Water pollution in the Taihu Lake Basin has been the focus of attention in China and abroad for a long time, due to its position in the forefront of urban development in China. Based on data ...gathering and processing from 84 monitoring sections in this heavily polluted area, this study first analyzes spatial patterns of urbanization and the distribution of river water pollution, and then uses the GeoDa bivariate spatial autocorrelation model to investigate the spatial correlation between urbanization and river water pollution at the scale of township units. The results show that urbanization has adverse impacts on water pollution, and the influence varies in different levels of development areas. The urban township units have the highest level of urbanization and highest pollution, but the best water quality; the suburban units have lower level of urbanization, but higher pollution and worse water quality; however the rural units have the lowest level of urbanization and lowest pollution, mainly affected by upstream pollution, but worst water quality. Lastly, urban and rural planning committees, while actively promoting the process of development in the region, should gradually resolve the issue of pollution control lagging behind urban life and urban develop- ment, giving priority to construction of centralized sewage treatment facilities and associated pipeline network coverage in the rural areas and suburban areas.
The Mezquital valley is an area near Mexico City that has been irrigated since 1890 with wastewater. The use of such waters in agriculture increases soil fertility but at the same time provokes the ...accumulation of heavy and toxic metals in soils and plants. Cows grazing in these conditions could accumulate heavy and toxic metals in their milk. In this work, a coprecipitation method with APDC is coupled to PIXE for the analysis of Fe, Ni, Cu, Zn, Se and Pb in bovine milk from the Mixquiahuala area in the Mezquital valley. Milk samples were analyzed from cows with supervised and unsupervised feedings finding significant differences between the milks in the Cu, Pb and Zn content. However, no correlation between the type of milk and the metal content could be established. Lead does not represent a health risk for humans in its current concentration and other metals do not seem to be toxic. The transfer ratio from soil and plants to the milk is apparently low.
More and more attention has been paid to the effects of heavy metal pollution of soil in China, but the studies of physical and electrical properties of the heavy metal contaminated soil is still at ...the preliminary stage. The related physical properties will change when the soil was contaminated by heavy metal. The electrical property is one of the inherent physical properties of soil; hence the electrical property will change after soil pollution. The muddy silt clay of floodplain in Changjiang River, which is unique in China, was used to study the physical and electrical properties of heavy metal-Zn contaminated soil. In this article, the heavy metal contaminated soil was prepared by adding the solution of zinc nitrate hexahydrate. X-ray diffraction experiment (XRD) and Scanning Electron Microscope test (SEM) were adopted to analyze the mineral and chemical composition of natural silt clay. Besides, particle size analysis, liquid-plastic limit test, pH test and resistivity test were taken to analyze the variation rules of relevant physical and electrical properties in heavy metal-Zn contaminated soil, in which, the age of fines content test, liquid plastic limit test, mobility test and pH test was considered to make sure the long-term effects of heavy metal zinc pollution. For electrical properties, the resistivity was used to analyze the soil after contamination. The resistivity that was changed with different pollution concentration, water content was compared. The corresponding relationship of resistivity was established and the evaluation of pollution degree and the polluted area using resistivity was qualitative analyzed in the heavy metal-Zn contaminated silt clay.
The Příbram region belongs to the most polluted areas in the Czech Republic. Atmospheric deposition of potentially toxic elements from lead smelter represents the main source of contamination in this ...region. In this study, the most polluted location intensively used for agriculture situated northeast from the source of contamination was investigated. The individual sampling points were positioned by GPS and representative samples were taken from 0-60 cm split into three20 cmlayers. In the soil samples total Pb and Cd contents, plant available contents of these toxic elements and soil pH were determined. The total Cd content at the investigated site reached up to 13 mg/kg and Pb up to 2500 mg/kgin the top layer. The concentration of both elements decreases with depth and in the 40-60 cm layer the maximum content of only 6 mg Cd/kg and 400 mg Pb/kg was found. The plant available the content of Pb and Cd in the soil is related to the pH value. The correlation coefficient of exponential regression for Cd is -0.799 and for Pb is -0.787. The obtained data was processed by Surfer 7 software resulting in digital maps of horizontal and vertical contamination of this location. This observation confirmed the airborne source of soil contamination. However, some of the individual sampling points suggested local geogenic contamination of the soil where more detailed further research is required.
In 137 females (F) and 94 males (M) aged 21–35 years from organochlorines (OCs) polluted area (POLL) increased thyroid volume (ThV), prevalence of antibodies to thyroperoxidase (TPOab), thyrotropin ...receptor (TRab) and of impaired fasting glucose (IFG) was found compared to 116 F and 107 M from background pollution area (BCGR). In F and M from POLL also strikingly increased level of PCBs, DDE and HCB was found. Such findings were compared to the generation of their parents aged 41–55 years consisting of 320F/213M from POLL and 406F/231M from BCGR. However, in spite of strikingly lower level of those OCs in young adults from POLL, they showed about the same prevalence of adverse health signs as the old generation. From such reason 44 young F and 40 young M with lowest PCBs level from POLL were selected to obtain nearly the same PCB level as found in all young F and M from BCGR. In such PCB adjusted groups the prevalence of TPOab, TRab, IFG and increased ThV was still significantly higher than that in all young subjects from BCGR. At the same time, also the level of DDE and HCB in such PCBs adjusted groups was considerably lower. It was concluded that such adverse effects in young adults from POLL possibly did not result from their actual OCs levels, but very likely from their exposure to high OCs levels of their mothers during their prenatal and perinatal life. Thus, the data may be compatible with present views on transgenerational transmission of endocrine disruptors action.
Resistivity and induced polarization surveying were originally developed for mineral exploration but are now finding new applications in the field of environmental and engineering geophysics. The ...present article reports the results of a geophysical survey performed with the aim of identifying a plume of chlorinated hydrocarbons in sedimentary formations of the Pandania plain. The tested site is characterized by three sand and gravel aquifers containing a quantity of clay particles which influence the overall bulk resistivity and chargeability. According to data obtained using shallow boreholes, mainly dense non-aqueous phase liquids were found as contaminants in the first and second aquifer. The aforementioned geo-electrical methods were applied in both two- and three-dimensional approaches. Steel and copper electrodes were used in the process of field data acquisition and the results of the survey were compared. The geophysical survey revealed some anomalies that could be explained by the presence of dense non-aqueous phase liquids in the soil medium. The concept of normalized chargeability facilitates the interpretation of detected induced polarization anomalies. The shape of the plume was inferred from maps of resistivity and chargeability to a depth of 25 m below the surface of the ground.
This study attempted to clarify the association between participation in a social group and perceived health among elderly residents of a previously methylmercury-polluted area in Japan.
We conducted ...a cross-sectional study using eligible subjects from the Shiranui Sea coastal area, where mercury poisoning due to daily intake of fish and shellfish had previously caused some residents to develop the neurological disorder "Minamata disease (MD)." In the present study, we selected subjects aged ≥65 years who had never been diagnosed with MD or applied for medical treatment compensation.
A logistic regression model after adjusting for confounding factors showed that membership in a hobby or volunteer group was associated with good perceived health (odds ratio 1.97, 95 % confidence interval 1.02-3.80).
Our results showed that the effects of membership in social groups on perceived health were not equal across all social groups, with only hobby- or volunteer-related groups having a positive effect on perceived health. Our findings suggested that promoting participation in a social group such as hobby- or volunteer-related groups can help improve perceived health among elderly individuals who had experienced environmental pollution incidents.
The deteriorating water quality in the Taihu Lake Basin has attracted widespread attention for many years, and is correlated with a sharp increase in the quantity of pollutant discharge such as ...agricultural fertilizers and industrial wastewater. In this study, several factors were selected for evaluating and regionalizing the water environmental capacity by ArcG1S spatial analysis, including geomor- phologic characteristics, water quality goals, water body accessibility, water-dilution channels, and current water quality. Then, the spa- tial optimization of agriculture and industry was adjusted through overlay analysis, based on the balance between industrial space and water environmental capacity. The results show that the water environmental capacity gradually decreases from the west to the east, in contrast, the pollution caused by industrial and agricultural clustering is distributes along Taihu Lake, Gehu Lake and urban districts. The analysis of the agricultural space focuses on optimizing key protected areas of the Taihu Lake Basin, and the shores of Gehu Lake, optimally adjusting the second protected areas of the Taihu Lake Basin, and generally adjusting the urban areas of Changzhou and Wuxi cities. The analysis of industrial space focuses on optimizing the downtowns of Changzhou and Wuxi cities, optimally adjusting key protected areas and second protected areas of the Taihu Lake Basin, and generally adjusting the south and southwest of Gehu Lake. Lastly, some schemes of industrial and agricultural layouts and policies for the direction of industrial and agricultural development were proposed, reflecting a correlation between industry and agriculture and the water environment.
Nine hundred eight women aged 40–88 years living in a non-Cd-polluted area in Japan were analyzed for urinary cadmium (Cd), N-acetyl-β-d-glucosaminidase (NAG) activity, β2-microglobulin (B2MG) ...concentration, and for the stiffness index (STIFF) of calcaneal bone using an ultrasound method. The urinary Cd in the subjects, with a mean and range of 2.87 and 0.25–11.4μg/g creatinine, respectively, showed a significant correlation with NAG but not with B2MG. STIFF was significantly inversely correlated with urinary Cd, and the association remained significant after adjusting for age, body weight, and menstrual status, suggesting a significant effect of Cd on the bone loss in these subjects without signs of Cd-induced kidney damage. A two-fold increase in urinary Cd was accompanied by a decrease in STIFF corresponding to a 1.7-year rise in age. These results emphasize the need for reassessment of the significance of Cd exposure in the general Japanese population.
The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of environmental low-grade cadmium exposure on bone in the population of a non-polluted area. We investigated the relationship between ...environmental cadmium exposure (via rice intake) and bone metabolism in middle-aged and elderly women living in a non-polluted area in Japan.
Four hundred and twenty-nine women over the age of 39 years (54.6 ± 9.1 years; arithmetic mean ± SD) participated in this study in 2003. We investigated blood and urine, and rice intake, and performed ultrasonic bone evaluation, and obtained individual information about the subjects' health. Multiple regression analysis was performed in the statistical analysis.
The arithmetic mean of cadmium content in rice was 70.8 ± 44.7 μg/kg (AM ± SD). The geometric mean of daily cadmium intake (Cd intake) from rice calculated based on food consumption data was 9.12 μg/day (GSD 2.33). The geometric means of serum and urine cadmium concentrations were 1.57 μg/l (GSD 2.11) and 1.93 μg/g creatinine (cr.) (GSD 2.05), respectively. Multiple regression analysis showed positive correlations between (1) urinary free deoxypyridinoline (FDPD-U) and Cd intake (p < 0.05), (2) urinary cross-linked N-telopeptides of type I collagen (NTx-U) and Cd intake (p < 0.05), and (3) FDPD-U or NTx-U and cadmium concentration in urine (p < 0.01). No significant correlation between the parameters of ultrasonic bone evaluation and cadmium associated biomarkers was observed.
The results of the present study suggest the possibility of bone metabolic disorder induced by environmental low-grade cadmium exposure. With respect to osteoporosis, a long-term follow-up survey is required to assess the tolerable intake of cadmium in environmental exposure.
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