Systematic evaluation of dissolved lead sorption losses to particulate syringe filter materials

Distinguishing between soluble and particulate lead in drinking water is useful in understanding the mechanism of lead release and identifying remedial action. Typically, particulate lead is defined as the amount of lead removed by a 0.45-μm filter. Unfortunately, there is little guidance regarding selection of filter membrane material and little consideration to the possibility of the sorption of dissolved lead to the filter. The objective of this work was to examine the tendency of 0.45-μm syringe filter materials to adsorb lead. Tests were performed with water containing 40 and 24 μg/L soluble lead at pH 7 buffered with 50 mg C/L dissolved inorganic concentration (DIC). The amounts of lead sorbed greatly varied by filter, and only two filter types, polypropylene and mixed cellulose esters, performed well and are recommended. Great care must be taken in choosing a filter when filtering soluble lead and interpreting filter results.     

Validation of atmospheric aerosols parallel sampling in a multifold device

In this work, particulate matter was collected using an active sampling system consisting of a PM₁₀ (<10 μm) inlet coupled to a multifold device containing six channels, connected to a vacuum pump. Each channel was equipped with a filter holder fitted with adequately chosen filters. The system was fixed on a metallic structure, which was placed on the roof of the laboratory building, at the Faculty of Sciences, in Lisbon. Sampling took place under flow-controlled conditions. Aerosols were extracted from the filters with water, in defined conditions, and the water-soluble fraction was quantified by ion chromatography (IC) for the determination of inorganic anions (Cl^?, NO₃ ^? and SO₄ ^2?). Equivalent sampling through the various channels was validated. Validation was based on the metrological compatibility of the content results for the various filters. Ion masses are metrologically equivalent when their absolute difference is smaller than the respective expanded uncertainty. When this condition is verified, the studied multifold device produces equivalent samples.     

Persistence and effect of processing on reduction of chlorantraniliprole residues on brinjal and okra fruits

Dissipation and decontamination of chlorantraniliprole (Coragen 18.5 SC) in brinjal and okra fruits were studied following field application at single and double doses of 30 and 60 g ai ha^?1, and the residues of the insecticide was estimated using LC-MS/MS. Initial residues of chlorantraniliprole at single and double doses on the fruits of brinjal were 0.72 and 1.48 mg kg^?1, while on okra fruits, the residues were 0.48 and 0.91 mg kg^?1, respectively. The residues reached below detectable level of 0.01 mg kg^?1 on the 10th day. Half-life of chlorantraniliprole at 30 and 60 g ai ha^?1 on brinjal was 1.58 and 1.80 days with the calculated waiting period of 0.69 and 2.38 days, whereas on okra, the values were 1.60 and 1.70 and 0 and 1.20 days, respectively. The extent of removal of chlorantraniliprole using simple decontaminating techniques at 2 h and 3 days after spraying was 40.99–91.37 % and 29.85–89.12 %, respectively, from brinjal fruits and 47.78–86.10 % and 41.77–86.48 %, respectively, from okra fruits.     

Characterisation of Particulate Matter Sampled during a Study of Children's Personal Exposure to Airborne Particulate Matter in a UK Urban Environment

The personal exposure of children aged 9 – 11 years to particulate matter (PM₁₀ and PM_2.5) was carried out between January and September 1997 in the London Borough of Barnet. Personal sampling along with home, garden and classroom microenvironmental monitoring was completed for all ten children. Each child was monitored for five days during winter, spring and summer. All children completed daily time activity diaries to provide information on any potential activities that could influence their exposure to particulate matter. Each evening a household activity questionnaire was also completed by the parents. Personal Environmental Monitors were used to sample personal exposure to PM₁₀ and PM_2.5. Harvard Impactors were used for the microenvironmental sampling of both size fractions. The children's mean personal exposure concentrations for PM₁₀ during winter, spring and summer were 72, 54 and 35 µg/m³ respectively and for PM_2.5 22, 17 and 18 µg/m³ respectively. In order to determine the potential sources of particulate matter, analysis of the Teflon filters has been undertaken. The physical characteristics of the particles have been identified using Scanning Electron Microscopy. The relationships between personal exposure concentrations and the different microenvironments will be discussed.     

Calculating losses of crops in Denmark caused by high ozone levels

In order to help guide air pollution legislation at the European level, harmful air pollution effects on agriculture crops and the consequent economic implications for policy have been studied for more than a decade. Ozone has been labeled as the most serious of the damaging air pollutants to agriculture, where growth rates and consequently yields are dramatically reduced. Quantifying the effects has formed a key factor in policymaking. Based on the widely held view that AOT40 (Accumulated exposure Over Threshold of 40 ppb) is a good indicator of ozone-induced damage, the Danish Eulerian Model (DEM) was used to compute reduced agriculture yields on a 50 km×50 km grid over Europe. In one set of scenarios, a ten year meteorological time series was combined with realistic emission inventories. In another, various idealized emission reduction scenarios are applied to the same meteorological time series. The results show substantial inter-annual variability in economic losses, due in most part to meteorological conditions which varied much more substantially than the emissions during the same period. It is further shown that, taking all uncertainties into account, estimates of ozone-induced economic losses require that a long meteorological record is included in the analysis, for statistical significance to be improved to acceptable levels for use in policy analysis. In this study, calculations were made for Europe as a whole, though this paper presents results relevant for Denmark.     

Soil and vegetation carbon stocks in Brazilian Western Amazonia: relationships and ecological implications for natural landscapes

The relationships between soils attributes, soil carbon stocks and vegetation carbon stocks are poorly know in Amazonia, even at regional scale. In this paper, we used the large and reliable soil database from Western Amazonia obtained from the RADAMBRASIL project and recent estimates of vegetation biomass to investigate some environmental relationships, quantifying C stocks of intact ecosystem in Western Amazonia. The results allowed separating the western Amazonia into 6 sectors, called pedo-zones: Roraima, Rio Negro Basin, Tertiary Plateaux of the Amazon, Javari-Juruá-Purus lowland, Acre Basin and Rondonia uplands. The highest C stock for the whole soil is observed in the Acre and in the Rio Negro sectors. In the former, this is due to the high nutrient status and high clay activity, whereas in the latter, it is attributed to a downward carbon movement attributed to widespread podzolization and arenization, forming spodic horizons. The youthful nature of shallow soils of the Javari-Juruá-Purus lowlands, associated with high Al, results in a high phytomass C/soil C ratio. A similar trend was observed for the shallow soils from the Roraima and Rondonia highlands. A consistent east–west decline in biomass carbon in the Rio Negro Basin sector is associated with increasing rainfall and higher sand amounts. It is related to lesser C protection and greater C loss of sandy soils, subjected to active chemical leaching and widespread podzolization. Also, these soils possess lower cation exchangeable capacity and lower water retention capacity. Zones where deeply weathered Latosols dominate have a overall pattern of high C sequestration, and greater than the shallower soils from the upper Amazon, west of Madeira and Negro rivers. This was attributed to deeper incorporation of carbon in these clayey and highly pedo-bioturbated soils. The results highlight the urgent need for refining soil data at an appropriate scale for C stocks calculations purposes in Amazonia. There is a risk of misinterpreting C stocks in Amazonia when such great pedological variability is not taken into account.     

Application of GIS in the study of mass transport of pollutants by Adyar and Cooum Rivers in Chennai, Tamilnadu

Residential, industrial, commercial, institutional and recreational activities discharge degradable and non-degradable wastes that reach the coastal water through rivers and cause coastal pollution. In the present study, mass transport of pollutants by Adyar and Cooum Rivers to the coastal water as a result of land-based discharges was estimated during low tide. The lowest and the highest flow recorded in Adyar varied from 514.59 to 2,585.08×10⁶ litres/day. Similarly, the flow in Cooum River fluctuated between 266.45 and 709.34×10⁶ litres/day. The present study revealed that the Adyar River transported 53.89–454.11 t/d of suspended solids, 0.06–19.64 t/d of ammonia, 15.95–123.24 t/d of nitrate and 0.4–17.86 t/d of phosphate, 0.004–0.09 kg/d of cadmium, 0.15–1.29 kg/d of lead and 3.03–17.58 kg/d of zinc to the coastal water owing to its high discharge. Similarly, the Cooum River transported 11.87–120.06 t/d of suspended solids, 0.08–58.7 t/d of ammonia, 6.11–29.25 t/d of nitrate and 0.66–10.73 t/d of phosphate, 0.003–0.021 kg/d of cadmium, 0.02–0.44 kg/d of lead and 1.36–3.87 kg/d of zinc. A higher concentration of suspended solids was noticed in post monsoon and summer months. An increase in the mass transport of ammonia, nitrate, phosphate in summer months (April and May) and an increase in the mass transport of cadmium, lead and zinc were observed in monsoon months (October–December) in both the rivers. Thus mass transport of pollutants study reveal that Cooum and Adyar Rivers in Chennai contribute to coastal pollution by transporting inorganic and trace metals significantly through land drainage.     

Terrain Discontinuity Effects in the Regional Flow of a Complex Karstified Aquifer

Karst aquifers are characterized by spatial heterogeneity due to the presence of highly permeable channels and conduits in low-permeable fractured rocks (matrix block). Recent studies have reported a close relationship between surface and subsurface water in karstic regions due to the water flow through a complicated network of paths formed by fracture intersections. Subsurface flow in karstified aquifers ranges between conduit flow, in large passages with relatively high flow velocities, and diffuse flow, in the matrix block where Darcy’s law is still valid. In this paper, we present the simulation of a complex karstified aquifer system in Crete, Greece, where the presence of main faults drastically affects the regional flow. A discrete fracture approach in conjunction with an equivalent porous medium approach was adopted to simulate the mixed flow in the area of interest. The simulation results have shown that the length and the orientation of the dominant faults, primarily during the rainy season, affect the flow field.     

How Do River Nitrate Concentrations Respond to Changes in Land-use? A Modelling Case Study of Headwaters in the River Derwent Catchment,North Yorkshire,UK

A combined semi-distributed hydrological model (CASCADE/QUESTOR) is used to evaluate the steady-state that may be achieved after changes in land-use or management and to explore what additional factors need to be considered in representing catchment processes. Two rural headwater catchments of the River Derwent (North Yorkshire, UK) were studied where significant change in land-use occurred in the 1990s and the early 2000s. Much larger increases in mean nitrate concentration (55%) were observed in the catchment with significant groundwater influence (Pickering Beck) compared with the surface water-dominated catchment (13% increase). The increases in Pickering Beck were considerably greater than could be explained by the model in terms of land-use change. Consequently, the study serves to focus attention on the long-term increases in nitrate concentration reported in major UK aquifers and the ongoing and chronic impact this trend is likely to be having on surface water concentrations. For river environments, where groundwater is a source, such trends will mask the impact of measures proposed to reduce the risk of nitrate leaching from agricultural land. Model estimates of within-channel losses account for 15–40% of nitrate entering rivers.     

Selecting Variables for Habitat Suitability of <Emphasis Type="Italic">Asellus</Emphasis> (Crustacea,Isopoda) by Applying Input Variable Contribution Methods to Artificial Neural Network Models

This study aimed to compare different methods to analyse the contribution of individual river characteristics to predict the abundance of Asellus (Crustacea, Isopoda). Six methods which provide the relative contribution and/or the contribution profile of the input variables of artificial neural network models were therefore compared: (1) the ‘partial derivatives’ method; (2) the ‘weights’ method; (3) the ‘perturb’ method; (4) the ‘profile’ method; (5) the ‘classical stepwise’ method; (6) the ‘improved stepwise’ method. Consequently, the key variables which affect the habitat preferences of Asellus could be identified. To evaluate the performance of the artificial neural network model, the model predictions were compared with the results of a multiple linear regression analysis. The dataset consisted of 179 samples, collected over a 3-year period in the Zwalm catchment in Flanders, Belgium. Twenty-four environmental variables as well as the log-transformed abundance of Asellus were used in this study. The different contribution methods seemed to give similar results concerning the order of importance of the input variables. Nevertheless, their diverse computation led to differences in sensitivity and stability of the methods and the derived outcomes on the habitat preferences. From an ecological point of view, the environmental variables describing the stream type (width, depth, stream order and distance to mouth) were the most significant variables for Asellus in the Zwalm catchment during the period 2000–2002 for all applied methods. Indirectly, one can conclude that the water quality is not the limiting factor for the survival of Asellus in the Zwalm catchment.