Influence of aluminium on the restoration potential of a terrestrial vascular plant,Portulaca Oleracea L. as a biomonitoring tool of fresh water aquatic environments

In the present study, the influence of aluminium on the regeneration potential of leaf and stem-cuttings of Portulaca oleracea was studied in order to identify a terrestrial plant species as an alternate biomonitoring toolof fresh water environment. The leaves and stem cuttings of theterrestrial plant, P. oleracea grew well in the distilled water producing adventitious and lateral roots. The aluminium treated leaves and stem cuttings showed a reduction in the growthof the adventitious and lateral roots and increase in the decay of leaves and stem cuttings with increasing aluminium concentration. The tolerance index calculated for the leaves and the stem cuttings showed that the leaves were more sensitivethan stems to aluminium. Since all the parameters studied showedconcentration dependent changes, the terrestrial plant, P. oleracea can be considered a suitable biomonitoring tool of fresh water environment besides its usage in the Al toxicity testing.     

Response of the Ascorbate-Peroxidase of Selenastrum capricornutum to Copper and Lead in Stormwaters

The green alga Selenastrum capricornutum expresses a uniqueascorbate peroxidase, that responds to copper and lead. Attemptswere made to test if this peroxidase could be used to monitor thelevels of copper and lead in natural waters. When S.capricornutum was exposed to a stormwater sample, the specificactivity of the peroxidase in the cell extract was commensuratewith the combined copper and lead contents in the sample. Theperoxidase responses were also correlated with the 96 hr biomasstoxicity assay of S. capricornutum. However, unlike thebiomass toxicity assay, the peroxidase activity was not affectedby the anions in the samples. The use of this peroxidase can beused as a marker for testing heavy metal toxicity in the water.     

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.     

The Monitoring and Risk Assessment of Zn Deposition Around a Metal Smelter in Latvia

Heavy metal concentrations in Hylocomium splendens collected around a metal smelter in Latvia showed very high concentrations of Zn (>200 g/g), and elevated concentrations of Pb (38.3 g/g) and Cu (18.3 g/g). In an attempt to better evaluate the potential toxicity of the high Zn concentrations, a serial elution method was used to determine the concentrations of zinc in intercellular, extracellular exchangeable cell wall, intracellular, and particle fractions. The intercellular Zn concentrations represent the water soluble component of the total concentrations, and were low with no clear trends. Zn concentrations in the extra- and intracellular and particle fractions decreased exponentially from the pollutant source. Intracellular Zn concentrations in moss close to the emission source are within the range considered to be potentially toxic, from other single element exposure studies. The proportion of Zn in the relatively insoluble particle fraction, which is least associated with environmental risk, was greater closer to the pollution source, reaching > 30% in the oldest Hylocomium splendens segments.     

Modeling rhizofiltration: heavy-metal uptake by plant roots

The discovery of phytoaccumulation potential of plant species has led to its application for remediation of heavy-metal-contaminated soil and wastewater, which is termed as phytoextraction/rhizofiltration. For prediction, analysis, planning and cost-effective design of such systems, mathematical models not only are used as a screening tool but also provide optimal parameters like harvesting time, irrigation schedule, etc. Several laboratory and field scale studies have been carried out in the past, and mathematical expressions have been developed by various researchers for different phenomena like metal adsorption in soil, plant root growth with time, moisture and metal uptake by plant root, moisture movement in unsaturated zone, soil moisture relationship, etc. The complete design of any such phytoremediation program would require the knowledge of behavior of heavy-metal movement in soil, water and plant root system. In this paper, a model for simulating heavy-metal dynamics in soil, water and plant root system is developed and discussed. The governing non-linear partial differential equation is solved numerically by implicit finite difference method using Picard's iterative technique, and the formulation has been illustrated using a characteristic example. The source code is written in MATLAB.     

Atrazine and Alachlor Inputs to Surface and Ground Waters in Irrigated Corn Cultivation Areas of Castilla-Leon Region, Spain

The inputs of atrazine and alachlor herbicides to surface and ground waters from irrigated areas dedicated to corn cultivation in the Castilla-León (C-L) region (Spain) as related to the application of both herbicides were studied. Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays (ELISA) were used for monitoring the atrazine and alachlor concentrations in 98 water samples taken from these areas. Seventy-nine of the samples were of ground waters and 19 were of surface waters. The concentration ranges of the herbicides detected in the study period (October 1997–October 1998) were 0.04–25.3 g L^–1 in the surface waters and 0.04–3.45 g L^–1 in the ground waters for atrazine, and 0.06–31.9 g L^–1 in the surface waters and 0.05–4.85 g L^–1 in the ground waters in the case of alachlor. The highly significant correlation observed between the concentrations of both herbicides in the surface waters (r = 0.89, p < 0.001) pointed to a parallel transport of atrazine and alachlor to these waters. A study was made of the temporal evolution of the concentrations of both herbicides, and it was found a maximum recharge of atrazine in the ground waters for April 1998 and of alachlor in October 1997 and October 1998. The temporal evolution of the concentrations of both herbicides in surface waters was parallel. The highly significant correlations observed between atrazine concentrations determined by ELISA and by HPLC (r = 0.92, p < 0.001) and between alachlor concentrations also determined by both methods (r = 0.96, p < 0.001) confirmed the usefulness of ELISA for monitoring both herbicides in an elevated number of samples. Using HPLC, the presence in some waters of the alachlor ethanesulfonate (ESA) metabolite was found at a concentration range of 0.52–4.01 g L^–1. However the interference of ESA in the determination of alachlor by ELISA was negligible. The inputs of atrazine and alachlor to waters found in this study, especially the inputs to ground waters, could pose a risk for human health considering that some waters, though sporadically, are even used for human consumption.     

中国黄土元素背景值分异规律研究

报道了中国黄土中40个元素的背景值,并以F、Cr、Mn、Co、Ni、V、Cu、Zn、As、Se、Cd、Pb、Hg等13个元素为例,讨论了其在黄土高原的分布与含量。利用趋势面分析等数理统计方法,揭示了黄土中元素的某些环境地球化学特征及元素背景值的分异规律。结果表明,黄土的元素背景值具有三维的分异特征,黄土的质地及沉积的生物气候环境黄土是影响背景值分异的主要因素。为中国黄土的风成学说提供了佐证。     

Heavy metals in water bodies purified by suspended substrate of rivers

ＩｎｔｒｏｄｕｃｔｉｏｎＨｅａｖｙｍｅｔａｌｓｉｎｗａｔｅｒｂｏｄｉｅｓａｒｅｓｉｇｎｉｆｉｃａｎｔｌｙｄｉｆｆｅｒｅｎｔｆｒｏｍｏｒｇａｎｉｃｐｏｌｌｕｔａｎｔｓｔｈａｔｃａｎｂｅｍｉｃｒｏｂｉｏｌｏｇｉｃａｌｌｙｄｅｇｒａｄｅｄｏｒｄｅｃｏｍｐｏｓｅｄ .Ｇｅｎｅｒａｌｌｙ ,ｔｈｅｙａｒｅｐｕｒｉｆｉｅｄｔｈｒｏｕｇｈｔｈｅｉｒａｄｓｏｒｐｔｉｏｎｏｎｔｏｓｕｓｐｅｎｄｅｄｓｕｂｓｔｒａｔｅｓｉｎｒｉｖｅｒｓ.Ａｄｓｏｒｐｔｉｏｎｏｆｈｅａｖｙｍｅｔａｌｓｏｎｒｉｖｅｒｓｕｓｐｅｎｄｅｄｓｕｂ…     

膨润土吸附－絮凝法处理污水中的重金属离子

研究了天然膨润土对Ｐｂ￣（２＋）、Ｃｄ￣（２＋）、Ｃｒ￣（３＋）的吸附和膨润土的絮凝沉降条件，将吸附与絮凝过程结合起来形成处理污水的新工艺，加入０．０４％膨润土和０．００６％的ＰＡＣ可使低浓度污水中Ｐｂ￣（２＋）脱除９３．１％。     

不同地域天然伊利石表面酸碱特性的比较

利用电位滴定技术和恒定容量表面络合模式表征不同来源天然伊利石的表面酸碱性质。鉴于固体基质在酸量滴定过程中发生溶解，相应的滴定上清液被视为体系空白。考虑到水解铝、硅酸和伊利石表面活性位之间的表面络合或沉淀反应，提出两种表面质子反应模型。对其中的特例，还考虑了表面离子交换反应。模拟程序的拟合结果显示两种模型对水解伊利石体系的滴定行为均可获得满意的描述。相的的表面固有酸度常数表明样品的酸碱性质之间存在一些共性。