International audience | In a lysimeter set-up, compost addition to an industrial contaminated soil slightly reduced phytotoxicity to bean seedlings. The "Phytotoxicity Index" (on a scale from 1 to 4) decreased from 3.5 to 2.8. The same treatment also reduced metal accumulation in grasses: mean Zn, Cd and Pb concentrations decreased respectively from 623 to 135, from 6.2 to 1.3 and from 10.7 to < 6 mg kg(-1) dry weight. When combined with inorganic metal immobilizing amendments, compost had a beneficial effect on plant responses additional to the inorganic amendments alone. Best results were obtained when using compost (C) + cyclonic ashes (CA) + steel shots (SS). The "Phytotoxicity Index" decreased to 1.7, highest diversity of spontaneously colonizing plants occurred, and metal accumulation in grasses reduced to values for uncontaminated soils. Based on the first year evaluation, C + CA + SS showed to be an efficient treatment for amendment assisted phytostabilization of the contaminated Overpelt soil

International audience | In order to reduce the health risks associated with historically enriched metal smelting sites in Flanders (Belgium), the capacities of a non-beringite cyclonic ash and commercial Na-silicates to fix metals and create conditions to restore vegetation cover were evaluated and compared to lime and H3PO4. All tested amendments reduced Ca(NO3)2-extractable soil metal concentrations and reduced metal uptake in Agrostis capillaris seedlings. Sodium released by Na-silicates was possibly toxic to bean plants while an isotopic dilution technique revealed that metals were only weakly sorbed by silicates (i.e. reversible sorption). Cyclonic ash appeared more efficient than lime in both reducing oxidative stress in beans and Zn, Cu and Pb uptake in grasses. The metal fixing mechanism for both amendments appeared similar (i.e. irreversible fixation at constant pH), in contrast to H3PO4 where at least part of the immobilised Cd was irreversibly fixed across a range of pH

Physicochemical and biological characterisation of different dredged sediment deposit sites in France

Larval stages of bivalve molluscs are highly sensitive to pollutants. Oysters from a hatchery from Normandy (English Channel) were induced to spawn, and fertilized eggs were exposed to copper or cadmium for 24 h. Metal accumulation (from 0.125 to 5 mu g Cu L-1 and from 25 to 200 mu g Cd L-1) and MT concentrations were measured in larvae. Compared to controls, larvae accumulated copper and cadmium with an increase in MT concentrations particularly with cadmium (i.e. 130.96 ng Cu (mg protein)(-1) and 12.69 mu g MT (mg protein)(-1) at 1 mu g Cu L-1 versus 23.19 ng Cu (mg protein)(-1) and 8.92 mu g MT (mg protein)(-1) in control larvae; 334.3 ng Cd (mg protein)(-1) and 11.70 mu g MT (mg protein)(-1) at 200 mu g Cd L-1 versus 0.87 ng Cd (mg protein)(-1) and 4.60 mu g MT (mg protein)(-1) in control larvae). Larvae were also obtained from oysters of a clean area (Arcachon Bay) and a polluted zone (Bidassoa estuary) and exposed to copper in the laboratory, their MT concentration was measured as well as biomarkers of oxidative stress. Biomarker responses and sensitivity to copper for the larvae from Arcachon oysters were higher than for those from Bidassoa.

This study aimed at comparing toxic element (Hg, Cd) bioaccumulation in relation to age for bottlenose (Tursiops truncatus) and striped dolphins (Stenella coeruleoalba) from Mediterranean and Atlantic waters. Metal concentrations were also measured in selected prey to infer metal exposure through the diet. As expected, Mediterranean prey exhibited the highest Hg levels, probably as a consequence of the Hg enrichment of the Mediterranean Sea. Comparing the predators from each area and taking age into account, Mediterranean bottlenose dolphins displayed higher Hg levels than Atlantic dolphins (p = 0.032), whereas Mediterranean striped dolphins did not (p = 0.691). The consumption of Myctophid fish, which showed the highest Hg levels (105 +/- 80 ng g(-1) w.wt.) among Atlantic prey, may explain the high Hg levels in the liver of the Atlantic striped dolphins and suggested a preferential offshore feeding behaviour in this area. Concerning Cd, no clear differences were found between geographical areas. (c) 2006 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

In Hypericumspecies some specimens have been found to display higher levels of the toxic heavy metal Cd than the proposed guide value of 0.5mgkg. Plant and soil samples from various regions in Eastern Austria were collected to study the variability in the Cd content of the herbs and relate it to selected soil properties and soil micronutrient contents. The soils contained between 0.01 and 0.44mgkg-¹Cd in the dry soil. Altogether about 7% of the collected plant samples exceeded 0.5mgkg-¹Cd of dry shoots, the proposed guide value for the drug Herba Hyperici. Plants low in Cd were found on sites in the Alpenvorland, the Hainburger Berge, the Eastern Viennese Basin and the Northern Limestone Alps where the levels did not exceed 0.3mgkg-¹Cd of dry shoots. Higher Cd levels in the plants were present in material from the Waldviertel, the Southern Wienerwald and the Semmering region where often bioaccumulation factors for Cd above 1 could be calculated. In these regions the soil pH and carbonate content was somewhat lower than in other regions whereas the soil organic carbon varied greatly. In the Waldviertel some plants from a field were somewhat higher in Cd than nearby plants from the natural vegetation. In a regression analysis, the soil pH, soil organic carbon and soil Cd content were the main factors influencing Cd accumulation in the plant shoots.

Pedotransfer functions based on general purpose Freundlich isotherms (GPF) were derived for Cd using different combinations of input variables or development conditions. The models match the criterion of flexibility as they were derived from data of 497 soil samples, which had strongly varying soil characteristics. The prediction efficiency of the approaches was investigated by comparison of measured and simulated sorption data for 124 independent soil samples. The parameterisation of the GPF shows that models derived from data of batch sorption experiments by multiple linear regression achieve best goodness-of-fit and statistical consistency. The use of extraction data or nonlinear regression analysis results in greater deviations from the statistical optima. The best overall performance considering parameterisation and validation was observed for the models including (a) the variables 'proton activity', 'clay content', 'soil organic carbon', 'sum of dithionite-extractable Fe- and Mn-oxides' or (b) the variables 'proton activity', 'potential cation exchange capacity', 'sum of dithionite-extractable Fe- and Mn-oxides'.