Criteria for the evaluation of dioxins in the environment

In FRG and other countries unequivocal criteria for the limitation of dioxins (PCDD's/PCDF's) in food like vegetables and fruits are lacking. These have to be directly associated with the limitation of dioxins in the soil and the deposition of particulate matter as the two main pathways for plant contamination. Based on recent investigations in the vicinity of cable-waste incinerators in Northrhine-Westphalia with comparatively high contents of dioxins in garden plants and soils and other sources of dioxins, considerations are given for the establishment of the criteria urgently needed.     

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.     

Growth of Plants on TBT-contaminated Harbour Sludge and Effect on TBT Removal (10 pp)

Background Worldwide, large amounts of sediments have to be dredged annually from waterways and harbours. These sediments are sometimes polluted with a variety of toxic compounds. In some countries, including Belgium, the load with the biocide tributyltin (TBT) from ship coatings prohibits the dumping of harbour sludge into the sea. Land-based dumping is a commonly used alternative. Objective This research investigated the feasibility to use land-deposited harbour sludge for plant production. In a field trial, the growth of 38 more or less salt-tolerant plant species on low and high TBT-contaminated sediments was studied. The elimination of TBT from sludge with and without vegetation was compared. The uptake of TBT and its degradation products di- and monobutyltin (DBT and MBT) into harvest products under field conditions was determined. - Experimental Set-up. Sediments dredged in May 2003 from the brackish waters of the port of Antwerp were analysed in the laboratory for soil texture, pH, electroconductivity, sodium, magnesium, potassium, calcium, ammonium, nitrate, total nitrogen, chloride, sulphur and the organotins TBT, DBT and MBT. The sediments were lagooned for one year to dewater, desalinate and improve their structure. Salt-tolerant domestic and wild plants were selected and sown in May 2004. In August 2004, plants were harvested and the produced biomass was determined. Samples were taken from vegetated and non-vegetated top and bottom sediments and from plants growing above soil and analysed for TBT, DBT and MBT. Results The fresh sediments showed a good supply with nutrients and a neutral pH, but were rather saline (EC 14 mS cm-1 of the saturated paste extract). The salinity decreased to 3.7 mS cm-1 during lagoonation. The high and the low contaminated sediment had initially 43 and 1.6 mg TBT kg-1 dry weight, respectively. Besides TBT, several other contaminants were present in the sediments at critical levels. The biomass production of the plant species from the field trial ranged from 0.2 to 13 tons dry mass per hectare. Plants performing excellently were barley, sorghum, rape seed, a clover/grass mix and reed. If at all, a positive influence of TBT on plant growth was seen. TBT was degraded significantly faster (>40%) below barley. The uptake of TBT, DBT and MBT into stem and leaves of reed, grass and clover was very low, but measurable and not related to concentrations in soil. No uptake of TBT or its metabolites into corn of barley was found. Discussion This study confirmed former results: the toxicity of TBT to higher plants is low, and even high levels in soils would not be a hindrance for crop production. The removal of TBT seemed to be increased by both lagooning and plant growth, although the target values for sea dumping in use in certain European countries were not reached. A plausible explanation for the faster degradation of TBT under vegetation is that oxygen is a limiting factor, and plants dewater the soil, thus aerating it. The uptake of the organotins TBT, DBT and MBT into harvest products is probably due to attached soil particles. Conclusions To summarize, barley was the optimal species: it grew very well despite the salinity of the dredged sediments, it had a significantly positive effect on TBT removal; it showed no measurable uptake of TBT or the other butyltins into the harvested product; and it is a cash crop well established in European agriculture. Outlook The amounts of dredged sediments are high, and good soils are becoming increasingly rare. The feasibility of using dredged sediments for non-food production, such as energy crops, should be investigated by a critical risk assessment.     

农林生物质在含铬废水处理中的应用

农林生物质作为低成本吸附剂在环境污染治理中日益受到重视。综述了农林生物质在含铬废水处理中的应用研究进展，分析了生物质处理含铬废水的机理、影响因素，指出了生物质法处理含铬废水的发展方向。     

Exploiting plant metabolism for the phytoremediation of persistent herbicides

Weed control by herbicides has helped us to create the green revolution and to provide food for at least the majority of human beings living today. However, some herbicides remain in the environment and pose an ecological problem. The present review describes the properties and fate of four representative herbicides known to be presistent in ecosystems. Metabolic networks are depicted and it is concluded that removal of these compounds by the ecologically friendly technique of phytoremediation is possible. The largest problem is seen in the uptake of the compounds into suitable plants and the time needed for such an approach.     

PM2.5 chemical source profiles for vehicle exhaust, vegetative burning, geological material, and coal burning in Northwestern Colorado during 1995

PM_2.5 (particles with aerodynamic diameters less than 2.5 μm) chemical source profiles applicable to speciated emissions inventories and receptor model source apportionment are reported for geological material, motor vehicle exhaust, residential coal (RCC) and wood combustion (RWC), forest fires, geothermal hot springs; and coal-fired power generation units from northwestern Colorado during 1995. Fuels and combustion conditions are similar to those of other communities of the inland western US. Coal-fired power station profiles differed substantially between different units using similar coals, with the major difference being lack of selenium in emissions from the only unit that was equipped with a dry limestone sulfur dioxide (SO₂) scrubber. SO₂ abundances relative to fine particle mass emissions in power plant emissions were seven to nine times higher than hydrogen sulfide (H₂S) abundances from geothermal springs, and one to two orders of magnitude higher than SO₂ abundances in RCC emissions, implying that the SO₂ abundance is an important marker for primary particle contributions of non-aged coal-fired power station contributions. The sum of organic and elemental carbon ranged from 1% to 10% of fine particle mass in coal-fired power plant emissions, from 5% to 10% in geological material, >50% in forest fire emissions, >60% in RWC emissions, and >95% in RCC and vehicle exhaust emissions. Water-soluble potassium (K⁺) was most abundant in vegetative burning profiles. K⁺/K ratios ranged from 0.1 in geological material profiles to 0.9 in vegetative burning emissions, confirming previous observations that soluble potassium is a good marker for vegetative burning.     

田湾核电站外围辐射环境监测工作的质量保证

总结了田湾核电站外围辐射环境监测中的质量保证实施情况，包括：人员培训和考核，仪器设备溯源，样品采集、运输、贮存及生物样品前处理的质控，样品分析和现场监测的质控，数据的记录处理和管理要求等，最后提出几点建议。     

城市二级污水灌溉对几种园林植物生长的影响

以新疆乌鲁木齐市东郊七道弯污水处理厂二级出水为研究对象．开展了二级污水对几种园林植物(万寿菊、紫穗槐、高羊茅、早熟禾)生理、生态的影响研究。与对照组相比，结果表明，草坪草、紫穗槐叶绿素含量、净光合速率、地上部分生物量增加。     

浐河流域水-土-植物硝酸盐和氮同位素组成及氮源示踪

本文对关中浐河流域河水-土壤-植物的硝酸盐和氮同位素组成进行调查,并与前期对浐河河水氮同位素的结果对比。研究表明：从浐河上游至下游,土壤NO₃^?-N含量表现出：农耕区（43.5 mg???kg^?1）>森林区（3.25 mg???kg^?1）>城市区（0.63 mg???kg^?1）;土壤δ¹⁵N-NO₃^?值表现出：农耕区（18.1‰）>城市区（?1.5‰）>森林区（?5.8‰）;不同的土地利用类型是让其产生变化的重要原因。浐河河水NO₃^?-N含量（3.2?—?6.4 mg???kg^?1）及δ¹⁵N-NO₃^?值（?1.4‰?—?2.1‰）均表现出下游高于上游。相对于前期对浐河河水氮同位素的研究,发现上游和中游水体NO₃^?-N含量整体呈上升趋势,而下游地区NO₃^?-N含量有所下降。结合河流δ¹⁵N-NO₃^?的空间分布特征可以看出源头日渐发达的旅游业和中游农业的发展对水体的污染加重,而下游工业污染的治理效果明显。植物氮同位素变化范围在?4.6‰?—??2.1‰。对浐河周边水-土-植物的氮同位素组成特征和变化研究可以为浐河流域的生态评价和治理提供一定的理论依据。     

污水处理厂中有机磷阻燃剂的污染特征

为了研究污水处理厂中有机磷阻燃剂(organophosphorus flame retardants,OPFRs)的污染特征,于2017年采集苏州市8个污水处理厂(7个A2/O工艺与1个氧化沟工艺)的进水、二沉池出水、污水厂出水、生物池污泥以及脱水剩余污泥.采用加速溶剂萃取(ASE)-固相萃取方法测定了污水与污泥中10种OPFRs的浓度,并比较了两种不同工艺各个工艺段OPFRs的去除效果,估算了最终排入环境的日均排放量.结果表明:7种OPFRs在进水、出水、污泥中均有检出,进水和总出水中OPFRs总浓度范围分别为0.74~222.65μg·L~(-1)和0.46~175.41μg·L~(-1),均值分别为65.56μg·L~(-1)和22.99μg·L~(-1);二沉池出水中OPFRs总浓度为0.48~178.14μg·L~(-1),均值为43.14μg·L~(-1);估算污水厂出水中OPFRs日排放量为36.69~2 177.12 g·d~(-1).剩余污泥中OPFRs总含量(以干重计)范围为89.32~596.24μg·g~(-1),均值(以干重计)为249.35μg·g~(-1),剩余污泥中OPFRs的日排放量最小为3.57~7.15 kg·d~(-1),最大为47.70~95.40 kg·d~(-1).氧化沟工艺对OPFRs有较好去除,去除率达到92%;A_2/O工艺则为11%~99%,差异性较大.3种氯代类的OPFRs[分别为磷酸三(2-氯乙基)酯、磷酸三(1-氯-2-丙基)酯、磷酸三(1,3-二氯-2-丙基)酯]是进水与出水中主要成分,主要由于氯代OPFRs的使用量大和传统污水处理技术对其去除率低.