Assessing microbial and chemical exposure risks of Giardia in indoor swimming pool water disinfected by chlorine

Swimming pools adopt chlorination to ensure microbial safety. Giardia has attracted attention in swimming pool water because of its occurrence, pathogenicity, and chlorine resistance. To control Giardia concentrations in pool water and reduce the microbial risk, higher chlorine doses are required during disinfection. Unfortunately, this process produces carcinogenic disinfection byproducts that increase the risk of chemical exposure. Therefore, quantitatively evaluating the comparative microbial...     

锑的表生地球化学行为与环境危害效应

锑(Sb)是一种典型的有毒有害重金属元素。由于自然过程和人为活动的影响,锑及其化合物广泛分布于大气、土壤、水体等表生环境中,锑的环境污染日益严重。Sb不是植物必需元素,但能够被植物体及农作物吸收。Sb对人体和动物体产生慢性毒性及潜在致癌性。本文主要通过分析Sb的主要矿物、锑及其化合物在表生环境中的分布与迁移特性,来阐述人体可能的锑暴露途径及由此产生的环境危害效应。     

基于地理探测器的土壤重金属影响因子分析及其污染风险评价

地理探测器能快速定量化揭示驱动重金属含量影响因素的强度,这对于重金属空间预测模型构建变量的确定和土壤污染修复措施的精准实施具有重要意义.利用地理探测器模型,对5种土壤重金属元素Cu、Zn、Pb、Cr、Ni的空间分布和11种环境因子的交互作用进行定量评估,通过单因子指数法进行重庆市土壤重金属污染风险评价.结果表明:研究区...     

Assessing the toxicity of organophosphorous pesticides to indigenous algae with implication for their ecotoxicological impact to aquatic ecosystems

This study aimed to determine the toxicity of three organophosphorous pesticides, chlorpyrifos, terbufos and methamidophos, to three indigenous algal species isolated from local rivers and algal mixtures. The diatom Nitzschia sp. (0.30–1.68 mg L^?1 of EC₅₀ -the estimated concentration related to a 50% growth reduction) and the cyanobacteria Oscillatoria sp. (EC₅₀ of 0.33–7.99 mg L^?1) were sensitive to single pesticide treatment and the chlorophyta Chlorella sp. was the most tolerant (EC₅₀ of 1.29–41.16 mg L^?1). In treatment with the mixture of three pesticides, Chlorella sp. became the most sensitive alga. The antagonistic joint toxic effects on three indigenous algae and algal mixtures were found for most of the two pesticide mixtures. The results suggested that mixture of pesticides might induce the detoxification mechanisms more easily than the single pesticide. The synergistic interactions between terbufos and methamidophos to algal mixtures and between methamidophos and chlorpyrifos to Nitzschia sp. indicated methamidophos might act as a potential synergist. Differential sensitivity of three families of algae to these pesticides might result in changes in the algal community structures after river water has been contaminated with different pesticides, posing great ecological risk on the structure and functioning of the aquatic ecosystem.     

Poaching Risks in Community‐Based Natural Resource Management

Poaching can disrupt wildlife‐management efforts in community‐based natural resource management systems. Monitoring, estimating, and acquiring data on poaching is difficult. We used local‐stakeholder knowledge and poaching records to rank and map the risk of poaching incidents in 2 areas where natural resources are managed by community members in Caprivi, Namibia. We mapped local stakeholder perceptions of the risk of poaching, risk of wildlife damage to livelihoods, and wildlife distribution and compared these maps with spatially explicit records of poaching events. Recorded poaching events and stakeholder perceptions of where poaching occurred were not spatially correlated. However, the locations of documented poaching events were spatially correlated with areas that stakeholders perceived wildlife as a threat to their livelihoods. This result suggests poaching occurred in response to wildlife damage occurred. Local stakeholders thought that wildlife populations were at high risk of being poached and that poaching occurred where there was abundant wildlife. These findings suggest stakeholders were concerned about wildlife resources in their community and indicate a need for integrated and continued monitoring of poaching activities and further interventions at the wildlife‐agricultural interface. Involving stakeholders in the assessment of poaching risks promotes their participation in local conservation efforts, a central tenet of community‐based management. We considered stakeholders poaching informants, rather than suspects, and our technique was spatially explicit. Different strategies to reduce poaching are likely needed in different areas. For example, interventions that reduce human‐wildlife conflict may be required in residential areas, and increased and targeted patrolling may be required in more remote areas. Stakeholder‐generated maps of human‐wildlife interactions may be a valuable enforcement and intervention support tool. Riesgos de Cacería Furtiva en el Manejo de Recursos Naturales Basado en Comunidades     

Large-scale risk assessment of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in shoreline sediments from Saudi Arabia: Environmental legacy after twelve years of the Gulf war oil spill

A large-scale assessment of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) from the 1991 Gulf War oil spill was performed for 2002-2003 sediment samples (n = 1679) collected from habitats along the shoreline of Saudi Arabia. Benthic sediment toxicity was characterized using the Equilibrium Partitioning Sediment Benchmark Toxic Unit approach for 43 PAHs (ESBTU_FCV,43). Samples were assigned to risk categories according to ESBTU_FCV,43 values: no-risk (≤1), low (>1-≤2), low-medium (>2-≤3), medium (>3-≤5) and high-risk (>5). Sixty seven percent of samples had ESBTU_FCV,43 > 1 indicating potential adverse ecological effects. Sediments from the 0-30 cm layer from tidal flats, and the >30-<60 cm layer from heavily oiled halophytes and mangroves had high frequency of high-risk samples. No-risk samples were characterized by chrysene enrichment and depletion of lighter molecular weight PAHs, while high-risk samples showed little oil weathering and PAH patterns similar to 1993 samples. North of Safaniya sediments were not likely to pose adverse ecological effects contrary to sediments south of Tanaqib. Landscape and geomorphology has played a role on the distribution and persistence in sediments of oil from the Gulf War.     

Bayesian Small Area Models for Assessing Wildlife Conservation Risk in Patchy Populations

Abstract:  Species conservation risk assessments require accurate, probabilistic, and biologically meaningful maps of population distribution. In patchy populations, the reasons for discontinuities are not often well understood. We tested a novel approach to habitat modeling in which methods of small area estimation were used within a hierarchical Bayesian framework. Amphibian occurrence was modeled with logistic regression that included third-order drainages as hierarchical effects to account for patchy populations. Models including the random drainage effects adequately represented species occurrences in patchy populations of 4 amphibian species in the Oregon Coast Range (U.S.A.). Amphibian surveys from other locations within the same drainage were used to calibrate local drainage-scale effects. Cross-validation showed that prediction errors for calibrated models were 77% to 86% lower than comparable regionally constructed models, depending on species. When calibration data were unavailable, small area and regional models performed similarly, although poorly. Small area estimation models complement wildlife ecology and habitat studies, and can help managers develop a regional picture of the conservation status for relatively rare species.     

Assessing ecological risk on a regional scale

Society needs a quantitative and systematic way to estimate and compare the impacts of environmental problems that affect large geographic areas. This paper presents an approach for regional risk assessment that combines regional assessment methods and landscape ecology theory with an existing framework for ecological risk assessment. Risk assessment evaluates the effects of an environmental change on a valued natural resource and interprets the significance of those effects in light of the uncertainties identified in each component of the assessment process. Unique and important issues for regional risk assessment are emphasized; these include the definition of the disturbance scenario, the assessment boundary definition, and the spatial heterogeneity of the landscape. Although the research described in this article has been funded wholly or in part by the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) through Interagency Agreement Number DW89932112-01-2 to the U.S. Department of Energy, it has not been subjected to EPA review and therefore does not necessarily reflect the views of EPA and no official endorsement should be inferred.     

A NEW LOOK AT FLOOD RISK DETERMINATION1

ABSTRACT: The probability distributions of annual peak flows used in flood risk analysis quantify the risk that a design flood will be exceeded. But the parameters of these distributions are themselves to a degree uncertain and this uncertainty increases the risk that the flood protection provided will in fact prove to be inadequate. The increase in flood risk due to parameter uncertainty is small when a fairly long record of data is available and the annual flood peaks are serially independent, which is the standard assumption in flood frequency analysis. But standard tests for serial independence are insensitive to the type of grouping of high and low values in a time series, which is measured by the Hurst coefficient. This grouping increases the parameter uncertainty considerably. A study of 49 annual peak flow series for Canadian rivers shows that many have a high Hurst coefficient. The corresponding increase in flood risk due to parameter uncertainty is shown to be substantial even for rivers with a long record, and therefore should not be neglected. The paper presents a method of rationally combining parameter uncertainty due to serial correlation, and the stochastic variability of peak flows in a single risk assessment. In addition, a relatively simple time series model that is capable of reproducing the observed serial correlation of flood peaks is presented.     

Accidental release: Fuzzy selection of adequate formal model

Risk assessment of a chemical process plant requires the application of a variety of consequence models in order to estimate the potential physical effects of accidental releases. The types of models required vary depending upon the substance under consideration and the circumstances of a release. The objective of this study was the development and application of a system based upon ‘fuzzy logic’, for the selection of a computer model to be used in consequence analysis in specific situations where only certain types of consequence models can be used. The collection of data for modelling purposes from different kinds of computer model and application of fuzzy methods were also important aims of the study.