Fractionation and Sequential Extraction of Heavy Metals in the Soil of Scrapyard of Discarded Vehicles

Chemical and physical size fractionation of heavy metals were carried out on 20 soil samples from the scrap yard area. Tessier method was used in sequential extraction. Cadmium showed the highest levels among the other elements studied in the exchangeable fraction (about 33%), while other elements showed low levels in this fraction (≥1%). Lead and manganese were mostly found in the Fe–Mn oxide fraction, zinc and iron were mostly in residual fraction, while copper was mostly found in the organic fraction of the soil. Soil samples were size-fractionated into four sizes: 1000–500, 500–125, 125–53, and less than 53 μm. The highest levels of Fe, Cu, Pb, Mn, and Cd were found in the medium fraction (500–125 μm), while zinc showed its highest levels in the fine fraction (125–53 μm). The order of heavy metal load in the size fractions was found to be medium > fine > coarse > silt for Fe, Mn, Cu, Pb, and Cd, where it was found as fine > medium > coarse > silt for zinc.     

Temperature Effect on Migration of Zn and Cd Through Natural Clay

To investigate the effect of temperature on effective diffusion coefficients and retardation factors for Zn and Cd, combined diffusion and sequential extraction analyses were conducted at 15 ^˚C and 55 ^˚C. The effective diffusion coefficients of the metals increased up to ten times according to the increased temperature. On the other hand, the effect of temperature on the retardation factor depended on the retention mechanisms of the metals. The distribution coefficient for Zn, which was mainly partitioned in the carbonate phase, increased up to two times with the increase in temperature. On the other hand, the distribution coefficient for Cd, which was mainly partitioned in the exchangeable phase, was hardly affected by the temperature change. Results of combined diffusion and sequential extraction analysis showed that the effect of temperature on the heavy metals’ (Zn and Cd) migration through the compacted natural clay was influenced by the combined effects of the diffusion coefficient and the retardation factor. Additionally, we could also observe the change in retention mechanism for the metals with the change in pore water concentration.     

Impacts of converting from leaded to unleaded gasoline on ambient lead concentrations in Jakarta metropolitan area

Total suspended particulate mater （TSP） concentrations were monitored for one year from July 2000 and for one year from April 2003 in Jakarta City. Thirteen elemental TSP components, aluminum （Al）, sodium （Na）, iron （Fe）, lead （Pb）, potassium （K）, zinc （Zn）, titanium （Ti）, manganese （Mn）, bromine （Br）, copper （Cu）, chromium （Cr）, nickel （Ni）, and vanadium （V） were analyzed by a sequential X-ray fluorescence spectrometer. Al, Na, Fe, K, and Pb were major components at most of the sampling locations in 2000. However, only Pb in 2003 dramatically decreased to one tenth. The phase-out of leaded gasoline began on July 1, 2001 in Jakarta City and lead content in gasoline decreased to one tenth, too. The decrease in Pb concentration was a result of the phase-out of leaded gasoline, as lead emissions mainly are exhaust gas from vehicles.     

丹江口水库表层沉积物不同形态氮的赋存特征及其生物有效性

为了揭示丹江口水库沉积物氮空间分布特征及其生物有效性,采用连续分级提取法研究了表层沉积物中可交换态氮(Exchangeable nitrogen,EN)、酸解态氮(Acid hydrolysable nitrogen,HN)及残渣态氮(Residue nitrogen,RN)的赋存特征,同时结合生物可利用态氮的含量,探讨了各形态氮对生物可利用态氮的贡献。结果表明,丹江口水库沉积物中总氮(Total nitrogen,TN)在425~5796 mg/kg之间,平均为1 319.32 mg/kg,其中EN、HN和RN的平均值相对比例为2.15∶1.95∶1,且各形态氮含量的空间分布呈入库河流大于库区开阔区域的特征,尤其在丹江、老灌河以及犟河-堵河入库口的含量较大。潜在矿化氮(Potential mineralized nitrogen,PMN)含量在40.20~1 468.95 mg/kg之间,平均为275.06 mg/kg,其中EN对丹江口水库沉积物PMN的贡献较大,比例在19.85%~90.80%之间,平均为63.47%。各形态氮在不同的水环境条件下发生迁移转化,保持着水-沉积物界面氮的动态平衡。     

Extraction of labile metals from solid media by dilute hydrochloric acid

Extraction of labile metals from solid media is environmentally more meaningful than a total digestion. A variety of reagents have been introduced in the literature, but dilute HCl has received the greatest attention. We compare metal concentrations liberated by a dilute HCl leach with the sum of the 3-step optimized (standardized) BCR sequential extraction procedure. This is the first study to compare these procedures over a range of grain sizes. Road-deposited sediments from 10 sites in Honolulu were fractionated into six grain size classes. Aliquots of individual fractions were digested with dilute HCl, the 3-step BCR procedure (‘labile’), and a 4-acid (total) procedure. Results indicated that the weighted labile concentrations of Al, Cu, Fe, Mn, Ni, Pb and Zn were statistically greater than those from the dilute HCl leach. However, regression analysis indicated strong statistically significant relationships between the two partial extraction procedures for all metals. On a whole-sample basis, the toxicity classifications for anthropogenic-enhanced metals (Cu, Pb and Zn) were similar between extractions. Taken together, results suggest that the application of dilute HCl to solid media provides a rapid, cost-effective, and environmentally meaningful approach for contaminant monitoring.     

Identifying the largest individual sample value from a two-way composite sampling design

Composite sampling techniques for identifying the largest individual sample value seem to be cost effective when the composite samples are internally homogeneous. However, since it is not always possible to form homogeneous composite samples, these methods can lead to higher costs than expected. In this paper we propose a two-way composite sampling design as a way to improve on the cost effectiveness of the methods available to identify the largest individual sample value.     

基于顺序注射分析技术的总氮在线分析仪

针对环境监测领域,研制了一种基于顺序注射分析技术的总氮在线分析仪。该分析仪以注射泵为分析过程的液体驱动定量单元,以多通道选向阀为流路切换单元,以发光二极管和硅光电管为检测单元。在该分析平台上,含氮化合物在高温高压条件下经过硫酸钾氧化成硝酸根,硝酸根被还原为亚硝酸根后与N-(1-萘基)乙二胺盐酸盐生成偶氮染料,再由光电检测单元测定吸光度值,经计算得到总氮含量。与现有的总氮在线分析技术相比,该分析仪具有检测单元简单、生产成本低、测量精度高、试剂消耗和废液产生量少等优点,适合于环境监测等领域的长时间在线分析。     

顺序注射平台-分光光度法测定水中总磷

参照希思迪在线总磷分析仪和荷兰Skalar在线过程分析仪测定水中总磷的方法,对顺序注射平台分析技术进行改进,从而建立了钼酸铵分光光度法测定水中正磷酸盐的快速分析方法,该方法集微功耗、微量试剂消耗于一体。注射平台具有模块化、投入式探头等结构特征,仪器包含3个检测量程,适用于环境监测等领域的实时在线分析。实验选择磷酸蓝的测定吸收波长为880 nm,当总磷质量浓度为0.10~2.00 mg/L时,浓度与吸光度呈线性关系,线性回归方程y=0.970 3x-0.025 3,相关系数为0.999 5,方法的检出限为1.36×10-2mg/L。     

Effects of Acid Rain on Competitive Releases of Cd, Cu, and Zn from Two Natural Soils and Two Contaminated Soils in Hunan, China

Leaching experiments of rebuilt soil columns with two simulated acid rain solutions (pH 4.6–3.8) were conducted for two natural soils and two artificial contaminated soils from Hunan, south-central China, to study effects of acid rain on competitive releases of soil Cd, Cu, and Zn. Distilled water was used in comparison. The results showed that the total releases were Zn>Cu>Cd for the natural soils and Cd>Zn≫Cu for the contaminated soils, which reflected sensitivity of these metals to acid rain. Leached with different acid rain, about 26–76% of external Cd and 11–68% external Zn were released, but more than 99% of external Cu was adsorbed by the soils, and therefore Cu had a different sorption and desorption pattern from Cd and Zn. Metal releases were obviously correlated with releases of TOC in the leachates, which could be described as an exponential equation. Compared with the natural soils, acid rain not only led to changes in total metal contents, but also in metal fraction distributions in the contaminated soils. More acidified soils had a lower sorption capacity to metals, mostly related to soil properties such as pH, organic matter, soil particles, adsorbed SO₄ ²⁻, exchangeable Al³⁺ and H⁺, and contents of Fe₂O₃ and Al₂O₃.     

Stochastic Transfer Function Model and Neural Networks to Estimate Soil Moisture1

Abstract: A practical methodology is proposed to estimate the three‐dimensional variability of soil moisture based on a stochastic transfer function model, which is an approximation of the Richard’s equation. Satellite, radar and in situ observations are the major sources of information to develop a model that represents the dynamic water content in the soil. The soil‐moisture observations were collected from 17 stations located in Puerto Rico (PR), and a sequential quadratic programming algorithm was used to estimate the parameters of the transfer function (TF) at each station. Soil texture information, terrain elevation, vegetation index, surface temperature, and accumulated rainfall for every grid cell were input into a self‐organized artificial neural network to identify similarities on terrain spatial variability and to determine the TF that best resembles the properties of a particular grid point. Soil moisture observed at 20 cm depth, soil texture, and cumulative rainfall were also used to train a feedforward artificial neural network to estimate soil moisture at 5, 10, 50, and 100 cm depth. A validation procedure was implemented to measure the horizontal and vertical estimation accuracy of soil moisture. Validation results from spatial and temporal variation of volumetric water content (vwc) showed that the proposed algorithm estimated soil moisture with a root mean squared error (RMSE) of 2.31% vwc, and the vertical profile shows a RMSE of 2.50% vwc. The algorithm estimates soil moisture in an hourly basis at 1 km spatial resolution, and up to 1 m depth, and was successfully applied under PR climate conditions.