Environmental significance of nitrogenous organic compounds in aquatic sources

The presence of nitrogenous organic compounds in raw water sources for municipal supplies is of environmental concern because many of them exert significant chlorine demand, while some produce complex stable mutagenic products upon chlorination or are precursors to haloform formation. Seven N-organic compounds have been identified in municipal water concentrates (adenine, 5-chlorouracil, cytosine, guanine, purine, thymine, and uracil) at concentrations ranging from 20 to 860 μg/L. Eight compounds (adenine, cytosine, purine, pyrrole, thymine, tryptophan, tyrosine, and uracil) have been found in filtrates from cultures of either Anabaena flos aquae or Oscillatoria tenuis. Calculated CHCl₃ levels which might have formed at pH 7 in the water supplies were well below the maximum contaminant level (MCL) of 0.1 mg/L proposed by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) for total trihalogenated methanes. Calculated levels of CHCl₃ which might have been formed under more alkaline conditions, however, were more than 10% of the MCL and were therefore significant. Calculated levels of combined forms of chlorine yielding falsely positive tests for free chlorine in some samples were slightly less or exceeded the 0.5 mg/L free chlorine residual generally taken as an acceptable level of disinfection. The demonstration of a parallel increase in organic nitrogen content with population density in two laboratory grown blue-green algal cultures, and the finding of elevated organic nitrogen values in a water supply sample collected during the occurrence of a blue-green algal bloom, suggested that summer algal bloom occurrence can add considerably to the organic nitrogen content and the trihalomethane potential of water supplies.     

Sequence-based source tracking of Escherichia coli based on genetic diversity of beta-glucuronidase

High levels of fecal bacteria are a concern for recreational waters; however, the source of contamination is often unknown. This study investigated whether direct sequencing of a bacterial gene could be utilized for detecting genetic differences between bacterial strains for microbial source tracking. A 525-nucleotide segment of the gene for beta-glucuronidase (uidA) was sequenced in 941 Escherichia coli isolates from the Clinton River-Lake St. Clair watershed, 182 E. coli isolates from human and animal feces, and 34 E. coli isolates from a combined sewer. Environmental isolates exhibited 114 alleles in 11 groups on a genetic tree. Frequency of strains from different genetic groups differed significantly (p < 0.03) between upstream reaches (Bear Creek-Red Run), downstream reaches, and Lake St. Clair beaches. Fecal E. coli uidA sequences exhibited 81 alleles that overlapped with the environmental set. An algorithm to assign alleles to different host sources averaged approximately 75% correct classification with the fecal data set. Using the same algorithm, the percent of environmental isolates assignable to humans decreased significantly between Bear Creek-Red Run (30 +/- 3%) and the beaches (17 +/- 2%) (p < 0.05). Birds accounted for approximately 50% of assignable environmental isolates. For combined sewer isolates, the same algorithm assigned 51% to humans. These experiments demonstrate differences in the frequency of different E. coli strains at different locations in a watershed, and provide a "proof in principle" that sequence-based data can be used for microbial source tracking.     

Using zebra mussels to monitor Escherichia coli in environmental waters

Use of the zebra mussel (Dreissena polymorpha) as an indicator of previously elevated bacteria concentrations in a watershed was examined. The ability of the zebra mussel to accumulate and purge Escherichia coli over several days was investigated in both laboratory and field experiments. In laboratory experiments, periodic enumeration of E. coli in mussels that had been exposed to a dilute solution of raw sewage demonstrated that (i) maximum concentrations of E. coli are reached within a few hours of exposure to sewage, (ii) the tissue concentration attained is higher than the concentration in the ambient water, and (iii) the E. coli concentrations take several days to return to preexposure concentrations when mussels are subsequently placed in sterile water. In field experiments conducted in southeast Michigan in the Clinton River watershed, brief increases in E. coli concentrations in the water were accompanied by increases in mussel concentrations of E. coli that lasted 2 or 3 d. The ability of mussels to retain and to concentrate E. coli made it possible to detect E. coli in the environment under conditions that conventional monitoring may often miss. Sampling caged mussels in a river and its tributaries may enable watershed managers to reduce the sampling frequency normally required to identify critical E. coli sources, thereby providing a more cost-effective river monitoring strategy for bacterial contamination.     

Comparative biochemical composition of ploidy groups of the lion-paw scallop (<Emphasis Type="Italic">Nodipecten subnodosus</Emphasis> Sowerby) supports the physiological hypothesis for the lack of advantage in triploid mollusc’s growth in food-rich environments

Induction of triploidy in aquatic organisms has increased worldwide in the last two decades, mostly because triploids have better growth than diploids. According to a physiological hypothesis, partial or total sterility of triploids allows the accumulation of reserves in muscle and other tissues instead of being transferred to the gonad. The present study analyzes lipid, protein, carbohydrate, and fatty acid levels in muscle and gonads of Nodipecten subnodosus triploids and diploids over 18 months from June 2001 to December 2002. An important increase in gonadosomatic index of diploids scallops was observed from May to June 2002 reaching the highest values in August. Such increase was not observed in triploid scallops. Changes in biochemical composition in female gonad were in general related to the accumulation of reserves during gonad development of diploid scallops. This accumulation was lower for triploid scallops, in accordance to their sterility, especially for carbohydrates and acylglycerides. Adductor muscle index as well as protein and carbohydrate levels in muscle increased in both ploidy groups during the reproductive period indicating no mobilization of reserves to sustain gonad development in both ploidy groups. These results partially support the physiological hypothesis on the advantage of triploids: in a rich food locality no mobilization of reserves is needed to sustain gametogenesis. This, together with a possible lower efficiency of energy assimilation at high food concentration for triploids, may be the reason for an apparent lack of superiority of N. subnodosus triploids in terms of adductor muscle growth. Only the levels of particular highly unsaturated fatty acids levels (namely 20:4n-6 and 20:5n-3) in muscle of diploid and triploid decreased during the reproductive period, indicating a possible transfer of selected fatty acids to gonads, even in triploids. The muscle of triploids has a slightly but significantly higher proportion of 22:6n-3 compared to diploids, which can have implications for the nutritional and commercial value of triploid adductor muscle.     

Bioavailability of metals and As from acidified multicontaminated soils: Use of white lupin to validate several extraction methods

White lupin is an annual crop that has been used for phytostabilization of acidified multicontaminated (heavy metals and As) soils from the Aznalcóllar spill-affected area, Southern Spain. One of the most important factors for successful phytostabilization is monitoring the pollutant bioavailability in the soil. The aim of this work was to determine the best-suited method for assessing the bioavailability of heavy metals together with As in the Aznalcóllar spill-affected area, by means of a systematic comparison between different extraction methods (Ammonium bicarbonate-diethylenetriamine pentaacetic acid (AB-DTPA), CaCl₂, NaNO₃, BCR, (NH₄)₂SO₄ and rhizo). Both AB-DTPA and the first step of the BCR method were found to be unsuitable for assessing the bioavailability of heavy metals and As to plants growing in acidic soils. However, CaCl₂-extractable As, Cu, and Zn and NaNO₃-extractable As and Zn were well correlated with their concentrations in plant organs. Rhizo and (NH₄)₂SO₄, with the highest determination coefficients, were the most recommended simple extraction methods to assess the bioavailability of As, Cu, Fe, Mn, and Zn in acidified multicontaminated soils using white lupin as an excluder model plant.     

Sustainable sanitary landfills for neglected small cities in developing countries: The semi-mechanized trench method from Villanueva,Honduras

Open dumping is the most common practice for the disposal of urban solid wastes in the least developed regions of Africa, Asia and Latin America. Sanitary landfill design and operation has traditionally focused on large cities, but cities with fewer than 50,000 in population can comprise from 6% to 45% of a given country’s total population. These thousands of small cities cannot afford to operate a sanitary landfill in the way it is proposed for large cities, where heavy equipment is used to spread and compact the waste in daily cells, and then to excavate, transport and apply daily cover, and leachate is managed with collection and treatment systems. This paper presents an alternative approach for small cities, known as the semi-mechanized trench method, which was developed in Villanueva, Honduras. In the semi-mechanized trench method a hydraulic excavator is used for 1–3 days to dig a trench that will last at least a month before it is filled with waste. Trucks can easily unload their wastes into the trench, and the wastes compact naturally due to semi-aerobic biodegradation, after which the trenches are refilled and covered. The exposed surface area is minimal since only the top surface of the wastes is exposed, the remainder being covered by the sides and bottom of the trench. The surplus material from trench excavation can be valorized for use as engineering fill onsite or off. The landfill in Villanueva has operated for 15 years, using a total land area of approximately 11 ha for a population that grew from 23,000 to 48,000, with a land requirement of 0.2 m²/person year, a cover to waste ratio of 0.2, and an estimated soil surplus of 298,000 m³ that is valorized and used onsite. The landfill has been operated solely by the municipality with an operational cost in 2010 estimated at US$4.60 per ton. A modified water balance analysis at Villanueva shows negligible leachate generation from covered trenches and 700 m³/yr (60 m³/ha yr) from the two open trenches required for daily operation. If the site were an open dump, however, leachate generation is estimated to be 3900 m³/ha yr and contaminated runoff 5000 m³/ha yr. A simple model used to estimate dilution of generated leachate based on groundwater flow data and aquifer stratigraphy suggests that the leachate will be diluted by a factor of 0.01 in the aquifer. Leachate contaminants will not accumulate because the aquifer discharges to the Ulua River 2 km south of the landfill. While not suitable for all sites, the Villanueva method nevertheless serves as an excellent example of how a small city landfill with natural compaction of waste and attenuation of leachate can be sustainably operated.     

Effect of heavy metals and phenol on bacterial decolourisation and COD reduction of sucrose-aspartic acid Maillard product

Melanodins are amino-carbonyl complex, predominantly present in sugarcane molasses based distillery wastewater as major source of colourant. The microbial decolourisation of melanoidin is a challenge due to its binding property with other co-pollutants of distillery waste. Results revealed that the presence of Zn2+ (2.00-20.00 mg/L) in melanoidin solution (1200 mg/L) stimulated the bacterial growth and sucrose-aspartic acid Maillard product (SAA) decolourisation as compared to control, while Fe 3+ and Mn2+ at the same concentration inhibited the process. However, the presence of phenol (100 mg/L) along with Zn2+ , Fe3+ and Mn2+ suppressed the bacterial growth, SAA decolourisation and MnP activity. The shrinkage and reduced number of bacterial cell count at higher concentration of heavy metals in presence of phenol was also observed under scanning electron microscope.     

Associations between concentrations of selected perfluoroalkyl acids and concentrations of blood cadmium,lead, and total mercury

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - Data (N = 2552) from National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey for US adults aged ≥ 20 years for 2011–2016 were analyzed to...     

Structuring international development decisions: confronting trade-offs between land use and community development in Costa Rica

For more than half a century, research and practice in international development has focused on improving the quality of life of people living in developing regions of the world. Recently, researchers, practitioners, and policy makers have recognized the need to blend insights from experts and community stakeholders in development decisions. Research in the decision sciences tells us that these kinds of multiparty and multiattribute decisions are extremely challenging. However, recent experience using structured decision-making (SDM) approaches suggests that the quality of both expert and stakeholder input, and resulting decisions, can be improved by ensuring that people address a series of basic principles relating to identifying objectives and their associated attributes, estimating the consequences of proposed actions, and directly confronting trade-offs that arise during the evaluation of management alternatives. In this paper, we provide an overview of SDM and then discuss a research initiative aimed at applying the approach to a pressing international development problem in rural Costa Rica: management of the lucrative but also environmentally destructive pineapple industry. The objectives of this research were twofold: First, we sought to help inform policy decisions by eliciting land management preferences regarding the pineapple industry from people living in communities surrounding plantations. Second, we evaluated the effectiveness of the SDM approach in a developing community context.     

An Assessment of U(VI) removal from groundwater using biochar produced from hydrothermal carbonization

The ever-increasing growth of biorefineries is expected to produce huge amounts of lignocellulosic biochar as a byproduct. The hydrothermal carbonization (HTC) process to produce biochar from lignocellulosic biomass is getting more attention due to its inherent advantage of using wet biomass. In the present study, biochar was produced from switchgrass at 300 °C in subcritical water and characterized using X-ray diffraction, fourier transform infra-red spectroscopy, scanning electron micrcoscopy, and thermogravimetric analysis. The physiochemical properties indicated that biochar could serve as an excellent adsorbent to remove uranium from groundwater. A batch adsorption experiment at the natural pH (~3.9) of biochar indicated an H-type isotherm. The adsorption data was fitted using a Langmuir isotherm model and the sorption capacity was estimated to be ca. 2.12 mg of U g(-1) of biochar. The adsorption process was highly dependent on the pH of the system. An increase towards circumneutral pH resulted in the maximum adsorption of ca. 4 mg U g(-1) of biochar. The adsorption mechanism of U(VI) onto biochar was strongly related to its pH-dependent aqueous speciation. The results of the column study indicate that biochar could be used as an effective adsorbent for U(VI), as a reactive barrier medium. Overall, the biochar produced via HTC is environmentally benign, carbon neutral, and efficient in removing U(VI) from groundwater.