An Evaluation of Selenium Concentrations in Water, Sediment, Invertebrates, and Fish from the Republican River Basin: 1997–1999

The Republican River Basin of Colorado,Nebraska, and Kansas lies in a valley which contains PierreShale as part of its geological substrata. Selenium is anindigenous constituent in the shale and is readily leached intosurrounding groundwater. The Basin is heavily irrigated throughthe pumping of groundwater, some of which is selenium-contaminated, onto fields in agricultural production. Water,sediment, benthic invertebrates, and/or fish were collected from46 sites in the Basin and were analyzed for selenium to determinethe potential for food-chain bioaccumulation, dietary toxicity,and reproductive effects of selenium in biota. Resultingselenium concentrations were compared to published guidelines orbiological effects thresholds. Water from 38% of the sites (n = 18) contained selenium concentrations exceeding 5 g L^-1, which is reported to be a high hazard for selenium accumulation into the planktonic food chain. An additional 12 sites (26% of the sites) contained selenium in water between 3–5 g L^-1, constituting a moderate hazard. Selenium concentrations in sedimentindicated little to no hazard for selenium accumulation fromsediments into the benthic food chain. Ninety-five percent ofbenthic invertebrates collected exhibited selenium concentrationsexceeding 3 g g^-1, a level reported as potentially lethal to fish and birds that consume them. Seventy-five percent of fish collected in 1997, 90% in 1998, and 64% in 1999 exceeded 4 g g^-1selenium, indicating a high potential for toxicity andreproductive effects. However, examination of weight profilesof various species of collected individual fish suggestedsuccessful recruitment in spite of selenium concentrations thatexceeded published biological effects thresholds for health andreproductive success. This finding suggested that universalapplication of published guidelines for selenium may beinappropriate or at least may need refinement for systems similarto the Republican River Basin. Additional research is needed todetermine the true impact of selenium on fish and wildliferesources in the Basin.     

Estimation of the Thermal Sensitivity of a Dwelling to Variations in Architectural and Behavioural Parameters

The provision of energy for households is a major contributor to greenhouse gas emissions in the domestic sector. There is significant scope for energy savings and thus emission reduction in this sector. This paper constructs a bridge between thermal analysis and environmental assessment in the occupancy stage of the dwelling life cycle, approaching both methods as being on a common system Environment–Dwelling–Inhabitant. The importance of the local level in the thermal analysis and assessment of either a dwelling or an inhabitant's behaviour is demonstrated. It is shown that the researcher can choose between natural experiment, computer experiment and mathematical modelling to analyze the system. Such a choice is discussed for two particular methods of thermal analysis. Thermal Nomograms are the result of mathematical modelling, and the Energy Score Sheet is the result of a computer experiment in energy rating. Despite being developed for the purpose of thermal analysis, these methods can also be utilized for environmental assessment at the local level. The discussion centres on Australian conditions where the majority of the population resides in a relatively benign climate wherein behavioural alterations have significant potential for energy savings and environmental impact. The purpose of the paper is to emphasise benefits apart from energy minimisation to promote the use of energy efficient housing strategies.     

Using environmental stressor information to predict the ecological status of Maryland non-tidal streams as measured by biological indicators

In Maryland, U.S., an interim framework has recentlybeen developed for using biologically based thresholds, or `biocriteria', to assess the health of nontidal streams statewide at watershed scales. The evaluation of impairment is based on indices of biological integrity from the Maryland Biological Stream Survey (MBSS). We applied logistic regression to quantify how the biotic integrity of streams at a local scale is affected by cumulative effects resulting from catchment land uses, point sources, and nearby transmission line rights-of-way. Indicators for land use were developed from the remote sensing National Land Cover Data and applied at different scales. We determined that the risk of local impairment in nontidal streams rapidly increases with increased urban land use in the catchment area. The average likelihood of failing biocriteria doubled with every 10% points increment in urban land, thus an increase in urban land use from 0 to 20% quadruples the risk of impairment. For the basins evaluated in this study, catchments with more than 40–50% urban land use had greater than 80% probability of failing biocriteria, on average. Inclusion of rights-of-way and point sources in the model did not significantly improve the fit for this data set, most likely because of their low numbers. The overall results indicate that our predictive modeling approach can help pinpoint stream ecosystems experiencing or vulnerable to degradation.     

Temperature and Concentration Effects in Biomonitoring of Organic Air Pollutants

Up to now only very few studies in biomonitoring of organic air pollutants have been published taking into account the strong influence mean temperatures have on the accumulation process into plants during the course of the exposition. Temperature governed sorption as well as the plants vitality pose a major source of uncertainty making inter-study comparisons difficult. Different surface-to-volume ratios of plant foliage lead to strongly varying concentration effects in different plant species. Moreover a plants content of waxes and lipids must be considered in order to relate xenobiotic concentrations to the compounds being most efficient in the bioaccumulation process. Some of these factors are evaluated in regard to the use of plants as biomonitors for organic air pollutants. Another aim is to deduce the mean ambient gas phase concentrations from PAH concentrations determined in the biomonitor plants using vegetation-air partitioning coefficients which have been corrected for temperature dependent sorption as well as the plants lipid content. Restrictions of such approaches and methods of biomonitoring in general are discussed.     

温度、盐度、铜、氨对对虾仔虾(Penaues orientalis K)和光滑河兰蛤(Potamocorbula laevis)的影响

在室内模拟条件下,进行了热冲击及其与盐度、铜、氨联合对对虾仔虾和光滑河兰蛤的急性影响研究。结果表明,两种动物的起始致死温度(TL₅₀)和最高临界温度(CTM)随驯化温度的升高而增大;随盐度的降低,仔虾的耐高温能力明显降低,而兰蛤对盐度变化反应不明显;高温明显提高铜、氨对仔虾的毒性。也提高铜对兰蛤的毒性,但降低氨对兰蛤的毒性影响。仔虾对高温、低盐、铜离子及非离子氨反应敏感。     

常温酸性腐蚀对热障涂层性能的影响

采用酸性盐雾腐蚀试验对物理气相沉积法制备的热障涂层进行了常温腐蚀,研究了常温酸性盐雾腐蚀对热障涂层的微观形貌以及高温性能的影响.试验结果表明：常温酸性腐蚀使热障涂层表面变得粗糙不平,产生了较大的裂纹.经过150次高温循环氧化后,顶层氧化锆晶粒排列疏松,裂纹进一步扩展,中间层--粘结层氧化速度加快,生成了疏松的TGO层.TGO的体积膨胀效应使得陶瓷/粘结层界面结合力降低,缩短了涂层的使用寿命.     

输气场站工艺安全风险分析

针对输气场站HAZOP风险评估出的天然气泄漏风险进行工艺安全量化分析,通过天然气泄漏喷射火模拟,对天然气泄漏风险进行量化,为输气场站的安全管理提供有效的技术支持。通过量化,分析出对天然气泄漏喷射火造成后果大小的影响因素,提高了HAZOP风险分析的准确性和科学性,对输气场站的风险管理具有参考意义。     

基于GIS的海洋环境质量评价图编制

本文介绍了采用地理信息系统技术制作海洋环境质量评价图的基本内容，重点阐述了图件的表现形式、编制过程和具体的操作方法，为海洋环境质量评价图的制作提供了一种新的方法。     

大气中挥发性苯系物的Carbotrap吸附气相色谱法

本文研究以Ｃａｒｂｏｔｒａｐ作吸附剂，在常温采集大气中挥发性苯系物，直接采用热脱附气相色谱分析。对新型吸附剂Ｃａｒｂｏｔｒａｐ的采样－脱附－分析精度，回收率，突破体积等作了试验。本法具有灵敏度高，操作简单，不需复杂的样品预处理，色谱峰好，吸附剂可反复使用等优点。可对大气中１０－９级苯系物进行测定，ＲＳＤ≤３．５％。     

Effects of lead , cadmium , mercury chlorides and aquaticenvironmental samples on the growth of Escherichia coli

In this paper it was reported that PbCl₂ , CdCl₂ , HgCl₂, and aquatic environmental samples containing Al, Cd, Cu, Pb, Sr, Zn and other heavy metal ions as well as organic chemicals suppressed thegrowth of E. coli only at higher exposed concentrations. The stimulative effects of PbCl₂ and HgCl₂ on thegrowth of E. coli were clearly showed at lower concentrations and longer time. It suggested that the toxic effects of heavy metal ions and other pollutants on the growth of E. coli are variable according to the differentexposed levels.