Glacial-interglacial changes in the occurrence of Pb, Cd, Cu and Zn in Vostok Antarctic ice from 240 000 to 410 000 years BP

Lead (Pb), cadmium (Cd), copper (Cu) and zinc (Zn) have been measured by electrothermal atomic absorption spectrometry in various sections of the 3623 m deep ice core drilled at Vostok, in central East Antarctica. The sections were dated from 240 to 410 kyear BP (Marine Isotopic Stages (MIS) 7.5 to 11.3), which corresponds to the 3rd and 4th glacial-interglacial cycles before present. Concentrations are found to have varied greatly during this 170 kyear time period, with high concentration values during the coldest climatic stages such as MIS 8.4 and 10.2 and much lower concentration values during warmer periods, such as the interglacials MIS 7.5, 9.3 and 11.3. Rock and soil dust were the dominant sources for Pb, whatever the period, and for Zn and Cu and possibly Cd during cold climatic stages. The contribution from volcanic emissions was important for Cd during all periods and might have been significant for Cu and Zn during warm periods.     

A HYDRODYNAMIC MODELING STUDY TO DETERMINE THE OPTIMUM WATER INTAKE LOCATION IN LAKE PALDANG,KOREA1

A three‐dimensional hydrodynamic model was applied to Lake Paldang, South Korea. The lake has three inflows, of which Kyoungan Stream has the smallest flow rate and poorest water quality. Since all drinking water intake stations are located near the confluence of Kyoungan Stream within the lake, this contaminated tributary may have a significant impact on the quality of drinking water sources. The optimum drinking water intake location was determined from the applied model. The model was calibrated and verified using the data measured under different hydrological conditions. The model results were in reasonable agreement with the field measurements in both calibration and verification. The circulation and spreading patterns of the incoming flows in the lake, as well as their composition ratios to the drinking water intakes were determined from the model, and three alternative intake locations were proposed. The simulation results suggested that the horizontal and vertical relocations of the intake aqueduct could significantly decrease the composition ratio of the contaminated water. From this study, it was concluded that the three‐dimensional hydrodynamic model could successfully simulate the temporal and spatial mixing patterns of incoming flows and become a useful tool in determining the optimum water intake location in Lake Paldang.     

Photodegradation of nitroaromatic compounds in aqueous solutions in the UV/H2O2 process

Photodegradation of nitrobenzene and nitrophenols in aqueous solutions by means of UV/H2 O2 process was studied in the Rayox batch reactors. Three nitrophenol isomers were identified as main photoproducts in the irradiated NB aqueous solutions. The distribution of nitrophenol isomers follows the order p-〉 m-〉 o-nitrophenol. Other intermediates detected include nitrohydroquinone, nitrocatechol, catechol, benzoquinone, phenol, nitrate/nitrite ions, formic acid, glyoxylic acid, maleic acid, oxalic acid and some aliphatic ketones and aldehydes. The degradation of nitrobenzene and nitrophenols at initial stages follows the first-order kinetics and the decay rate constants for nitrobenzene（NB） are around l0^-3-10^-2 s^-1 and for nitrophenols are around 10^-2 s^-1. The decomposition of H2 O2 in the presence of NB and each nitrophenol isomers follows zero-order kinetics. The quantum yields at initial stages for NB decay were estimated around 0.30 to 0.36, and for NPs decay is around 0.31-0.54.     

Green synthesis, characterization and antimicrobial activity of silver nanoparticles using methanolic root extracts of Diospyros sylvatica

The current research study focuses to formulate the biosynthesized silver nanoparticles for the first time from silver acetate using methanolic root extracts of Diospyros sylvatica, a member of family Ebenaceae. TEM analysis revealed the average diameter of Ag NPs around 8 nm which is in good agreement with the average crystallite size (10 nm) calculated from X-ray Diffraction (XRD) analysis. Further the study has been extended to the antimicrobial activity against test pathogenic Gram (+) ve, Gram (−) ve bacterial and fungal strains. The bioinspired Ag-NP showed promising activity against all the tested bacterial strains and the activity was enhanced with increased dosage levels.     

Determination of the swimming trajectory and speed of chain-forming dinoflagellate <Emphasis Type="Italic">Cochlodinium polykrikoides</Emphasis> with digital holographic particle tracking velocimetry

The marine dinoflagellate Cochlodinium polykrikoides is a harmful and highly motile algal species. To distinguish between the motility characteristics of solitary and chain-forming cells, the swimming trajectories and speeds of solitary cells and 2- to 8-cell chains of C. polykrikoides were measured using a digital holographic particle tracking velocimetry (PTV) technique. C. polykrikoides cells exhibited helical swimming trajectories similar to other dinoflagellate species. The swimming speed increased as the number of cells in the chain increased, from an average of 391 μm s⁻¹ (solitary cells) to 856 μm s⁻¹ (8-cell chain). The helix radius R and pitch P also increased as the number of cells in the chain increased. R increased from 9.24 μm (solitary cell) to 20.3 μm (8-cell chain) and P increased from 107 μm (solitary cell) to 164 μm (8-cell chain). The free thrust-generating motion of the transverse flagella and large drag reduction in the chain-forming cells seemed to increase the swimming speed compared to solitary cells. The measured swimming speeds agreed with those from field observations. The superior motility of chain-forming C. polykrikoides cells may be an important factor for its bloom, in addition to the factors reported previously.     

Mercury concentrations in the surface sediments of the intertidal area along the west coast of Peninsular Malaysia

Total mercury (Hg) levels in the intertidal surface sediments along the west coast of Peninsular Malaysia were analysed by using heat vaporization method. Total Hg levels in these sediments ranged from 3.00 to 201?µg?kg^?1 dry weight with a mean concentration of 60.0?µg?kg^?1 dry weight. More than 90% of the samples studied have the total Hg concentrations less than 150?µg?kg^?1 dry weight. Compare with the regional data and sediment quality guidelines, the Hg contamination in the intertidal area along the west coast of Peninsular Malaysia was not serious, except for a few sites that might have received anthropogenic Hg in the samples collected between 1999 and 2000. It is suggested that a similar study of heavy metals in the sediments of the west coast of Peninsular Malaysia be conducted regularly.     

Volatile Organic Compounds in Ambient Air at Four Residential Locations in Seoul, Korea

To investigate the environmental behavior of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) in urban areas, their concentrations were measured at four urban monitoring sites (namely, N, S, E, and W) in Seoul, Korea (February to December 2009). A total of 27 compounds were quantified that consist of four chemical groups: aromatic (AR), halogenated aromatic, halogenated paraffin, and halogenated olefin. Results were evaluated by focusing on these four functional groups just mentioned and their summation term as total VOC (TVOC) along with several individual species (mainly AR species, that is, benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene, and xylene). The highest concentration of chemical groups was found from AR (71.1±42.1?ppbC), while that for individual species confirmed the dominance of toluene (7.48±3.88?ppb). The analysis of spatial distribution indicated that high TVOC levels were recorded at sites N and W, while it was not so significant such as S and E in terms of TVOC budget. Seasonal variation of these VOCs was characterized by the peak values in December to reflect the combined effects of pronounced source activities and meteorological conditions. Analysis of spatial variations in VOC levels between the four urban sites indicated that their distributions are tightly affected by local source processes in each area.     

Development of freshwater sediment management standards for organic matters, nutrients, and metals in Korea

Korean water quality managers are required to promptly develop national assessment standards for freshwater sediment quality due to the Four Major River Restoration Project in Korea in 2009. We conducted this study to develop sediment management standards (SMSs), determining obviously and severely polluted sediment, which could have adverse impacts on water quality and aquatic ecosystem. The SMSs values were derived from the 95th percentile of concentration distribution for organic matter and nutrients in sediment quality database. For the SMSs of metals, foreign sediment quality guidelines (SQGs) were adopted. As a result, 13 % for loss on ignition (LOI), 1,600 mg/kg for total phosphorus (TP), and 5,600 mg/kg for total nitrogen (TN) were set as the SMSs for freshwater sediment in Korea. These values were higher than the range of heavily polluted sediment from USEPA Region 5 guideline derived by the similar approaches for the Great Lakes harbor sediments, and similar or lower than the severe effect level (SEL) from provincial sediment quality guideline (PSQG) of Ontario, Canada by screening level concentration (SLC) approach. However, SMSs in the present study are appropriate considering the concentration ranges and the Korean SMSs’ definition for freshwater sediments in Korea. The Puget Sound marine sediment cleanup screening level (CSL) in Washington State, USA were adopted as the Korean SMSs for As (93 mg/kg), Cd (6.7 mg/kg), Cr (270 mg/kg), Cu (390 mg/kg), Pb (530 mg/kg), and Zn (960 mg/kg) in freshwater sediments. Hg concentration (0.59 mg/kg) of CSL was too low to determine the polluted freshwater sediments in Korea, and the SEL of Ontario, Canada for mercury concentration (2 mg/kg) was selected as the SMS for Hg. These values were found reasonable through the assessment of applicability with the datasets from locations directly affected by obvious point sources. These results indicate that SMSs for organic matter, nutrient, and metals derived within the present study can successfully determine obviously and severely polluted sediment in Korea. However, the SMSs have limits to specifically determine the effects of polluted sediment on water quality and aquatic ecosystem in Korea. Thus, we will revise and specify SMSs considering those effects and further sediment quality assessment framework in the near future.     

Direct photolysis of nitroaromatic compounds in aqueous solutions

The direct photolysis of nitrobenzene and nitrophenols in aqueous solutions irradiated by polychromatic light were investigated. Several aromatic intermediates were identified as three nitrophenol isomers, nitrohydroquinone, nitrosobenzene, nitrocatechol, catechol and phenol. Nitrite and nitrate ions were also detected in the irradiated solution indicating direct photolysis of nitrobenzene or nitrophenols. The degradation of nitrobenzene and nitrophenols and the formation of three nitrophenol isomers were observed to follow zero-order kinetics. The quantum yields for nitrobenzene and nitrophenols removal are about 10^-3 and 10^-3—10^-4 respectively. The mechanism for nitrobenzene degradation was suggested to follow mainly nitro-nitrite intramolecular arrangement.     

Simultaneous Measurements of Atmospheric Pollutants and Visibility with a Long-Path DOAS System in Urban Areas

In this paper, the applicability of a Long-Path Differential Optical Absorption Spectroscopy (LP-DOAS) system was checked for the feasibility of the simultaneous measurement of trace gases (such as O₃, NO₂, SO₂, and HCHO) and atmospheric visibility (light extinction by aerosols) in Asian urban areas. Field studies show that an LP-DOAS system can simultaneously measure the key pollutants (such as O₃, NO₂, SO₂, and HCHO) at detection limits in the ppb/sub-ppb range as well as the Mie extinction coefficient with an uncertainty of 0.1 km^–1 at time resolution of a few minutes. It is thus concluded that the use of LP-DOAS system is feasible for simultaneous measurement of gaseous pollutants as well as an atmospheric extinction coefficient which is tightly bound to fine particulate concentration.