Detection of Pharmaceuticals and Personal Care Products in Agricultural Soils Receiving Biosolids Application

Increasing research has suggested that biosolids generated from municipal wastewater treatment can be a major sink for many pharmaceuticals and personal care products (PPCPs) and their land application potentially introduces these contaminants into the terrestrial and aquatic environments. In this study, methods were developed for the analysis of 14 PPCPs in biosolids and soils using pressurized liquid extraction, solid phase extraction and liquid chromatography‐tandem mass spectrometry. Recoveries were over 50% for all analytes except diphenhydramine (?30%) in soils. Soil properties or type of biosolids showed minor effects on method recoveries. Estimated method limits of quantification (LOQ) range from 0.1–15 ng g^–1 for soil and 0.3–27 ng g^–1 for biosolids. A field study utilizing the methods revealed that other than carbamazepine‐10,11‐epoxide, all targeted compounds were detected in biosolids. Diphenhydramine, fluoxetine, triclosan and triclocarban were detected up to the μg g^–1 range with the highest concentration of 23 μg g^–1 for triclocarban. Seven of the PCCPs found in biosolids were also detected in agricultural soils amended with these biosolids and several (carbamazepine, diphenhydramine, and triclocarban) appeared to be persistent in soils. Triclocarban was also found most abundant in soils with the highest average concentration of 0.2 μg g^–1 while the rest of compounds were in the lower ng g^–1 range. Generally, the concentrations found on the fields were 2–3 degrees of magnitude lower than in the biosolids, which is likely to be due to dilution, degradation and leaching processes.     

The relative importance of chlorophyll and colored dissolved organic matter (CDOM) to the prediction of the diffuse attenuation coefficient in shallow estuaries

The availability of underwater light is a critical factor in the growth and abundance of primary producers in shallow embayments. The goal of this study was to examine the relative importance of factors influencing light availability in this type of water body. Many simulation models of aquatic ecosystems predict light attenuation from chlorophyll or phytoplankton stock. In the three southern New England sites studied here, no useful relationship was found to exist between chlorophyll and K_PAR (the diffuse attenuation coefficient of photosynthetically active radiation; Kirk 1994; Mobley 1994). In 40 of 53 cases, a regression of chlorophyll versus K_PAR was not statistically significant. Variation in K_PAR did demonstrate a correlation to salinity, implicating a freshwater source of light attenuating material. This was true even in a system with little freshwater inflow. Colored dissolved organic matter (CDOM) is one such terrestrial input that enters estuaries from their watersheds and can strongly influence the availability of light to aquatic primary producers. This study demonstrated that over 70% of the variability in the K_PAR coefficient can be attributed to CDOM in the shallow estuaries studied. This illustrates the need for improved model formulations that include CDOM in the prediction of light attenuation in shallow coastal systems. A new equation has been developed to predict K_PAR with CDOM.     

Pressure and equilibrium in deforming rocks

It is widely proposed that tectonic pressure (the difference between the mean stress and the pressure arising from a lithostatic load) is large, and has a significant influence on mineral phase equilibria in deforming metamorphic rocks. The implication/assertion is that the mean stress is equivalent to the thermodynamic pressure which characterizes mineral phase equilibria and is a measure of how the energy changes as the volume changes. We distinguish two useful thermodynamic pressures. The first is an equilibrium thermodynamic pressure, characteristic of non‐dissipative systems and related directly to equilibrium values of the chemical potentials that define stable, equilibrium phase assemblages. The second is a non‐equilibrium thermodynamic pressure characteristic of dissipative systems with zero net entropy production and related to non‐equilibrium chemical potentials that define stable non‐equilibrium phase assemblages. In many dissipative metamorphic systems discussed in the literature, the concepts of thermodynamic pressure and chemical potential are not usefully defined because the system is not at equilibrium and/or no volume change is involved in the deformation. The conclusion of this note is that the influence of tectonic pressure on phase equilibria is minor. The role of tectonic pressure is an important issue but is only relevant to phase equilibrium when an equilibrium thermodynamic pressure can be defined; in such cases, the influence of tectonic pressure is small compared to many proposals in the literature. Except for elastic deformations, the mean stress is not useful in discussing mineral phase equilibrium.     

Stable carbon and oxygen isotope record of central Lake Erie sediments

Stable carbon and oxygen isotope data from mollusc aragonite extracted from sediment cores provide new information on the origin and history of sedimentation in the southwestern area of the central basin of Lake Erie. Sediments infilling the Sandusky subbasin consist of three lithologic units overlying glacial deposits. The lowest of these is a soft gray mud overlain by a shell hash layer containing Sphaerium striatinum fragments. A fluid mud unit caps the shell hash layer and extends upwards to the sediment-water interface. New stable isotope data suggest that the soft gray mud unit is of postglacial, rather than proglacial, origin. These data also suggest that the shell hash layer was derived from erosional winnowing of the underlying soft gray mud layer. This winnowing event may have occurred as a result of the Nipissing flood.The Pelee-Lorain moraine, which forms the eastern boundary of the Sandusky subbasin, is an elevated area of till capped by a sand deposit that originated as a beach. The presence of both the shell hash layer and relict beach deposit strengthens the interpretation that the Nipissing flood was a critical event in the development of the southwestern area of the central basin of Lake Erie. This event, which returned drainage from the upper lakes to the Lake Erie basin, was a dominant influence on regional stratigraphy, bathymetry, and depositional setting.     

Seasonal cycling of arsenic species in a stratified,microtidal estuary (Huon River,Tasmania)

A detailed study of arsenic cycling in the Huon estuary, south-east Tasmania, was undertaken October 1996–September 1998. Arsenic species data were obtained during eight 3-monthly spatial surveys, and a time-series study at a single site in the estuary over a 7-mo period. The data have been correlated with other chemical measurements, including nutrients, salinity, and dissolved oxygen, and also with biological information about the microalgal species present. In the Huon estuary, arsenic cycling is almost entirely biologically influenced. The seasonal cycle of reduced, methylated, and hydride refractory arsenic species was similar to that found in other temperate estuaries of the Northern hemisphere, with greatest production occurring during summer months. Inorganic arsenic concentrations in the Huon River were very low [As(V+III): 0.023–0.057 μg l⁻¹], even when compared with other pristine systems. Concentrations at the seaward end of the estuary were typical of those found in unpolluted coastal seawater. The behavior of As(V+III) in the estuary was nearly conservative in all surveys except those conducted during summer (February), when significant depletion was observed at higher salinity. During these surveys, up to 60% of inorganic arsenic was apparently depleted from the water column with only a small proportion (20–25%) recycled as methylated and UV-labile arsenic species. This was particularly the case in a high salinity side-arm of the estuary, Port Cygnet. The extent of inorganic arsenic depletion correlated with cell numbers of the phytoplanktonPseudo-nitzschia. The fate of the missing inorganic arsenic is unclear, but the co-existence ofPseudo-nitzschia blooms with commercial mussel leases in Port Cygnet could provide one explanation for the loss.     

Health and environmental co-benefits and conflicts of actions to meet UK carbon targets

Many actions to reduce GHG emissions have wider impacts on health, the economy, and the environment, beyond their role in mitigating climate change. These ancillary impacts can be positive (co-benefits) or negative (conflicts). This article presents the first quantitative review of the wider impacts on health and the environment likely to arise from action to meet the UK's legally-binding carbon budgets. Impacts were assessed for climate measures directed at power generation, energy use in buildings, and industry, transport, and agriculture. The study considered a wide range of health and environmental impacts including air pollution, noise, the upstream impacts of fuel extraction, and the lifestyle benefits of active travel. It was not possible to quantify all impacts, but for those that were monetized the co-benefits of climate action (i.e. excluding climate benefits) significantly outweigh the negative impacts, with a net present value of more than £85 billion from 2008 to 2030. Substantial benefits arise from reduced congestion, pollution, noise, and road accidents as a result of avoided journeys. There is also a large health benefit as a result of increased exercise from walking and cycling instead of driving. Awareness of these benefits could strengthen the case for more ambitious climate mitigation action.

Policy relevance

This article demonstrates that actions to mitigate GHG emissions have significant wider benefits for health and the environment. Including these impacts in cost–benefit analysis would strengthen the case for the UK (and similar countries) to set ambitious emissions reduction targets. Understanding co-benefits and trade-offs will also improve coordination across policy areas and cut costs. In addition, co-benefits such as air quality improvements are often immediate and local, whereas climate benefits may occur on a longer timescale and mainly in a distant region, as well as being harder to demonstrate. Dissemination of the benefits, along with better anticipation of trade-offs, could therefore boost public support for climate action.     

Timing of the first drainage of the Baltic Ice Lake synchronous with the onset of Greenland Stadial 1

Glacial varves can give significant insights into recession and melting rates of decaying ice sheets. Moreover, varve chronologies can provide an independent means of comparison to other annually resolved climatic archives, which ultimately help to assess the timing and response of an ice sheet to changes across rapid climate transitions. Here we report a composite 1257‐year‐long varve chronology from southeastern Sweden spanning the regional late Allerød–late Younger Dryas pollen zone. The chronology was correlated to the Greenland Ice‐Core Chronology 2005 using the time‐synchronous Vedde Ash volcanic marker, which can be found in both successions. For the first time, this enables secure placement of the Lateglacial Swedish varve chronology in absolute time. Geochemical analysis from new varve successions indicate a marked change in sedimentation regime accompanied by an interruption of ice‐rafted debris deposition synchronous with the onset of Greenland Stadial 1 (GS‐1; 12 846 years before AD 1950). With the support of a simple ice‐flow/calving model, we suggest that slowdown of sediment transfer can be explained by ice‐sheet margin stabilization/advance in response to a significant drop of the Baltic Ice Lake level. A reassessment of chronological evidence from central‐western and southern Sweden further supports the hypothesis of synchronicity between the first (penultimate) catastrophic drainage of the Baltic Ice Lake and the start of GS‐1 in Greenland ice‐cores. Our results may therefore provide the first chronologically robust evidence linking continental meltwater forcing to rapid atmosphere–ocean circulation changes in the North Atlantic.     

The impact of climate change on U. K. river flows: A preliminary comparison of two generations of probabilistic climate projections

The impacts of climate change on future river flows are a growing concern. Typically, impacts are simulated by driving hydrological models with climate model ensemble data. The U.K. Climate Projections 2009 (UKCP09) provided probabilistic projections, enabling a risk-based approach to decision-making under climate change. Recently, an update was released—UKCP18—so there is a need for information on how impacts may differ. The probabilistic projections from UKCP18 and UKCP09 are here applied using the change factor method with catchment-based hydrological modelling for 10 catchments across England. Projections of changes in median, mean, high, and low flows are made for the 2050s, using the A1B emissions scenario from UKCP09 and UKCP18 as well as the RCP4.5 and RCP8.5 emissions scenarios from UCKP18. The results show that, in all catchments for all flow measures, the central estimate of change under UKCP18 is similar to that from UKCP09 (A1B emissions). However, the probabilistic uncertainty ranges from UKCP18 are, in all cases, greater than from UKCP09, despite UKCP18 having a smaller ensemble size than UKCP09. Although there are differences between the central estimates of change using UKCP18 RCP4.5, RCP8.5 and A1B emissions, there is considerable overlap in the uncertainty ranges. The results suggest that existing assessments of hydrological impacts remain relevant, though it will be necessary to evaluate sensitive decisions using the latest projections. The analysis will aid development of advice to users of current guidance based on UKCP09 and help make decisions about the prioritization of further hydrological impacts work using UKCP18, which should also apply other products from UKCP18 like the 12-km regional data.     

Effects of medium and pore‐fluid compressibility on chemical‐dissolution front instability in fluid‐saturated porous media

Theoretical analysis and computational simulations have been carried out to investigate how medium and pore‐fluid compressibility affects the chemical‐dissolution front propagation, which is associated with a fully‐coupled nonlinear problem between porosity, pore‐fluid pressure, pore‐fluid density and reactive chemical‐species transport within a deformable and fluid‐saturated porous medium. When the fully‐coupled nonlinear system is in a subcritical state, some analytical solutions have been derived for a special case, in which the ratio of the equilibrium concentration to the solid molar density of the chemical species is approaching zero. To investigate the effect of either medium compressibility or pore‐fluid compressibility on the evolutions of chemical dissolution fronts in supercritical chemical dissolution systems, numerical algorithms and procedures have been also proposed. The related theoretical and numerical results have demonstrated that: (i) not only can pore‐fluid compressibility affect the propagating speeds of chemical dissolution fronts in both subcritical and supercritical systems, but also it can affect the growth and amplitudes of irregular chemical dissolution fronts in supercritical systems; (ii) medium compressibility may have a little influence on the propagating speeds of chemical dissolution fronts, but it can have significant effects on the growth and amplitudes of irregular chemical dissolution fronts in supercritical systems; and (iii) both medium and pore‐fluid compressibility may stabilize irregular chemical‐dissolution‐fronts in supercritical chemical dissolution systems. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.