The Thermal Discharges From Nuclear Power Plants in Taiwan

The increasing use of sea water for industrial cooling presents a real threat to the ecological environment in the ocean. in Taiwan where many electric power plants along the coast take sea water for cooling, people are concerned seriously about nuclear power plants. There are three nuclear power plants in Taiwan. Each plant has two units for generating power. the first two are located along the northern coast of Taiwan. the third is located in Kenting National Park along the coast of southernmost Taiwan. the plants take sea water for cooling, and discharge their heated effluents to the ocean surface from the coast. the thermal effluents have variable effects on the ecological environment near the plants. Fishermen living near the power plants complain that the heated water affects the inshore fishery catch. in addition, the thermal water from the second plant is easily accumulated near the coastal zone to influence the nearby swimming area in the summer-time. the thermal water from the third plant bleaches or kills some corals in shallow water near the outlet, and this conflicts with the interests of Kenting National Park.     

左炔诺孕酮对稀有鮈鲫脂质代谢的干扰效应

为探究孕激素左炔诺孕酮（LNG）对鱼类脂质代谢的影响,将刚孵化的稀有鮈鲫仔鱼置于0.8和6.5ng/L LNG暴露6个月至性成熟,考察其生长指标、肝脏组织病理学变化、脂质和脂蛋白含量及脂质代谢相关基因的表达情况.结果显示：（1）0.8,6.5ng/L LNG暴露显著降低70dph稀有鮈鲫的体重和肥满度,且6.5ng/L LNG暴露显著降低180dph雌、雄鱼的体长或体重;（2）0.8,6.5ng/L LNG暴露导致180dph成鱼肝脏出现细胞空泡、肝细胞肿胀等损伤;（3）0.8,6.5ng/L LNG暴露显著降低180dph雌鱼肝脏中甘油三酯、胆固醇的含量,且6.5ng/L LNG暴露显著降低雌鱼血浆中甘油三酯的含量,但对雄鱼肝脏及血浆的脂质含量无显著影响;（4）0.8,6.5ng/L LNG暴露显著降低180dph雌鱼肝脏中脂肪酸合成酶基因（fasn） mRNA的表达水平,且6.5ng/L LNG暴露显著降低180dph雄鱼肝脏中fasn及乙酰辅酶A羧化酶基因（acaca） mRNA的表达水平.由此可见,LNG长期低剂量暴露可抑制稀有鮈鲫的生长、诱导肝细胞损伤、引起肝脏和血浆脂质含量发生性别差异性变化,并影响肝脏中脂质代谢相关基因的表达,表明LNG在低浓度下可干扰稀有鮈鲫的脂质代谢,提示LNG对鱼类种群具有较高的潜在生态风险.     

江西定南县离子型稀土尾矿周边水体氮污染状况与分布特征

为探究"稀土王国"江西省赣南地区离子型稀土矿对周边水体环境的影响,以离子型稀土矿分布密集区定南县濂江月子河流域和龙迳河龙头流域为研究对象,综合分析研究区特征污染物ρ（NH₄+-N）空间分布特征,采用相关性分析和主成分分析揭示其主要污染来源及影响因素.结果表明:①离子型稀土矿停产整顿半年后,濂江月子河流域和龙迳河龙头流域ρ（NH₄+-N）超过1.00和2.00 mg/L的采样点分别达72%和68%;pH范围为2.95~7.66,平均值分别为6.23和5.53,水体总体上偏酸性;ρ（TN）、ρ（NH₄+-N）、EC与ρ（NO₃--N）变异系数较大,均介于0.80~1.50之间.②相关性分析结果显示,ρ（NH₄+-N）与ρ（TN）、EC均呈极显著正相关（P < 0.01）;ρ（NH₄+-N）与pH呈显著负相关（P < 0.05）.③流经稀土尾矿区的水体中ρ（NH₄+-N）随距离增加呈现明显的空间梯度分布特征,即距稀土矿区边界200 m处水体中ρ（NH₄+-N）最高（12.20~200.00 mg/L）,其次为1.15 km内（3.69~11.80 mg/L）及3.5 km以上水体（0.80~1.51 mg/L）,矿区周边未受到采矿活动影响的水体中ρ（NH₄+-N）最低（0.03~0.15 mg/L）.④PCA结果表明,2条河流的主要环境影响因子为ρ（TN）、ρ（NH₄+-N）、pH和EC,主要受到周边稀土矿山尾矿的强烈影响.研究显示,离子型稀土矿原位浸矿开采停产半年后,重点小流域水体中ρ（NH₄+-N）高概率超标的现状仍然存在,受稀土开采活动影响较大.建议进一步开展重点小流域NH₄+-N剩余"库容"精算和矿山周边地表水定期监测.      

Human viral pathogens are pervasive in wastewater treatment center aerosols

Wastewater treatment center(WTC) workers may be vulnerable to diseases caused by viruses, such as the common cold, influenza and gastro-intestinal infections. Although there is a substantial body of literature characterizing the microbial community found in wastewater, only a few studies have characterized the viral component of WTC aerosols,despite the fact that most diseases affecting WTC workers are of viral origin and that some of these viruses are transmitted through the air. In this study, we evaluated in four WTCs the presence of 11 viral pathogens of particular concern in this milieu and used a metagenomic approach to characterize the total viral community in the air of one of those WTCs. The presence of viruses in aerosols in different locations of individual WTCs was evaluated and the results obtained with four commonly used air samplers were compared.We detected four of the eleven viruses tested, including human adenovirus(h Ad V),rotavirus, hepatitis A virus(HAV) and Herpes Simplex virus type 1(HSV1). The results of the metagenomic assay uncovered very few viral RNA sequences in WTC aerosols, however sequences from human DNA viruses were in much greater relative abundance.     

Higher Plants As Bioindicators Of Sulphur Dioxide Emissions In Urban Environments

The evaluation of certain vascular plants that grow in the city of Madrid as biomonitors of SO₂ air pollution in urban environments has been carried out. Total concentration of sulphur in leaves of the chosen higher plants as well as other parameters in close relation to this contaminant (visible injury symptoms, chlorophyll a- and b-content and peroxidase activity) have been determined in order to study the spatial distribution and temporal changes in SO₂ deposition. Results obtained show that coniferous species such as Pinus pinea, were more sensitive to SO₂ atmospheric concentration than leafy species as Quercux ilex subspecies ballota and, in the same way, bush species, such asPyracantha coccinea and Nerium oleander, were more sensitive than wooded species, such as Cedrus deodaraandPinus pinea, respectively. There is a higher accumulation of sulphur in vegetable species located near highways and dense traffic incidence roads and near areas with high density of population. The minimum values for accumulation of SO₂ were registered in winter and spring seasons (from January to April) due to the vegetative stop; while maximum values are obtained during the summer season (from June to September), due to the stoma opening. The highest increments in sulphur concentration, calculated as the difference between two consecutive months, are obtained in May and June for all considered species except forCedrus deodara and Pyracantha coccinea, both species have few seasonal changes during the whole year. Some species are more sensitive to natural washing than others, showing a decrease in sulphur concentration after rainfall periods.     

A Study on Transfer Factors of 60Co and 65Zn from Soil to Plants in the Tropical Environment of Bangladesh

Soil to plant transfer factor (TF) of⁶⁰Co and ⁶⁵Zn was determined fromradioisotope experiments on plants grown in pots underoutdoor ambient tropical conditions for three growingseasons (1995–1998). The TFs were obtained fordifferent plants/crops such as, rice, bean, peanutspineapple, cabbage, tomato, spinach and grass. Theaverage TF values of ⁶⁰Co are found to be 0.087,0.15, 0.12, 0.67, 0.28, 0.79, 1.03 and 0.34respectively for the above mentioned plants/crops. Incase of ⁶⁵Zn, the average TF values are found tobe 2.24, 1.17, 0.89, 1.09, 0.78, 1.34, 2.92 and 1.78,respectively, for the above mentioned plants/crops. Thedata will be useful to assess the radiation exposureto man associated with the releases of radionuclidesfrom nuclear facilities by means of radiologicalassessment models that require transfer factors asinput parameters to predict the contamination ofradionuclides in foodchain.     

Modeling rhizofiltration: heavy-metal uptake by plant roots

The discovery of phytoaccumulation potential of plant species has led to its application for remediation of heavy-metal-contaminated soil and wastewater, which is termed as phytoextraction/rhizofiltration. For prediction, analysis, planning and cost-effective design of such systems, mathematical models not only are used as a screening tool but also provide optimal parameters like harvesting time, irrigation schedule, etc. Several laboratory and field scale studies have been carried out in the past, and mathematical expressions have been developed by various researchers for different phenomena like metal adsorption in soil, plant root growth with time, moisture and metal uptake by plant root, moisture movement in unsaturated zone, soil moisture relationship, etc. The complete design of any such phytoremediation program would require the knowledge of behavior of heavy-metal movement in soil, water and plant root system. In this paper, a model for simulating heavy-metal dynamics in soil, water and plant root system is developed and discussed. The governing non-linear partial differential equation is solved numerically by implicit finite difference method using Picard's iterative technique, and the formulation has been illustrated using a characteristic example. The source code is written in MATLAB.     

萃取-催化氧化光度法测定生物体中H2O2含量研究

提出萃取-催化氧化光度法测定生物体中H2O2含量的新方法.用稀土催化H2O2产生羟基自由基以氧化二苯基碳酰二肼,生成红色二苯基碳酰腙,其最大吸收波长为563.0nm;当二苯基碳酰二肼浓度一定时,△A563与H2O2含量呈量效关系.在0～30μmol/L H2O2 含量范围内,该法能简单、快速、精确地测定生物样品中H2O2实际含量.     

金鱼藻对Cu2+的生物吸附特征

研究了沉水植物金鱼藻对Cu2 的吸附动力学及热力学特征.结果表明,金鱼藻对Cu2 的吸附在20min内达到平衡,吸附动力学的实验结果符合伪二级动力学方程,其相关系数达到0.9937,表明该吸附为多种反应同时作用的复杂过程.用Langmuir和Freundlich2种吸附等温式拟合吸附热力学的实验结果表明,以Langmuir模型拟合效果更好,相关系数为0.9977,其最大吸附量为7.79mg/g.在解吸实验中,各浓度组的解吸率均在1%以下,表明金鱼藻对Cu2 的吸持作用较强.     

PO4^3-和柠檬酸对稀土元素在小麦体内积累和分异的影响

基于营养液培养,添加外源稀土和ICP-MS分析技术,研究了无机配体PO43-(Pi)及有机配体柠檬酸(Cit)对小麦器官中稀土元素积累和分异的影响.结果表明,不同Pi水平对小麦根中的稀土总含量(∑REE)影响较小,但显著降低叶中∑REE含量;而不同Cit水平对小麦根、叶中∑REE含量都有明显降低作用.对照植物(无Pi、Cit添加)中,稀土元素在小麦根中具有中稀土(MREE)富集及M-型四重效应分布特征,叶中有重稀土(HREE)富集及W-型四重效应分布特征.不同Pi处理对四重效应无明显作用,但进一步加强HREE在小麦叶片中的富集.添加柠檬酸使对照植物根和叶中的分异有逐渐减弱的趋势,在高浓度处理时(Cit≥150μmol.L-1),小麦根和叶中出现轻稀土(LREE)富集.