A ten year summary of concurrent ambient water column and sediment toxicity tests in the Chesapeake Bay watershed: 1990-1999

The goal of this study was to identify the relative toxicity ofambient areas in the Chesapeake Bay watershed by using a suiteof concurrent water column and sediment toxicity tests at seventy-five ambient stations in 20 Chesapeake Bay rivers from1990 through 1999. Spatial and temporal variability was examinedat selected locations throughout the 10 yr study. Inorganicand organic contaminants were evaluated in ambient water andsediment concurrently with water column and sediment tests toassess possible causes of toxicity although absolute causalitycan not be established. Multivariate statistical analysis wasused to develop a multiple endpoint toxicity index (TOX-INDEX) at each station for both water column and sediment toxicity data. Water column tests from the 10 yr testing period showed that49% of the time, some degree of toxicity was reported. The mosttoxic sites based on water column results were located inurbanized areas such as the Anacostia River, Elizabeth River andthe Middle River. Water quality criteria for copper, lead,mercury, nickel and zinc were exceeded at one or more of thesesites. Water column toxicity was also reported in localizedareas of the South and Chester Rivers. Both spatial and temporalvariability was reported from the suite of water column toxicitytests. Some degree of sediment toxicity was reported from 62% of the tests conducted during the ten year period. The ElizabethRiver and Baltimore Harbor stations were reported as the most toxic areas based on sediment results.Sediment toxicity guidelines were exceeded for one or more of thefollowing metals at these two locations: arsenic, cadmium,chromium, copper, lead, nickel and zinc. At the Elizabeth Riverstations nine of sixteen semi-volatile organics and two of sevenpesticides measured exceeded the ER-M values in 1990. Ambientsediment toxicity tests in the Elizabeth River in 1996 showedreduced toxicity. Various semi-volatile organics exceeded the ER-M values at a number of Baltimore Harbor sites; pyrene anddibenzo(a,h)anthracene were particularly high at one of thestations (Northwest Harbor). Localized sediment toxicity was alsoreported in the Chester, James, Magothy, Rappahannock, andPotomac Rivers but the link with contaminants was not determined.Both spatial and temporal variability was less for sedimenttoxicity data when compared with water column toxicity data. Acomparison of water column and sediment toxicity data for thevarious stations over the 10 yr study showed that approximatelyhalf the time agreement occurred (either both suite of testsshowed toxicity or neither suite of tests showed toxicity).     

The importance of temperature in assessing iron pipe corrosion in water distribution systems

Temperature is expected to play a significant role in the corrosion of iron pipes in drinking water distribution systems. Temperature impacts many parameters that are critical to pipe corrosion including biological activity, physical properties of the solution, thermodynamic and physical properties of corrosion scale, and chemical rates. Moreover, variations in temperature and temperature gradients may give rise to new corrosion phenomena worthy of consideration by water treatment personnel.     

An Evaluation of Selenium Concentrations in Water, Sediment, Invertebrates, and Fish from the Republican River Basin: 1997–1999

The Republican River Basin of Colorado,Nebraska, and Kansas lies in a valley which contains PierreShale as part of its geological substrata. Selenium is anindigenous constituent in the shale and is readily leached intosurrounding groundwater. The Basin is heavily irrigated throughthe pumping of groundwater, some of which is selenium-contaminated, onto fields in agricultural production. Water,sediment, benthic invertebrates, and/or fish were collected from46 sites in the Basin and were analyzed for selenium to determinethe potential for food-chain bioaccumulation, dietary toxicity,and reproductive effects of selenium in biota. Resultingselenium concentrations were compared to published guidelines orbiological effects thresholds. Water from 38% of the sites (n = 18) contained selenium concentrations exceeding 5 g L^-1, which is reported to be a high hazard for selenium accumulation into the planktonic food chain. An additional 12 sites (26% of the sites) contained selenium in water between 3–5 g L^-1, constituting a moderate hazard. Selenium concentrations in sedimentindicated little to no hazard for selenium accumulation fromsediments into the benthic food chain. Ninety-five percent ofbenthic invertebrates collected exhibited selenium concentrationsexceeding 3 g g^-1, a level reported as potentially lethal to fish and birds that consume them. Seventy-five percent of fish collected in 1997, 90% in 1998, and 64% in 1999 exceeded 4 g g^-1selenium, indicating a high potential for toxicity andreproductive effects. However, examination of weight profilesof various species of collected individual fish suggestedsuccessful recruitment in spite of selenium concentrations thatexceeded published biological effects thresholds for health andreproductive success. This finding suggested that universalapplication of published guidelines for selenium may beinappropriate or at least may need refinement for systems similarto the Republican River Basin. Additional research is needed todetermine the true impact of selenium on fish and wildliferesources in the Basin.     

Using environmental stressor information to predict the ecological status of Maryland non-tidal streams as measured by biological indicators

In Maryland, U.S., an interim framework has recentlybeen developed for using biologically based thresholds, or `biocriteria', to assess the health of nontidal streams statewide at watershed scales. The evaluation of impairment is based on indices of biological integrity from the Maryland Biological Stream Survey (MBSS). We applied logistic regression to quantify how the biotic integrity of streams at a local scale is affected by cumulative effects resulting from catchment land uses, point sources, and nearby transmission line rights-of-way. Indicators for land use were developed from the remote sensing National Land Cover Data and applied at different scales. We determined that the risk of local impairment in nontidal streams rapidly increases with increased urban land use in the catchment area. The average likelihood of failing biocriteria doubled with every 10% points increment in urban land, thus an increase in urban land use from 0 to 20% quadruples the risk of impairment. For the basins evaluated in this study, catchments with more than 40–50% urban land use had greater than 80% probability of failing biocriteria, on average. Inclusion of rights-of-way and point sources in the model did not significantly improve the fit for this data set, most likely because of their low numbers. The overall results indicate that our predictive modeling approach can help pinpoint stream ecosystems experiencing or vulnerable to degradation.     

Temperature and Concentration Effects in Biomonitoring of Organic Air Pollutants

Up to now only very few studies in biomonitoring of organic air pollutants have been published taking into account the strong influence mean temperatures have on the accumulation process into plants during the course of the exposition. Temperature governed sorption as well as the plants vitality pose a major source of uncertainty making inter-study comparisons difficult. Different surface-to-volume ratios of plant foliage lead to strongly varying concentration effects in different plant species. Moreover a plants content of waxes and lipids must be considered in order to relate xenobiotic concentrations to the compounds being most efficient in the bioaccumulation process. Some of these factors are evaluated in regard to the use of plants as biomonitors for organic air pollutants. Another aim is to deduce the mean ambient gas phase concentrations from PAH concentrations determined in the biomonitor plants using vegetation-air partitioning coefficients which have been corrected for temperature dependent sorption as well as the plants lipid content. Restrictions of such approaches and methods of biomonitoring in general are discussed.     

水蚀风蚀交错带小流域生态环境综合治理模式研究

水蚀风蚀交错带是黄土高原侵蚀最严重的地区和黄河下游河床粗泥沙的主要来源区，其生态环境脆弱、治理难度大，加之晋陕蒙能源基地的大规模开发，也带来了新的环境问题。鉴于治黄和煤田开发及生态环境整治的紧迫需要，以水蚀风蚀交错带六道沟小流域为试区，分析研究了该区水蚀风蚀时空分布规律及脆弱生态环境特征，提出以防治水蚀和风蚀为中心，以提高生态经济效益和持续发展为目标，以基本农田优化结构和高效利用及植被建设为重点，建立具有防蚀固沙兼高效生态经济功能的大农业复合生态系统综合治理模式，取得了良好的社会与经济效益。     

滇池流域农田氮、磷肥施用现状与评价

2001年6月至9月分别对流域内晋宁，呈贡，西山，官渡和嵩明调查了365家农户有关化肥施用情况，调查分析和计算表明，每年从种植业流失的化肥中纯氮（N）达2575t，纯磷（P）达218t，蔬菜和花卉地的单位面积氮流失量是水田和旱地的7-20倍。菜地年每公顷流失氮204kg，水田的氮流失量最低，平均每公顷每年流失10kg。磷的流失也以蔬菜，花卉地为最高，蔬菜和花卉地的单位面积磷流失量是水田和旱地的9-10倍。研究结果证明，大量的氮，磷化肥施用，通过地表径流和地下水流入滇池是造成其水体富营养化的重要原因之一^[6]，随着农业和农村经济的发展，蔬菜，花卉等经济作物在滇池流域的种植面积将会逐年扩大，因氮，磷化肥的施用面造成的氮，磷流失量将会不断加大，为了实现减少氮，磷化肥对滇池的污染，应积极推广精确施肥，平衡施肥等科学施肥技术，提高化肥利用率，减少化肥流失。增施有机肥，降低化肥用量，同时提高农村居民的环境意识，加强环境管理，依法保护农村环境，控制农业面源污染。     

Effects of lead , cadmium , mercury chlorides and aquaticenvironmental samples on the growth of Escherichia coli

In this paper it was reported that PbCl₂ , CdCl₂ , HgCl₂, and aquatic environmental samples containing Al, Cd, Cu, Pb, Sr, Zn and other heavy metal ions as well as organic chemicals suppressed thegrowth of E. coli only at higher exposed concentrations. The stimulative effects of PbCl₂ and HgCl₂ on thegrowth of E. coli were clearly showed at lower concentrations and longer time. It suggested that the toxic effects of heavy metal ions and other pollutants on the growth of E. coli are variable according to the differentexposed levels.     

直流输电线路对环境影响探究

随着科学技术的发展,许多领域在提高工效、节约资源、降低能耗和保护环境方面得到很大的提高.在国内直流输电线路应用就是之一.本文回顾了直流输电线路这项技术发展史,分析了该项技术在技术上和经济上等方面的优缺点,以及直流输电线路对环境和人的影响因素,通过实际工程估算结果说明了直流输电线路的环境影响,为今后开展该项工作提供借鉴.     

基于原代培养背角无齿蚌鳃细胞的镉毒性效应评价

为了探究淡水贝类背角无齿蚌鳃细胞的原代培养途径，并阐释其在评价水体Cd²⁺毒性效应上的潜力，本研究比较了不同酶分解方法（链霉蛋白酶、胰蛋白酶）的鳃细胞存活率差异，并分析了L-15培养基中不同血清浓度（10% FBS、20% FBS）对鳃细胞存活率的影响，细胞置于20℃生化培养箱中培养.进而根据Cd²⁺对鳃细胞的LC₂₅值设定0.0625、0.125、0.25、0.5和1.0 mg·L^-1 5个Cd²⁺理论浓度梯度，对原代培养的鳃细胞进行24 h暴露，分析了细胞活力、总超氧化物歧化酶（SOD）、过氧化氢酶（CAT）和酸性磷酸酶（AcP）的变化特征.结果表明：0.025%链霉蛋白酶在4℃分解16 h的鳃细胞存活率为98.2%±0.2%，显著高于0.25%胰蛋白酶在26℃分解30 min的89.4%±3.5%鳃细胞存活率（p<0.05）；L15培养基加入10% FBS的细胞存活率总体显著高于添加20% FBS的细胞存活率（p<0.05）.在上述较佳的分解和血清浓度组合条件下，细胞培养120 h后，其存活率仍高达90.1%±4.7%.鳃细胞活力随着Cd²⁺浓度的增加而降低，两者之间呈显著的线性负相关（p<0.05）；随着Cd²⁺浓度的增加，SOD和AcP含量总体增加，而CAT含量呈现出"诱导-抑制"的变化趋势.本研究初步建立了较为适宜的背角无齿蚌鳃细胞的原代培养方法，并揭示了其原代培养鳃细胞的细胞活力及SOD、CAT、AcP水平，具有作为评价水环境Cd²⁺毒性/污染的生物指标的潜力.