Development and application of LC–APCI–MS method for biomonitoring of animal and human exposure to imidacloprid

Imidacloprid (IMI) is a relatively new neuro-active neonicotinoid insecticide and nowadays one of the largest selling insecticides worldwide. In the present study a LC–APCI–MS based method was developed and validated for the quantification of imidacloprid and its main metabolite 6-chloronicotinic acid (6-CINA) in urine and hair specimens. The method was tested in biomonitoring of intentionally exposed animals and subsequently applied for biomonitoring of Cretan urban and rural population.     

Prioritization of applicable drivers for green supply chain management implementation toward sustainability in Thailand

ABSTRACT

It is essential that the green supply chain management (GSCM) implementation is effectively supported by several strategic drivers for successful implementation and sustainability, especially for the ‘green’ start-ups with a sustainability-driven organizational strategy. This study aims to determine and prioritize the applicable drivers for GSCM implementation of sustainable development strategies in the electronics industry in Thailand. The applicable drivers and their priorities are obtained by applying the fuzzy group decision-making approaches including fuzzy Delphi and fuzzy Analytic Hierarchy Process, based on Thai experts’ perspectives. In this study, three prominent organizational theories, resource-based view, relational view, and institutional theory, are needed to explain the drivers of sustainability and to develop a hierarchical model for prioritization of the drivers. Finally, based on the findings of this study, several recommendations are made that may help to improve the sustainable development in Thailand through more effective implementation of GSCM.     

氨基改性生物炭负载纳米零价铁去除水中Cr(VI)

以聚乙烯亚胺（PEI）为功能单体,玉米秸秆生物炭为载体,制备了氨基改性生物炭负载型纳米零价铁（nZVI@PEI-HBC）,并利用扫描电镜（SEM）、红外光谱（FTIR）和X射线光电子能谱（XPS）等手段对材料进行了表征,分析了溶液pH、温度、材料投加量等因素对其去除Cr（VI）的影响及其去除机理.结果表明：在投加量为0.5 g·L^-1,温度为20℃,pH值为5,Cr（VI）初始浓度为20 mg·L^-1条件下,各材料对Cr（VI）的去除率大小为nZVI@PEI-HBC > nZVI > PEI-HBC > HBC.SEM显示nZVI颗粒较均匀地分散在生物炭表面,FTIR分析表明PEI改性后材料表面增加了氨基等重金属配位基团,这可能是nZVI@PEI-HBC去除Cr（VI）效果更好的原因.影响因素研究表明,材料具有较好稳定性,老化28 d后其Cr（VI）去除性能变化不大;酸性环境、升温、增大材料投加量均有利于nZVI@PEI-HBC对Cr（VI）的去除.机理研究发现,水中溶解氧加速了nZVI的腐蚀和Fe（II）的释放,促进Cr（VI）还原为Cr（III）,然后通过共沉淀作用和氨基等基团的吸附作用被去除.     

Marine Ecological Research in New Zealand: Developing Predictive Models through the Study of No-Take Marine Reserves

Abstract:  New Zealand established its first no-take marine reserve more than 25 years ago. Twenty no-take marine reserves have now been created, although few of these are considered comparable. We considered whether existing conceptual models of population and community structure based only on data from exploited systems lack the baseline information of natural states necessary to make accurate predictions for new reserves. Three of the oldest and best-studied reserves are situated on the northeastern coast of New Zealand. These reserves are considered broadly comparable replicates, and research has shown the recovery of previously exploited predator populations and the reestablishment of trophic controls over community structure and productivity. None of the major changes was predicted when the reserves were created. All the observations from and experimental tests of hypotheses in these three ecologically comparable reserves have provided predictive models for future reserves. Recent surveys in newly created reserves, however, suggest that these models are bioregion and habitat specific. In these new reserves the recovery of previously exploited predators was predicted but did not always occur. Where trends were correctly predicted, the speed and amplitude of the changes were not accurately predicted. Research in New Zealand suggests that it is not yet possible to predict explicit outcomes for newly created reserves and less possible to predict detailed results for systems of reserves. Results from a representative system of reserves, including all major habitats within all bioregions and broadly comparable reserves, are needed. Such a system will enable the range and variety of natural ecosystem dynamics to be investigated and provide the controls necessary to measure the effects of exploitation.     

pp´DDT and pp´DDE Accumulation in a Food Chain of Lake Maggiore (Northern Italy): Testing Steady-State Condition

- DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1065/espr2006.01.010 Background, Aims and Scope Although pp'DDT usage was strongly limited or banned in most parts of the world during the last three or four decades, the parent compound, its homologues and their metabolites still occur at levels which might pose a risk for many ecosystem components. A case of DDT pollution of industrial origin was discovered in 1996 in Lake Maggiore, the second largest (212 km2) and deepest (370 m) lake in Italy, causing concern for wildlife and human health. The extensive monitoring of many biotic and abiotic compartments which followed from 1998 in order to assess the pollution level and its trend in time, provided a great availability of data referring to DDT contamination of the different fish species of the lake. In this study, the recent contamination levels in selected fish species were compared to those measured in 1998 to evaluate the temporal pollution trend of the lake and its natural recovery, given that no remediation measures were carried out on the contaminated soils and sediments in this time span. Moreover, a modelling approach to test the equilibrium condition between water and pelagic fish species was used. Analytical results of pp'DDT and pp'DDE concentrations in lake water were used as input data in the bioenergetic model by Connolly & Pedersen (1988) to calculate concentrations in two fish species and to compare the predicted and the measured contamination. Methods Sampling and analytical determination of DDT homologues in lake water: Five water sampling campaigns were carried out from May 2002 to February 2004 in three sampling sites of Lake Maggiore. Suspended and dissolved pollutants were determined separately. Quantitative DDT homologue analyses were performed by HRGC coupled with ECD detection by the external standard method. Single water extracts were put together in correspondence with the stratification zones of the water column inferred on the basis of the temperature profile to improve analytical sensitivity. Selection of fish data: Concentrations of DDT and DDE in fishes were selected from recent literature (CIPAIS 2003, 2004). Bioaccumulation model: The bioenergetic model proposed by Connolly & Pedersen (1988) was used to assess the bioaccumulation of pp'DDT and pp'DDE of Alosa fallax (landlocked shad) and Coregonus spp. (whitefish), selected among the different species as representative of a secondary consumer level. Results and Discussion The average concentrations of pp'DDT and pp'DDE in water to be used as input data in the bioenergetic model were obtained considering all the concentrations measured at the three sampling stations in the epylimnion where the fish species considered in this study spend most of their life. The resulting values were 0.05 and 0.16 ng/L for pp'DDT and pp'DDE, respectively. Average measured pp'DDT and pp'DDE concentrations in landlocked shad were 0.81 +/- 0.39 and 1.69 +/- 0.71 mg/kg lipids, respectively, and were 0.29 +/- 0.12 and 1.06 +/- 0.41 mg/kg lipids for the whitefish. Calculated and measured values turned out to be in quite good agreement for pp'DDT, while measured pp'DDE concentrations were higher than expected on the basis of the bioenergetic model in both species. Probably metabolic transformations of pp'DDT accumulated in fish tissues in the past are responsible for the observed differences between calculated and expected pp'DDE concentrations in fish. Conclusions Pelagic fishes of Lake Maggiore seem to maintain the DDT accumulated during their life time and the most efficient mechanism responsible for the fish population recoveries is probably their generation changes; for this reason, equilibrium models cannot be used until negligible pp'DDT concentrations are reached in fish tissues. Recommendations and Outlook The limit proposed for pp'DDT in water by the EU Directive 2000/60, which will come in force in 2008, is 0.2 ng/L, four times higher than the average concentration measured in Lake Maggiore waters. Nevertheless, concentrations measured in Lake Maggiore fish were very close and sometimes exceeded the Maximum residue limits (MRLs) settled by the Italian legislation for foods (0.1 mg/kg w.w. for fish containing 5–20% lipid). It seems, therefore, that the 'environmental quality standard' of 0.2 ng/L cannot guarantee the suitability of fish for human consumption.     

基于UAHP的采空区稳定性模糊综合评判

为准确评判矿山采空区稳定性等级,通过分析采空区稳定性各影响因素,确定地质、水文、采空区几何参数、环境等4个2级指标为影响其稳定性的主要因素。运用层次分析法(AHP)并结合模糊数学理论,建立采空区稳定性2级模糊综合评判模型。用区间数表示评判结果,分析处理评判矩阵得到专家评判的相似度和差异度,进而获取专家评判的可信度,建立基于不确定型层次分析法(UAHP)的采空区稳定性模糊评判方法。实例计算结果表明:在Ⅰ级评判指标中,地质构造、周围开采影响、地下水活动程度、跨度对采空区稳定性影响较大;用该采空区的稳定性等级为Ⅱ级。用该方法能得出各影响因素的综合权重,准确评判采空区稳定性等级。     

Impact of conservation areas on trophic interactions between apex predators and herbivores on coral reefs

Apex predators are declining at alarming rates due to exploitation by humans, but we have yet to fully discern the impacts of apex predator loss on ecosystem function. In a management context, it is critically important to clarify the role apex predators play in structuring populations of lower trophic levels. Thus, we examined the top‐down influence of reef sharks (an apex predator on coral reefs) and mesopredators on large‐bodied herbivores. We measured the abundance, size structure, and biomass of apex predators, mesopredators, and herbivores across fished, no‐take, and no‐entry management zones in the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park, Australia. Shark abundance and mesopredator size and biomass were higher in no‐entry zones than in fished and no‐take zones, which indicates the viability of strictly enforced human exclusion areas as tools for the conservation of predator communities. Changes in predator populations due to protection in no‐entry zones did not have a discernible influence on the density, size, or biomass of different functional groups of herbivorous fishes. The lack of a relationship between predators and herbivores suggests that top‐down forces may not play a strong role in regulating large‐bodied herbivorous coral reef fish populations. Given this inconsistency with traditional ecological theories of trophic cascades, trophic structures on coral reefs may need to be reassessed to enable the establishment of appropriate and effective management regimes. El Impacto de las Áreas de Conservación sobre las Interacciones Tróficas entre los Depredadores Dominantes y los Herbívoros en los Arrecifes de Coral     

Significance of platinum group metals emitted from automobile exhaust gas converters for the biosphere

Intention, Goal, Scope, Background  Following the introduction of automobile catalytic converters the platinum group metals (PGM) platinum (Pt), palladium (Pd) and rhodium (Rh) gain on increasing interest in environmental research as these metals are emitted with exhaust fumes into the environment. Consequently, elevated PGM levels were found in different environmental matrices uch as road dusts, soils along heavily frequented roads, sediments of urban rivers etc. Accordingly, the effects of increasing PGM emissions on the biosphere are controversially discussed. Objective  This paper summarizes the present knowledge on the biological availability of PGM to plants and animals. As biological availability is one of the most decisive factors determining the toxicologi-cal potential of xenobiotics, this information is very important to evaluate the possible threat of the noble metals to ecosystems. Results and Discussion  The availability of soluble as well as particle bound PGM to terrestrial plants was demonstrated in several studies. Experimental investigations revealed uptake of Pt, Pd and Rh also by aquatic plants. Additionally, the biological availability of the noble metals for animals has been verified in experimental studies using soluble metal salts, catalytic converter model substances, sediments of urban rivers, road dust or tunnel dust as metal sources. These studies refer mainly to aquatic animals. Beside of free living organisms, in particular worms parasitizing fish demonstrated a high potential to accumulate PGM. This could be of great interest in respect of biomonitoring purposes. Generally, for plants as well as for animals Pd turns out to be the best available metal among the PGM. Compared to other heavy metals, the biological availability of PGM from road dust to zebra mussels(Dreissena polymorpha) ranged between that of Cd and Pb. Conclusion  Especially chronic effects of PGM on the biosphere can not be excluded due to (1) their cumulative increase in the environment, (2) their unexpected high biological availability and bioaccumulation and (3) their unknown toxicological and ecotoxicological potential. However, it appears that acute effects on ecosystems due to anthropogenic PGM emission are not likely. Recommendation and Outlook  Research on environmental PGM contamination of the biosphere, especially the fauna, and on long-term toxiciry of low PGM concentrations is highly appreciated. These studies require very sensitive analytical techniques to determine PGM even in low sample amounts. Research has to be done in particular on reliable determination of (ultra) trace levels of Pd and Rh as the lack of data on these two metals is mainly due to analytical problems.     

改进的DEMATEL法在航空公司外委维修安全风险分析中的应用

为有效识别和分析外委维修安全风险因素间复杂的影响关系,提出了群决策DEMATEL分析方法。该方法以语言变量和三角模糊数之间的转换为基础,通过群决策理论集结专家信息建立直接影响矩阵;利用DEMATEL分析法对外委维修的安全风险因素进行辨识,实现定性定量相结合的分析。以某航空公司为例,采用该方法分析了14个对外委维修安全影响显著的风险因素。结果表明,在外委维修过程中,航空公司和承修商应重点监控7个原因型因素和中心度排序靠前的6个因素。     

青海省扎日根结扎群火山岩形成时代及构造背景分析

青海扎日根结扎群火山岩中基性岩以贫硅、钾,高钛、钙,中性岩类以低硅、中钾、钛、钙,酸性岩类以高硅、钾,中钛,低钙为特征.根据Fe*/MgO-TiO2图解上显示出本区火山岩绝大多数火山岩落在岛弧区.微量元素中Th/Nb=0.9>0.11,Nb/Zr>0.04显示出其构造背景为陆-陆碰撞形成的岛弧区.扎日根结扎群火山岩时代Rb-Sr同位素等时线给出的年龄为231±28 Ma 和225±8 Ma,属晚三叠世.另外Sr同位素的初始比值ISr=0.70522±0.00023,小于0.719,表明岩浆(原始)来源于上地幔,并且在上升的过程中受到地壳的混染.