Toxicity of copper excess on the lichen Dermatocarpon luridum: antioxidant enzyme activities

The aim of this study was to investigate the toxicity of copper on the aquatic lichen Dermatocarpon luridum focusing on the activities of some antioxidant enzymes. Investigations were conducted using increasing copper concentrations (0.00, 0.25, 0.50, 0.75 and 1.00 mM CuSO(4) x 5H(2)O) in synthetic freshwater that emulated the major ion compositions of its natural water biota; time course measurement was 0, 3, 6, 12, 24 and 48 h. The copper concentration in thalli increased with its increase in the medium and the duration of treatment. Copper induced lipid peroxidation, measured using the hydroperoxi-conjugated dienes (HPCD) concentration. The decrease in the protein concentrations was similar in thalli exposed to copper concentrations above 0.50 mM and the decrease was twice lower in thalli exposed to 0.25 mM copper. The activities of antioxidant enzymes measured were differently affected by copper excess. For 0.25 mM copper, the activities of SOD (superoxide dismutase) and APX (ascorbate peroxidase) were unchanged when compared with unstressed thalli whereas the CAT (catalase) activity increased and the GR (glutathione reductase) activity decreased. The activities of SOD and APX increased in thalli exposed to concentrations above 0.50mM copper. The CAT activity increased after the first 3h of experiments at these concentrations and then decreased with the duration of treatment at an activity lower than in the unstressed plant. Whereas the APX activity increased, the GR activity similarly decreased for the copper concentration tested whatever the duration of the experiment.     

Study on the pyrolysis of polyethylene in the presence of iron and copper chlorides

Pyrolysis experiments were conducted to elucidate the effects of metal chlorides on the thermal degradation of low-density polyethylene on a continuous pyrolysis temperature range of 600 degrees C to 1100 degrees C. The present work focusses on the ratio of aromatics generated on increasing the pyrolysis temperature in the presence of metal salts, iron(II), iron(III) and copper(II) chlorides. It was observed that beside alpha,omega-dienes, alpha-olefins and n-alkanes which are usually observed during the thermal decomposition of polyethylene, the level of aromatics noticeably increases with the addition of metal salts. At high temperatures, the formation of these aromatics took place in such a way that they become the major products when polyethylene is pyrolyzed in presence of FeCl(3) and CuCl(2). Quantification of the effect of metal salts has been tempted comparing the variation of the ratio of aromatics with pyrolysis temperatures. Mechanisms responsible for the formation of these aromatics in presence of metal salts have been tentatively investigated. They are proposed to result from cyclization/dehydrogenation reactions similar to those observed during the thermal decomposition of polyethylene, but with an increased efficiency due to the metal salts.     

Transuranic and fission product contamination in lake sediments from an alpine wetland, Boréon (France)

Transuranics and fission products have been measured in lake sediment samples, collected in an alpine wetland, to determine their vertical distribution and calculate inventories. The radionuclides considered are 90Sr, 137Cs, 238Pu, 239/240Pu and 241Am. From the results, a better knowledge of radionuclide accumulation mode and behaviour was obtained. In addition, the origins of the individual pollutants could be deduced from activity ratios. Analyses were made on different sediment cores. The sampling sites were chosen to enable future determination of the mass balances of the radiopollutants. As the selected study area is in a recreational area used by urban populations, a rough estimate was made of the mean external dose from 137Cs for comparison with the French regulation.     

Biological Air Quality Monitoring: a Review

Air quality monitoring is currently ensured by captors measuring few physicochemical parameters, then they cannot evaluate unforeseen compounds and the interaction effects of pollutants. On the contrary, the use of bioindicators can answer these problems. Among them, plants are used in two ways:1) Passive bioindicators: trees, lichens and mosses are used to determine the distribution and even the contaminants long-term effects on vast zones and, possibly, the concentrations of pollutants to which they were exposed.2) Active bioindicators: tobacco and mosses make available the defective zones in plants and enable determination of deposition fluxes.Moreover, techniques based on biomarkers identification should increase the answer's sensitivity. However, the plants present the disadvantage of being unable to provide a response in a time lapse comparable with that of the on-line analysers. Lastly, the development of tools using animal cells should allow, in the near future, to measure the total polluting load under conditions close to those of the routine techniques. Then, the real impact of the contaminant on public health could be approached.     

Biosorption of Cu(II) and Zn(II) onto a lignocellulosic substrate extracted from wheat bran

We studied the removal of copper and zinc ions from aqueous solutions using a lignocellulosic substrate obtained by an acido-basic treatment of wheat bran. The sorption capacity of this material was investigated through batch and column experiments. Batch experimental results showed that the retention capacity of the lignocellulosic substrate was 0.20×10^–3 mol g^–1 at pH 4.5 for copper(II) and 0.24×10^–3 mol g^–1 at pH 6.5 for zinc(II). Column experiments showed a reduced sorption capacity for both ions compared to batch experiments. Batch and column data were analysed using the Langmuir equation in order to determine the affinity constant and the binding capacity of the sorbent and to compare both retention processes.     

The Missing Flux in a 35S Budget for the Soils of a Small Polluted Catchment

A combination of cosmogenic and artificial ³⁵S was used to assess the movement of sulfur in a steep Central European catchment affected by spruce die-back. The Jeze?í catchment, Kru?né Hory Mts. (Czech Republic) is characterized by a large disproportion between atmospheric S input and S output via stream discharge, with S output currently exceeding S input three times. A relatively high natural concentration of cosmogenic ³⁵S (42 mBq L^-1) was found in atmospheric deposition into the catchment in winter and spring of 2000. In contrast, stream discharge contained only 2 mBq L^-1. Consequently, more than 95% of the deposited S is cycled or retained within the catchment for more than several months, while older S is exported via surface water. In spring, when the soil temperature is above 0 °C, practically no S from instantaneous rainfall is exported, despite the steepness of the slopes and the relatively short mean residence time of water in the catchment (6.5 months). Sulfur cycling in the soil includes not just adsorption of inorganic sulfate and biological uptake, but also volatilization of S compounds back into the atmosphere. Laboratory incubations of an Orthic Podzol from Jeze?í spiked with 720 kBq of artificial ³⁵S showed a 20% loss of the spike within 18 weeks under summer conditions. Under winter conditions, the ³⁵S loss was insignificant (<5%). This missing S flux was interpreted as volatilized hydrogen sulfide resulting from intermittent dissimilatory bacterial sulfate reduction. The missing S flux is comparable to the estimated uncertainty in many catchment S mass balances (±10%), or even larger, and should be considered in constructing these mass balances. In severely polluted forest catchments, such as Jeze?í, sulfur loss to volatilization may exceed 13 kg ha^-1 a^-1, which is more than the current total atmospheric S input in large parts of North America and Europe.     

Levels and trends of polybrominated diphenylethers and other brominated flame retardants in wildlife

In this paper, we review the available data for polybrominated diphenylethers (PBDEs) and other flame retardants in wildlife, with the exception of fishes from Europe and North America which are covered in more detail elsewhere. More data are available for PBDEs than for other compounds, and these show that some of these compounds have become widely distributed in the environment, being found in samples from Europe, Australia, Azerbaijan, North America and the Arctic. Most available data relate to birds and their eggs and marine mammals, but the results of two food web studies are also included. The detection of PBDEs in pelagic marine mammals which feed in deep offshore waters, including baleen whales, indicate that these compounds have found their way into deep-water, oceanic food webs as well as the coastal/shallow sea examples described in detail. In the North Sea study, the most marked increase in lipid-normalised concentrations of six BDE congeners occurred during transfer from predatory fish to marine mammals. In the St. Lawrence Estuary study, marked differences in the ratios observed between species suggested that some fish species may be able to metabolise BDE99.A number of time trend studies have also been conducted, notably in guillemot eggs from Sweden (1969-2000), beluga whales from the Canadian Arctic (1982-1997 and 1989-2001) and from the St. Lawrence Estuary (1988-1999), and ringed seals from the Canadian Arctic (1981-2000). In the temperate latitudes, from these and other studies (e.g. in dated sediment cores), PBDE concentrations began to rise earlier than in those from high latitudes, in line with data for production and use. These trends have now slowed in many cases. Declines could be expected in Europe for many congeners following the cessation of manufacture and use of the penta-mix formulation in the EU, though these are not yet apparent in environmental samples. In Arctic biota, however, the rapidly rising concentrations seen currently in Canada could be expected to continue for some time, reflecting continued production and use of the penta-mix formulation in North America (>95% of the world total) and the impact of long-range atmospheric transport.     

Sorption of selenium anionic species on apatites and iron oxides from aqueous solutions

The sorption of selenite and selenate ions from aqueous solutions was investigated on hydroxyapatite, fluorapatite, goethite and hematite, in order to simulate the behavior of radioactive selenium in natural or artificial sorbing media. Correlation studies with acido-basic properties and solubility of the solids were also performed. The sorption is pH dependant, but these solids are very efficient for retaining selenite at pH values generally encountered in natural waters, with however higher K(d) values for oxides than apatites. Selenate ions are much less sorbed than selenite. Several methods such as electron microscopy and spectroscopic techniques were used to identify the sorption mechanisms. In the case of hydroxyapatite, sorption proceeds by substitution of phosphate groups in the lattice of the apatite crystal in the superficial layers of the solid. In the case of goethite and hematite, sorption can be interpreted and modeled by a surface complexation process, but there is a discrepancy between sorption site densities for selenite and for protons.