Monitoring atmospheric metal pollution: a review of the use of mosses as indicators

This article reviews the literatureon the use of mosses for monitoring atmospheric metalpollution. It discusses the nature of mosses, themechanisms for moss uptake of metals from the air andwet precipitation, the various forms in which mossesare used for this purpose, and cases in which mosseshave been used for monitoring local hot spots ofpollution, and regional patterns of metal pollution.Also highlighted are the questions of uptake of metalsfrom the substrates, interspecies differences, and acomparison of the effectiveness of mosses with otherindicator materials, among other issues.     

Environmental Impact Assessment of the Mining and Concentration Activities in the Kola Peninsula, Russia by Multidate Remote Sensing

On the Kola Peninsula, the mining and concentration industry exerts anthropogenic impact on the environment. Tailing dumps cause airborne pollution through dusting, and waterborne pollution due to direct dumping and accidental releases. The objectives were: (1) to analyse multidate satellite imagesfor 1964–1996 to assess the environmental pollution from themining and concentration activity in the Kola in temporal perspective; (2) to evaluate remote sensing methods for integrated environmental impact assessment. The area of mining and industrial sites steadily expands and amounted to 94 km² in 1996. The polluted water surface amounted to at least 150 km² through dumping in 1978 and to 106 km² in1986 due to dusting. Thus, the impact from the mining and concentration activity should be reconsidered as more significant than it was officially anticipated. In the past the main mechanism of pollution wasdirect dumping into the lakes. Currently and in future, airborne pollution after dusting storms will dominate. The effective recultivation of the tailing dumps will be a long-term process. For effective assessment of impacts from the mining and concentration industry, remote sensing methods should be complemented by in-situ measurements, fieldwork, and mathematical modelling.     

A Study on Transfer Factors of 60Co and 65Zn from Soil to Plants in the Tropical Environment of Bangladesh

Soil to plant transfer factor (TF) of⁶⁰Co and ⁶⁵Zn was determined fromradioisotope experiments on plants grown in pots underoutdoor ambient tropical conditions for three growingseasons (1995–1998). The TFs were obtained fordifferent plants/crops such as, rice, bean, peanutspineapple, cabbage, tomato, spinach and grass. Theaverage TF values of ⁶⁰Co are found to be 0.087,0.15, 0.12, 0.67, 0.28, 0.79, 1.03 and 0.34respectively for the above mentioned plants/crops. Incase of ⁶⁵Zn, the average TF values are found tobe 2.24, 1.17, 0.89, 1.09, 0.78, 1.34, 2.92 and 1.78,respectively, for the above mentioned plants/crops. Thedata will be useful to assess the radiation exposureto man associated with the releases of radionuclidesfrom nuclear facilities by means of radiologicalassessment models that require transfer factors asinput parameters to predict the contamination ofradionuclides in foodchain.     

Cadmium and Lead Levels in Fish (Tilapia Nilotica) Tissues as Biological Indicator for Lake Water Pollution

Cadmium and lead were determined in different tissues (muscle,gill, stomach, intestine, liver, vertebral column and scales) of Tilapia nilotica from the High Dam Lake, Aswan (Egypt) to assess the lake water pollution with those toxic metals. Fish samples were chosen from different ages and weights to be analyzed along with samples of the aquatic plant(Najas armeta), sediment and lake water.The results showed that cadmium and lead concentrations were higher in fish scales and vertebral column than in the other parts of the fish. Cadmium and lead levels in High Dam lake water and fish (Tilapia nilotica) were a result of the pollution which uptakes from aquatic plants, sediments andgasoline containing lead that leaks from fishery boats. Tilapia nilotica fish was used as a good bio-assay indicator for the lake pollution with cadmium and lead. The fish musclesin this study were in the safety baseline levels for man consumption.     

Ambient Air Quality Monitoring Network Design for Assessing Human Health Impacts from Exposures to Airborne Contaminants

Existing methods of establishing ambientair quality monitoring networks typically evaluateonly parameters related to ambient concentrations ofthe contaminant(s) of interest such as emissionsource characteristics, atmospheric transport anddispersion, secondary reactions, depositioncharacteristics, and local topography. However,adverse health risks from exposures to airbornecontaminants are a function of the contaminant andthe anatomic and physiologic characteristics of theexposed population. Thus, ambient air qualitymonitoring networks designed for the protection ofpublic health or for epidemiological studiesevaluating adverse health impacts from exposures toambient air contaminants should account for bothcontaminant characteristics and human healthparameters. A methodology has been establishedwhich optimizes ambient air quality monitoringnetworks for assessments of adverse human healthimpacts from exposures to airborne contaminants byincorporating human health risk assessmenttechniques. The use of risk assessment techniquesas the basis for designing ambient air qualitymonitoring networks will help to target limitedfinancial and human resources to evaluate humanhealth risks from exposures to airbornecontaminants.     

A Watershed-based Cumulative Risk Impact Analysis: Environmental Vulnerability and Impact Criteria

Swine Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations (CAFOs) have received much attention in recent years. As a result, a watershed-based screening tool, the Cumulative Risk Index Analysis (CRIA), was developed to assess the cumulative impacts of multiple CAFO facilities in a watershedsubunit. The CRIA formula calculates an index number based on: 1) the area of one or more facilities compared to the area of the watershed subunit, 2) the average of the environmental vulnerability criteria, and 3) the average of the industry-specific impact criteria. Each vulnerability or impact criterion is ranked on a 1 to 5 scale, with a low rank indicating low environmental vulnerability or impact and a high rank indicating high environmental vulnerability or impact. The individual criterion ranks, as well as the total CRIA score, can be used to focus the environmental analysis and facilitate discussions with industry, public, and other stakeholders in the Agency decision-making process.     

粗苯污染事故应急处理

针对一次苯泄漏事故的应急处理过程、方法进行论述与总结，并分析了事故现场周围地表、地下水中苯污染浓度的变化情况，提出了该类事故的应急措施，以此作为处理同类事故的参考和依据。     

博乐市空气质量变化趋势分析

分析了博乐市2001-2005年空气质量监测数据在不同月份、不同年份、不同污染因子的变化趋势，并结合当地能源结构、地理位置、气候特征、城市环境综合发展水平。指出影响博乐市空气质量的主要因素，为防治或减轻博乐地区的空气污染提供了科学依据。     

Study of Meteorological Aspects and Urban Concentration of SO2 in Atmospheric Environment of La Plata, Argentina

This article presents and discusses SO₂ (ppbv) concentration measurements combined with meteorological data (mainly wind speed and direction) for a five-year campaign (1996 to 2000), in a site near an oil refinery plant close to the city of La Plata and surroundings (aprox. 740.000 inh.), considered one of the six most affected cities by air pollution in the country. Since there is no monitoring network in the area, the obtained results should be considered as medium term accumulated data that enables to determine trends by analyzing together gas concentrations and meteorological parameters. Preliminary characterization of the behaviour of the predominant winds of the region in relation with potential atmospheric gas pollutants from seasonal wind roses is possible to carry out from the data. These results are complemented with monthly averaged SO₂ measurements. In particular, for year 2000, pollutant roses were determined which enable predictions about contamination emission sources. As a general result we can state that there is a clear increase in annual SO₂ concentration and that the selected site should be considered as a key site for future survey monitoring network deployment. Annual SO₂ average concentration and prevailing seasonal winds determined in this work, together with the potential health impact of SO₂ reveals the need for a comprehensive and systematic study involving particulate matter an other basic pollutant gases.