Study on Dissolved Trace Metals in Sea Surface Microlayer in Daya Bay

Glass-plate sampling during 1988-1999 in Daya Bay and suitable corresponding analytical methods were used for the measurement of dissolved trace metals, dissolved organic carbon, biological oxygen demand, chemical oxygen demand, salinity of the sea surface microlayer and subsurface water. Apparent enrichment mechanism and diurnal variation have been revealed for dissolved trace metals in the microlayer in Daya Bay. The more dissolved organic matter was enriched in the sea surface microlayer, the more dissolved trace metals were enriched in the layer. The organic matter played an important role in the enrichment process. The diurnal variations of dissolved trace metals showed that their concentration was apparently inversely related to the tide activity that the concentration was low during rising tide, but high during falling tide. The behavior of dissolved trace metals expressed by the diurnal variation was clearly opposite to that of salinity.

Spatial distribution of dissolved Pb,Hg,Cd,Cu and As in the Bohai Sea

Characteristics of the spatial distribution of selected dissolved heavy metals were analyzed during large scale surveys from August t2 to 25, 2003 in the Bohai Sea. Dissolved Pb was the only element with average concentrations higher than the grade-one sea water quality standard of China. The spatial distribution of dissolved Pb in surface water was similar to those of Cd, Cu and As, where the isopleths generally indicated decreasing values from the bays to the central areas. Only for Hg did the high concentrations not only appear in Liaodong Bay, Bohai Bay and Laizhou Bay, but also in the Central Area, viz. not only in inshore but also in offshore areas. Vertical distributions of dissolved Pb, Cd, Cu and As were largely uniform, while that of dissolved Hg increased with depth. We infer that the input of pollutants from land was the main influencing factor for the detected distribution patterns of dissolved heavy metals, followed by the dynamics of sea water, release from bottom sediments and biochemical processes. Comparing with historical data, average concentrations of dissolved heavy metals appear to decline in recent years.

Importance of Metal－Oxide Support Wettingandinteractions on Understanding of Physical and Chemical Behaviours of Supported Metal Catalysts

It has been generally recognised that the metal catalysts supported on oxide ceramic and non-oxide ceramic supports exhibit completely different characteristics as compared with the homogeneous ones. The na-ture of bonding and interactions occurring at the metal / ceramic interfaces are believed to be of importancefor the characteristics of such catalysts. The recently developed microscopic theory of adhesion and wettingin metal/ ceramic systems is briefly presented here with the emphasis on the ionocovalent oxide ceramics.and its consequence on the understanding of the physical and chemical behaviours of supported metal cata-lysts is exploited.

Background Concentration of Copper and Cadmium in Water from a High Industrialized and Urban Coastal System (Baixada Santista, Brazil)—Contribution to a Monitoring Program

The Baixada Santista coastal region is well known in the context of the high atmospheric, soil and aquatic pollution levels derived from port, industrial, domestic and urban activities existent there, mainly in function of the Cubatão industrial pole and port of Santos. The contamination by trace metals in this region is rarely measured in water column when compared with metal determinations in sediment studies. This study aims to evidence the levels of dissolved copper and total cadmium concentrations in estuarine and seawater waters using electrochemical analysis as a chronopotentiometric stripping polarography, which could improve the environmental monitoring program. The study was performed in the Bay of Santos reaching two estuarine channels (Santos and São Vicente Channels) in two tide periods in summer 2001. This region is influenced by terrestrial and anthropogenic inputs of trace metals to seawater. The results showed that dissolved copper and total cadmium in water presented the maxima concentrations of 45.4 nM and 2.6 nM respectively. They not reached the limits proposed by Brazilian Environmental Law (CONAMA), that indicate, as reference, a maximum of 123 nM and 350 nM for dissolved copper and total cadmium, respectively and, considering seawater coastal system (salinity > 30, class 2) and also brackish water (class 2). Although the values were under the maximum recommended for each metal, the concentrations were not negligible in relation to the other polluted areas in the world. The values distribution along the system showed a progressive increase in direction to the inner part of the system that naturally compromises the local biota whose is more exposed to the bioaccumulation processes, and this data corresponds to an important reference preterit value to the monitoring program. The trace metal bioaccumulation by mangrove vegetation and by the biota in the internal part of the estuarine channels increase the risk of the poorly population that living in the internal part of the estuary, used to the seafood consumption. The contribution of this study is important to guide the protective policies destined to recuperate the natural conditions of this system, mainly considering that in the decade 1980, there was a case of toxic contamination, causing hydrocephaly in newborns. It proves the existence of risks to the human health and to the balance of the ecosystem, even with the decrease of pollution after that, the environmental evaluation needs to know the background values to guide environmental protection.

Selected dark sides of biomass-derived biochars as environmental amendments

With the rapid increase in the application of biochars as amendments, studies are needed to clarify the possible environmental risks derived from biochars to use safely the biomass resources. This work reported selected dark sides of maize straw-and swine manurederived biochars pyrolyzed at 300 and 500°C. During the pyrolysis processes, total heavy metals in the biochars were enriched greatly accompanying with considerable emission of the heavy metals into atmosphere and the trends became increasingly obvious with pyrolysis temperature. Meanwhile, the biochars showed distinctly decreased available heavy metals compared with raw feedstocks, which could be mainly attributed to the sorption by the inorganics in the biochars. The water-and acid-washing treatments significantly increased the releasing risks of heavy metals from biochars into the environments. Electron paramagnetic resonance analysis indicated that persistent free radicals, emerged strongly in the biochars as a function of the aromatization of biomass feedstocks, were free from the influence of water-, acid-, or organic-washing of the biochars and could remain stable even after aged in soils for 30 days. Dissolved biochars, highly produced during pyrolysis processes, showed distinct properties including lower molecular weight distribution while higher aromaticity compared with soil dissolved organic carbon.The results of this study provide important perspectives on the safe usage of biochars as agricultural/environmental amendments.

Two-dimension fluorescence correlation spectroscopy to characterize the binding of organic ligands with zinc in eutrophic lake

Metal binding of organic ligands can definitely affect its environmental behavior in waters,while information on the binding heterogeneity with different organic ligands is still lacked till now.In this study,the binding of zinc with organic matters associated with cyanobacterial blooms,including dissolved organic matters（DOM） and attached organic matters（AOM）,were studied by using fluorescence quenching titration combined with two-dimensional correlation spectroscopy（2D-COS）.Metal-induced fluorescent quenching was obviously observed both for DOM and AOM,indicating the formation of metal-ligand complexes.Compared with the one-dimensional spectra,2D-COS revealed the sequences of metal-ligand interaction with the following orders：276 nm 〉 232 ran for DOM and232 nm 〉 276 nm for AOM.Furthermore,the modified Stern-Volmer model showed that the binding constant（logKM） of 276 nm in DOM was higher than that of 232 nm（4.93 vs.4.51）,while AOM was characterized with a high binding affinity for 232 nm（log KM：4.83）.The ranks of log KM values were consistent with the sequential orders derived from 2D-COS results both for the two samples.Fluorescence quenching titration combined with 2D-COS was an effective method to characterize the metal-ligand interaction.