Comparison of Trace Elements in Bottled and Desalinated Household Drinking Water in Kuwait

The levels of the trace elements aluminum (Al), arsenic (As), boron (B), barium (Ba), beryllium (Be), cadmium (Cd), chromium (Cr), cobalt (Co), copper (Cu), iron (Fe), lead (Pb), manganese (Mn), mercury (Hg), molybdenum (Mo), nickel (Ni), antimony (Sb), selenium (Se), strontium (Sr), titanium (Ti), vanadium (V), and zinc (Zn) were determined in 93 brands of non‐carbonated (BW) and carbonated (CBW) bottled water available in Kuwaiti markets and in 321 samples of desalinated household water (HW) collected from 99 sampling locations, which covered 95% of Kuwait's residential areas. The study yielded a large range of results for most of these elements, and the difference between the lowest and highest measured values exceeded three orders of magnitude for some elements in a number of the BW and CBW brands. With a few exceptions, the results for the HW and BW were found to comply with the United States‐Environmental Protection Agency and World Health Organization guideline values. The elements Fe, Pb, Hg, and Ni exceeded these GVs in 8.5, 0.3, 1.2, and 1% of the HW samples, respectively. One brand of BW exceeded the GV for B, while the levels of B, Ba, Be, Fe, and Mn exceeded the GVs in 35, 15, 5, 75, and 25% of the CBW brands, respectively. Correlations were found between the levels of some elements and either the desalination plant that produced the HW or the country of origin of the BW or CBW. The levels of the elements Al, Cu, Fe, and Zn in HW were higher in the summer than in the winter, with 14, 14, 42, and 18% increases, respectively. Nutritional evaluation revealed that significant percentages of the DRIs of Cr, Cu, Fe, and Se can be provided by drinking 2 L of HW, and significant percentages of the DRIs of B, Cr, Cu, and Mo can be provided by drinking 2 L of BW.     

An Analysis of Reducing Perchloroethylene Emissions in the Urban Environment: A Case Study of Taiwan

Selected volatile organic compounds (VOCs) emitted from commercial activities and industrial processes have been classified as hazardous air pollutants, posing a potential health risk in the urban environment. In this respect, perchloroethylene (PCE), a suspected human carcinogen, is the most noticeable compound because it is widely used in laundries and hotels as a dry‐cleaning solvent. The objective of this paper was to quantify the emissions of PCE and other petroleum‐based solvents from dry cleaning business in illustration of the regulatory infrastructure of reducing PCE exposure in the environment of Taiwan. Based on the Emission Factors (AP‐42) method, the emissions of the non‐methane hydrocarbons (NMHCs) from dry cleaning business had decreased from 5100 metric tons in 1997 to 2800 metric tons in 2007. The success of significant reduction of NMHCs in Taiwan has been ascribed to the fact that Taiwan established the relevant regulations at the end of the 1990s. From the data on the industrial/commercial demand for PCE and the emission inventories of NMHCs from dry cleaning business, the reduction of PCE emissions will show a declining trend in the near future.     

Physico‐Chemical and Bacterial Characteristics of Water Quality in Three Villages West of Lake Nasser,Egypt

The present study aims to investigate physico‐chemical and bacterial characteristics of Nasser Lake water and houses drinking water, as well as fish cultures and its wastewater, in three villages west of Lake Nasser, Egypt. Fifteen representative water samples (Nasser Lake, different drinking water, fish cultures, and wastewater sources) were collected from three villages (Garf Hussein, Bashaier, and Kalabsha) in the west of Lake Nasser. Physico‐chemical, total viable counts, and bacterial qualification of water were achieved. The obtained results indicated that the produced water, supposed to be for domestic use in the three villages, contained all the tested organisms. The investigated water samples of the lake and drinking water in the selected three villages are supposed to be chemically safe according to World Health Organization and to Egyptian standards for drinking water. Water pollution index (WPI) was used in this study and the result concluded that for irrigation canals from the lake to the agriculture site, fish cultures (both concrete and earth pond systems), and drainage canal of fish ponds need to be treated before it is discharged to the lake. It is better to reuse it after treatment for agricultural purposes or recycled it to the fish cultures.     

Microbial Quality in Coastal Waters of Dardanelles in Relation to the Pollution Sources and Transport Pathways

The coastal water quality of Çanakkale Dardanelles (Turkey) was assessed based on bacteriological data and physical–chemical parameters. Total coliform (TC), fecal coliform (FC), and enterococci (ENT) bacteria along with physicochemical parameters were measured monthly up to a year at 12 different sampling sites located through both coastal lines of the strait. The fecal bacteria were abounded at several sampling sites such as B1, B3, G3, and G4 due to direct wastewater discharges and septic leakages or overloading. Storm water runoff and sediment resuspension were important pathways for the transport of coliform and ENT bacteria to the Dardanelles, as the region receives high precipitation and strong winds for most part of the year. The values of pH, temperature, and salinity were in typical ranges for the studied area. The microbiological and physicochemical data were correlated individually and in combination. The best fit correlations for bacterial data were attained between TC and FC or TC and ENT (R = 0.67 or ?0.68), while those for the combined data were obtained for TC with temperature (R = 0.94) and TC with salinity (R = ? 0.70).     

First health and pollution study on harbor seals (Phoca vitulina) living in the German Elbe estuary

The Elbe is one of the major rivers releasing pollutants into the coastal areas of the German North Sea. Its estuary represents the habitat of a small population of harbor seals (Phoca vitulina). Only little is known about the health status and contamination levels of these seals. Therefore, a first-ever seal catch was organized next to the islands of Neuwerk and Scharhörn in the region of the Hamburg Wadden Sea National Park. The investigations included a broad set of health parameters and the analysis of metals and organic pollutants in blood samples. Compared to animals of other Wadden Sea areas, the seals showed higher γ-globulin levels, suggesting higher concentrations of pathogens in this near-urban area, elevated concentrations for several metals in particular for V, Sn, Pb, and Sr, and comparable ranges for chlorinated organic contaminants, except for elevated levels of hexachlorobenzene, which indicates characteristic inputs from the Elbe.     

Preliminary health risk assessment for polybrominated diphenyl ethers and polybrominated dibenzo-p-dioxins/furans in seafood from Guangzhou and Zhoushan, China

Dietary intake is one of the important routes of human exposure to brominated flame retardants (BFRs) such as polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs). The use of PBDEs may also result in exposure to polybrominated dibenzo-p-dioxins and dibenzofurans (PBDDs/DFs), as these compounds are impurities in technical mixtures of BFRs and can also be formed unintentionally by the same processes that generate chlorinated dioxins. This study determined the concentrations of polybrominated compounds in common seafood in Guangzhou and Zhoushan, and assessed the health risks of these chemicals via consumption of contaminated seafood. Seafood samples (fish, bivalves, shrimp, crab, and cephalopods) purchased from local markets in 2003 and 2004 were analyzed for PBDEs and PBDDs/DFs. The highest concentration of total PBDEs (46.3 ng g⁻¹ lipid wt.) was detected in fish from Guangzhou, in which BDEs 47 and 209 were the two predominant congeners. The total daily intakes of PBDEs, PBDDs, and PBDFs were, 946, 6.39, and 6.54 pg kg⁻¹ body weight (bw) in Guangzhou, and 489, 4.99, and 7.65 pg kg⁻¹ bw in Zhoushan, respectively. The hazard ratios for PBDDs and PBDFs were both greater than unity, indicating that these compounds may pose some health risks to the local population.     

Impact of milk fish farming in the tropics on potentially pathogenic vibrios

Ratios of sucrose-negative to sucrose-positive vibrios on TCBS agar (suc−/suc+) indicate the abundance of potential human pathogenic non-cholera vibrios in coastal mariculture environments of the Lingayen Gulf (Philippines. In guts of adult maricultured milkfish (Chanos chanos) of suc− vibrios reached extreme peak values ranging between 2 and 545 million per g wet weight. Suc− vibrios outnumbered suc+ vibrios in anoxic sediments, too, and were rarely predominant in coastal waters or in oxidized sediments. Suc−/suc+ ratios in sediments increased toward the mariculture areas with distance from the open sea at decreasing redox potentials. There is circumstantial evidence that suc− vibrios can be dispersed from mariculture areas to adjacent environments including coral reefs. An immediate human health risk by pathogenic Vibrio species is discounted, since milkfish guts contained mainly members of the Enterovibrio group. A representative isolate of these contained proteolytic and other virulence factors, but no genes encoding toxins characteristic of clinical Vibrio species.     

土壤中砷的形态分析和生物有效性研究进展

土壤砷污染是当今全球十分严重的环境与健康问题之一。土壤砷形态及生物有效性研究是开展污染诊断、评估环境健康风险及开展砷污染土壤修复的重要依据。目前土壤砷形态的研究方法包括化学选择性提取操作定义法、溶剂提取仪器测定或吸附材料选择性分离法和同步辐射X射线近边能谱（XANES）直接测定法,这些方法相互结合在土壤砷的形态转化研究中发挥着重要作用。目前关于生物有效性研究存在多种方法并存的局面,化学提取法相对经济、方便,但存在很大的局限性,往往不能真实反映土壤砷的有效态含量,只能作为环境危害程度识别的参考;植物指示法需选择敏感性植物方能有效地指示土壤砷对环境与健康的潜在危害;土壤动物与微生物指示法代表了未来开展砷污染早期预警的发展方向,具有广阔的应用前景。模拟肠胃液提取法(In Vitro Gastrointestinal Method)比较接近动物或人体对土壤砷污染的真实吸收状态,在环境健康风险评价中发挥着重要作用。目前国外已发展出采用兔、仔猪和猴的动物模型以研究经口摄入的生物有效性砷,但尚不清楚哪种动物模型更能准确反映砷对人体的生物有效性。     

海藻中稀土元素的初步研究

于１９９６年３月地岛海区采集了８种常见海藻,采用中子活化法（ＰＣＡ－Ⅱ／ＮＡＡ）测定了其中的Ｌａ、Ｓｍ、Ｃｅ、Ｅｕ、Ｌｕ、Ｎｄ、Ｓｃ、Ｙｂ等８种稀土元素的总含量及其水溶性成分的比例,并与国外报道的相关数据作了比较。结果表明,海藻中含有比陆地植物丰富得多的稀土元素,绿藻中的石莼,刺松藻含量最丰,