario is seen, while in the "St. Petersburg" scenario the corresponding time lag would only be a few years. Our results suggest that the common water protection policy in the Baltic Sea region should have the largest nutrient sources as its primary target, regardless of their location and country.