Statistical Issues in Assessing Anthropogenic Background for Arsenic

Conceptual and statistical issues surrounding the estimation of a background concentration distribution for arsenic are reviewed. How background area is defined and samples collected are shown to impact the shape and location of the probability density function that in turn affects the estimation and precision of associated distributional parameters. The overall background concentration distribution is conceptualized as a mixture of a natural background distribution, an anthropogenic background distribution and a distribution designed to accommodate the potential for contamination site samples being included into the background sample set. This concept is extended to a discussion of issues surrounding estimation of natural and anthropogenic background distributions for larger geographic areas. Finally, the mixture model is formally defined and statistical approaches to estimating its parameters discussed.     

Model-based experimental design for assessing effects of mixtures of chemicals

We exposed flour beetles (Tribolium castaneum) to a mixture of four poly aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs). The experimental setup was chosen such that the emphasis was on assessing partial effects. We interpreted the effects of the mixture by a process-based model, with a threshold concentration for effects on survival. The behavior of the threshold concentration was one of the key features of this research. We showed that the threshold concentration is shared by toxicants with the same mode of action, which gives a mechanistic explanation for the observation that toxic effects in mixtures may occur in concentration ranges where the individual components do not show effects. Our approach gives reliable predictions of partial effects on survival and allows for a reduction of experimental effort in assessing effects of mixtures, extrapolations to other mixtures, other points in time, or in a wider perspective to other organisms.     

飞灰及其混合脱硫剂浆液脱硫特性的实验研究

从碱性物溶出率和脱硫容量两个方面，对杭州地区3种电厂飞灰和飞灰－大理石混合脱硫剂进行了实验研究。结果表明，降低pH值有利于飞灰中碱性物的溶出，pH为5－8时，飞灰中碱性物溶出率约为30％。不同电厂飞灰的脱硫容量差异较大，为0.12-0.25gSO2/g飞灰，相当于石灰石脱硫容量的23％－48％。飞灰－大理石混合脱硫剂中飞灰与大理石之间具有相互协同促进作用，对飞灰：大理石为1：1的混合脱硫剂，其脱硫容量Ws60比大理石提高了30％。当脱硫率要求不太高时，可考虑使用飞灰－大理石混合脱硫剂，以部分或全部取代石灰石脱硫剂，从而大大降低脱硫剂成本。     

南方红壤典型水土流失区植被覆盖度变化及其生态效应评估——以福建省长汀县为例

南方红壤典型水土流失区--福建省长汀县曾因生态破坏导致严重的水土流失.经过多年以植树为主的生态修复,该县生态面貌有了明显的改观.论文首先采用线性光谱混合分析模型计算植被覆盖度,并在此原始模型的基础上提出了对地形阴影进行修正的方法来获取植被覆盖度.精度验证表明,在线性光谱混合分析模型中加入山地指数(NDMVI)波段能够削弱地形阴影问题,提高植被覆盖度反演精度.在此基础上利用多时相遥感影像分析了长汀2001-2013 年植被覆盖度的时空变化,并利用遥感生态指数(RSEI)定量评价了长汀水土流失生态修复的效果.结果表明,经过13 a 的水土流失治理,长汀的植被覆盖度有了明显的升高,从2001 年的75.1%上升到2013 年的86.5%.RSEI 生态指数值也随之上升,生态等级为优良的面积比例从85.83%增加到90.59%,反映了长汀县生态质量整体有了明显的提高.植被的生态效应定量研究表明,长汀县的植被覆盖度每增加10%,RSEI 生态指数值至少提高10%,植被覆盖度的生态提升效应显著.     

纳米二氧化钛在老化环境条件下对铜诱导毒性的影响

纳米二氧化钛颗粒(nTiO₂)可以通过吸附表层水中共生重金属来改变它们对淡水无脊椎动物的毒性。然而,影响这种交互过程的几种环境因子的相对重要性仍不清楚。因此,本研究通过连续72 h的培养试验,评估了老化对Cu与nTiO₂对大型蚤Daphnia magna联合急性毒性的影响。在老化过程中,对老化时间以及离子强度、pH值和不同质量有机物质等因子都进行了考察。研究结果表明,尽管影响效应的大小不同,nTiO₂的存在往往减少了老化后Cu对大型蚤的诱发毒性,在没有nTiO₂的情况下,Cu对大型蚤急性毒性的EC₅₀值提高了3倍之多。此外,各种形态Cu的形成受到介质中的离子组成、pH值以及有机添加剂存在的影响,这一过程受到极大的调控,并随着老化时间对大型蚤生态毒性的响应有一定影响。尽管如此,该研究的结论对nTiO₂在淡水生态系统中不同环境条件下,改变重金属诱发毒性的潜在作用提供了有力的支持。然而,这种模式需要进一步验证,比如结合不同性质的重金属离子与不同的环境因素,如紫外线照射。
精选自Ricki R. Rosenfeldt, Frank Seitz, Ann-Cathrin Haigis, Johanna H?ger, Jochen P. Zubrod, Ralf Schulz, Mirco Bundschuh. Nanosized titanium dioxide influences copper induced toxicity during aging as a function of environmental conditions. Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry: Volume 35, Issue 7, pages 1766–1774, July 2016. DOI: 10.1002/etc.3325
详情请见http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/etc.3325/full
     

Comparative cytotoxicity of nanoparticles and ions to Escherichia coli in binary mixtures

The objective of this study was to understand toxicity of mixture of nanoparticles (NPs) (ZnO and TiO₂) and their ions to Escherichia coli. Results indicated the decrease in percentage growth of E. coli with the increase in concentration of NPs both in single and mixture setups. Even a small concentration of 1 mg/L was observed to be significantly toxic to E. coli in binary mixture setup (exposure concentration: 1 mg/L ZnO and 1 mg/L TiO₂; 21.15% decrease in plate count concentration with respect to control). Exposure of E. coli to mixture of NPs at 1000 mg/L (i.e., 1000 mg/L ZnO and 1000 mg/L TiO₂) resulted in 99.63% decrease in plate count concentration with respect to control. Toxic effects of ions to E. coli were found to be lesser than their corresponding NPs. The percentage growth reduction was found to be 36% for binary mixture of zinc and titanium ions at the highest concentration (i.e., 803.0 mg/L Zn and 593.3 mg/L Ti where ion concentrations are equal to the Zn ions present in 1000 mg/L ZnO NP solution and Ti^+ 4 ions present in 1000 mg/L TiO₂ NP solution). Nature of mixture toxicity of the two NPs to E. coli was found to be antagonistic. The alkaline phosphatase (Alp) assay indicated that the maximum damage was observed when E. coli was exposed to 1000 mg/L of mixture of NPs. This study tries to fill the knowledge gap on information of toxicity of mixture of NPs to bacteria which has not been reported earlier.