International audience | Estimates of standing biomass and fluxes of biomass in a mixed-deciduous woodland were derived, and used with results for concentrations of seven polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in different compartments of the woodland system to quantitatively assess some of the key fluxes and burdens of PAHs in this complex system. We quantified PAH burdens in air, in leaves of three deciduous tree species, in leaf litter and in soil, and uptake of PAHs by the tree leaves; PAH fluxes in litterfall, and deposition to the litter layer on the woodland floor during winter were calculated from these data. Air burdens exhibited marked seasonal variations for all compounds, with lowest values in summer when combustion-related emissions were low. Leaves did not accumulate large burdens of PAHs while on the trees and consequently, litterfall-associated fluxes of PAHs were small, representing only a fraction of the burdens in the litter layer to which they were deposited. Higher PAH burdens in air in winter, combined with the organic-matter-rich nature of the litter layer, are thought to be responsible for fluxes of PAHs to the litter layer in winter being 20–170 times the peak litterfall fluxes. The soil compartment was calculated to contain 25 years' worth of deposition of benzo[ghi]perylene, the most recalcitrant PAH in this study. Storage quotients for fluoranthene, pyrene, benzo[k]fluoranthene and benzo[a]pyrene burdens in soil represented 7–10 years' worth of deposition, while fluorene and phenanthrene storage in soil approached unity with inputs (1 and 3 years' worth of deposition, respectively). The relative importance of storage and loss processes was therefore closely related to the physico-chemical properties of the PAH, and is discussed in relation to the cycling of carbon in the woodland.

The surface water quality preservation is dependent on the used technology of wastewater purification, waters that are thrown in natural streams and on the used methods for the purification efficiency evaluation. The field microbiological test (FMT) is made of a concentrated culture medium that allows the evidencing of enterobacteria below values of 100/cubic cm, therefore it was used for sanitary ranking of treated wastewaters at the sewage treatment plant of Timisoara (Romania). We noted a 100% correlation between FMT and the official coliform bacteria test.

This paper presents the results obtained after an alternative treatment (aerobic and anaerobic) of the animal slurry. We discussed only about the problems related to the effects of denitrification and dephosphatation on coliform bacteria. We noticed a good decontamination of the slurry using alternatively the two procedures. To determine the decontamination degree we used the classical multiple tubes method. The same samples were examined through the field microbiological test (FMT) adding Kovacs reagent. There is a concordance between the coliform bacteria determined through the classical method and the number determined through FMT to which the Kovacs reagent adding increases the sensitivity degree.

Effects of vapours of two herbicides on plantlets of fourteen wild higher plant species and two bryophytes were screened in fumigation experiments using foliar injury, chlorophyll fluorescence and growth as response parameters. After vaporisation of the herbicides for 48 h, concentrations in the chambers reached 77 g m−3 in the chlorpropham treatments and 184 ng m−3 in the ethofumesate treatments. Despite the higher concentrations of the volatile chlorpropham (vapour pressure, VP: 1.3 mP), plants showed no foliar injury, but vapours of this herbicide caused leaf crinkling in the agriophyte Agrostemma githago. The less volatile ethofumesate (VP: 0.56 mP) caused foliar injury in all higher species, with lowest no observed effect concentrations (NOECs) of 75 ng m−3. Chlorpropham affected growth only in Agrostemma, while ethofumesate reduced growth in one third of the higher plant species. Chlorophyll fluorescence proved to be a less suitable response parameter compared to foliar injury and growth. No adverse effects were observed in mosses, probably due to the slow growth and hence small doses of herbicides taken up. The extent of foliar injury due to ethofumesate showed a weak positive relationship to relative growth rates and specific leaf area in the tested higher plant species.

Rising concern about agricultural non-print water pollution has led to the proposal of many regulatory measures. Agri-environmental programmes have been implemented in the different EU Member States according to the Commission regulation 2078/92. Best management practices, one of the most popular tools, have rarely been assessed in a fully satisfying way. Therefore, the main objective of this project is to provide planners in charge of the implementation of BMPs in the field of combating diffusion pollution either at a national or local scale, with both a guideline allowing the definition of critical areas on which efforts should be place in priority, and a selection grid permitting the assessment of BMPs in a three-dimensional space defined by environmental effectiveness, associated economic costs and social acceptability by farmers and land managers. Expectedd results should contribute to help Member States choosing the most appropriate measures and ways for an efficient implementation of BMPs, with the support of scientifically validated technical and economic recommendations. | Le principal objectif de ce projet est de procurer aux acteurs responsables de la lutte contre la pollution diffuse grâce aux meilleures pratiques de gestion une échelle nationale ou locale qui indique les zones prioritaires et l'évaluation des méthodes par l'efficacité environnementale, les coûts économiques associés et l'acceptation sociale de la part des agriculteurs et des gestionnaires des terres.

The treatment of polluted air by passing it through biological filters is proving more effective and less expensive than conventional physical and chemical technologies. This book overviews the major bioreactor designs currently available on the market. The first part explains the principles of the different techniques, followed by descriptions of full-scale bioreactor applications for each system. Topics of the 14 chapters include biotrickling filters, membrane bioreactors, rotating biological contactors, activated sludge, biofiltration of waste gases from a dairy industry, and a bioscrubber for cleaning waste gases from wastewater treatment plants. c. Book News Inc.

Marine pollution causes significant damage to fisheries and other economically productive uses of the ocean. The value of that damage can be quantified by economists, but the meanings of those valuations and how they are derived are often obscure to noneconomists. Economic Losses from Marine Pollution brings a fuller understanding of the variety and extent of marine losses and how they are assessed to scientists, lawyers, and environmentalists by systematically identifying and classifying marine losses and relating them to models and methods of economic valuation. The authors use a step-by-step approach to show how economists have used these methods and how they approach the problem of assessing economic damage. The book begins by describing the importance of economic valuation of marine damages, the history of concern over marine pollution, and the development of economic methodologies to assess damage from it. Following that, the book: considers types of marine pollution and their effects on organisms, ecosystems, and humans, and the corresponding economic effects of those biological impacts introduces the economic principles and methods needed to understand and to assess economic damages expresses losses from water quality impairments in terms of economic value introduces the basic economic techniques that have been developed and used to measure changes in economic value discusses how to apply those economic techniques, and presents a variety of practical examples explores limitations and problems that can arise in such applied work. Economic Losses from Marine Pollution includes all of the relevant economic theory together with specific examples of how that theory has been and can be applied. It offers environmental professionals with little or no background in economics the basic economic tools needed to understand economic valuations of environmental damage. --Publisher.

The determination of chlorocarbons in drinking wateris described. The chlorocarbons studied include:tetrachloromethane, 1,1,1-trichloroethane, tribromomethane,bromodichloromethane, dibromochloromethane. Three methods ofsample preparation were compared: liquid-liquid extraction(LLE), purge & trap (P&T) and direct aqueous injection (DAI).The samples of drinking water were taken from Toruń (Poland):local sources, municipal water intake, drilled wells. Theobtained data allowed to create the map of chlorocarbonscontamination for Toruń town. Repeatability, linearity anddetection limits of LLE, P&T, DAI were evaluated forhalocarbons under investigation.

The difference in effect on acidification and species of aluminum speciation between HNO₃ and H₂SO₄for two contrasting types of soils in surface charge was investigated. The results show that the effect of H₂SO₄ on acidification of variable charge soils (Ferric Acrisol and Haplic Acrisol) of subtropical regions wasweaker than that of HNO₃, due to the specific adsorption of SO₄ ²⁻ and the accompanied release of OH⁻. For two constant charge soils, Haplic Luvisol andEutric Cambisol, the difference in effect between the two acids is small. The concentrations of total inorganic monomeric aluminum, Al³⁺, Al-F complexes and Al-SO₄complexes in the extract from variable charge soils are alsolower in H₂SO₄ systems than those in HNO₃ systems, whereas the reverse is true for constant charge soils, except the concentration of Al³⁺. For variable charge soils, Al-F complexes are the major species of inorganic monomeric aluminum at high pH butAl³⁺ might contribute to a largepart at low pH, while for constant charge soils Al-F complexes contribute almost exclusively to the inorganic monomeric aluminum. The presence of a large amount of SO₄ ²⁻ in the extract from the constant charge soilsleads to a higher proportion of Al-SO₄ complexes in totalinorganic monomeric aluminum than that from variable charge soil, although the numerical value of proportion is small.