Bioaccumulation and depuration of chromium in the selected organs andwhole body tissues of freshwater fish Cirrhinus mrigala individuallyand in binary solutions with nickel

Contamination of aquatic ecosystems with heavy metals has been receiving increased worldwide attention due to their harmful e ectson human health and other organisms in the environment. Most of the studies dealing with toxic e ects of metals deal with singlemetal species, while the aquatic organisms are typically exposed to mixtures of metals. Hence, in order to provide data supportingthe usefulness of freshwater fish as indicators of heavy metal pollution, it has been proposed in the present study to investigate thebioaccumulation and depuration of chromium in the selected organs of freshwater fingerlings Cirrhinus mrigala, individually and inbinary solutions with nickel. The results show that the kidney is a target organ for chromium accumulation, which implies that it is alsothe “critical” organ for toxic symptoms. The results further show that accumulation of nickel in all the tissues of C. mrigala is higherthan that of chromium. In addition, the metal accumulations of the binary mixtures of chromium and nickel are substantially higherthan those of the individual metals, indicating synergistic interactions between the two metals. Theoretically the simplest explanationfor an additive joint action of toxicants in a mixture is that they act in a qualitatively similar way. The observed data suggest that C.mrigala could be suitable monitoring organisms to study the bioavailability of water-bound metals in freshwater habitats.     

海水中痕量元素测定及其在重金属污染源判别方面的应用

利用电感耦合等离子体质谱(ICP-MS)研究了胶州湾及莱州湾这两个海域中痕量元素污染水平,发展了ICP-MS海水环境中痕量元素的测定方法,同时找出海水环境中具有保守性的数种元素作为污染示踪元素.达到对于海水环境中痕量污染物被动示踪的目的.对18个真实样品进行了识别率试验,识别率可达90%以上,在选取3个海水样品及1个河水样品混合后的模拟分担率实验,也取得了满意的结果,其误差平均值仅有1.17%.     

Catchment-wide assessment of the cost-effectiveness of stormwater remediation measures in urban areas

The cost effectiveness of catchment-wide funding for the environmental remediation of urban waterways on the scale of a major metropolitan catchment is examined considering the typical land-use and pollutant-export characteristics of urban catchments. The evaluation is performed by comparing the effectiveness of the major stormwater treatment modes for the pollutants of concern with the proportion of pollutant export to which the measure applies. The heavy metals copper, lead, and zinc in the aqueous phase or bound to fine particulates are identified as representative of the pollutants of concern in drainage from urban catchments. The analysis suggests that these priority pollutants are predominantly (79–87%) derived from runoff from residential property and roads as disseminated urban surfaces. Analysis of a specific case of catchment-wide funding of stormwater remediation in the Sydney Harbour catchment, Australia reveals that the funding allocation cannot be expected to have achieved reductions in the loads of priority pollutants due to the types of treatment measures implemented and the sources addressed. The apportionment of funding in better accordance with the maximum potential effectiveness of stormwater treatment modes and the pollutant-export characteristics of urban catchments could thus be expected to achieve a more cost-effective result from such funding initiatives.     

Stoffflussanalyse von quartären Ammoniumverbindungen für die Schweiz

Background, aim, and scope Compared to other micropollutants such as pesticides or pharmaceuticals, less attention has been paid to biocides so far. A prioritisation of the biocides currently used in Switzerland in terms of pollution of waters revealed that quaternary ammonium compounds (QAC), the isothiazolinones chloromethylisothiazolinone and benzisothiazolinone as well as Irgarol exhibit the highest risk potential. The QAC benzalkoniumchloride (BAC) and didecyldimethylammoniumchloride (DDAC-C10) are used in considerable amounts and have a high biological activity. Materials and methods The emissions of selected QAC in waters and soil and the predicted environmental concentrations (PECs) were estimated by means of a substance flow analysis (SFA). The study was based on data from the Swiss products register, on literature, contacts to producers and users as well as on own assumptions. Results and discussion The consumption of BAC (four homologues) and DDAC-C10 in biocidal applications in Switzerland amounts to 90 and 30 tons annually. The most important applications are disinfectants for public health areas, food and feed areas as well as wood preservatives. The total emissions to the environment of all five substances account for approximately 11?t/a. The PECs in surface waters and sediments vary from values slightly lower than the predicted no-effect concentration (PNEC) to roughly three orders of magnitude below the PNEC. However, concentrations above the PNEC are possible at certain locations, particularly downstream of wastewater treatment plants (WWTP) effluents and sewer overflows. Effects on aquatic organisms can therefore not be excluded. Three BAC homologues could not be assessed, as there were no PNEC values available. Conclusions The contribution of emissions from WWTP (punctual emissions) to the environment is only about one tenth and relatively low compared to diffuse emissions. This means that measures for the emission reduction focussing only on end-of-pipe solutions in WWTP will not reduce the emissions significantly. Moreover, for the evaluation of measures, attention has to be paid to the fact that biocides such as the selected QAC are often also applied in non-biocidal applications (e.?g. three times higher volumes in the case of BAC). Recommendations and perspectives SFA serves as a useful tool for early recognition of environmental problems caused by chemicals. This allows recommending appropriate risk reduction measures in the production, the use and the end-of-life phase. It is advisable to use the SFA already in the development stage of chemicals and later on as a quality control tool. The relevant sources of chemicals and sinks in the environment can thus be determined in complex systems, even in absence of extensive measurements or product registers with consumption figures by means of estimations and scenarios.