Leaf accumulation of trace elements and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in Quercus ilex L

Quercus ilex L. leaves were collected four times in one year at six urban sites and one remote area in order to determine trace element and PAH accumulation through concomitant analyses of unwashed and water-washed leaves. Both unwashed and washed leaves showed the highest amounts of trace elements and PAHs in the urban area. Unwashed leaves showed greater differences between urban and remote areas and among the urban sites than washed leaves for trace element and PAH concentrations. Water-washing resulted in a significant (P<0.001) decrease in leaf concentrations of Cr, Cu, Fe, Pb, V and Zn. By contrast, Cd and total PAH concentrations showed no differences between unwashed and washed leaves.     

Is the integration of hormesis and essentiality into ecotoxicology now opening Pandora's Box?

Hormesis and essentiality are likely real and common effects at the level of the individual. However, the widespread incorporation of stimulatory effects into applications of ecotoxicology requires the acceptance of assumptions, value judgements and possibly lowering of water/sediment quality standards. There is also currently little data appropriate for considering hormetic effects in the ecotoxicological context. Except perhaps in the case of fitting concentration-response curves, it is not clear that incorporation of hormetic and essentiality type responses into ecotoxicology is necessary. Furthermore, its incorporation presents considerable intellectual and practical changes for ecotoxicology and could have unanticipated consequences.     

Study of Trace Elements and Soot in Aerosols from a Coal-Fired Power Plant in Northern Vietnam

Two measurement campaigns were conducted in two sampling sites, An Thinh and Duy Minh, in northern Vietnam during the months of November–December 2000 and November 2001–February 2002 in order to investigate the extend of the particulate air pollution from the Pha Lai coal fired power plant. Fine particle samples were analyzed by Energy Dispersive X-Ray Fluorescence spectrometry and soot samples were analyzed by reflectometer. The result showed that high concentration of soot and elements mostly coincided with the air masses originating from the power plant. Sea spray aerosol was found to be the major source of chlorine at both sites. Ratios of specific elements and principal component analysis (PCA) revealed that coal combustion was the main contributor to the air pollution at both sites. PCA also indicated that there were other sources responsible for the elements emission, probably the influence of long distance transport and Asian Brown Cloud.     

A Comparison Between Two Moss Species Used as Transplants for Airborne Trace Element Biomonitoring in NE Italy

Transplants of the mosses Hypnum cupressiforme and Pseudoscleropodium purum used as active biomonitors of airborne trace elements were compared in a survey carried out at Trieste (NE Italy). Twelve elements were considered: Al, As, Cd, Cr, Cu, Fe, Hg, Mn, Pb, Ti, V, Zn. Water-washed materials of H. cupressiforme and P. purum, collected in a remote area to prepare transplants, showed comparable content of all elements, excluding Pb. Transplants of P. purum showed a significantly higher accumulation of Al, Fe, Pb and Ti; higher levels of Cu and V were accumulated in H. cupressiforme. Losses of some elements occurred in some samples of both species; the most consistent losses regarded Cr and Mn. Accumulation data of Al, As, Cd, Hg, Zn found in the two transplanted sets were not correlated. Differences in element uptake in the two mosses are likely to depend mainly on morphology, and probably on the different forms of emission and deposition types of the elements. The two mosses showed an overall accordance in discriminating sites highly and scarcely affected by trace element depositions, although they accumulated some elements, in particular Hg and Zn, in different ways. P. purum proved to be a better accumulator than H. cupressiforme, showing similar or higher accumulation and lower loss of almost all elements, especially those related to particulate, dry depositions; H. cupressiforme could be effective in detecting large-scale patterns, related to wet depositions. These results indicate that these mosses cannot be used interchangeably for monitoring particular elements, and are able to provide complementary information on different, local and long-range deposition patterns.     

Optical and Chemical Methods of Metal Ash Analysis and Tin Recovery

‘Metal ash’ presents a waste disposal problem in most of the developing countries as the industries employ obsolete technologies. In this paper we describe analysis of tin ash, zinc ash and aluminium ash by means of optical methods, such as X-ray diffraction (XRD), inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS), electron probe micro analysis (EPMA), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and chemical methods. The results of tin ash obtained by XRD method matched well with the cassiterite, a naturally occurring mineral of tin. ICP-MS studies reveal the presence of a large number of tracer metals, which may cause pollution by tertiary dispersion and this aspect is discussed. Conversely, the data generated by chemical methods are limited. However, the methods are simple and cost-effective. Then, they can easily be adopted by low-budget industries. Simple and cost-effective process to recover tin from tin ash is described. It is based on heating tin ash with sodium cyanide to about 900°C to separate tin component from the metal ash. The process recovers good quality tin and offers a very high yield. The process can be scaled up to small pilot plant.     

贵州省煤中挥发性和半挥发性微量元素分布规律的初步研究

研究了贵州省四大煤田不同层位、不同煤种中Hg,As,Se,Pb,Cd,Tl,Zn,Sb等挥发性和半挥发性微量元素的分布规律。贵州省原煤中Hg,As,Se,Pb,Cd,Sb等元素的含量高于地壳克拉克值;Tl,Zn等的含量低于地壳克拉克值;另外,除了Pb,Zn外,贵州省原煤中Hg,As,Se,Cd的含量远远高于东北和内蒙古东部地区。微量元素聚类分析结果表明,Hg,As,Sb可能主要分布于煤的黄铁矿中;Zn和Se可能主要赋存于闪锌矿中;Cd可能部分存在于硫化物中,部分存在于硅酸盐矿物相中;Pb可能主要存在于硅酸盐矿物相中;而Tl在煤中的赋存形式较复杂。     

海南省几种草本植物微量元素的组成

海南省位于我国热带地区,草本植物微量元素组成可反映热带区域生物地球化学特点。海南植物微量元素含量属正常范围值,仅个别植物Ｃｄ、Ｈｇ含量偏高。植物Ｚｎ、Ｃｕ、Ｍｏ含量大多在５ｍｇ／ｋｇ以上,Ｐｂ、Ｃｕ、Ｃｄ含量一般低于２ｍｇ／ｋｇ,Ｈｇ、Ａｓ、Ｎｉ通常不足１ｍｇ／ｋｇ。雀稗（Ｐａｓｐａｌｕｍｃｏｍｍｅｒｓｏｎｉ）、地胆草（Ｅｌｅｐｈａｎｔｏｐｕｓｓｃａｂｅｒ）等微量元素含量普遍较高。红裂稃草（Ｓｃｈｉｚａｃｈｙｒｉｕｍｓａｎｇｕｉｎｅｕｍ）、白茅（Ｉｍｐｅｒａｔａｃｙｌｉｎｄｒｉｃａ）等微量元素含量一般较低。植物微量元素组成与植物种类及其生境条件有关。生物吸收系数反映植物摄取元素的强度,Ｍｏ、Ｃｄ、Ｈｇ、Ｚｎ、Ｃｕ的生物吸收系数通常大于１．０,属强积聚元素,Ｐｂ、Ｃｒ、Ｎｉ、Ａｓ的生物吸收系数大多低于０．３,是弱摄取元素。     

广东省杨村华侨柑桔场土壤微量元素含量与分布的研究

采集并分析全场不同母质形成的有代表性的土壤样本142个.研究结果表明,各类土壤全B、Mo、Zn和Mn含量的平均值均低于全国平均值,全量Cu平均值高于全国平均值.有效B、Mo、Zn和Mn含量的平均值均低于临界值,有效Cu的平均值稍高于临界值;但66.7％的土样有效Cu含量低于临界值.硼、钼、锌和锰严重缺乏,铜多数缺乏.全场各类土壤的微量元素含量差异较大,各类土壤微量元素的垂直和水平分布特征不尽相同,尤其是垂直分布差异明显.从土壤微量元素的全量与母质的关系来看,以玄武岩、紫色砂页岩母质形成的土壤全量较高,砂砾岩母质形成的土壤全量中等,砂页岩和冲积物母质形成的土壤全量较低.     

Soil Contribution to the Elemental Composition of Epiphytic Lichens (Tuscany, Central Italy)

Total concentrations of Al, Ba, Cd, Co, Cr, Cu, Fe, Mn, Mo, Pb, Sr, Ti, V and Zn in the epiphytic lichen Parmelia sulcata and superficial soils from 60 remote sampling sites in Tuscany (central Italy) were determined to evaluate the contribution of soil to the elemental composition of the lichen. The results showed that in the Mediterranean environment, the trace element content of unwashed lichen samples is greatly affected by soil contamination. However, despite the strong correlations between the concentrations of lithogene elements such as Al, Fe and Ti in P. sulcata, lichen levels of these elements were not at all linearly correlated with their concentrations in the soil, suggesting that dust contamination is highly variable and probably dependent on local site characteristics. All methods evaluated to minimize soil contamination indicated Cu, Pb and Zn as elements of atmospheric origin. However, while levels of Pb were similar to those reported for background areas, moderate pollution by Cu and Zn, probably from fertilizers used in agriculture, was revealed. For elements such as Cd and Mo, identified as atmophile, some uncertainty exists due to the fact that they are essential for lichen metabolism and accumulate intracellularly in lichens; they may therefore occur in soluble form in the lichen thallus.     

Anthropogenic lead distribution in soils under arable land and permanent grassland estimated by Pb isotopic compositions

The role of land use on fate of metals in soils is poorly understood. In this work, we studied the incorporation of lead in two neighboring soils with comparable pedogenesis but under long-term different agricultural management. Distributions of anthropogenic Pb were assessed from concentrations and isotopic compositions determined on bulk horizon samples, systematical 5-10 cm increment samples, and on 24-h EDTA extracts. Minor amounts of anthropogenic lead were detected until 1-m depth under permanent grassland, linked to high earthworm activity. In arable land, exogenous Pb predominantly accumulated at depths <60 cm. Although the proximity between the two sites ensured comparable exposition regarding atmospheric Pb deposition, the isotopic compositions clearly showed the influence of an unidentified component for the cultivated soil. This work highlights the need for exhaustive information on historical human activities in such anthropized agrosystems when fate of metal pollution is considered.