Highly organic soils, and in particular ombrotrophic bogs, have been often used to reconstruct climate changes and heavy metal contaminations. Ombrotrophic peat bogs, in fact, are domed peatlands in which the surface layers are hydrologically isolated from the influence of local groundwaters and surface waters, and are supplied only by atmospheric depositions. In the present work, the attention of Authors has been focused on Pb, Cu, and Zn, coming mainly from anthropogenic activities, and ¹³⁷Cs, released mostly during the Chernobyl disaster. Practically, an undisturbed peat profile was cored in 2005 from a Swiss ombrotrophic bog and analysed using energy-dispersive miniprobe multielement analyzer X-ray fluorescence and Low Background γ-ray spectrometry in order to investigate and quantify the impact of human activities (e.g., industry, traffic, combustion of fossil fuels, “environmental disasters”) in causing Pb, Cu, Zn, and ¹³⁷Cs contaminations during the centuries. Obtained data show that highly organic soils in general, and ombrotrophic bogs in particular, reflect the anthropogenic inputs in heavy metal and radionuclide contaminations. In fact, these environments allowed to follow the depositional history of Pb, Cu, and Zn, both underlining a general increasing of their production since the Industrial Revolution, and remarking past single impacting events such as the introduction of leaded gasoline and of particular agricultural practices. Further, although ¹³⁷Cs showed a main peak corresponding to the Chernobyl disaster, confirming the role of bogs as archive of human activity, data revealed a certain mobility of this radionuclide along the profile. Thus, highly organic soils can be considered as both “witness” of the impact of human activity during centuries and indicator of the health of our planet.

The main factors determining the geochemical fate of copper in urban freshwaters affected by raw sewage discharges were investigated in this work. Water samples from the Iraí and Iguaçu rivers were collected monthly during a 1-year period at two points located upstream and downstream from the city of Curitiba, in Brazil. Results revealed that raw sewage discharges from the heavily urbanized area caused an enhancement of humic-coated suspended solids in the Iguaçu River. In these waters copper is predominantly associated with the humic-coated particles whereas in the Iraí River copper was found primarily in the aqueous phase. The transfer of copper from the aqueous to the solid phase changed its physical speciation along the watercourse. Thus, aspects related to the overall transport of trace metals in watercourses become an important issue to be considered in further studies concerning the effect of sewage discharges on the geochemical speciation and fate of trace metals in urban rivers.

Numerous studies have shown that Steamboat Creek in Nevada is highly contaminated with mercury, with aqueous mercury concentrations more than two orders of magnitude greater than nearby mountain streams. One objective of this study was to determine if the new Spreadsheet-based Ecological Risk Assessment for the Fate of Mercury (SERAFM) model could be calibrated to the concentrations of unfiltered and dissolved total mercury, and unfiltered and dissolved MeHg in the water column for a reach on SBC and a related constructed wetland mesocosm for different seasons and residence times. SERAFM is a new U.S. Environmental Protection Agency steady state, single segment, mass balance mercury model that has been applied to lakes, and this study also examined the model’s applicability for modeling an arid flowing water environment in different seasons. The average combined error between observed and model-estimated mercury concentrations was 12% and 17% for the reach and mesocosm, respectively. Some recommendations are proposed that may allow SERAFM to better model flowing systems.

A 3-D biological model was developed and coupled to a hydrodynamic model, i.e., Princeton Ocean Model, to simulate the seasonal variation and budget of dissolved inorganic nitrogen, phosphate, and silicate in Jiaozhou Bay. The modeled nutrients distribution pattern is consistent with observation. Silicate, the most important limiting element for phytoplankton growth, is characterized by consumption in spring, increase in summer and autumn, and accumulation in winter, whereas dissolved inorganic nitrogen and phosphorous have increasing trend with low rates in spring, due to excessive river loads. Phytoplankton plays an important role in nutrient renewal by photosynthesis and respiration processes. During an annual cycle, 7.83 x 10³ t N, 0.28 x 10³ t P, and 3.93 x 10³ t Si are transported to the bay's outer sea, i.e., the Yellow Sea, suggesting that Jiaozhou Bay is a significant source of nutrients for the Yellow Sea. The spatial distribution of nutrients is characterized by vertically homogeneous profiles, with high concentration inside the bay and low concentration toward the bay channel. These features are mainly governed by strong turbulent mixing, fluvial influx, water exchange rate, and Yellow Sea water intrusion. Numerical experiments suggest that the government should pay enough attention to proper layout of sewage drainage.

Industrialization and urbanization along the coastal population centers have brought great changes in the land cover and material fluxes from watersheds to receiving bays and estuaries. We have embarked a multiyear research project on “Watersheds Nutrient Loss and Eutrophication of Jiaozhou Bay” for the period of 2000 to 2004, funded by the Natural Science Foundation of China to examine human influence on the marine sector of ecosystem. Jiaozhou Bay, located in the southern part of Shandong Peninsula, was selected because of the existence of long-term hydrographic and meteorological records since the 1930s and recent observations on the marine ecological variables. We have made extensive and periodic measurements on the water movement, nutrients, phytoplankton, and microbe in water column and bottom sediments. Box and 3-dimensional hydrodynamic models were developed and utilized to understand the evolution of eutrophic status with time. It was found that primary productivity has suffered from silica depletion followed by phosphate, and the dominance of large phytoplankton has been replaced by small-size communities. These ecosystem changes were brought by the changes in the relative contribution among major pathways and concentrations, owing to the human activities in the watershed. Eight articles in this volume reported various aspects of the linkage between watershed human activities and ecosystem for the Jiaozhou Bay as the initial outcome of this project.

The study of mineral components in respirable particles (particulate matter with diameter less than 10 μm, PM₁₀) in ambient air is important in understanding and improving air quality. In this study, PM₁₀ samples were collected in various areas around Beijing during 2002~2003, including an urban setting, a satellite city and a rural area. The mineralogical composition of these PM₁₀ samples was studied by X-ray diffraction (XRD), environmental scanning electron microscopy / and energy-dispersive X-ray analyzer (ESEM/EDX). The results indicated that mineral composition of PM₁₀ in different seasons and in different region varied significantly. Mineral mass concentration in Beijing PM₁₀ reached the highest percentage in the spring and fell to the lowest level in the autumn. The minerals in the spring PM₁₀ were dominated by clay minerals and quartz, followed by plagioclase, K-feldspar, calcite, dolomite, hematite, pyrite, magnesite, gypsum and laumontite as well as some unidentified materials. Fewer mineral types were collected in summer, however some new components, including K(NH₄)Ca(SO4)₂·H₂O, NH₄Cl and As₂O₃·SO₃ were noted to be present, suggesting that atmospheric chemical reaction in Beijing air were more active in summer than in other seasons. Mineral components in Beijing urban air were at a higher percentage with fewer phases than that in satellite city air. In conclusion, there was considerable variation in mineral components in PM₁₀ samples collected in different seasons and areas, which reflects the related air quality of sampling areas.

Analysis of the sensitivity of soils to acidification caused by the deposition of atmospheric pollutants has been one of the major scientific issues in Europe during the past few decades. In the present study, critical loads of acid deposition were calculated using the most accurate datasets available at present for European soils, by the “Simple Mass Balance” method. The results show that the soils most sensitive to acid deposition are Histosols, Cryosols and Podzols in cold areas in northern countries, followed by Lithic and Haplic Leptosols (Dystric) developed on acid parent materials. The highest critical loads corresponded to soils developed over calcareous rocks and soils in areas subject to high precipitation, even those dominated by poorly weatherable primary mineral. In the latter case critical alkalinity leaching is the main variable that determines the value of critical loads, because of the buffering action of the dissolution of aluminium compounds. The results were compared with those obtained by the Stockholm Environmental Institute in the same area, but with a different method of analysis. It was found that the results are highly dependent on the method used to perform the analysis.

We investigated for the first time the occurrence, stability and antibiotic resistance of 593 enterococci in six samples collected from three urban sewage treatment plants (STPs) located in the north, south and west part of Tehran, Iran between October 2004 and September of 2005. Isolates were typed with a biochemical fingerprinting method (the PhPlate system) and tested for their resistance to six antibiotics. The most prevalent species in all three STPs were E. faecium followed by E. hirae and E. faecalis accounting for 93% of the total isolates examined. In all, 317 (55%) isolates were susceptible to all six antibiotics tested and the remaining isolates were resistant to between 1 and 6 antibiotics. Biochemical fingerprinting with PhPlate system showed a high diversity for E. faecalis (D i = 0.95), E. hirae (D i = 0.93) and E. faecium (D i = 0.95) populations with an overall diversity of D i = 0.97 for the whole enterococcal populations found in all three STPs. Our data indicate a high degree of polyclonality among the enterococci populations of human origin. This study suggest that the municipal wastewaters might be an important source of dissemination of antibiotic-resistant enterococci in Iran.

Various amendments and/or a plant cover (Agrostis stolonifera L.) were assessed for their potential to reduce trace element leaching in a contaminated soil under semi-arid conditions. The experiment was carried out in field containers and lasted 30 months. Five treatments with amendments (leonardite (LEO), litter (LIT), municipal waste compost (MWC), biosolid compost (BC) and sugar beet lime (SL)) and a plant cover and two controls (control without amendment but with plant (CTRP) and control without amendment and without plant (CTR)) were established. Drainage volumes were measured after each precipitation event and aliquots were analysed for pH, electrical conductivity (EC) and trace element concentrations (As, Cd, Cu, Pb and Zn). Soil pH and trace element extractability (0.01 M CaCl₂) at three different depths (0-10, 10-20 and 20-30 cm) were measured at the end of the experiment. Incorporation of amendments reduced leaching of Cd, Cu and Zn between 40-70% in comparison to untreated soil. The most effective amendments were SL, BC and MWC. At the end of the experiment, extractable concentrations of Cd, Cu and Zn were generally lower in all amended soils and CTRP compared to CTR. Soil pH decreased and extractability of metals increased in all treatments in relation to depth. Results showed that use of these amendments combined with healthy and sustainable plant cover might be a reliable option for “in situ” stabilization of trace elements in moderately contaminated soils.

Air pollution is considered a key stress factor affecting the annual ring widths of the trees, especially living in industrialized areas. The Silesia-Krakow Upland is one of the most polluted areas in Poland. Scots pine stands living there have been under influence of air pollution for a long period of time. Dendrochronological analysis in five separated transects, which were performed in this region, showed the abrupt and usually long term reductions observed in radial increments of sampled pines. The abrupt increase of reductions started in the beginning of 1960s. Most of them occurred in the years 1960-1990, after this period the number of Scots pine trees with reduced annual increments decreased considerably. The distribution of reductions in particular sites, especially of the Olkusz transects, indicate a distinct relationship between the amount of reductions and distance from local source of pollution. On the other hand the similarity in temporal distribution of reductions in all transects indicate that the studied area was probably also under influence of air pollution of a regional type.