Concentrations and profiles of polychlorinated biphenyls, -dibenzo-p-dioxins and -dibenzofurans in livers of mink from South Carolina and Louisiana,U.S.A

In South Carolina, U.S.A., mink have been reintroduced from two apparently healthy populations to areas where populations haveexisted in the past but have been extirpated. High mortality wasobserved during transport of mink from the source populations. Inorder to elucidate the potential effects of dioxin-like compoundson the survival and reproduction of mink, concentrations of totalpolychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), p,p-DDE, dioxin-likePCBs, polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins (PCDDs), anddibenzofurans (PCDFs) were measured in livers of mink collectedfrom the source populations in South Carolina and Louisiana. Concentrations of total 2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxinequivalents (TEQs) for the South Carolina and Louisiana mink were21 and 14 pg g^-1, wet wt., respectively. PCB and TEQ concentrations were close to the threshold values that can, under laboratory conditions, elicit toxic effects in ranchmink. Therefore, any additional exposures of these populations toTEQs might adversely affect their populations.     

Simultaneous adsorption of Remazol brilliant blue and Disperse orange dyes on red mud and isotherms for the mixed dye system

The paper presents the adsorption of Remazol brilliant blue (RBB) and Disperse orange 25 (DO25) dyes from aqueous solution of the mixture of dyes onto concentrated sulphuric acid-treated red mud (ATRM). First-order derivative spectrophotometric method was developed for the analysis of RBB and DO25 in mixed dye aqueous solution to overcome the limitations arising due to interference in the zero-order spectral method. The optimum conditions to maximize RBB adsorption favoured the adsorption of RBB, and those for DO25 favoured DO25 adsorption from the mixed dye aqueous solutions. Presence of a second dye always inhibited the adsorption of a target dye. The uptake and percentage adsorption of each of the dyes onto ATRM from the aqueous solution of the mixture of dyes decreased considerably with increasing concentrations of the other dye showing the antagonistic effect. Monocomponent Langmuir isotherm fitted the mixed dye adsorption equilibrium data better than the monocomponent Freundlich isotherm. However, monocomponent models are suitable for the fixed concentration of the other dye. Modified Langmuir isotherm model adequately predicted the multi-component adsorption equilibrium data for RBB-DO25-ATRM adsorption system with a good accuracy and is more generic from the application point of view.     

Environmental prevalence,fate, impacts,and mitigation of microplastics—a critical review on present understanding and future research scope

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - Microplastics are considered to be ubiquitous and widespread emerging contaminants. They are persistent in the nature and pose considerable harm to...     

Mechanical Properties of Layered Laminated Woven Bamboo <Emphasis Type="Italic">Gigantochloa Scortechinii</Emphasis>/Epoxy Composites

This study investigated the application of bamboo as a natural composite, in which its potential as a composite material had been examined for 2–6 layers. In precise, the woven bamboo (BW) formed the culm fiber composite with an average of 0.5 mm thickness and 5.0 mm width strip. In addition, this study looked into a specific type of bamboo species known as Gigantochloa Scortechinii (Buluh Semantan), which can be found in Malaysia. This laminated plain BW, which had been reinforced with epoxy (EP), was developed by applying the hand lay-up technique. After that, the specimens were characterized via mechanical analyses, for instance, tensile, flexural, hardness, and impact tests. As a result, the 2-layer BW had displayed rather excellent results chiefly due to the incorporation of epoxy composite, although this is exceptional hardness value.     

Ganges River Dolphin: An Overview of Biology,Ecology, and Conservation Status in India

Ganges River dolphin, Platanista gangetica gangetica, is one of the three obligatory freshwater dolphins in the world and is distributed in the Ganges–Brahmaputra–Meghna and Sangu–Karnaphuli River systems in India, Nepal, and Bangladesh. This species is facing considerable threats to its survival, and its population has dwindled from 4000 to 5000 in the early 1980s to 3500 in 2014 in the distribution range. This article reviews current status of the sub-species, habitat use, and the potential threats that the dolphins face for their survival (details of taxonomic status and genetics, evolutionary adaptations and anatomical peculiarities, physical adaptation, primitive characteristics, biology, behavior, surfacing behavior and dive times, mating and birth, and life span/age have been placed as Electronic Supplementary Materials). Recommendations have been made for the protection and developing strategies for the conservation of this Endangered and endemic sub-species.

Electronic supplementary material

The online version of this article (doi:10.1007/s13280-014-0534-7) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.     

Assessing seasonal and spatial trends of persistent organic pollutants (POPs) in Indian agricultural regions using PUF disk passive air samplers

The first survey of persistent organic pollutant (POP) concentrations in air across several Indian agricultural regions was conducted in 2006-2007. Passive samplers comprising polyurethane foam (PUF) disks were deployed on a quarterly basis at seven stations in agricultural regions, one urban site and one background site. The project was conducted as a sub-project of the Global Atmospheric Passive Sampling (GAPS) Network. In addition to revealing new information on air concentrations of several organochlorine pesticides (OCPs) and polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), the study has demonstrated the feasibility of conducting regional-scale monitoring for POPs in India using PUF disk samplers. The following analytes were detected with relatively high concentrations in air (mean for 2006 and 2007, pg/m³): α- and γ-hexachlorocyclohexane (HCH) (292 and 812, respectively); endosulfan I and II (2770 and 902, respectively); p,p′-DDE and p,p′-DDT (247 and 931, respectively); and for the sum of 48 PCBs, 12,100 (including a site with extremely high air concentrations in 2007) and 972 (when excluding data for this site).     

Evidence of new particle formation during post monsoon season over a high-altitude site of the Western Ghats,India

The formation of ultrafine particles, their growth, and associated characteristic features has been studied during new particle formation events over a high-altitude station of the Western Ghats during the 2014 post-monsoon season. Most of the events were observed during noon time where particle bursts in the nucleation-mode size range from 5 to 25 nm followed by sustained growth in size. This phenomenon persists for ～4–8 h with a growth rate of 1–2 nm h^–1. Peak concentrations of nucleation-mode particles during the event generally vary from 2300 to 5000 cm^–3. The mean growth rate is 1.4 ± 0.42 nm h^–1, particle formation rate is 1.14 ± 0.22 cm^–3 s^–1, coagulation sink is 0.35 ± 0.22 cm^–3 s^–1, and condensational sink is 15.4 ± 2.6?×?10^–3 s^–1. All these values are comparable with earlier results from Indian region. Comparison of size-segregated particle number concentration during days of new particle formation events and those without new particle formation were carried out showing a distinct variation in nucleation and Aitken mode with least variability associated with the accumulation mode.     

Distribution characteristics of nonylphenolic chemicals in Masan Bay environments, Korea

To understand the distribution characteristics of nonylphenolics and sterols, samples such as in creek water, sea surface water, waste water treatment plant (WWTP) effluent water, sediment and mussel were collected and analyzed. The principal analytes are nonylphenol (NP), nonylphenol monoethoxylate (NP1EO), nonylphenol diethoxylate (NP2EO), coprostanol (5beta) and cholestanol (5alpha). All these target pollutants showed 100% detection frequency in all of the samples analyzed. Total concentration of nonylphenolic compounds ranged from 334 to 3628ngl(-1) (average: 1331ngl(-1)) in creek water, from 15 to 36400ngl(-1) (average: 1013ngl(-1)) in sea surface water, from 131 to 2811ngg(-1) dry weight (average: 581ngg(-1) dry weight) in sediment and from 50.5 to 289ngg(-1) dry weight (average: 139ngg(-1) dry weight) in mussel. For water samples, levels of nonylphenolics determined in summer season were higher than those in spring season. Among them, nonylphenol and NP1EO was dominant in creek water and seawater, respectively. The highest concentration was recorded in sediment near a WWTP effluent outlet. And high levels of nonylphenolics and sterols were found in about 3km area surrounding WWTP effluent outlet. Coefficient of linear regression (R(2)) for NP in mussel and in sediment was 0.90. Similarly good correlation (R(2)=0.98) was obtained between concentration in water and in mussel indicating that a steady state has been reached in this bay. The calculated bio concentration factor (BCF=2990) for NP in Masan Bay agrees well with reported values in the literature.