Freshwater crayfish Astacus leptodactylus (Eschscholtz, 1823) accumulates and depurates copper

Cu accumulation and depuration in various tissues of the crayfish Astacus leptodactylus was investigated. Adult specimens were exposed to 0.5, 2.5 and 5.0 mg Cu/L under static conditions for three weeks. At the end of the 3rd week the specimens were divided into three groups and left in dechlorinated water for either 1, 2 or 3 weeks for depuration. After 7, 14 and 21 days, four crayfish from each group were instantaneously sacrificed. All crayfish were dissected into their hepatopancreas, gill, abdominal muscle and exoskeleton tissues for evaluation of Cu accumulation in each. The following accumulation pattern was obtained in decreasing order; hepatopancreas > gills > exoskeleton > abdominal muscles with values of 94.13, 84.86, 66.13 and 11.43 mg/L, respectively. The observed Cu depuration throughout the study was found to be time-dependent. Based on the present work we conclude that crayfish has a great potential for rapid accumulation and depuration of Cu in fresh water.     

Biofilms coating Schoenoplectus californicus as indicators of water quality in the Río de la Plata Estuary (Argentina)

N-ethyl-3-carbazolecarboxaldehyde-3-thio- semicarbazone (ECCT) as an new analytical reagent used for the development of a highly sensitive extractive spectrophotometric method for the determination of copper(II). The ECCT forms a greenish-yellow colored 1:1 (M:L) complex with copper(II) at pH 3.0, which is well extracted into n-butanol and shows maximum absorbance at 380nm. The color of the complex is stable for more than forty eight hours. The system obey Beer's law in the range 0.4–3.6 with 2.243 × 10⁴lmol⁻¹cm⁻¹, 2.83 × 10^-3μgcm⁻² molar absorptivity and Sandell's sensitivity respectively. The regression coefficient is 0.412 with 0.99 correlation coefficient. The precision and accuracy of the method was checked by finding the relative standard deviation (0.422%). This developed method has been successfully employed for the determination of copper(II) in environmental and pharmaceutical samples. The method is evaluated by analyzing samples from the bureau of analyzed samples (BCS 233, 266, 216/1, 207 and 179) and by inter comparison of experimental values using AAS.     

Cu 2+ 对分光光度法测定水样中COD的影响

通过测定Cr^3＋、Cr2O7^2-和Cu^2＋吸收曲线及标准水样的COD值,研究了Cu^2＋对分光光度法测定COD的影响。结果表明,可改变吸收波长和量程消除较高质量浓度Cu^2＋对COD测定值产生的明显影响。当水样Cu^2＋质量浓度超过400mg／L时,须将水样稀释后采用低量程法进行测定。     

快速检测痕量铜的光电型传感器的研制

利用铜对葡萄糖氧化酶的抑制作用,以及葡萄糖氧化酶-辣根过氧化物酶-葡萄糖(Glu)-邻联甲苯胺(OT)偶联反应体系生成蓝色底物的原理,将Glu与OT固定化制成试纸条,插入自制的便携式单色光反射计,组装出检测铜的光电型传感器。当铜的质量浓度范围为1 mg/L～100 mg/L时,光反射强度值与铜的质量浓度呈良好的线性关系。在优化的试验条件下,该方法的检测限为0.064 mg/L,检测时间为5 min。     

铜冶炼项目竣工环保验收监测中若干问题的分析

以某大型火法铜冶炼企业竣工环保验收监测项目为例,从监测因子的选择,监测、分析过程中的质量保证,固体废物检查,周边环境质量监测等方面,对铜冶炼项目环保验收监测中发现的问题进行了分析。提出,应开展重金属元素Sb的毒理方面的研究,并出台相关排放标准;在监测项目的选择时,考虑金属元素在矿材中的伴生问题;重视验收监测中的质量控制,尤其是分析过程中的空白扣除和加标回收;对涉及重金属及As的项目,适时开展环境影响后评价及跟踪监测。     

A freshwater amphipod toxicity test based on postexposure feeding and the population consumption inhibitory concentration

Consumption inhibition in natural populations, namely due to contaminants, may have direct and immediate effects on ecosystems, by hampering ecosystem key functions (e.g., organic matter decomposition, grazing), long before effects at the individual level (e.g., reproduction, growth, emergence) have time-delayed consequences at successively higher levels of biological organization. The present study aimed at developing a cost-effective (short and easy) toxicity test based on the postexposure feeding of a freshwater amphipod present in the Iberian Peninsula and at evaluating the immediate impact of contamination on the population-level consumption rate. First, methodologies to quantify postexposure feeding were developed and optimized, the most important criterion being a feeding period as short as possible to minimize physiological recovery from the contaminant exposure. Second, the sensitivities of 48-h postexposure feeding and 48-h lethality tests were compared, using a reference chemical - copper. Third, the latter responses were integrated in a single parameter, the median population consumption inhibitory concentration. When Echinogammarus meridionalis males were fed on 100 defrosted Artemia franciscananauplii during 30 min in darkness at 19-21 °C, the eaten proportion was approximately 80%, without truncated data distributions. The 48-h median effective copper concentration for postexposure feeding was approximately two times lower than the 48-h LC50 - 91 versus 198 μg L⁻¹, respectively. Two techniques were used to quantify the median population consumption inhibitory copper concentration, both leading to similar values (75 and 68 μg L⁻¹). In conclusion, when contaminant concentrations elicit both lethality and feeding depression, the integration of both responses can provide an ecologically relevant evaluation on the potency of a contaminant to immediately disrupt ecosystem functioning.     

Nano-TiO2 enhances the toxicity of copper in natural water to Daphnia magna

The acute toxicity of engineered nanoparticles (NPs) in aquatic environments at high concentrations has been well-established. This study demonstrates that, at a concentration generally considered to be safe in the environment, nano-TiO₂ remarkably enhanced the toxicity of copper to Daphnia magna by increasing the copper bioaccumulation. Specifically, at 2 mg L⁻¹ nano-TiO₂, the (LC₅₀) of Cu²⁺ concentration observed to kill half the population, decreased from 111 μg L⁻¹ to 42 μg L⁻¹. Correspondingly, the level of metallothionein decreased from 135 μg g⁻¹ wet weight to 99 μg g⁻¹ wet weight at a Cu²⁺ level of 100 μg L⁻¹. The copper was found to be adsorbed onto the nano-TiO₂, and ingested and accumulated in the animals, thereby causing toxic injury. The nano-TiO₂ may compete for free copper ions with sulfhydryl groups, causing the inhibition of the detoxification by metallothioneins.     

Assessment of aided phytostabilization of copper-contaminated soil by X-ray absorption spectroscopy and chemical extractions

Field plots were established at a timber treatment site to evaluate remediation of Cu contaminated topsoils with aided phytostabilization. Soil containing 2600 mg kg⁻¹ Cu was amended with a combination of 5 wt% compost and 2 wt% iron grit, and vegetated. Sequential extraction was combined with extended X-ray absorption fine structure (EXAFS) spectroscopy to correlate changes in Cu distribution across five fractions with changes in the predominant Cu compounds two years after treatment in parallel treated and untreated field plots. Exchangeable Cu dominated untreated soil, most likely as Cu(II) species non-specifically bound to natural organic matter. The EXAFS spectroscopic results are consistent with the sequential extraction results, which show a major shift in Cu distribution as a result of soil treatment to the fraction bound to poorly crystalline Fe oxyhydroxides forming binuclear inner-sphere complexes.     

Leaching of Cu and Zn from discarded boat paint particles into tap water and rain water

We studied the leaching of copper and zinc from particles of discarded boat paint added to tap water (pH 7.3) and rain water (pH = 4.7), simulating conditions encountered during the hosing or runoff of antifouling waste. Leaching rates appeared to be diffusion-controlled and were greater in rain water than in tap water and were greater for Zn than for Cu. After a period of 120 h, between about 0.5% and 3% of total Cu and 5-30% of total Zn had been released to the aqueous phase. These observations suggest that Cu and Zn mobilised from fine antifouling particulates during washdown or rainfall events may be important contaminants of runoff and soils in the vicinity of boat repair facilities.     

Good deposits are not enough: Mining labor productivity analysis in the copper industry in Chile and Peru 1992–2009

Chile and Peru produce almost 45% of world’s mine copper output. This situation reflects their natural endowment and mining tradition, but is also the result of development processes undertaken over the last decades. As a result, both countries multiplied its mine copper production in more than 3 times in the last 20 years. Mining labor productivity played a central role achieving these amazing growth rates. Although there is a consensus about the relevance of this variable for the mining industry, the specific factors behind labor productivity changes are not completely understood.