Sulphate, Nitrogen and Base Cation Budgets at 21 Forested Catchments in Canada, the United States and Europe

To assess the concern over declining base cation levels in forest soils caused by acid deposition, input-output budgets (1990s average) for sulphate (SO₄), inorganic nitrogen (NO₃-N; NH₄-N), calcium (Ca), magnesium (Mg) and potassium (K) were synthesised for 21 forested catchments from 17 regions in Canada, the United States and Europe. Trend analysis was conducted on monthly ion concentrations in deposition and runoff when more than 9 years of data were available (14 regions, 17 sites). Annual average SO₄ deposition during the 1990s ranged between 7.3 and 28.4 kg ha⁻¹ per year, and inorganic nitrogen (N) deposition was between 2.8 and 13.8 kg ha⁻¹ per year, of which 41–67% was nitrate (NO₃-N). Over the period of record, SO₄ concentration in deposition decreased in 13/14 (13 out of 14 total) regions and SO₄ in runoff decreased at 14/17 catchments. In contrast, NO₃-N concentrations in deposition decreased in only 1/14 regions, while NH₄-N concentration patterns varied; increasing at 3/14 regions and decreasing at 2/14 regions. Nitrate concentrations in runoff decreased at 4/17 catchments and increased at only 1 site, whereas runoff levels of NH₄-N increased at 5/17 catchments. Decreasing trends in deposition were also recorded for Ca, Mg, and K at many of the catchments and on an equivalent basis, accounted for up to 131% (median 22%) of the decrease in acid anion deposition. Base cation concentrations in streams generally declined over time, with significant decreases in Ca, Mg and K occurring at 8, 9 and 7 of 17 sites respectively, which accounted for up to 133% (median 48%) of the decrease in acid anion concentration. Sulphate export exceeded input at 18/21 catchments, likely due to dry deposition and/or internal sources. The majority of N in deposition (31–100%; median 94%) was retained in the catchments, although there was a tendency for greater NO₃-N leaching at sites receiving higher (<7 kg ha^-1 per year) bulk inorganic N deposition. Mass balance calculations show that export of Ca and Mg in runoff exceeds input at all 21 catchments, but K export only exceeds input at 16/21 sites. Estimates of base cation weathering were available for 18 sites. When included in the mass balance calculation, Ca, Mg and K exports exceeded inputs at 14, 10 and 2 sites respectively. Annual Ca and Mg losses represent appreciable proportions of the current exchangeable soil Ca and Mg pools, although losses at some of the sites likely occur from weathering reactions beneath the rooting zone and there is considerable uncertainty associated with mineral weathering estimates. Critical loads for sulphur (S) and N, using a critical base cation to aluminium ratio of 10 in soil solution, are currently exceeded at 7 of the 18 sites with base cation weathering estimates. Despite reductions in SO₄ and H⁺ deposition, mass balance estimates indicate that acid deposition continues to acidify soils in many regions with losses of Ca and Mg of primary concern. The U.S. Government's right to retain a non-exclusive, royalty free licence in and to any copyright is acknowledged. The Canadian Crown reserves the right to retain a non-exclusive, royalty free licence in and to any copyright.     

Extractive Spectrofluorometric Determination of Quinalphos Using Fluorescein in Environmental Samples

A simple, sensitive, convenient and low cost spectrofluorometric technique for determination of quinalphos is described. Quinalphos is decomposed with sodium ethoxide. Resultant sodium diethyl thiophosphate (Na-DETP) is extracted with a cationic fluorescein as ion pair complex into 1-chloro-2-nitrobenzene. The fluorescence of the ion pair, fluorescein-DETP is measured at 530 nm after excitation at 490 nm. This technique is applicable for the determination of quinalphos in water, food grains and vegetable samples up to ng level with Amberlite XAD-4.     

乌鲁木齐市汽车尾气排污现状及防治对策探讨

对乌鲁木齐市在用车辆进行了路抽检调查，通过大量数据分析，得出乌鲁木齐市目前汽车尾气排放情况仍令人担忧，治理工作不容忽视。     

天然石材产品放射性水平及其防护管理

简介了我国天然石材产品中放射水平、分类控制使用的现状以及应用天然石材装饰室内所致辐射对人体健康产生的不良影响，提出了加强对天然石材产品使用过程中的监督、监测和管理的建议。     

A ten year summary of concurrent ambient water column and sediment toxicity tests in the Chesapeake Bay watershed: 1990-1999

The goal of this study was to identify the relative toxicity ofambient areas in the Chesapeake Bay watershed by using a suiteof concurrent water column and sediment toxicity tests at seventy-five ambient stations in 20 Chesapeake Bay rivers from1990 through 1999. Spatial and temporal variability was examinedat selected locations throughout the 10 yr study. Inorganicand organic contaminants were evaluated in ambient water andsediment concurrently with water column and sediment tests toassess possible causes of toxicity although absolute causalitycan not be established. Multivariate statistical analysis wasused to develop a multiple endpoint toxicity index (TOX-INDEX) at each station for both water column and sediment toxicity data. Water column tests from the 10 yr testing period showed that49% of the time, some degree of toxicity was reported. The mosttoxic sites based on water column results were located inurbanized areas such as the Anacostia River, Elizabeth River andthe Middle River. Water quality criteria for copper, lead,mercury, nickel and zinc were exceeded at one or more of thesesites. Water column toxicity was also reported in localizedareas of the South and Chester Rivers. Both spatial and temporalvariability was reported from the suite of water column toxicitytests. Some degree of sediment toxicity was reported from 62% of the tests conducted during the ten year period. The ElizabethRiver and Baltimore Harbor stations were reported as the most toxic areas based on sediment results.Sediment toxicity guidelines were exceeded for one or more of thefollowing metals at these two locations: arsenic, cadmium,chromium, copper, lead, nickel and zinc. At the Elizabeth Riverstations nine of sixteen semi-volatile organics and two of sevenpesticides measured exceeded the ER-M values in 1990. Ambientsediment toxicity tests in the Elizabeth River in 1996 showedreduced toxicity. Various semi-volatile organics exceeded the ER-M values at a number of Baltimore Harbor sites; pyrene anddibenzo(a,h)anthracene were particularly high at one of thestations (Northwest Harbor). Localized sediment toxicity was alsoreported in the Chester, James, Magothy, Rappahannock, andPotomac Rivers but the link with contaminants was not determined.Both spatial and temporal variability was less for sedimenttoxicity data when compared with water column toxicity data. Acomparison of water column and sediment toxicity data for thevarious stations over the 10 yr study showed that approximatelyhalf the time agreement occurred (either both suite of testsshowed toxicity or neither suite of tests showed toxicity).     

Lead in Soil and Sediment in Iqaluit, Nunavut, Canada, and Links with Human Health

This study determined the spatial distribution of soiland of sediment-associated lead in Iqaluit, Nunavut.Samples were collected from the following areas:outside the built-up area of the town to reflectbackground concentrations; known or potential pointsources of lead, such as the Upper Base, the SylviaGrinnell Dump and the Metal Dump (North 40); andresidential and commercial areas of Iqaluit and Apex,a satellite community. In the laboratory, the <63 m sample fraction was analyzed for total lead andbioavailable lead, estimated by non-residual acidextractable lead content. The research findings revealthat elevated levels of bioavailable lead are presentin the study area. Total lead concentrations generallydo not exceed environmental guidelines. However, leadconcentrations in the Sylvia Grinnell Dump, and Apexand Iqaluit grid areas exceed health-based guidelines.The research concludes that there is not a serioushealth hazard posed by lead levels in the soil andsediment in the study area. However, severalenvironmental (elevated lead levels, bioavailableforms of lead and bare soil surfaces) and behaviouralfactors (vigorous and unsupervised play outside) maycreate a risk of lead exposure.     

Optimal charges on river effluent from lumped and distributed sources

We propose a modelling framework for the design of a Pigouvian effluent tax, in an environmental management problem implicating several economic agents located in a river basin. The proposed charging system allows for the agents' geographical position relative to the river's sections, at which environmental standards are to be enforced, and takes into account the possible different market structures within which the agents are operating. In particular, we consider industrial agents competing on an oligopolistic market, and a set of farmers acting as price takers on a large market. A regional authority's goal is to induce agents to some sort of cooperation which would result in the satisfaction of the common environmental constraints. The economic process on one side, and the pollution transport and accumulation on the other, constitute two dynamic processes in two different time scales. As the economic process is much slower than the other process we can neglect the latter's transients and concentrate on the time invariant steady state solutions to the transportation equation. The model thus constructed has some noncooperative game and optimal control problem's features with space being the ‘running’ variable. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

工作场所空气中硫酸雾（SO3）的分析

采用碘量法测定工作场所空气中的三氧化硫及硫酸雾，三氧化硫及硫酸雾经中性水吸收后与碘化钾和碘酸钾反应，析出的碘与淀粉指示剂作用产生蓝色，进行比色测定。     

太湖水质氮素质量浓度时空差异特征及影响因素分析

通过对2014—2016年湖体水质中氮素质量浓度分析,结合出入湖总氮浓度、水量、湖体水生生态等影响因素,发现太湖水体中总氮浓度呈现逐年下降的趋势,各监测点位总氮为0.530 mg/L～5.51 mg/L,时空分布不均,差异明显。时间上,总氮浓度表现为春季最高,夏季和秋季最低,且月均值变化曲线呈现出规律的正弦函数波形。空间上,总氮浓度大致表现出由西部湖区向东部湖区递减的趋势,呈现西部湖区﹥北部湖区﹥南部湖区﹥湖心区﹥东部湖区。要改善湖体水质,不仅要切断污染源,而且要加强水生生态功能修复。