Preliminary study on health risk from mercury exposure to residents of Wujiazhan town on the Di’er Songhua river, Northeast China

Mercury concentrations in hair are typically used as a biomarker to assess exposure to mercury. A total of 108 hair samples were collected from residents (age range 5–73 years) of Wujiazhan town, northeast China, to determine total mercury concentrations. Hair mercury concentrations ranged from 0.16 to 199 mg kg^–1 with an average value of 3.41 mg kg⁻¹. The relationships between mercury concentration and gender and between hair mercury concentration and age were not significant. Overall, 16.7% of all samples were above the RfD value published by the United States Environmental Protection agency. The results indicate that there may be some been health risk from mercury exposure to the residents in the study area.     

成都施用磷肥中镭（^226Ra）含量调查及对农田环境影响评价

本文报道了成都磷肥及其原料矿石中外照射剂量水平；用国家标准规定的方法测定了磷肥及其矿石中＾２２６Ｒａ含量；调查了同一生产厂家不同批号磷肥中＾２２６Ｒａ含量变化情况；估算出施用磷肥后可能带来的放射性环境污染，并对磷肥中＾２２６Ｒａ可能导致的农田环境影响作了简要评价? ?     

An investigation on biological stability of product water generated by lab-scale and pilot-scale distillation systems

Material Disposal Area G is the primary low-levelradioactive waste disposal site at Los Alamos NationalLaboratory, New Mexico, and is adjacent to Pueblo of SanIldefonso lands. Pueblo residents and Los Alamos scientists areconcerned about radiological doses resulting from uptake of AreaG radionuclides by mule deer (Odocoileus hemionus) andRocky Mountain elk (Cervus elaphus), then consumption ofdeer and elk meat by humans. Tissue samples were collected fromdeer and elk accidentally killed near Area G and were analyzedfor ³H, ⁹⁰Sr, total U, ²³⁸Pu, ^{239, 240}Pu,²⁴¹Am, and ¹³⁷Cs. These data were used to estimatehuman doses based on meat consumption of 23 kg y^-1. Humandoses were also modeled using RESRAD, and dose rates to deer andelk were estimated with a screening model. Dose estimates tohumans from tissue consumption were 2.9 × 10^-3 mSv y^-1and 1.6 × 10^-3 mSv y^-1 from deer and elk, respectively,and RESRAD dose estimates were of the same order of magnitude. Estimated dose rates to deer and elk were 2.1 × 10^-4 mGyd^-1 and 4.7 × 10^-4 mGy d^-1, respectively. Allestimated doses were significantly less than established exposurelimits or guidelines.     

An integrated modelling approach to assess the risk of wind-borne spread of foot-and-mouth disease virus from infected premises

Foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) is a highly contagious disease of livestock that has serious consequences on livestock production and trade. In Australia, preparedness and planning includes the development of decision-support tools that would assist priority setting and resource management in the event of an incursion. In this paper we describe an integrated modelling approach using geographic information system (GIS) technology to assess the risk of wind-borne spread of FMD virus. The approach involves linking an intra-farm virus production model, a wind transport and dispersal model, and an exposure-risk model to identify and rank farms at risk of wind-borne infection of FMD. This will assist authorities by enabling resources for activities like surveillance and vaccination to be allocated on the basis of risk.     

Ozone Indicators Determined at Rural Sites in the Eastern United States by two Monitoring Networks

Ozone levels at Clean Air Status andTrends Network (CASTNet) and nearby rurally-designatedState and Local Air Monitoring Stations (SLAMS) siteslocated in the eastern United States (U.S.) arecompared using daily indicators (i.e., maximum, range,and SUM06) based on hourly O₃ measurements. Comparisons are also made using monthly and summertimethree-month SUM06 determinations aggregated from dailydata. Comparison of O₃ indicators at the pairedCASTNet-SLAMS sites generally shows better agreementfor O₃ maximum than for range or SUM06. Thehighest correlation of daily O₃ indicators occursfor paired sites that are separated by less than 100miles, and the correlation diminishes with increasingseparation distance. Correlation coefficients exceed0.70 in 49% of the comparisons of maximum, in23% of range comparisons and in 5% ofSUM06 comparisons, suggesting that substitution ofSLAMS for CASTNet O₃ measurements would fail tocapture a substantial amount of the variability inO₃ indicators present at the CASTNet sites. Correlations of O₃ indicators at CASTNet andpaired nearby SLAMS sites are 0.80 in a relativelysmall number of cases. Despite the high correlationin even these cases, O₃ behavior at paired sitesis not identical and shows systematic differences thatare reflected in the O₃ minimum, hourly averageconcentrations, and the monthly and three-month SUM06. Ozone measurements at nearby rurally-designated SLAMSsites may not capture the `rural' nature of the airquality being monitored at CASTNet sites and, in mostcases, may not be sufficiently representative of theconcentration at CASTNet sites to permit O₃measurements at SLAMS sites to be used in lieu ofmeasurements at CASTNet sites. As a result, if ruralO₃ concentration data are needed, then O₃monitoring at carefully chosen, rurally representativesites is recommended.     

A national ozone biomonitoring program--results from field surveys of ozone sensitive plants in northeastern forests (1994-2000)

Ozone biomonitoring is a detection and monitoring techniquethat involves documenting ozone-induced visible injury toknown ozone-sensitive species under conditions of ambientexposure. The USDA Forest Service administers a long-term,nationwide ozone biomonitoring program to address public andscientific concerns about ozone impacts on forest health. Asystematic grid is used as the basis for biomonitoring sitelocations. At each site, trained field crews evaluate amaximum of thirty plants of up to six species and record the amount and severity of leaf-injury on individualplants. Injury from ozone was found more often on biomonitoring sites in the eastern Unites States than in theinterior or west-coast areas. Further results from thenortheast reveal that in any year, there is a higherpercentage of ozone-injured plants with more severe symptomsin areas with relatively high ozone concentrations than inareas with relatively low ozone. In very dry years (e.g.,1999) the percentage of injured plants and injury severityestimates are both sharply reduced even though ambient ozoneexposures are high. These findings demonstrate thatbiomonitoring data provide meaningful evidence of when highozone concentrations during the growing season have biologicalsignificance. Any assessment of ozone stress in the forestenvironment must include both biomonitoring (i.e., plantresponse) and air quality data to be complete.     

湖南大义山花岗岩南体黑云母40Ar-39Ar定年及地质意义

大义山岩体是一个多时代形成的复式岩体,习惯有大义山南体和北体之分.岩体内外接触带产有较多的W、Sn、Cu、Pb、Zn等多金属矿产.长期以来对南体主体形成的时代归属存在较大的差异,一部分人认为是印支期的产物,另一部人认为是燕山期的产物,这种结果对该区成矿作用的研究和指导找矿都带来很大的不利.本次研究通过对岩体的解体以及精确的黑云母氩氩法定年,确切地将大义山南体归属于两个不同的时代,即南体的北部为中侏罗世,南部为晚三叠世.这一成果对该岩体和成矿作用的研究都具有重要的现实意义.     

珠江流域人群对典型EDCs的暴露及致癌风险评价

研究以珠江流域为例,结合美国EPA致癌风险评估模型,通过构建多介质-多途径暴露模型,定量评估了该区域居民暴露于镉(Cd)、滴滴涕(DDT)和多氯联苯(PCBs)等典型EDCs污染物的致癌风险,分析风险来源、暴露介质及暴露途径,并探讨不同环境介质的致癌风险贡献率.结果表明:Cd、DDT和PCBs的暴露剂量达2.36×10-4,6.46×10-5,4.62×10-5mg/(kg·d);暴露途径中经口摄入是最主要途径;总致癌风险为2.04×10-4,高于国内外所规定的可接受致癌风险水平上限(1×10-4),环境介质中蔬菜和大米对致癌风险贡献较大,区域主要典型EDCs污染物Cd和PCBs对致癌风险贡献率较大(分别达44%、45%).     

典型耐候钢在江津大气环境中暴晒1 a的腐蚀行为

目的 研究3种典型耐候钢在江津大气环境中暴晒1 a的初期腐蚀行为。方法 采用户外大气挂片、腐蚀质量损失、SEM、XRD、电化学等方法,研究Q355NH、Q460FRW、Q690的腐蚀速率、锈层形貌、锈层物相和锈层电阻,并与Q345碳钢进行对比。结果 耐候钢和碳钢在大气暴晒初期的腐蚀规律是一致的,Q355NH、Q460FRW、Q690和Q345碳钢的腐蚀速率分别为0.050 9、0.053 6、0.047 8、0.055 mm/a,Q690的腐蚀速率最小,约为碳钢的87%。耐候钢和碳钢的锈层都主要由α-FeOOH、γ-FeOOH和Fe₂O₃组成,耐候钢的锈层更致密,裂纹更少。Q355NH、Q460FRW、Q690的锈层电阻值分别为821.3、1 005、1 080?·cm²,碳钢为101.68?·cm²,耐候钢的锈层电阻值约为碳钢的10倍。Cr和Cu元素在耐候钢的锈层中富集明显。结论 耐候钢的腐蚀速率低于碳钢,3种耐候钢的耐蚀性顺序为Q690>Q355NH>Q460FRW。Cr和Cu元素在...     

Historical pollution trends in coastal environments of India

Seventeen sediment cores were collected from different coastalecosystems of Tamil Nadu, India that include coastal lagoon (Pulicat), polluted rivers in Chennai (Adyar and Cooum), Coral reef (Gulf of Mannar) and a perennial river (Tamiraparani).Radiometric dating has been used to determine the modern sedimentation rates in these ecosystems. The Pulicat Lake and thepolluted rivers (Adyar and Cooum) yield an average sediment accumulation rate of 12.34 and 7.85 mm yr^-1, respectively. Inthe Gulf of Mannar coral reef, the sedimentation rate averages 17.37 mm yr^-1, while the rate in Tamiraparani River is 11.00 mm yr^-1. In the Tamiraparani River basin, the deposition rates were an order of magnitude higher when compared to the erosion rates, which may be due to bank erosion and the intense human activity. In general high rates of sedimentation observed in the coastal ecosystems not only reflect the capacity of the coastal regions as sinks for trace metals but also denoteincreased input of pollutants into the coastal environments in the recent past. The deposition rates of heavy metals – Fe, Mn,Zn, Cu, Cr and Ni in the depth profiles have been computed using sedimentation rates and their distribution is discussed. It can be seen that the mean deposition rates of all the measured elements in the Tamil Nadu coastal ecosystems are high compared with rates determined for the sediments of the deltaic regions ofIndia and the Bay of Bengal.