Copper availability assessment of Cu-contaminated vineyard soils using black oat cultivation and chemical extractants

Grapevines grown on acid soils with low fertility in southern Brazil are treated with intense foliar applications of copper (Cu) fungicides, resulting in an increased level of Cu in the soil and increased toxicity. The present study evaluated the accumulation and bioavailability of Cu, and soils with varying levels of Cu from the main producing regions of southern Brazil were collected. The forms of Cu present in the soil were assessed using chemical extractants; additionally, oat cultivation was performed, reflecting the use of the plant as an indicator of Cu bioavailability. Cu accumulated in the topsoil, mainly in bioavailable forms, and there was also an increase of Cu up to a depth of 0.4 m. Cu was primarily found in the mineral fraction, with apparent saturation of the soil organic matter functional groups. Inceptisol and Alfisol soils with a long history of cupric fungicide application were found to have levels of Cu toxic to oat plants. Furthermore, accumulated copper in Alfisol soil from the Campanha Gaúcha region of the state of Rio Grande do Sul had higher bioavailability compared to Cu accumulated in Inceptisol soil from the Serra Gaúcha region. In addition, the copper concentration in roots was found to serve as an indicator of Cu bioavailability in soil, but not of copper phytotoxicity in plants.     

Multibiomarker approach in fish to assess the impact of pollution in a large Brazilian river, Paraiba do Sul

This article examines the advantages of the use of biomarkers as environmental indicators by applying it to Paraiba do Sul watershed, one of the most important Brazilian water bodies, which is in a critical environmental situation. We use a multibiomarker approach in fish as an integrated strategy to assess the impact of pollution. It comprehends a general biomarker of fish health, the condition factor (CF), and specific biomarkers of contaminant exposure such as metallothionein (MT), acetylcholinesterase (AChE) activity and biliary polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH) metabolites. Our results revealed different effects in the fish from diverse locations with varying degrees of pollution. Furthermore, fish located just upstream of the water-treatment plant of the metropolitan area of Rio de Janeiro has shown to be affected by metals. This study indicates the usefulness of integrating a set of biomarkers to define the effects of anthropogenic inputs in aquatic bodies under complex polluted situations.     

Influence of weight on the content of trace metals in tissues of Mytilus galloprovincialis (Lamarck, 1819): a forecast model

Fifty seven samples of Mytilus galloprovincialis (Lamarck, 1819) collected along the breakwater barriers of Fano (station 1) and Pesaro (station 2), Adriatic Sea, Marche Region, central Italy, were analyzed by atomic absorption spectrometry and Cd, Cu, Pb and Zn concentrations in the soft tissues were measured. The aims of this work were the statistical analysis of Cd-weight, Cu-weight, Pb-weight, Zn-weight relationships, and the building of a tendency function that allows assessing with a good approximation the concentrations of a metal in different weight organisms. In Mytilus galloprovincialis the content of Cd proportionally grew with the weight and therefore its concentration was independent from this factor; while the concentration of Pb decreased as the weight increased. In both cases the accuracy of multiple regression models improved considering the variable ‘site’, while the same approach appeared not reliable for Cu and Zn, that were two essential metals. Our results showed that a tendency function was reliable, solid and able to predict to a very satisfying extent the concentration of non-physiological metals, like Cd and Pb; while it did not show a good approximation with real Cu and Zn contents.     

Biochemical responses of the marine mussel Mytilus galloprovincialis to petrochemical environmental contamination along the North-western coast of Portugal

Following the development of urban and industrial centres petrochemical products have become a widespread class of contaminants. The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of petrochemical contamination in wild populations of mussels (Mytilus galloprovincialis) along the NW Atlantic coast of Portugal by applying antioxidant and energetic metabolism parameters as biomarkers. For that, mussels were collected at five sampling sites presenting different petrochemical contamination levels. To evaluate the mussels' antioxidant status, enzymatic activities of catalase, superoxide dismutase, glutathione peroxidase, glutathione reductase, glutathione S-transferases, as well as glutathione redox status were evaluated in gills and digestive glands of mussels collected from the selected sites. Lipid peroxidation was determined in the same tissues to quantify cellular oxidative damage. Furthermore, to investigate how energetic processes may respond to these contaminants, the activity of NADP(+)-dependent isocitrate dehydrogenase was determined in mussels' digestive glands, and octopine dehydrogenase was determined in mussels' posterior adductor muscle. Furthermore, the concentrations of aliphatic hydrocarbons, unresolved complex mixture and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) were quantified in mussels' tissue, and abiotic parameters were quantified in water samples collected at each site. Several biomarkers showed statistically significant differences among sampling sites. The redundancy analysis (RDA) used to perform the integrated analysis of the data showed a clear separation of the sampling sites in three different assemblages, which are in agreement with the PAHs levels found in mussels tissues. In addition, the RDA indicated that some of the selected biomarkers may be influenced by abiotic parameters (e.g. salinity, pH, nitrates and ammonia). The approach selected for this study seems to be suitable for monitoring petrochemical contamination.     

Subnational government and EIA in the developing world: Bureaucratic strategy and political change in Rio de Janeiro,Brazil

EIA has been instituted in developing countries in the last decade largely in response to outside pressures. Governments have been quick to initiate reforms rather than jeopardize projects that might be key to national development plans. At the subnational level, most projects are not financed by foreign aid. The application of EIA at this level is often the result of pressure exerted on policy elites by the bureaucracy. This paper describes the reorganization of environmental protection agencies in the state of Rio de Janeiro in Brazil. This reorganization provided the setting for a bureaucratic initiative on EIA. The authors also analyze two cases in which EIA was applied unsatisfactorily and comment on the political realites of implementing EIA at the subnational level.     

Comparative thermal metabolic patterns in Euterpina acutifrons dimorphic males

Thermal metabolic acclimation patterns have been determined for cold-and warm-acclimated dimorphic males of the copepod Euterpina acutifrons. The copepods were acclimated either to 15° or 25°C. Metabolic measurements were made at the two acclimation temperatures. At 25 °C, the small males had a higher rate than the large ones. At 15 °C, the large males had the higher rate. The metabolic pattern of thermal acclimation is also distinctive in the two forms. Small males showed metabolic adaptation at the lower acclimation temperature (15 °C), but not at the higher acclimation temperature (25 °C). In the large males the acclimation patterns were reversed, i. e., these males acclimated at the higher temperature, not at the lower. The acclimation patterns based on Precht's (1958) scheme of acclimation are entirely different in the two forms.Supported by PHS grant 5-SO5-FR-07070-02.     

The effect of organic amendment on potential mobility and bioavailability of 137Cs and 60Co in tropical soils

In this work the role of organic matter in the potential mobility and bioavailability of 137Cs and 60Co in Brazilian soil was investigated. Radish was cultivated in pots containing the top layer (0-20 cm) of a Histosol, Ferralsol and Nitisol spiked with 137Cs and 60Co. In the case of the Ferralsol and Nitisol samples, besides the control, two different rates of organic amendments were used. In these soils, a sequential extraction protocol was used to identify the main soil compartments that could be responsible for the variation of transfer factor values. Our results indicate that organic amendment could be suggested as a practical countermeasure for 137Cs and 60Co contamination, since it reduces bioavailability of radionuclides and, consequently, soil to plant transfer factor values by almost one order of magnitude in a short period of time.     

Polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and Polybrominated Diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) in three fish species from an estuary in the southeastern coast of Brazil

Polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and Polybrominated Diphenyls Ethers (PBDEs) are two highly lipophilic classes of persistent organic pollutants able to resist degradation and with the ability to bioaccumulate through the food chain. In Brazil, there are still few studies on PCBs and PBDEs in aquatic organisms. In this study, we determined the levels of PBDEs and PCBs in three different fish species from the Ilha Grande Bay, located in the southern state of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. PBDEs levels were very low, with values below the limit of quantification. PCBs concentrations ranged from 2.29 to 27.60 ng g^?1 ww in muscle and from 3.41 to 34.22 ng g^?1 ww in liver of the three investigated fish species. Significant positive correlations were established between PCBs concentration and fish biometric variables in mullet (length and lipid content) and a statistically significant change between seasons in croaker was observed.     

Elucidation of the behavior of tannery wastewater under advanced oxidation conditions

Diverse advanced oxidation process (AOP) techniques applying UV, TiO2/UV, O3 and O3/UV were used to degrade pollutants contained in tannery wastewater. The total mineralization of these pollutants is desirable, but it is quite energy consuming and sometimes impossible. Therefore the objective was to achieve an enhancement of biodegradability, preferentially with a decrease in toxicity in parallel. This work demonstrates that the dominant pollutants were chemically degraded by oxidation, while changes in carbon content were only marginal. These results were obtained monitoring the total organic carbon content (TOC), chemical and biochemical oxygen demand (COD and BOD), and substance-specific pollutant content by application of gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (GC-MS) and liquid chromatography/mass spectrometry (LC-MS). Daphnia magna toxicity testing performed in parallel proved a decrease in toxicity after AOP treatment of the tannery wastewater.