Environmental Monitoring and Assessment

Cao, Pengying; Liu, Fengmao; Wang, Suli; Wang, Yuhong; Han, Lijun

doi: 10.1007/s10661-007-9942-5pmid: 17882521

The analytical method of S-metolachlor residue and its degradation in cotton and soil in trial field were investigated. S-metolachlor EC (96% w/w) was applied as pre-emergence at dosages of 1,500 and 2,250 ml ha−1 3 days after sowing of the cottonseeds in the field. The soil and the plant samples were collected at different intervals and the residues of S-metolachlor were analyzed by GC–ECD. The results showed that the degradation of S-metolachlor in cotton leaves in Beijing and Nanjing coincides with C = 0.1113e−0.1050t and C = 0.1177e−0.1580t, respectively; the half-lives were about 6.6 and 4.4 days. The degradation of S-metolachlor in soil in Beijing and Nanjing coincides with C = 1.0621e−0.0475 t, and C = 0.9212e−0.0548 t, respectively; the half-lives were about 14.6 and 12.6 days,. At harvest time, the S-metolachlor in cotton seeds and soil samples were detected by GC–ECD and confirmed by GC/MS. The results showed that the residues in cottonseeds were lower than the USA EPA’s maximum residue limit of 0.1 mg kg−1 in cottonseed. It could be considered as safe to human beings and environment.

Chang, Chia-Ling; Chiueh, Pei-Te; Peng, Yen-Shun

doi: 10.1007/s10661-007-9943-4pmid: 17874196

The vulnerability analysis method has been widely used in many environmental fields. In recent years, the tool has succeeded in comprehensive assessment of environmental problems. This study applied the vulnerability and resilience analysis method on watershed conservation and grasped the environmental change capacity that watershed could bear. The Fei-tsui reservoir watershed in Northern Taiwan provided the setting for the case study reported herein. This study considered both internal and external effect factors, including watershed vulnerability, rainfall energy and the distances between the outlet and subbasins, and developed a new index, WP, for the priority restraints strategies on the land-use activities. The land-use restraint index can be a significant criterion for watershed protection and management strategies.

D’Adamo, R.; Stasio, M.; Fabbrocini, A.; Petitto, F.; Roselli, L.; Volpe, M.

doi: 10.1007/s10661-007-9944-3pmid: 17882520

The Lesina lagoon is located on the southern Adriatic coast of Italy; many marine species, such as the shrimp M. kerathurus, use the Lesina lagoon as a nursery, spending their initial growth phase there. In order to assess the usefulness of migratory species as biomonitors of the environmental quality of this nursery area, we evaluated the metal content of the M. kerathurus juveniles at the end of their growth phase in the lagoon (October), when they are assumed to have bioaccumulated the maximum level of metals from the lagoon environment. The concentrations of Cr, Cd, Pb, Zn, Mn and Cu were measured in the muscle and exoskeleton of the shrimp, and in the sediments and waters of three areas of the Lesina Lagoon. Both the water and sediment levels of the investigated metals tended to fall within the ranges recorded for other lagoon environments characterized by similar anthropic impact and texturally similar sediment; the juveniles of the shrimp M. kerathurus proved to be strong bioaccumulators of heavy metals such as Zn and Cu (biota-sediment accumulation factors – BSAFs – 6.01 and 25.0 respectively), which derive from agricultural activities; therefore, at the end of their growing phase in the lagoon they can be considered useful biomonitors of metal contamination of agricultural origin in their nursery area.

Ogunfowokan, A.; Adenuga, A.; Torto, N.; Okoh, E.

doi: 10.1007/s10661-007-9945-2pmid: 17955337

This work centered on a 1-year evaluation campaign of point source pollution from a sewage treatment oxidation pond and its receiving stream. Water samples were collected from the sewage treatment oxidation pond and the receiving stream during July 2002 and June 2003. Concentrations of heavy metals were determined using Inductively Coupled Plasma-Mass Spectrometry (ICP-MS) after a triple acid digestion of samples using open beaker method. Generally, the results showed high levels of toxic metals such as Cd, Pb, As, Al, Cr, Mn, Co, and Fe in the influent and effluent samples as well as in the receiving stream. The annual mean concentration of metals in the sewage samples ranged from 11.90 to 16.05, 64.96 to 88.27, 38.91 to 76.35, 17.46 to 24.45 μg/L for Cd, As, Pb, Co, and 4.31 to 8.77, 1.71 to 2.45, 0.46 to 0.74 and 13.82 to 20.47 mg/l for Al, Cr, Mn and Fe, respectively; while in the receiving stream, the concentrations were between 6.89 to 10.45, 35.50 to 59.26, 22.85 to 35.94, 11.33 to 18.83 μg/l for Cd, As, Pb, Co, and 1.99 to 3.49, 1.35 to 2.08, 0.21 to 0.48, and 8.93 to 14.15 mg/l for Al, Cr, Mn and Fe, respectively. The discharge of the effluent from the sewage pond into the receiving stream has therefore led to increase in the concentrations of some heavy metals downstream, thus impacting the receiving stream negatively and could pose a serious health hazard to aquatic ecosystems and humans particularly for rural dwellers and peasant farmers downstream that utilize the water from the receiving stream for various domestic and agricultural purposes untreated.

Nikolaidis, C.; Mandalos, P.; Vantarakis, A.

doi: 10.1007/s10661-007-9955-0pmid: 17874309

Chemical fertilizers are used extensively in modern agriculture, in order to improve yield and productivity of agricultural products. However, nutrient leaching from agricultural soil into groundwater resources poses a major environmental and public health concern. The Evros region is one of the largest agricultural areas in Northern Greece, extending over 1.5 million acres of cultivated land. Many of its drinking water resources are of groundwater origin and lie within agricultural areas. In order to assess the impact of agricultural fertilizers on drinking water quality in this region, tap-water samples from 64 different locations were collected and analyzed for the presence of nitrates $${\left( {{\text{NO}}^{ - }_{3} } \right)}$$ , nitrites $${\left( {{\text{NO}}^{ - }_{2} } \right)}$$ , ammonium $${\left( {{\text{NH}}^{ + }_{4} } \right)}$$ , sulfate $${\left( {{\text{SO}}^{{ - 2}}_{4} } \right)}$$ and phosphate $${\left( {{\text{PO}}^{{ - 3}}_{4} } \right)}$$ . These chemicals were selected based on the information that ammonium nitrate, ammonium sulfate and inorganic phosphate were the primary fertilizers used in local crop production. $${\text{NO}}^{ - }_{3} $$ , $${\text{SO}}^{{ - 2}}_{4} $$ and $${\text{PO}}^{{ - 3}}_{4} $$ levels exceeding accepted values were recorded in 6.25, 4.70 and 9.38% of all sampling points, respectively. $${\text{NO}}^{ - }_{2} $$ and $${\text{NH}}^{ + }_{4} $$ concentrations, on the other hand, were inside the permitted range. The data generated were introduced into a geographic information system (GIS) program for computer analysis and projection maps representing afflicted areas were created. Our results indicate a profound geographic correlation in the surface distribution of primary contaminants in areas of intensified agricultural production. Thus, drinking water pollution in these areas can be attributed to excessive fertilizer use from agricultural sources.

Pandey, J.; Kumar, R.; Wate, S.

doi: 10.1007/s10661-007-9956-zpmid: 17874332

Dioxins like various gaseous pollutants and aerosols can be scavenged by appropriate vegetative greenbelts. Based on their stomatal properties and the models for contaminant uptake, uptake of dioxin (2,3,7,8-TCDD) by three important Indian plant species, viz. Eugenia jambolana (Jamun), Azadirachta indica (Neem) and Ficus religiosa (Peepal), has been estimated. 2,3,7,8-TCDD is a contaminant with severe harmful ecological ramifications. Computations show that Ficus religiosa has highest uptake capacity. The present exercise has its utility in designing appropriate green-belts for mitigating adverse environmental and human health impacts due to dioxins. This can be an effective management option for mitigating the damages caused by dioxins.

Amin, Rafat; Eissa, M.

doi: 10.1007/s10661-007-9957-ypmid: 17906936

For the assessment of inhalation doses due to radon and its progeny to cavern workers and visitors, it is necessary to have information on the time integrated gas concentrations and equilibrium factors. Passive single cup dosimeters using solid state nuclear track detectors (SSNTD) is the best suited for this purpose in wadi Sannur cave, Beni Suef, Egypt. The average radon concentration measurements for the cave are 836 ± 150 Bq m–3 by CR-39 detectors and for equilibrium factor an overall average of all measured values was used 0.687. The effective dose for cave workers is 3.65 mSv/year while for visitors is 23 μSv/year. Comparing these values to the Ionizing Radiation Regulations (IRR) values which indicate that the estimated effective doses for workers and visitors in this cave are less than the average overall radon dose.

Khuder, A.; Bakir, M.; Hasan, R.; Mohammad, A.

doi: 10.1007/s10661-007-9958-xpmid: 17891506

The concentrations of Ni, Cu, Zn, and Pb in human scalp hair of 281 individuals working in 10 Syrian industrial plants were determined using co-precipitation by ammoniumpyrolidinedithiocarbamate (APDC) method for total reflection X-ray fluorescence (TXRF) analysis. The results were compared to data obtained for a control group consisted of individuals working at the Syrian Atomic Energy Commission and also to data reported in the literature. The results given by the group of workers in battery plant showed that Pb concentration in human scalp hair samples were higher than those for control group, while some abnormal concentrations were obtained for Cu, Zn and Ni in cables, printing and battery plants, respectively. Normal concentrations of these elements were obtained for hair workers in olive oil, power stations, textile, and iron industrial plants. The relationships of Pb–Pb/Ni and Cu–Cu/Ni were plotted with correlation coefficients of 0.9937 and 0.9014, respectively. In general, the results showed that, the workers who were occupationally exposed to battery industrial pollution are at risk, followed by individuals in printing and cables industries, while the rest of workers in other industries are considered occupationally unexposed.

Brands, Edwin; Rajagopal, R.

doi: 10.1007/s10661-007-9959-9pmid: 17882518

The goals of environmental legislation and associated regulations are to protect public health, natural resources, and ecosystems. In this context, monitoring programs should provide timely and relevant information so that the regulatory community can implement legislation in a cost-effective and efficient manner. The Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA) of 1974 attempts to ensure that public water systems (PWSs) supply safe water to its consumers. As is the case with many other federal environmental statutes, SDWA monitoring has been implemented in relatively uniform fashion across the USA. In this three part series, spatial and temporal patterns in water quality data are utilized to develop, compare, and evaluate the economic performance of alternative place-based monitoring approaches to current monitoring practice. Under the Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA), a common list of over 90 contaminants is analyzed nationwide using EPA-authorized laboratory procedures. National and state-level summaries of SDWA data have shown that not all contaminants occur in all places at all times. This hypothesis is confirmed and extended by showing that only a few (less than seven) contaminants are of concern in any one of 19 Iowa surface water systems studied. These systems collectively serve about 350,000 people and their sizes vary between 1,200 and 120,000. The distributions of contaminants found in these systems are positively skewed, with many non-detect measurements. A screening strategy to identify such contaminants in individual systems is presented. These findings have significant implications not only for the design of alternative monitoring programs, but also in multi-billion-dollar decisions that influence the course of future drinking water infrastructure, repair, and maintenance investments.

Brands, Edwin; Rajagopal, R.

doi: 10.1007/s10661-007-9960-3pmid: 17882517

The goals of environmental legislation and associated regulations are to protect public health, natural resources, and ecosystems. In this context, monitoring programs should provide timely and relevant information so that the regulatory community can implement legislation in a cost-effective and efficient manner. The Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA) of 1974 attempts to ensure that public water systems (PWSs) supply safe water to its consumers. As is the case with many other federal environmental statutes, SDWA monitoring has been implemented in relatively uniform fashion across the United States. In this three part series, spatial and temporal patterns in water quality data are utilized to develop, compare, and evaluate the economic performance of alternative place-based monitoring approaches to current monitoring practice. Part II: Several factors affect the performance of monitoring strategies, including: measurable objectives, required precision in estimates, acceptable confidence levels of such estimates, available budget for sampling. In this paper, we develop place-based monitoring strategies based on extensive analysis of available historical water quality data (1960–1994) of 19 Iowa community water systems. These systems supply potable water to over 350,000 people. In the context of drinking water, the objective is to protect public health by utilizing monitoring resources to characterize contaminants that are detectable, and are close to exceeding health standards. A place-based monitoring strategy was developed in which contaminants were selected based on their historical occurrence, rather than their appearance on the SDWA contaminant list. In a subset of the water systems, the temporal frequency of monitoring for one ubiquitous contaminant, nitrate, was tailored to patterns in its historical occurrence and concentration. Three sampling allocation models (linear, quadratic, and cubic) based on historic patterns in peak occurrence were developed and evaluated. Random and fixed-interval sampling strategies within the context of such models were also developed and evaluated. Strategies were configured to incorporate a variety of options for frequency and number of samples (depending on budget and the desired precision in estimate of peak concentrations).