Heavy metal and nutrient changes during vermicomposting animal manure spiked with mushroom residues

A pilot-scale trial of four months was conducted to investigate the responses of heavy metal and nutrient to composting animal manure spiked with mushroom residues with and without earthworms. Results showed that earthworm activities accelerated organic matter mineralization (e.g. reduction in C/N ratio, increase in total concentrations of N, P, K) and humification (e.g. increase in humic acid concentration, humification ratio and humification index). Despite composting increased total heavy metal (i.e. As, Pb, Cu, Zn) concentrations irrespective of earthworm, the availability of heavy metals extracted by DTPA significantly (P < 0.05) decreased particularly in treatments with earthworms introduced. The shift from available to unavailable fractions of heavy metals was either due to earthworm bioaccumulation, as indicated by total heavy metal concentrations being higher in earthworm tissues, or due to the formation of stable metal-humus complexes as indicated by the promotion of humification. Our results suggest that vermicomposting process could magnify the nutrient quality but relieve the heavy metals risk of agricultural organic wastes.     

Occurrence and biomagnification of organohalogen pollutants in two terrestrial predatory food chains

Organohalogen pollutants (OHPs), including dichlorodiphenyl trichloroethane and its metabolites (DDTs), polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs), hexabromocyclododecanes (HBCDs), and dechlorane plus (DP), were determined in three raptor species, namely, the common kestrel (Falco tinnunculus), eagle owl (Bubo bubo), and little owl (Athene noctua), as well as in their primary prey items: Eurasian tree sparrow (Passer montanus) and brown rat (Rattus norvegicus). DDTs were the predominant pollutants in avian species followed by PBDEs and PCBs, then minimally contribution of HBCDs and DP. Inter-species differences in the PBDE congener profiles were observed between the owls and the common kestrels, with relatively high contributions of lower brominated congeners in the owls but highly brominated congeners in the kestrels. This result may partly be attributed to a possible greater in vivo biotransformation of highly brominated BDE congeners in owls than in kestrels. α-HBCD was the predominant diastereoisomer with a preferential enrichment of (−)-enantiomer in all the samples. No stereoselective bioaccumulation was found for DP isomers in the investigated species. Biomagnification factor (BMF) values were generally higher in the rat−owl food chain than in the sparrow−kestrel food chain. Despite this food chain-specific biomagnification, the relationships between the log BMF and log K_OW of PCBs and PBDEs followed a similar function in the two food chains, except for BDE-47, -99, and -100 in the sparrow−kestrel feeding relationship.     

Distribution of seven heavy metals among hot pepper plant parts

The main objective of this investigation was to monitor concentrations of seven metals (Cd, Pb, Ni, Mo, Cu, Zn, and Cr) in the fruits, leaves, stem, and roots of Capsicum annuum L. (cv. Xcatic) plants grown under four soil management practices: yard waste (YW), sewage sludge (SS), chicken manure (CM), and no-much (NM) bare soil. Elemental analyses were conducted using inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometer. Pb and Cd concentrations in soil amended with YW, SS, and CM were not significantly different (P < 0.05) compared to NM soil, whereas Mo and Cu concentrations were significantly greater in YW compared to SS, CM, and NM treatments. Concentrations of Cd in the fruits of plants grown in NM soil were greater compared to the fruits of plants grown in other treatments. Total Ni concentration (sum of Ni in all plant parts) in plants grown in NM bare soil was greater than in plants grown in SS-, YW-, and CM-amended soils. Values of the bioaccumulation factor indicated that pepper fruits of plants grown in YW, SS, and CM did not show any tendency to accumulate Pb, Cr, and Ni in their edible fruits.     

Characterization of ²⁴¹ Am and ¹³⁴Cs bioaccumulation in the king scallop Pecten maximus: investigation via three exposure pathways

In order to understand the bioaccumulation of ²⁴¹Am and ¹³⁴Cs in scallops living in sediments, the uptake and depuration kinetics of these two elements were investigated in the king scallop Pecten maximus exposed via seawater, food, or sediment under laboratory conditions. Generally, ²⁴¹Am accumulation was higher and its retention was stronger than ¹³⁴Cs. This was especially obvious when considering whole animals exposed through seawater with whole-body concentration factors (CF_7d) of 62 vs. 1, absorption efficiencies (A_0l) of 78 vs. 45 for seawater and biological half-lives (T_b½l) of 892 d vs. 22 d for ²⁴¹Am and ¹³⁴Cs, respectively. In contrast, following a single feeding with radiolabelled phytoplankton, the assimilation efficiency (AE) and T_b½l of ¹³⁴Cs were higher than those of ²⁴¹Am (AE: 28% vs. 20%; T_b½l: 14 d vs. 9 d). Among scallop tissues, the shells always contained the higher proportion of the total body burden of ²⁴¹Am whatever the exposure pathway. In contrast, the whole soft parts presented the major fraction of whole-body burden of ¹³⁴Cs, which was generally associated with muscular tissues. Our results showed that the two radionuclides have contrasting behaviors in scallops, in relation to their physico-chemical properties.     

Plutonium bioaccumulation in seabirds

The aim of the paper was plutonium (²³⁸Pu and ^239+240Pu) determination in seabirds, permanently or temporarily living in northern Poland at the Baltic Sea coast. Together 11 marine birds species were examined: 3 species permanently residing in the southern Baltic, 4 species of wintering birds and 3 species of migrating birds. The obtained results indicated plutonium is non-uniformly distributed in organs and tissues of analyzed seabirds. The highest plutonium content was found in the digestion organs and feathers, the smallest in skin and muscles. The plutonium concentration was lower in analyzed species which feed on fish and much higher in herbivorous species. The main source of plutonium in analyzed marine birds was global atmospheric fallout.     

Lake variability: key factors controlling mercury concentrations in New York State fish

A 4year study surveyed 131 lakes across New York State beginning in 2003 to improve our understanding of mercury and gather information from previously untested waters. Our study focused on largemouth and smallmouth bass, walleye and yellow perch, common piscivorous fish shown to accumulate high mercury concentrations and species important to local fisheries. Fish from Adirondack and Catskill Forest Preserve lakes generally had higher mercury concentrations than those from lakes in other areas of the state. Variability between nearby individual lakes was observed, and could be due to differences in water chemistry, lake productivity or the abundance of wetlands in the watershed. We found the following factors impact mercury bioaccumulation: fish length, lake pH, specific conductivity, chlorophyll a, mercury concentration in the water, presence of an outlet dam and amount of contiguous wetlands.     

Distribution of total and methylmercury in different ecosystem compartments in the Everglades: implications for mercury bioaccumulation

We analyzed Hg species distribution patterns among ecosystem compartments in the Everglades at the landscape level in order to explore the implications of Hg distribution for Hg bioaccumulation and to investigate major biogeochemical processes that are pertinent to the observed Hg distribution patterns. At an Everglade-wide scale, THg concentrations were significantly increased in the following order: periphyton相似文献   

AHH activity, tissue dose and DNA damage in different tissues of the scallop Chlamys farreri exposed to benzo[a]pyrene

A collaborative study was performed on scallops (Chlamys farreri) exposed to 0.5, 3 and 10 microg/L benzo[a]pyrene (B[a]P) for 20 days. The levels of aryl hydrocarbon hydroxylase (AHH) activity, B[a]P accumulation and DNA strand break were assayed in the gill and digestive gland. Results showed that AHH activity and B[a]P accumulation were significantly related to B[a]P dose. AHH activity was induced and then became stable gradually. B[a]P accumulation increased first and showed an incoming plateau. DNA strand break levels in the 0.5 and 3 microg/L B[a]P groups remained high and significantly different from control values until day 6, followed by a reduction in the gill and no recovery in the digestive gland. The 10 microg/L B[a]P groups remained significantly lower than control until the end. These results suggested that the application of comprehensive indices may give information on the actual exposure of organisms to pollutants, and also information on toxic effects.     

A comparison of mussels (Perna viridis) and semi-permeable membrane devices (SPMDs) for monitoring chlorinated trace organic contaminants in Hong Kong coastal waters.

A comparison of mussels (Perna viridis) and semi-permeable membrane devices (SPMDs) was carried out at five sites, representing a gradient of contaminant concentrations, in Hong Kong coastal waters. Mussels, originally collected from a “clean” location, were deployed along with SPMDs at each site for 30 days. Analyses for chlorinated pesticides and polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) indicated that SPMDs have potential as monitoring tools, and to some extent can overcome the problems associated with mussels, such as natural variability, differing age, sex, and physical condition. However, in most cases, SPMDs failed to rank the sites in the same order as mussels in terms of contaminant concentrations. Nonetheless, in localities where mussels cannot survive – as shown at Kwun Tong in the present experiment – SPMDs may be valuable in providing an indication of potentially bio-available lipophilic pollutants.