Background biomonitoring of residue levels of 137 pesticides in the blood plasma of the general population in Beijing

Due to the widespread use of pesticides, human exposure to pesticides is possible and can potentially cause adverse impacts on public health. We measured 137 pesticides including organophosphorus, organochlorine, pyrethroid and carbamate pesticides together with various herbicides in 100 human blood samples collected from the general population in Beijing. The samples were analysed by triple quadrupole tandem gas chromatography-mass spectrometry. In total, 24 organochlorine pesticides, 5 pyrethroid pesticides and 6 organophosphorus pesticides were detected. The detection rates of HCB, α-HCH, β-HCH, γ-HCH, p,p′-DDE and quintozene were 99, 96, 74, 72, 96 and 95%, respectively. No statistically significant gender difference in the blood concentrations of the pesticides was found. Consistent with the trend of the increasing β-HCH, p,p′-DDE and quintozene concentrations with age, a strong positive correlation between the age and concentrations of β-BHC, p,p′-DDE and quintozene was observed.     

Experimental arid land afforestation in Central Anatolia,Turkey

The afforestation of arid lands faces many challenges, and perhaps the most important key for success is choosing one or more species that are adapted well for local environmental conditions. We explored species that would be suitable for the steppe region of Central Anatolia. Intensive site preparation included ripping the subsoil (to 80 cm) and plowing the upper soil before planting seedlings of Elaeagnus angustifolia, Robinia pseudoacacia, Fraxinus angustifolia, and Pinus nigra were used as tree species. We also tested the success of several shrub species: Amygdalus orientalis, Calligonum polygonoides, and Spartium junceum. After five growing seasons, E. angustifolia showed the highest survival, with 80% of planted seedlings remaining. For the shrubs, A. orientalis was the most successful species with a 95% survival rate. Broad-leaved trees grew a cumulative average of 34 cm in height in 5 years, whereas P. nigra seedings grew only 9 cm. The greatest height growth occurred in the shrubs, with A. orientalis gaining 40 cm in height in 5 years. Overall, E. angustifolia and A. orientalis appeared best suited for afforestation in these areas. R. pseodoacacia and F. angustifolia may also be used as alternative species.     

Trace metal (Cd,Cu, Pb,Zn) fractionation in urban-industrial soils of Ust-Kamenogorsk (Oskemen), Kazakhstan—implications for the assessment of environmental quality

Ust-Kamenogorsk is one of the largest cities and industrial centers in Kazakhstan. Non-ferrous metallurgy (Zn–Pb smelter) has acted as a predominating industrial branch in the city since late 1940s. The industrial plants are situated directly adjacent to the residential area of the city which creates grievous ecotoxicological hazard. In the present paper, we aimed at assessing the trace metal pollution of top soils in Ust-Kamenogorsk and its potential threats to the local population. The top soils were sampled at 10 sites throughout the city center. We determined the physical and chemical properties of soils as well as the contents of Cd, Cu, Pb, and Zn. In addition, the soil samples were subjected to a five-step sequential extraction to ascertain the fractionation of trace metals. On this basis, we calculated the geoaccumulation index (I_geo) and pollution load index (PLI) and assessed bioavailability of the elements. From our data, it emerged that the soils displayed a strong polymetallic pollution. PLI was as high as 33.4. Throughout the city, the trace metal contents exceeded the geochemical background and allowable values for residential, recreational, and institutional areas. The I_geo obtained were 3.7–6.5 for Cd, 1.5–4.7 for Cu, 2.8–5.7 for Pb, and 2.6–4.6 for Zn. The soils in Ust-Kamenogorsk displayed extremely high contamination with Cd, moderate to strong contamination with Pb and Zn, and low to moderate contamination with Cu. Cd and Pb were found to be the most bioavailable elements. The mobility of trace metals in the soils changed in the order Cd > Pb > Zn > Cu.     

The distribution and enrichment characteristics of copper in soil and <Emphasis Type="Italic">Phragmites australis</Emphasis> of Liao River estuary wetland

The aims of the present investigation were to reveal the distribution and enrichment characteristics of copper in soil and Phragmites australis of Liao River estuary wetland. The concentrations of copper in root, stem, leaf, and ear of Phragmites australis as well as in soil were determined to study the absorption capacity of copper by wild Phragmites australis of Liao River estuary wetland. The study was carried out at test pool of the Shenyang Agricultural University, and the experimental materials (soil, irrigating water and Phragmites australis) were derived from Liao River estuary wetland. The concentrations of copper in soil and Phragmites australis were 16.4441 to 49.0209 mg/kg and 0.8621 to 89.5524 mg/kg, respectively. The results indicated that the enrichment coefficients of copper in different tissues of Phragmites australis changed with the growth of Phragmites australis. The results revealed that the enrichment coefficients of copper in the whole Phragmites australis were greater than 1 at each growing stage of the Phragmites australis. The results also showed that the transfer coefficients of Phragmites australis to copper changed with the growth of Phragmites australis. The results revealed that the Phragmites australis had a good removal effect on copper from soil and had some characteristics of copper hyperaccumulator.     

A multivariate examination of ‘artificial mussels’ in conjunction with spot water tests in freshwater ecosystems

Metal pollution in aquatic systems is considered a serious environmental issue globally due to their ability to accumulate in aquatic environments. Wetlands are vulnerable to this pollution as they are known to trap toxins, removing them from the water. Artificial mussel technology, originally developed for marine environments, was applied to this freshwater system and spot water samples were collected. The Nyl River floodplain (Ramsar classified) is one of the largest and most ecologically significant wetlands in South Africa. The aims of this study were to determine metal contamination along the Nyl River system by means of artificial mussels (AM) and water ICP-MS analysis and to determine whether the use of AMs in conjunction with spot water testing could give more insight into the pollution in freshwater wetlands. The concentrations of Al, Cd, Cr, Co, Cu, Fe, Mn, Ni, Pb and Zn were determined at seven sites. It was determined that the levels accumulated by the AMs differed in spatial and temporal trends when compared to spot water samples. It was determined that there were high levels of some metals found in the spot water tests that were not corroborated by the AMs results, which could indicate isolated pollution events. The use of AMs in conjunction with spot water testing was determined to be beneficial in gaining deeper insight into water metal conditions in dynamic freshwater systems.     

A synoptic survey of select wastewater-tracer compounds and the pesticide imidacloprid in Florida’s ambient freshwaters

Current wastewater treatment technologies do not remove many unregulated hydrophilic compounds, and there is growing interest that low levels of these compounds, referred to as emerging contaminants, may impact human health and the environment. A probabilistic-designed monitoring network was employed to infer the extent of Florida’s ambient freshwaters containing the wastewater (Includes reuse water, septic systems leachate, and wastewater treatment effluent.) indicators sucralose, acetaminophen, carbamazepine, and primidone and those containing the widely used pesticide imidacloprid. Extent estimates with 95% confidence bounds are provided for canals, rivers, streams, small and large lakes, and unconfined aquifers containing ultra-trace concentrations of these compounds as based on analyses of 2015 sample surveys utilizing 528 sites. Sucralose is estimated to occur in greater than 50% of the canal, river, stream, and large lake resource extents. The pharmaceuticals acetaminophen, carbamazepine, and primidone are most prevalent in rivers, with approximately 30% of river kilometers estimated to contain at least one of these compounds. Imidacloprid is estimated to occur in 50% or greater of the canal and river resource extents, and it is the only compound found to exceed published toxicity or environmental effects standards. Geospatial analyses show sucralose detection frequencies within Florida’s drainage basins to be significantly related to the percentage of urban land use (R²?=?0.36, p?<?0.001), and imidacloprid detection frequencies to be significantly related to the percentage of urban and agricultural land use (R²?=?0.47, p?<?0.001). The extent of the presence of these compounds highlights the need for additional emerging contaminant studies especially those examining effects on aquatic biota.     

Organochlorine contaminants in the Vistula Lagoon sedimentation zone as possible source of lagoon recontamination

The presented results include decade of monitoring of the Vistula Lagoon waters and have been supplemented by the determination of chlorinated compounds, as well as on concentrations of polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins and dibenzofurans (PCDD/Fs) in the sedimentation zone. Monitoring of river waters entering the Polish part of the lagoon and the lagoon waters confirmed the presence of plant protection chemical; the largest contributors has lindane (34%) and DDT_total (21%); the same as for sediments were dominate lindane (19%) and DDT_total (14%) within pp-DDT isomer dominate (13%). In the lagoon water, PCDD/Fs were determined within a range of 1.5–5.6 ng dm^?3, leading to average toxicity of 0.18?±?0.13 ng TEQ·dm^?3. In sediments, their concentrations fell within a range of 22.7–405.7 ng kg^?1 dw and the average toxicity of the lagoon sediments was set at 5.00?±?1.98 ng TEQ·kg^?1 dw. Both in water and sediments, the greatest share among PCDD/Fs has octa-chlorodibenzodioxin. Due to the hydromorphological conditions of the lagoon, the waters are mixed to the bottom causing the surface layer of sediment to become remobilized—this is suggested as the key factor when it comes to water recontamination and increased access of POPs to marine organisms.     

Spatial distribution characteristics of soil organic carbon in subtropical forests of mountain Lushan,China

The study on the spatial distribution of forest soil organic carbon (SOC) is of great significance for accurate assessment of carbon storage in forest ecosystems. In the present study, by taking eight kinds of forest soils of Mountain Lushan in the subtropical area as the research object, we studied the spatial distribution characteristics of SOC in this mountainous area. The results showed that the SOC content and SOC density (SOCD) of main forest types in the Mountain Lushan were lower than the national and the world average. The soil layer of Lushan forest was thinner, and the SOC and active SOC (ASOC) contents of different forest types and SOCDs are the highest in the surface soil. SOCD of the topsoil accounts for 32.64–54.03% of the total SOCD in the whole soil profile. Surface litter is an important source of SOC, and the different vegetation types are the important reason for the different spatial distribution of SOC in this area. Soil SOC contents in the high-altitude forest (bamboo forest, deciduous broadleaf forest, Pinus taiwanensis forest, evergreen-deciduous forest, and coniferous-broadleaved mixed forest) were higher than those in the low-altitude forest (evergreen broadleaf forest, shrub, and Pinus massoniana forest). However, the difference in SOC content exhibited at the altitude gradient is significantly lower than that in SOC in the soil profile. This indicates that both soil depth and elevation are the important factors that affected SOC distribution. However, the influence of soil depth on spatial distribution of SOC may be more complex than that of altitude. Vegetation types and soil properties are the main reasons for the large differences of reduction rate in the contents of SOC and ASOC.     

Real<Emphasis Type="Bold">-</Emphasis>time water quality monitoring using Internet of Things in SCADA

Water pollution is the root cause for many diseases in the world. It is necessary to measure water quality using sensors for prevention of water pollution. However, the related works remain the problems of communication, mobility, scalability, and accuracy. In this paper, we propose a new Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) system that integrates with the Internet of Things (IoT) technology for real-time water quality monitoring. It aims to determine the contamination of water, leakage in pipeline, and also automatic measure of parameters (such as temperature sensor, flow sensor, color sensor) in real time using Arduino Atmega 368 using Global System for Mobile Communication (GSM) module. The system is applied in the Tirunelveli Corporation (Metro city of Tamilnadu state, India) for automatic capturing of sensor data (pressure, pH, level, and energy sensors). SCADA system is fine-tuned with additional sensors and reduced cost. The results show that the proposed system outperforms the existing ones and produces better results. SCADA captures the real-time accurate sensor values of flow, temperature, and color and turbidity through the GSM communication.     

Silver near municipal wastewater discharges into western Lake Ontario,Canada

Because of the widespread use of silver nanoparticles in commercial products, discharges of municipal wastewater may be a point source of silver in the aquatic environment. We monitored two sites in western Lake Ontario impacted by discharges from wastewater treatment plants serving the City of Toronto. Concentrations of silver were elevated in bottom sediments and suspended sediments collected at the two sites. We also deployed two types of passive samplers in the water column at the two sites, the newly developed Carbon Nanotube Integrative Samplers for monitoring “CNIS-labile” silver and Diffusive Gradient in Thin Film samplers for monitoring “DGT-labile” silver. Results from these passive samplers indicated that the concentrations of silver at the two sites were either below detection limits or were in the ng/L range. In laboratory experiments where the sediments were re-suspended in Milli-Q water, a small proportion of the silver (i.e., <?25%) was labile and partitioned as colloidal or dissolved silver into the liquid phase after agitation. Nanoparticles tentatively identified as silver nanoparticles were detected by single-particle ICP-MS in suspension after agitation of both suspended and bottom sediments. Therefore, there is a need to assess whether silver species, including silver nanoparticles are transported from wastewater treatment plants into sediments in the aquatic environment. This study is unique in focusing on the in situ distribution of silver in natural waters and in sediments that are potentially impacted by urban sources of nanoparticles.