Environmental fate of fungicides and other current-use pesticides in a central California estuary

The current study documents the fate of current-use pesticides in an agriculturally-dominated central California coastal estuary by focusing on the occurrence in water, sediment and tissue of resident aquatic organisms. Three fungicides (azoxystrobin, boscalid, and pyraclostrobin), one herbicide (propyzamide) and two organophosphate insecticides (chlorpyrifos and diazinon) were detected frequently. Dissolved pesticide concentrations in the estuary corresponded to the timing of application while bed sediment pesticide concentrations correlated with the distance from potential sources. Fungicides and insecticides were detected frequently in fish and invertebrates collected near the mouth of the estuary and the contaminant profiles differed from the sediment and water collected. This is the first study to document the occurrence of many current-use pesticides, including fungicides, in tissue. Limited information is available on the uptake, accumulation and effects of current-use pesticides on non-target organisms. Additional data are needed to understand the impacts of pesticides, especially in small agriculturally-dominated estuaries.     

Stofftransformationen in äquatischen Systemen und ihre hygienische Bewertung

Chemical substances can be transformed under the influence of physical/chemical and/or biochemical active factors. By this, the ecotoxicological and hygienic-toxicological properties and effects of the substances are changed also with respect to toxicity, late effects (carcinogenetic, mutagenic, teratogenetic ones) as well as the bio- and geo-accumulation behaviour. Such transformations occur also during water treatment, and therefore also the properties and effects of the transformation products have to be taken into account for determining the limit values for pollutants in raw water for the production of drinking water. Since frequently we have incompletely known transformation products or mixtures of substances, a coefficient of hazard is suggested for the evaluation. It is the quotient of the threshold concentrations of the initial substance and of the transformation products for the different (organoleptic, toxic, carcinogenic, teratogenetic etc.) effects. For several organic substances it is demonstrated that the transformation products can be regarded less toxic compared with the initial substance. Strong oxidants, however, cause an increased danger in many cases.     

GEOHYDROLOGIC ANALOGIES BETWEEN THE JORDAN VALLEYS OF UTAH AND THE HOLY LAND

Abstract

The biblical Jordan River Valley, which extends from Lake Tiberias (the Sea of Galilee) to the Dead Sea, is decidedly similar to the Jordan River Valley of Utah, which joins Lake Utah and Great Salt Lake. Both Jordan Rivers drain relatively large fresh-water lakes and also are major sources of discharge into large salty lakes that have no outlets to the ocean.

The two Jordan River valleys and the highlands and mountains that surround them, have many physiographic, geologic, and hydrologic similarities as well as some noteworthy differences. For example, an hypothesis for the formation of the Dead Sea-Jordan Valley rift is that the east Jordan block slid northward with respect to the west Jordan block. The amount of displacement is estimated to be about 65 miles and took place partly in Miocene and possible Pliocène and partly in Pleistocene time. Tectonc activity has also been a major factor in the formation of the Jordan valley of Utah, but the movement here probably was along large normal faults in late Tertiary and Quaternary time. The sediments underlying both Jordan River valleys were deposited in ancestral lacustrine and fluvial environments. Abundant supplies of ground water are found under both valleys, but probably larger supplies of better quality water can be obtained in Utah. Both valleys contain numerous small nonthermal and a few large thermal springs.     

Zielvorgaben für Pflanzenschutzmittelwirkstoffe und andere Schadstoffe in Oberflächengewässern

Quality Targets for Pesticides and Other Pollutants in Surface Waters Surface waters are not only adversely affected by industrial and municipal wastewaters but also by diffuse sources. For the control of the ecological water quality, so‐called quality targets are set. The quality targets are threshold concentrations for hazardous substances related to the protected goods like water ecosystems, drinking water supply, sediments, or fishing. In this paper, quality targets for the protection of aquatic life in surface waters were derived on the basis of a concept developed by the International Commission for the Protection of the Rhine (Internationale Kommission zum Schutze des Rheins – IKSR). The quality targets for the selected hazardous substances, which mainly belong to the chemical class of pesticides, were calculated using ecotoxicological results for species of bacteria, algae, fish, and small crustaceans, as the four trophic standards of the water ecosystem. In cooperation with the Federal Environmental Agency (Umweltbundesamt – UBA) the effect data were taken from ecotoxicological data bases. According to the concept of the IKSR, the lowest test result for the most sensitive species was multiplied by an assessment factor. This proceeding concerns the difficulty in describing the complex interactions in water ecosystems with toxicity data of single laboratory experiments for a few organisms. For seven pesticides quality targets below 0.1 μg/L were proposed. These results show that the ecotoxicologically based quality targets might be even lower than the limit values for pesticides in drinking water of 0.1 μg/L. But for most of the substances the determined values are significantly higher. The great concentration range of quality targets demonstrates distinctly that one standard concentration for all pesticides could not be given with regard to the different effects on aquatic organisms.     

Effect of extreme rainfall events on the water resources of the Jordan River

As a response to climate change, shifting rainfall trends including increased multi-year droughts and an escalation in extreme rainfall events are expected in the Middle East. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the potential impact of these shifting trends on stream flow in the Jordan River and its tributaries. We use a non-homogeneous hidden Markov model to generate artificial daily rainfall simulations which capture independently shifting trends of increased droughts and escalated extreme. These simulations are then used as input into a hydrological model calibrated for the upper catchments of the Jordan River to compare the impact on stream flow and water resources between the different rainfall scenarios. We compare the predicted baseflow and surface flow components of the tested watersheds, and find that while an increase in extreme rainfall events increases the intensity and frequency of surface flow, the over all flow to the Jordan River, and the characteristics of the baseflow in the Jordan River system is not largely impacted. In addition, though it has been suggested that in the case of a multi-year drought the karstic nature of the aquifer might lead to more intense, non-linear reductions in stream flow, here we quantify and show the conditions when annual stream flow reduce linearly with rainfall, and when these relations will become non-linear.     

Pesticide residues analysis in lake water and sediment samples from the Golcuk National Park

Pesticide residues in surface water and sediments are extremely important because of their potential impacts on aquatic ecosystems and their implications on drinking water sources. Pesticide contamination of fresh water is causing concern with respect to long-term and low-dose effects of pesticides on public health, as well as their impact on no target species. Thus, intensive research on the fate and transport of pesticides in the environment is needed. Gas chromatography (GC) with electron-capture detection (ECD) and nitrogen-phosphorous detection (NPD) were employed for the identification of different pesticides in water and sediment samples. For this purpose, extraction procedure with dichloromethane and ethyl acetate were used. The aim of our work was the quantitative determination of pesticides from several compound classes in water and sediment from Gölcük National Park (Turkey). In GC-NPD/ECD, the detection limits were between 2.75–135 ng/L for the studied pesticides, recoveries ranged from 90 to 102% in samples and the relative standard deviations were in the range 1 to 10%. The correlation coefficients obtained from calibration curves of the pesticides standards were found to be 0.999. No pesticides residue was detected in the samples analyzed. This result is highly significant because of its impacts on public health and animals living in the Gölcük National Park.     

Evaluation of Two Low‐Cost–High‐Performance Adsorbent Materials in the Waste‐to‐Product Approach for the Removal of Pesticides from Drinking Water

This study evaluates the performance of two low cost and high performance adsorption materials, i.e., activated carbon produced from two natural waste products: Bamboo and coconut shell, in the removal of three pesticides from drinking water sources. Due to the fact that bamboo and coconut shell are abundant and inexpensive materials in many parts of the world, they respond to the “low‐cost” aspect. The adsorption capacities of two local adsorbents have been compared with commercial activated carbon to explore their potential to respond to the “high quality” aspect. Two pesticides were selected, namely dieldrin and chlorpyrifos, because they are commonly used in agriculture activities, and may remain in high concentrations in surface water used as drinking water sources. The results indicate that the adsorption of pesticides on activated carbons is influenced by physico‐chemical properties of the activated carbon and the pesticides such as the presence of an aromatic ring, and their molar mass. The activated carbon produced from bamboo can be employed as low‐cost and high performance adsorbent, alternative to commercial activated carbon for the removal of pesticides during drinking water production. The performance of activated carbon from bamboo was better due to its relatively large macroporosity and planar surface. The effect of adsorbent and pesticide characteristics on the performance was derived from batch experiments in which the adsorption behavior was studied on the basis of Freundlich isotherms.     

南半球环流异常与长江中下游夏季旱涝的关系

本文对长江中下游夏季旱涝年前期（3、4、5月的季节平均）和同期（6、7、8月的季节平均）的南半球环流作对比分析,探讨南半球环流异常与长江中下游夏季旱涝的关系. 结果表明前期和同期南半球环流均有显著差异,春季南极涛动对长江中下游旱涝的影响较夏季显著,南半球副热带高压在春、夏两季中有很好季节持续性. 因此,春季南半球环流异常可以作为长江中下游夏季旱涝主要短期气候预测因子. 南、北半球中高纬环流相互作用是长江中下游夏季降水的一个重要因素,其可能的联系机制是从南半球高纬到北半球东亚沿岸经向分布的正压遥相关. 研究中还发现在长江中下游的涝年,整个对流层中南半球春、夏两季有持续增温,这说明了南北半球的温度梯度减弱也是东亚夏季风减弱的原因之一.     

Impact of the Use of Reclaimed Water on the Quality of Groundwater Resources in the Jordan Valley,Jordan

The use of reclaimed water and its impact on groundwater quality in the middle and southern parts of the Jordan Valley are investigated. The chemical analyses indicate that nitrate and bacteriological pollution is widespread, and thus, seriously affects groundwater use. During the study, 365 water samples were collected from wells and springs to determine the water chemistry and the extent of nitrate pollution. Three hydrochemical facies are identifed, i. e., (Ca–(Mg)–Na–HCO₃), (Ca–Na–SO₄–Cl) and (Ca–Na–Cl). The change of facies is accompanied by a gradual increase in the groundwater total dissolved solids (TDS), which is mainly controlled by evaporates and carbonates dissolution in the aquifer matrix. Water analyses indicate that the shallow aquifer in the study area is affected by non‐point pollution sources, primarily from natural (manure) and chemical nitrogen (N)‐fertilizers and treated wastewater used for agriculture. The concentration of nitrate in the groundwater ranges from 10 to 355 mg/L. Considerable seasonal fluctuations in groundwater quality are observed as a consequence of agricultural practices and other factors such as annual rainfall distribution and the Zarqa River flow. The noticeable levels of total coliform and Escherichia coli in the northern part of the study area may be attributed to contamination from the urban areas, intensive livestock production, and illegal dumping of sewage. Heavy metal concentrations in all samples were found to be significantly lower than the permissible limits for drinking water standards.     

巢湖表层水体中DDTs农药的残留特征、来源解析与风险评价

2009年8月采集了巢湖河流及湖泊表层水体共15个样点,利用固相萃取-气相色谱-电子捕获检测器(SPE-GC-ECD)方法测定滴滴涕类(DDTs)农药的含量,分析了其残留特征、来源及风险.结果表明:1)巢湖丰水期DDTs含量范围为1.52-21.79ng/L,平均含量为9.98±4.73ng/L.2)DDT残留主要来自...     

Gender of large river deltas and parasitizing rivers

Deltas are the most dynamic part of large rivers and the characteristics of deltas reflect the basic nature of morphodynamics,ecology and anthropogenic influence.The authors investigated many deltas of...     

History of the Sole Source Aquifer Program: A Community-Based Approach for Protecting Aquifers Used for Drinking Water Supply

The Sole Source Aquifer Program has helped prevent contamination of many community drinking water supplies. If an aquifer supplies the sole or principal source of a community's drinking water, a local ground water user may petition the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) under the Safe Drinking Water Act for its designation and protection as a "sole source aquifer." Since 1974, residents and officials of 65 communities and multi-community areas have petitioned and received assistance from the EPA to prevent contamination of their local ground water source of drinking water. This designation means that EPA may review federal financially assisted projects to determine if they would contaminate the aquifer and cause a public health hazard. If they could cause contamination, EPA can request that the project be modified or stopped. The significance of this program in terms of population served and funds affected has been substantial, indicating the Sole Source Aquifer Program has been an important local tool for protecting ground water used as a source of drinking water. Information is given on three different examples of sole source aquifer designations protected under this program: the New Jersey Coastal Plain Aquifer System, the Great Miami River Buried Valley Aquifer System (Ohio), and the Eastern Snake River Plain Aquifer (Idaho), serving populations of 543,000, 921,000, and 275,000, respectively. In all three examples, preventing ground water contamination through the Sole Source Aquifer Program has protected the community drinking water supply.     

Watershed modelling of hydrology and water quality in the Sacramento River watershed,California

Agricultural pollutant runoff is a major source of water contamination in California's Sacramento River watershed where 8500 km² of agricultural land influences water quality. The Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT) hydrology, sediment, nitrate and pesticide transport components were assessed for the Sacramento River watershed. To represent flood conveyance in the area, the model was improved by implementing a flood routing algorithm. Sensitivity/uncertainty analyses and multi‐objective calibration were incorporated into the model application for predicting streamflow, sediment, nitrate and pesticides (chlorpyrifos and diazinon) at multiple watershed sites from 1992 to 2008. Most of the observed data were within the 95% uncertainty interval, indicating that the SWAT simulations were capturing the uncertainties that existed, such as model simplification, observed data errors and lack of agricultural management data. The monthly Nash–Sutcliffe coefficients at the watershed outlet ranged from 0.48 to 0.82, indicating that the model was able to successfully predict streamflow and agricultural pollutant transport after calibration. Predicted sediment loads were highly correlated to streamflow, whereas nitrate, chlorpyrifos and diazinon were moderately correlated to streamflow. This indicates that timing of agricultural management operations plays a role in agricultural pollutant runoff. Best management practices, such as pesticide use limits during wet seasons, could improve water quality in the Sacramento River watershed. The calibrated model establishes a modelling framework for further studies of hydrology, water quality and ecosystem protection in the study area. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Estimating Pesticide Attenuation From Water Dating and the Ratio of Metabolite to Parent Compound

Although pesticides are primarily degraded in the topsoil, significant attenuation can be expected in groundwater systems where the transit time of pesticides usually are orders of magnitude longer than in the soil. Because degradation and transport processes in the subsurface take place at time scales of months to years or even decades, direct measurements of natural attenuation are hampered by practical and logistical limitations (for instance the limited duration of sampling or a correct estimation of the pesticide flux into groundwater). Indirect methods such as measuring the changes in the ratio of degradation product to parent compound as a function of transit time in the aquifer, along a flow line provide a possible alternative. This paper presents a simple mathematical formulation of the relationship between transit time in the subsurface and changes in that ratio, and allows estimating the transformation rate of both parent compound and degradation product. The applicability of the method is illustrated in a case study investigating atrazine attenuation in a fractured sandstone aquifer.     

Das Angespül des Greifswalder Boddens

According to the prevailing plant species, the types of washed-ashore matter of Zostera, Ceramium-Fucus and reed can be distinguished, and in addition also Potamogeton, Cordylophora, Ectocarpus, Cladophora, Mytilus and Mya, which may be determinant in the washedashore matter for short periods of time. According to the level, there are distinguished swash marks of alternating water, flood water and storm tides. According to appearance and shape, there are distinguished threads and strips, net-like or flat deposits and dams being up to 1 m high. In the washed-ashore matter there were detected 14 plant species, 16 species of invertebrates, 12 fish species and 6 species of birds as well as 9 forms of inanimate hard substances. It is estimated that 5000 t fresh matter are washed ashore per year at a beach length of 80 km. Its natural processing and its economic utilization in former times are described.     

The water balance of the Dead Sea: an integrated approach

The Dead Sea is the lowest spot on Earth. It is a closed saline lake located in the middle of the Jordan Rift Valley between Lake Tiberias and the Red Sea. Its major tributaries are the Jordan River itself and the Dead Sea side wadis. The Dead Sea has a unique ecosystem and its water has curative, industrial and recreational significance. The level of the Dead Sea has been continuously falling since the early 1930s at an average rate of 0·7 m per year. The water level, as of February 1998, is about 410·9 m below mean sea level. In this paper, a water balance model is developed for the Dead Sea by considering different hydrological components of this water balance, including precipitation, runoff, evaporation and groundwater flow. This model is calibrated based on historical levels of the Dead Sea. Different scenarios are investigated, including the proposed Dead Sea–Red Sea Canal. This project is supposed to halt the shrinking of the Dead Sea and restore it to pre‐1950 levels in the next century. Copyright © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Evaluating the hydrological and hydrochemical responses of a High Arctic catchment during an exceptionally warm summer

The Arctic has experienced substantial warming during the past century with models projecting continued warming accompanied by increases in summer precipitation for most regions. A key impact of increasing air surface temperatures is the deepening of the active layer, which is expected to alter hydrological processes and pathways. The aim of this study was to determine how one of the warmest and wettest summers in the past decade at a High Arctic watershed impacted water infiltration and storage in deeply thawed soil and solute concentrations in stream runoff during the thaw period. In June and July 2012 at the Cape Bounty Watershed Observatory, we combined active layer measurements with major ion concentrations and stable isotopes in surface waters to characterize the movement of different runoff sources: snowmelt, rainfall, and soil water. Results indicate that deep ground thaw enhanced the storage of infiltrated water following rainfall. Soil water from infiltrated rainfall flowed through the thawed transient layer and upper permafrost, which likely solubilized ions previously stored at depth. Subsequent rainfall events acted as a hydrological flushing mechanism, mobilizing solutes from the subsurface to the surface. This solute flushing substantially increased ion concentrations in stream runoff throughout mid to late July. Results further suggest the importance of rainfall and soil water as sources of runoff in a High Arctic catchment during mid to late summer as infiltrated snowmelt is drained from soil following baseflow. Although there was some evaporation of surface water, our study indicates that flushing from solute stores in the transient layer was the primary driver of increased ion concentrations in stream runoff and not evaporative concentration of surface water. With warmer and wetter summers projected for the Arctic, ion concentrations in runoff (especially in the late thaw season), will likely increase due to the deep storage and subsurface flow of infiltrated water and subsequent flushing of previously frozen solutes to the surface.     

Effects of Chronic Exposure to Sublethal Doses of Two Pesticides on Alkaline and Acid Phosphatase Activities in the Intestine of a Fresh Water Teleost,Channa striatus BL. (Channidae)

The effects of chronic exposures to sublethal concentration of two pesticides Carbaryl and Endosulfan on alkaline and acid phosphatase activities in the intestine of a fresh water teleost Channa striatus have been observed by exposing the fish for a period of two to thirty days to 10 ppm and 20 ppm of Carbaryl and 0.00075 and 0.001 ppm of Endosulfan. The inhibition of alkaline phosphatase activity has been dependent on the duration of exposure, concentration and the type of pesticide used. The acid phosphatase activity increased with the duration of exposure in higher concentration of Carbaryl and both the concentrations of Endosulfan. Endosulfan produced more pronounced effects than Carbaryl.     

Sediment pollution and its effect on fish through food chain in the Yangtze River

Suspended sediment adsorbs pollutants from flowing water in rivers and deposits onto the bed. However, the pollutants accumulated in the river bed sediment may affect the bio-community through food chain for a long period of time. To study the problem the concentration of heavy metals （Cr, Cd, Hg, Cu, Fe, Zn, Pb and As） in water, sediment, and fish/invertebrate were investigated in the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River during 2006-2007. The concentrations of heavy metals were 100-10,000 times higher in the sediment than in the water. Benthic invertebrates had relatively high concentrations of heavy metals in their tissues due to their proximity to contaminated sediments. Benthic invertivore fish had moderately high concentrations of heavy metals whereas phytoplanktivore fish, such as the silver carp, accumulated the lowest concentration of heavy metals. The concentrations of Cu, Zn, and Fe were higher than Hg, Pb, Cd, Cr, and As in the tissue samples. The concentration of heavy metals was lower in the river sediments than in the lake sediments. Conversely, the concentration of heavy metals was higher in river water than in lake water. While a pollution event into a water body is often transitory, the effects of the pollutants may be long-lived due to their tendency to be absorbed in the sediments and then released into the food chain. The heavy metals were concentrated in the following order： bottom material 〉 demersal fish and benthic fauna 〉 middle-lower layer fish 〉 upper-middle layer fish 〉 water.     

Probleme der Wasserkontamination und ihrer analytischen Erfassung

The increasing loading of raw water for the drinking water supply with trace substances results in an increasing exposure of the population to toxicologically suspect substances. At present, the quality of such raw waters is evaluated mainly by cumulative parameters or individual substances with low eco- or humantoxicological relevance. Now, about 5 · 10⁵ environment-relevant organic substances must be taken into account, the number of individual compounds for a loaded receiving water being estimated to be 10³. Secondary contaminations are caused by oxidative processes of water treatment. In the trace substance analysis so far only about 40% of the organic substances are isolable by comparatively simple methods. From this derives the demand for developing standardized methods for determining cumulative and group parameters with a high value of information and indication, as e. g. organically bonded chlorine or halogens.