Herbicide residues in grapes and wine

Abstract

The persistence of several common herbicides from grapes to wine has been studied. Shiraz, Tarrango and Doradillo grapes were separately sprayed with either norflurazon, oxyfluorfen, oxadiazon or trifluralin ‐ persistent herbicides commonly used for weed control in vineyards. The dissipation of the herbicides from the grapes was followed for 28 days following treatment. Results showed that norflurazon was the most persist herbicide although there were detectable residues of all the herbicides on both red and white grapes at the end of the study period. The penetration of herbicides into the flesh of the grapes was found to be significantly greater for white grapes than for red grapes. Small‐lot winemaking experiments showed that norflurazon persisted at levels close to the initial concentration through vinification and into the finished wine. The other herbicides degraded, essentially via first‐order kinetics, within the period of “ first fermentation”; and had largely disappeared after 28 days. The use of charcoal together with filter pads, or with diatomaceous earth was shown to be very effective in removing herbicide residues from the wine. A 5% charcoal filter removed more than 96% of the norflurazon persisting in the treated wine.     

A method for the determination of rhodamine b and brilliant sulfaflavine on cotton string collectors and in a spray tank solution mixture

Abstract

A fluorescent method for the determination of rhodamine B (RhB) and brilliant sulfaflavine (BSF) dual tracers on cotton string collectors and in spray tank solutions was developed for the evaluation of the effects of adjuvants on the atmospheric drift of agricultural sprays. Both tracers on collectors were extracted with deionized water simultaneously and measured directly with a Fluorescent Specrometer by switching the maximum excitation and emission wavelengths. The linear ranges of the RhB and BSF standard curves were 0–50 and 0–10 ppb respectively. Recoveries of tracers on cotton strings ranged from 92.9% ± 1.1% to 95.1% ± 1.0% for RhB and 91.9% ± 2.8% to 103% ± 0.6% for BSF when spiked levels ranged from 0.25 to 2.5 μg per collector. The detection limit of the instrument was approximately 0.1 ppb for both tracers. The detection limits of the analytical method were approximately 0.1 ppb for RhB and 0.3 ppb for BSF when the background levels of cotton strings were subtracted. The presence of one tracer in the solution did not significantly interfere with the detection of the other tracer in the same solution. The presence of adjuvants added to the spray tank solutions did not interfere with the detection of both tracers when the adjuvants were applied at the manufacturer's maximum recommendation rates.     

Multiple biomarkers of pollution effects in Solea solea fish on the Tunisia coastline

This field study investigates the morphological indices (condition index, hepatosomatic index) and biochemical (catalase (CAT), glutathione S-transferase (GST), acetylcholinesterase (AChE), metallothionein (MT), lipid peroxidation) parameters in liver, gills and kidney of common sole (Solea solea) originating from different sites of the Tunisian coast area impacted by different anthropogenic activities. Differences among sites and tissues for AChE, GST, CAT, MT and TBARS were found and possibly related to known sources of domestic and industrial discharges in the studied sites. Liver, gills and kidney CAT, liver and kidney MT and brain AChE were key biomarkers to discriminate fish of different sites. So, we suggest using these biomarkers in future biomonitoring.     

A theoretical overview of the relationship between the resource curse and genuine savings as an indicator for “weak” sustainability

This paper shows the strong relation between the factors that lead to the resource curse (RC) and factors that lead to a decline of genuine savings (GS). There is substantial empirical evidence that economies that rely predominantly on their natural resources are also characterized by slower economic growth. This so‐called RC is commonly traced back to the fact that natural resources' generate rents that are independent of a country's economic performance, which can lead to suboptimal reinvestments of this consumed natural capital. We argue that the factors responsible for the RC also have a negative effect on GS, a concept that measures “weak” sustainable development by considering reinvestment of natural capital rents in physical and human capital. We discuss whether the RC hampers possibilities for resource abundant countries to obtain sufficiently high rates of GS, and find indeed many reasons why resource‐dependent countries have problems achieving positive GS rates. We survey both areas of research, emphasizing the influence of the exogenous and endogenous determinants of economic growth, which are usually used to theoretically and empirically explain the RC on the three different forms of capital considered by GS. We specify why most countries suffering from the RC have negative GS rates and explain in detail where the linkages are. This overview could help with potential advancements in the explanation of GS through the inclusion of RC effects.     

Integrated Modular Modeling of Water and Nutrients From Point and Nonpoint Sources in the Patuxent River Watershed1

Abstract: We present a simple modular landscape simulation model that is based on a watershed modeling framework in which different sets of processes occurring in a watershed can be simulated separately with different models. The model consists of three loosely coupled submodels: a rainfall‐runoff model (TOPMODEL) for runoff generation in a subwatershed, a nutrient model for estimation of nutrients from nonpoint sources in a subwatershed, and a stream network model for integration of point and nonpoint sources in the routing process. The model performance was evaluated using monitoring data in the watershed of the Patuxent River, a tributary to the Chesapeake Bay in Maryland, from July 1997 through August 1999. Despite its simplicity, the landscape model predictions of streamflow, and sediment and nutrient loads were as good as or better than those of the Hydrological Simulation Program‐Fortran model, one of the most widely used comprehensive watershed models. The landscape model was applied to predict discharges of water, sediment, silicate, organic carbon, nitrate, ammonium, organic nitrogen, total nitrogen, organic phosphorus, phosphate, and total phosphorus from the Patuxent watershed to its estuary. The predicted annual water discharge to the estuary was very close to the measured annual total in terms of percent errors for both years of the study period (≤2%). The model predictions for loads of nutrients were also good (20‐30%) or very good (<20%) with exceptions of sediment (40%), phosphate (36%), and organic carbon (53%) for Year 1.     

Human Instability in Flood Flows1

Abstract: Loss of human stability in flood flows and consequent drowning are a high personal hazard. In this paper, we review past experimental work on human instability. The results of new experiments by the Flood Hazard Research Centre (FHRC) are also reported. These new results show that low depth/high velocity flood waters are more dangerous than suggested based on previous experimental work. It is discussed how human instability can be related to two physical mechanisms: moment instability (toppling) and friction instability (sliding). Comparison of the test results with these physical mechanisms suggests that the occurrence of instability in the tests by FHRC is related to friction instability. This mechanism appears to occur earlier than moment instability for the combination of shallow depth and high flow velocity. Those concerned to identify locations where high flood flows could be a threat to human life need to modify their hazard assessments accordingly.     

Customers as contributors and reliable evaluators of creativity in the service industry

Using hair stylists, we examined the nature of creativity in a service setting and the impact of customers as part of the social context for employee creativity. We also assessed whether customers could serve as reliable evaluators of creativity. To do so, we collected data from multiple sources: service providers, supervisors, and customers. Results demonstrated that customer input and customer affective‐based trust made significant, positive, and independent contributions to service‐related creativity. Moreover, customers in the service industry proved to be reliable raters of employee creativity, compatible with supervisors. Finally, input and trust were associated differently with service‐related and organization‐related creativity. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Simultaneous polarographic determination of 2-nitrophenol and 4-nitrophenol by differential pulse polarography method and support vector regression

A differential pulse polarography (DPP) for the simultaneous determination of 2-nitrophenol and 4-nitrophenol was proposed. It was found that under optimum experimental conditions (pH = 5, scan rate = 5 mV/s, pulse amplitude = −50 mV), 2-nitrophenol and 4-nitrophenol had well-defined polarographic reduction waves with peak potentials at −317 and −406 mV, respectively. In the mixture of two compounds overlapping polarographic peaks were observed. In this study, support vector regression (SVR) was applied to resolve the overlapped polarograms. Furthermore, a comparison was made between the performance of SVR and partial least square (PLS) on data set. The results demonstrated that SVR is a better well-performing alternative for the analysis and modeling of DPP data than the commonly applied PLS technique. The proposed method was used for the determination of 2-nitrophenol and 4-nitrophenol in industrial waste water.     

Impact of a Community‐Based Payment for Environmental Services Intervention on Forest Use in Menabe,Madagascar

Abstract: Despite the growing interest in conservation approaches that include payments for environmental services (PES), few evaluations of the influence of such interventions on behaviors of individuals have been conducted. We used self‐reported changes in six legal and illegal forest‐use behaviors to investigate the way in which a PES for biodiversity conservation intervention in Menabe, Madagascar, influenced behavior. Individuals (n =864) from eight intervention communities and five control communities answered questions on their forest‐use behaviors before and after the intervention began, as well as on their reasons for changing and their attitudes to various institutions. The payments had little impact on individuals’ reported decisions to change behaviors, but it had a strong impact on individuals’ attitudes. Payments appeared to legitimize monitoring of behaviors by the implementing nongovernmental organization (NGO), but did not act as a behavioral driver in their own right. Although there were no clear differences between changes in behaviors in the intervention and control communities, the intervention did influence motivations for change. Fear of local forest associations and the implementing NGO were strong motivators for changing behavior in communities with the PES intervention, whereas fear of the national government was the main reason given for change in control communities. Behavioral changes were most stable where fear of local organizations motivated the change. Our results highlight the interactions between different incentives people face when making behavioral decisions and the importance of considering the full range of incentives when designing community‐based PES interventions.