Trace elements may present an environmental hazard in the vicinity of mining and smelting activities. However, the factors controlling their distribution and transfer within the soil and vegetation systems are not always well defined. Total concentrations of up to 15,195 mg . kg –¹ As, 6,690 mg . kg–¹ Cu, 24,820 mg . kg–¹ Pb and 9,810 mg . kg–¹ Zn in soils, and 62 mg . kg–¹ As, 1,765 mg . kg–¹ Cu, 280 mg . kg–¹ Pb and 3,460 mg . kg –¹ Zn in vegetation were measured. However, unusually for smelters and mines of a similar size, the elevated trace element concentrations in soils were found to be restricted to the immediate vicinity of the mines and smelters (maximum 2–3 km). Parent material, prevailing wind direction, and soil physical and chemical characteristics were found to correlate poorly with the restricted trace element distributions in soils. Hypotheses are given for this unusual distribution: (1) the contaminated soils were removed by erosion or (2) mines and smelters released large heavy particles that could not have been transported long distances. Analyses of the accumulation of trace elements in vegetation (median ratios: As 0.06, Cu 0.19, Pb 0.54 and Zn 1.07) and the percentage of total trace elements being DTPA extractable in soils (median percentages: As 0.06%, Cu 15%, Pb 7% and Zn 4%) indicated higher relative trace element mobility in soils with low total concentrations than in soils with elevated concentrations.

Interactions between Zn and Cd on the accumulation of these metals in coontail, Ceratophyllum demersum were studied at different metal concentrations. Plants were grown in nutrient solution containing Cd (0.05–0.25 mg l⁻¹) and Zn (0.5–5 mgl⁻¹). High concentrations of Zn caused a significant decrease in Cd accumulation. In general, adding Cd solution decreased Zn accumulation in C. demersum except at the lowest concentration of Zn in which the Zn accumulation was similar to that without Cd. C. demersum could accumulate high concentrations of both Cd and Zn. The influence of humic acid (HA) on Cd and Zn accumulation was also studied. HA had a significant effect on Zn accumulation in plants. 2 mg l⁻¹ of HA reduced Zn accumulation at 1 mg l⁻¹ level (from 2,167 to 803 mg kg⁻¹). Cd uptake by plant tissue, toxicity symptoms and accumulation at 0.25 and 0.5 mg l⁻¹, were reduced (from 515 to 154 mg kg⁻¹ and from 816 to 305 mg kg⁻¹, respectively) by addition of 2 mg l⁻¹ of HA. Cd uptake reached a maximum on day 9 of treatment, while that of Zn was observed on day 15. Long-term accumulation study revealed that HA reduced toxicity and accumulation of heavy metals.

Drainage water from agricultural fields with applied manure can degrade the bacterial quality of surface and groundwater. The impact of conventional tillage (CT) and zero tillage (ZT) practices on Escherichia coli (E.coli) discharge through artificially drained soils is not well understood. Consequently, two field trials were conducted during 2002–2004. The first trial involved fall applications of beef manure while the second involved spring applications of dairy manure. Both surface and subsurface drainage water were monitored in the first trial while only subsurface drainage water was monitored in the second. Under fall applied beef manure (trial 1), no differences (p > 0.05) were observed in E.coli concentrations (cfu/100 ml) in combined drainage water under both tillage systems. However, during 2003–2004, subsurface drainage water under ZT had higher E.coli concentrations and loads than drainage water under CT. When the combined (surface + subsurface) annual E.coli loads were considered, CT loads were greater than ZT during 2002–2003 with an opposite situation during 2003–2004. Overall, annual E.coli loads were similar under ZT (4.7 × 10¹⁰ cfu/ha) and CT (4.8 × 10¹⁰ cfu/ha). Spring dairy manure application (trial 2) produced significant (p > 0.03) tillage effect on E.coli loads in subsurface drainage water only during the second year. During the study period, ZT plots (1.55 × 10¹⁰ cfu/ha) discharged 5× more E.coli than CT (0.23 × 10¹⁰ cfu/ha). A longer duration of ZT practices resulted in higher subsurface flow volumes and subsequently greater loads of E.coli discharge in both trials.

The representativeness of soil pore water extracted by suction lysimeters in ground-water monitoring studies is a problem that often confounds interpretation of measured data. Current soil water sampling techniques cannot delineate from which soil volume a pore water sample is extracted, neither macroscopic, microscopic, or preferential flowpath. This research was undertaken to compare δ¹⁸O and Br- values of extracted suction lysimeters samples from intact soil cores with samples obtained by the direct extraction methods of centrifugation and azeotropic distillation. Also, the study was concerned with determining what portion of soil pore water is sampled by each method and explaining differences in concentrations of the extracted water from each method to allow a determination of the accuracy and viability of the three methods of extraction. Intact soil cores (30 cm diameter by 40 cm height) were extracted from two different sites. Site 1 was rapid infiltration basin number 50, near Altamonte Springs in Seminole County, Florida. Site 2 was the Missouri Management System Evaluation Area (MSEA) near Centralia in Boone County, Missouri. Isotopically (¹⁸Oδ) labeled water and bromide concentrations within water samples taken by suction lysimeters was compared with samples obtained by methods of centrifugation and azeotropic distillation. The ¹⁸Oδ water was analyzed by mass spectrometry while bromide concentration, applied in the form of KBr was measured using standard IC procedures. Water collected by centrifugation and azeotropic distillation data were about 0.25[per thousand] more negative than that collected by suction lysimeter values from a sandy soil and about 2-7[per thousand] more negative from a well structured soil. Results indicate that the majority of soil water in well-structured soil is strongly bound to soil grain surfaces and is not easily sampled by suction lysimeters. In cases where a sufficient volume of water has passed through the soil profile and displaced previous pore water, suction lysimeters will collect a representative sample of soil pore water from the sampled depth interval. It is suggested that for stable isotope studies monitoring precipitation and soil water, suction lysimeter be installed at shallow depths (10 cm). Samples should also be coordinated with precipitation events. The data also suggest that each extraction method samples a separate component of soil-pore water. Centrifugation can be used with success, particularly for efficient sampling of large areas. Azeotropic distillation is more appropriate when strict qualitative and quantitative data on sorption desorption, and various types of kinetic studies may be needed.

Many lakes in the Adirondack Mountains, New York, have acidified over the past century due to acidic atmospheric deposition. More recently, most monitored lakes have shown signs of chemical recovery (increase in acid neutralizing capacity) as sulfur deposition levels have declined in response to the Clean Air Act and other emissions control legislation. We used measured and modeled trends in past lakewater acidification and projections of future recovery from acidification to extrapolate results from judgment samples of intensively studied lakes to the population of acid-sensitive Adirondack lakes. Simulations were developed for 70 watersheds using the Model of Acidification of Groundwater in Catchments (MAGIC) to classify lakes according to their sensitivity to change in atmospheric S and N deposition. MAGIC simulations suggested that the modeled Adirondack Long-Term Monitoring Project (ALTM) and Adirondack Effects Assessment Project (AEAP) lakes were largely among the lakes in the population that had acidified most between 1850 and 1990. Most of the modeled ALTM/AEAP lakes were within the top 36% of acid sensitivity, based on model projections of past acidification and future chemical recovery, compared with the 1,829 Adirondack lakes in EPA's Environmental Monitoring and Assessment Program (EMAP) statistical frame. Results of this research will allow fuller utilization of data from on-going chemical and biological monitoring and process-level studies by providing a basis for regionalization of findings and developing/refining relationships among watershed characteristics, chemical change, and biological responses to changing levels of acidic deposition.

According to recent insight, the toxicity of metals in soils is better related to the free metal ion (FMI) activity in the soil solution than to the total metal concentration in soil. However, the determination of FMI activities in soil solution is a difficult and time-consuming task. An alternative is to use empirical equations (so called transfer functions (TFs)) that relate FMI activity in solution to the reactive metal concentration in the solid phase and to soil properties (pH and organic matter content). Here we test the applicability of two sets of TF for Cd and Pb using independent data from a wide range of soil types and regions that are not represented in the datasets used to derive the TFs. From these soils, soil solution was extracted using four different methods. For all these extracts, FMI activities were calculated from total concentrations in solution using the speciation program WHAM VI. In some of the soils, Cd and Pb FMI activities were also measured using a Donnan membrane technique. Most of these FMI activities deviated from the TF predictions by less than one order of magnitude and were within the 95% confidence interval of the TFs, irrespective of the method used to extract soil solution. Predictability was higher for Pb than for Cd and differed also between the two TF sets.

Comparing today's atmospheric deposition records with the elemental concentration and the net-uptake rates of ombrotrophic Sphagnum mosses from eight German and Belgian peat bogs revealed that most of all the quality and number of regularly obtained deposition monitoring data is not satisfactory. Moreover, it seems likely that the deposition rate, determined by Sphagnum mosses, does not reliably reflect the record of the total open field deposition indicated by the deposition monitoring data. The moss data, too, show a distinct spatial variability possibly because the geochemistry of peat mosses differs according to the annual growth in height, the total surface area and the surface roughness of the receptor 'peat moss' (special interception deposition). Increased Ti concentration values, for example, combined with a high annual growth rate in height at the hollow moss S. cuspidatum resulted in generally high Ti net-uptake rates and a high Ti inventory (total Ti in sample). We, therefore, suggest that productive Sphagnum species might be able to fix more Ti particles on their larger surface area than less productive species do. Moreover, the results demonstrate that for reliably calculating Sphagnum elemental net-uptake rates, as well as for all quantification of Sphagnum or peat geochemistry on a time and area basis, an accurate knowledge of the period the collected samples were exposed to atmospheric deposition is required. In particular, to do reliable reconstructions of past atmospheric deposition rates using peat deposits, further studies are needed to precisely specify the spatial variability in the geochemistry of living Sphagnum mosses.

Sedimentprofiles of the last 4,000-14,000 years are presented from three dimictic lakes in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern (North-eastern Germany). Sedimentological composition, major trace elements and nutrients as well as parameter for core chronology (palynology, ¹⁴C-AMS) were investigated in order to reconstruct the historical development of the lakes during the Holocene. Palynological results reflect different human settlement phases and environmental changes from the late Pleistocene to the Subatlantic. Since the Middle Ages, a permanent settlement in the catchment area resulted in higher sedimentation rates in the three lakes. Variations in sediment composition like organic matter, carbonate and mineral content were caused by different land management techniques and natural changes in the catchment area. The phosphorus accumulation increased in the upper sediment layers, but the highest phosphorus accumulations were not found in the industrial phase, but in older sediments associated with human settlement activities in the catchment area. The heavy metals lead and zinc increase in the uppermost part of all three lakes reflecting the atmospheric anthropogenic input during the last 150-200 years.

A review is given in this paper of the up-to-date results observed in differentiation and transformation studies on petroleum-type pollutants in underground and surface waters. Water and particulate matter derived from the locality of Pančevo Petroleum Refinery, Serbia (River Danube alluvial formations). It was shown that distributions of n-alkanes, steranes and triterpanes, and δ¹³CPDB values of n-alkanes may successfully be used for qualitatively differentiating the petroleum-type pollutants from native organic matter in recent sedimentary formations. In underground waters, a petroleum-type pollutant is exposed to microbiological degradation which is manifested through relatively fast degradation of n-alkanes. Following an almost complete degradation of crude oil n-alkanes in underground water, the biosynthesis of novel, even carbon-number C₁₆-C₃₀ n-alkanes may be observed. It is shown that the n-alkane distribution observed in a petroleum-type pollutant may depend on the intensity of its previous interaction with water. The fate of petroleum-type pollutants in environmental waters may be predicted through laboratory simulative microbiological degradation experiments by using microorganism consortiums similar to those observed under relevant natural conditions, as well as on corresponding nutrient base.

Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) are ubiquitous pollutants in the urban atmosphere. In particular, atmospheric pollution has increasingly become severe in China due to its rapid urbanization and industrialization. In recent years, a few studies have presented information about POPs (such as PAHs, PCBs, OCPs) in aerosols at a molecular level in a limited number of cities such as Beijing, Qingdao and Guangzhou, as well as Hong Kong. Whereas, these cities are located in northern and southern China, respectively, where characteristics of atmospheric pollution might be different from those in the eastern cities, such as Shanghai. Atmospheric particle pollution is a persistent problem in Shanghai, a typical metropolis of China, which has several huge industrial regions. In order to gain a comprehensive understanding of the present state, properties and sources of PAHs pollution in Shanghai, PM₁₀ samples were collected at Coal-Fired Power Plant (CFP), Chlor-Alkali Chemical factory (CAC) and Coking and Chemical factory (CCF) in an industrial area, during the period, November 2004-September 2005. The concentrations of 16 PAHs were analyzed using the HPLC with UV visible detector. The results showed that the mean value of total PAHs in the industrial area was 64.85 ng m-³; 3-ring PAHs were found at low levels, while 4-, 5- and 6-ring PAHs were found at high levels. The levels of BaP were 3.07 and 7.16 ng m-³ at Chlor-Alkali Chemistry Factory and Coking and Chemistry Factory sites, respectively. PAHs levels exhibited distinct seasonal variation, with the highest level in autumn and the lowest in summer. The major source of PAHs at the industrial area was fossil fuel combustion, coal-burning, industrial furnaces including others. There was a very significant correlation of PAHs levels between CCF and CAC (R ² = 0.91). The average concentration of BaP in the industrial area during the sampling period was 5.95 ng m-³. It could be concluded the local population appears to be exposed to significantly high cancer risk (exceeding 2 ng m-³ in autumn and winter) as compared to the population of other areas.