Variations between rice cultivars in iron and manganese plaque on roots and the relation with plant cadmium uptake

To understand certain mechanisms causing variations between rice cultivars with regard to cadmium uptake and tolerance, pot soil experiments were conducted with two rice cultivars of different genotypes under different soil Cd levels. The relationships between plant Cd uptake and iron/manganese （Fe/Mn） plaque formation on roots were investigated. The results showed that rice cultivars differed markedly in Cd uptake and tolerance. Under soil Cd treatments, Cd concentrations and accumulations in the cultivar Shanyou 63 （the genotype indica） were significantly higher than those in the cultivar Wuyunjing 7 （the genotype japonica） （P 〈 0.01, or P 〈 0.05）, and Shanyou 63 was more sensitive to Cd toxicity than Wuyunjing 7. The differences between the rice cultivars were the largest at relatively low soil Cd level （i.e., 10 mg/kg）. Fe concentrations in dithionite-citrate-bicarbonate root extracts of Shanyou 63 were generally lower than that of Wuyunjing 7, and the difference was the most significant under the treatment of 10 mg Cd/kg soil. The results indicated that the formation of iron plaque on rice roots could act as a barrier to soil Cd toxicity, and may be a ＂buffer＂ or a ＂reservoir＂ which could reduce Cd uptake into rice roots. And the plaque may contribute, to some extent, to the genotypic differences of rice cultivars in Cd uptake and tolerance.

Air pollution and inhalation exposure to particulate matter of different sizes in rural households using improved stoves in central China

Household air pollution is considered to be among the top environmental risks in China.To examine the performance of improved stoves for reduction of indoor particulate matter（PM） emission and exposure in rural households, individual inhalation exposure to size-resolved PM was investigated using personal portable samplers carried by residents using wood gasifier stoves or improved coal stoves in a rural county in Central China.Concentrations of PM with different sizes in stationary indoor and outdoor air were also monitored at paired sites. The stationary concentrations of size-resolved PM in indoor air were greater than those in outdoor air, especially finer particles PM0.25. The daily averaged exposure concentrations of PM0.25, PM1.0, PM2.5 and total suspended particle for all the surveyed residents were 74.4 ± 41.1, 159.3 ± 74.3, 176.7 ± 78.1 and 217.9 ± 78.1 μg/m3,respectively. Even using the improved stoves, the individual exposure to indoor PM far exceeded the air quality guideline by WHO at 25 μg/m3. Submicron particles PM1.0 were the dominant PM fraction for personal exposure and indoor and outdoor air. Personal exposure exhibited a closer correlation with indoor PM concentrations than that for outdoor concentrations. Both inhalation exposure and indoor air PM concentrations in the rural households with gasifier firewood stoves were evidently lower than the reported results using traditional firewood stoves. However, local governments in the studied rural areas should exercise caution when widely and hastily promoting gasifier firewood stoves in place of improved coal stoves, due to the higher PM levels in indoor and outdoor air and personal inhaled exposure.