Increasing atmospheric antimony contamination in the northern hemisphere: snow and ice evidence from Devon Island, Arctic Canada

Adopting recently developed clean laboratory techniques, antimony (Sb) and scandium (Sc) deposition were measured in a 63.72 m-long ice core (1842-1996) and a 5 m deep snow pit (1994-2004) collected on Devon Island, Canadian High Arctic. Antimony concentrations ranged from 0.07 to 108 pg g(-1) with a median of 0.98 pg g(-1)(N= 510). Scandium, used as a conservative reference element, revealed that dust inputs were effectively constant during the last 160 years. The atmospheric Sb signal preserved in the ice core reflects contamination from industrialisation, the economic boom which followed WWII, as well as the comparatively recent introduction of flue gas filter technologies and emission reduction efforts. Natural contributions to the total Sb inventory are negligible, meaning that anthropogenic emissions have dominated atmospheric Sb deposition throughout the entire period. The seasonal resolution of the snow pit showed that aerosols deposited during the Arctic winter, when air masses are derived mainly from Eurasia, show the greatest Sb concentrations. Deposition during summer, when air masses come mainly from North America, is still enriched in Sb, but less so. Snow and ice provide unambiguous evidence that enrichments of Sb in Arctic air have increased 50% during the past three decades, with two-thirds being deposited during winter. Most Sb is produced in Asia, primarily from Sb sulfides such as stibnite (Sb2S3), but also as a by-product of lead and copper smelting. In addition there is a growing worldwide use of Sb in automobile brake pads, plastics and flame retardants. In contrast to Pb which has gone into decline during the same interval because of the gradual elimination of gasoline lead additives, the enrichments of Sb have been increasing and today clearly exceed those of Pb. Given that the toxicity of Sb is comparable to that of Pb, Sb has now replaced Pb in the rank of potentially toxic trace metals in the Arctic atmosphere.     

Carbon Tetrachloride Marine Risk Assessment with Special Reference to the Osparcom Region: North Sea

Accurate estimates of stressor levels in unsampled streams would provide valuable information for managing these resources over large regions. Spatial interpolation of stream characteristics have rarely been attempted, partly because defining separation distances between distinct stream samples is not straightforward. That is, conventional Eulerian definitions of separation distance may not apply to stream networks where information flows along distinct paths. A two-stage model for estimating stressor levels in unsampled streams is presented. Mean characteristics within streams are predicted usign a generalized additive model and residual variation is estimated using a conventional application of spatial statistics. The model is developed and tested using stream survey data collected in the state of Maryland, USA. Model efficiency is compared for three stream variables (nitrate concentration, sulfate concentration, and epifaunal substrate score) known to be associated with biological impairments in streams. Accounting for spatial autocorrelation in the residual variation improved model R2 from 0.71 to 0.81 for nitrate, from 0.29 to 0.63 for sulfate, and from 0.21 to 0.31 for epifaunal substrate score.     

1,4-Dichlorobenzene Marine Risk Assessment with Special Reference to the Osparcom Region: North Sea

This risk assessment on 1,4-dichlorobenzene was carried out for the marine environment, following methodology given in the EU risk assessment Regulation (1488/94) and Guidance Document of the EU New and Existing Substances Regulation (TGD, 1996). Data from analytical monitoring programs in large rivers and estuaries in the North Sea area were collected and evaluated on effects and environmental concentrations. Risk is indicated by the ratio of predicted environmental concentration (PEC) to predicted no-effect concentration (PNEC) for the marine aquatic environment. In total, 17 data for fish, 9 data for invertebrates and 7 data for algae were evaluated. Acute and chronic toxicity studies were taken into account and appropriate assessment factors used to define a final PNEC value of 20 microg/l. Recent monitoring data indicate that 1,4-dichlorobenzene levels in coastal waters and estuaries are below the determination limit of 0.1 microg/l used in monitoring programs. The worst case value recorded in river water is below 0.45 microg/l. Using these values, calculated PEC/PNEC ratios give safety margins of about 40-200, taking no account of dilution in the sea. Environmental fate and bioaccumulation data indicate that current use of 1,4-dichlorobenzene poses no risk to the aquatic environment.     

Assessing the removal of inorganic colloids and Cryptosporidium parvum from drinking water

A new batch device that simulates the conditions in water and wastewater treatment plants and enables the study of low-concentration feeds is described. The application of this apparatus to the monitoring of the concentration of inorganic and/or biological contaminants is demonstrated, using kaolin particles and Cryptosporidium parvum oocysts, respectively. The rate of inorganic particle attachment to the static medium is found to be directly proportional to the initial influent concentration. On the other hand, Cryptosporidium parvum removal is found to be more effective in the presence of additional (kaolin) particles, and this is attributed to electrostatic interactions between oppositely charged layers on the absorbing medium. Accordingly, the addition of humic materials is found to inhibit the removal process, possibly by neutralizing the positive charge on the kaolin particles. The relevance of these results to existing water purification processes in general and to risk assessment of microbiological contamination in particular is discussed.     

La chimie du plomb et du brome particulaire en atmosphere urbaine: II — Effets locaux

In an abnormal urban atmospheric situation, where we have detected an exceptional increasing of lead concentration which could have no relation to traffic modification, we have been able to detect others sources, that has been possible thanks to simultaneous studies of granulometric distribution and concentrations of lead and bromine in this particular atmosphere.     

Potential for reducing indoor styrene exposure from copied paper through use of low-emitting toners

Tests were conducted using 53-L dynamic chambers to determine airborne styrene emission rates over time from freshly copied paper. Copies were produced on a single photocopier using two toners manufactured for this copier but having different styrene contents. The resulting emission models were used to predict whether indoor styrene concentrations resulting from copied paper in a typical office might be significantly reduced by use of a low-emitting toner for a given copier. The styrene emissions were best represented by either a 3rd-order decay model or by a power law model having an exponent between 0.3 and 0.5 (R2 = 0.94-0.99). The two toners resulted in copied paper having significantly different styrene emissions (p < 0.01), with unit mass emissions over 1000 hr being nine times greater with the higher-emitting toner. But copied paper is predicted to produce peak indoor styrene concentrations in a typical office no more than 1% of the World Health Organization health-based guideline. Thus, for the toners considered here, indoor styrene exposures from copied paper appear to be too limited to provide incentive for switching to the lower-emitting toner. The ability to generalize these conclusions is limited by the fact that only one copier and two toners could be tested.     

Analysis of ambient,precipitation-weighted,and lake sulfate concentrations in the Adirondack region of New York

AbstractIt is well known that many ecosystems in the eastern United States, including the Adirondack Mountain region of New York, are particularly sensitive to acidic deposition because the soils and lakes in the region tend to have low values of base saturation and acid neutralizing capacity, respectively [e.g. Environ Sci Policy, 1 (1998), 185]. To facilitate tracking the impacts of anthropogenic emissions on air quality, acidic deposition, and surface water quality, the National Atmospheric Deposition Program, New York State Department of Environmental Conservation, and Adirondack Lake Survey Corporation have been monitoring ambient sulfur dioxide and aerosol sulfate levels, and anion and cation concentrations in wet deposition and lake water over the past few decades. In this paper, we discuss the seasonality and year-to-year variability, and illustrate some of the complexities in estimating temporal trends in these data. The periods of analysis extended through 2000, beginning in 1991 for the ambient air quality data, 1978 for the wet deposition data, and 1982 for the lake water quality data. While the lake water SO4(2-) concentrations appear to be decreasing gradually, the air concentration data appear to have changed abruptly in the 1990s and the precipitation-weighted concentrations exhibited both gradual and sharp decreases during the same period.     

Airborne emissions of mercury from municipal solid waste. I: new measurements from six operating landfills in Florida

Mercury-bearing material enters municipal landfills from a wide array of sources, including fluorescent lights, batteries, electrical switches, thermometers, and general waste; however, the fate of mercury (Hg) in landfills has not been widely studied. Using automated flux chambers and downwind atmospheric sampling, we quantified the primary pathways of Hg vapor releases to the atmosphere at six municipal landfill operations in Florida. These pathways included landfill gas (LFG) releases from active vent systems, passive emissions from landfill surface covers, and emissions from daily activities at each working face (WF). We spiked the WF at two sites with known Hg sources; these were readily detected downwind, and were used to test our emission modeling approaches. Gaseous elemental mercury (Hg(O)) was released to the atmosphere at readily detectable rates from all sources measured; rates ranged from approximately 1-10 ng m(-2) hr(-1) over aged landfill cover, from approximately 8-20 mg/hr from LFG flares (LFG included Hg(O) at microg/m3 concentrations), and from approximately 200-400 mg/hr at the WF. These fluxes exceed our earlier published estimates. Attempts to identify specific Hg sources in excavated and sorted waste indicated few readily identifiable sources; because of effective mixing and diffusion of Hg(O), the entire waste mass acts as a source. We estimate that atmospheric Hg releases from municipal landfill operations in the state of Florida are on the order of 10-50 kg/yr, substantially larger than our original estimates, but still a small fraction of current overall anthropogenic losses.     

增加粮食需求,减少对无机氮的依赖性

较高的作物产量通常需要较高的养分使用率,因此就使无机氮的使用增加.到2030年,估计粮食的年需求量约为28亿t,相应的无机氮消耗量为9600万t(在1995～1997年间,无机氮的年消耗量为7800万t).从全球范围来讲,由于使用无机肥料而流失到周围环境中去的无机氮目前为每年3600万t,价值117亿美元,它们对环境保护起反作用.但是,新型的提高肥料使用效率(FUE)技术可以增加产量但不使无机氯的使用成比例增加.并且,含氮养分的供应可以通过改进农业生产系统和开发如生物固氮(BNF)等可替代资源而扩大.到2030年,随着出台适当的政策、实施技术转让、对研究和投资提供支持以及在农田采用化肥使用效率(FUE)和生物固氮(BNF)技术等,可以使无机氯每年节省1000万t,价值33亿美元.