Measurement of butyltin contamination of water and sediment in Osaka Bay,Japan

The concentration of tributyltin (TBT) in surface water from Osaka Bay ranged from 0.023 to 0.061 µg l⁻¹ in 1989 and from not detected (ND) to 0.059 µg l⁻¹ in 1990 while the proportion of TBT as a percentage of the total butyltins (BTs) was more than 40%. The concentration of TBT was also surveyed in the Port of Osaka and the Yodo River basin. TBT levels were highest in the estuary (the Port of Osaka), followed by sea areas (Osaka Bay) and rivers (Yodo River basin). A fairly high correlation coefficient between TBT concentration and salinity in water from the estuary and the sea areas was observed. This result shows that the TBT in the estuary water is diluted by seawater. Generally, the TBT concentrations in the water columns were distributed uniformly and the composition of the BTs was also constant. TBT was detected in sediment from Osaka Bay in the range from ND to 0.023 mg kg⁻¹ dry weight with a high ratio of monobutyltin (MBT) to the total BTs. TBT in sediment core was also measured; its concentration decreased with core depth. It was estimated from these measurements that the release of TBT into Osaka Bay began in the 1960s. Copyright © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

EVOLUTION OF SHORELINES ALONG THE NORTH BANK OF HANGZHOU BAY DURING THE LATE STAGE OF THE HOLOCENE TRANSGRESSION

Based upon the analyses of the sedimentary characteristics, the parallelism of longitudinal streams of the netty drainage system in Shanghai coastal plain to the ancient shorelines, the hydrodynamics in the northern bank of the Hangzhou Bay and the distribution of sites of ancient cultural remains, this paper indicates that during the period of 7000—4000 a B. P., the south spit of the Changjiang River mouth developed southward, and only stretched to the nearshore area of Jinshanwei. The southern end of the spit was a compoundrecurved one. In addition, the evolution of the shoreline west of Jinshanwei during the same period is discussed.     

Organic complexation and total dissolved trace metal analysis in estuarine waters: comparison of solvent-extraction graphite furnace atomic absorption spectrometric and chelating resin flow injection inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometric analysis

The measured concentrations of cadmium, cobalt, copper, nickel, lead, zinc, and manganese in acidified (pH<2) estuarine water samples analyzed for total dissolved trace metal concentrations using on-line chelating resin column partitioning with inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry (CRCP-ICP-MS) were compared to those analyzed by graphite furnace atomic absorption spectrometry (GFAAS) after liquid-liquid extraction using a combination of 1-pyrrolidinedithiocarbamate/diethyldithiocarbamate (PDC/DDC). Although there was good agreement between the two sets of analyses for cadmium, lead, manganese, and zinc concentrations, those of cobalt, copper, and nickel determined by CRCP-ICP-MS were found to be 10-20% lower than those determined by solvent-extraction GFAAS. The different yields were positively correlated (R>0.961, simple linear regression) to the dissolved organic carbon (DOC) concentration of the samples. Good agreement between the two methods for cobalt and copper was achieved after ultraviolet (UV) digestion of the acidified samples. Samples collected from the South Bay of the San Francisco Estuary with high DOC showed the greatest difference for cobalt, copper, and nickel which is tentatively attributed to complexation with humic material for copper and cobalt and strong synthetic chelating agents such as ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid (EDTA) for nickel. This is consistent with previous studies on copper, nickel and cobalt complexation in this region. We recommend UV digestion of acidified estuarine samples prior to multi-element analysis by chelating resin flow injection ICP-MS methods.     

Determination of plutonium and its isotopic ratio in marine sediment samples using quadrupole ICP-MS with the shield torch system under normal plasma conditions

An analytical method for determining ²³⁹Pu and ²⁴⁰Pu in marine sediment samples, which uses quadrupole ICP-MS, was developed in this work. A simple anion-exchange chromatography system was employed for the separation and purification of Pu from the sample matrix. A sufficient decontamination factor of 1.4×10⁴ for U, which interferes with the determination of ²³⁹Pu, was achieved. High sensitivity Pu determination was obtained, which led to an extremely low concentration detection limit of ~8 fg/ml (0.019 mBq/ml for ²³⁹Pu; 0.071 mBq/ml for ²⁴⁰Pu) in a sample solution, or an absolute detection limit of 42 fg in a 5 ml sample solution, by using the shield torch technique. Analytical results for the determination of the ^239+240Pu and the ²⁴⁰Pu/²³⁹Pu ratio in IAEA 368 (ocean sediment) reference material indicated that the accuracy of the method was satisfactory. The method developed was successfully applied to a study of Pu behavior in the sediments from Sagami Bay, Japan. The observed high ²⁴⁰Pu/²³⁹Pu ratio in the sediment core indicated that there was additional Pu input derived from close-in fallout in addition to the global fallout.     

SmartChem140全自动化学分析仪测定土壤全氮全磷的研究

本文以胶州湾湿地土壤为样品,建立了基于SmartChem140全自动化学分析仪,同时测定土壤全氮和全磷的方法。利用全自动化学分析仪可以同时快速、准确测定土壤中的全氮和全磷,全氮和全磷分别在0~6.0mg·L-1和0~5.0mg·L-1范围内线性良好,相关系数(R2)分别为0.9994、0.9995;测定结果与凯氏定氮法、磷钼蓝比色法对比无显著差异,相对误差均小于4%,相对标准偏差分别为1.39%和1.07%,样品的加标回收率分别在97.68%~102.12%和97.35%~101.88%之间。研究结果表明,该方法准确度高、稳定性好,回收率高,操作简便,测定结果能满足对土壤全氮、全磷的监测要求。     

Level of Polychlorinated Biphenyls in Marine Environment of Algiers Bay,Algeria

Polychlorinated Biphenyls (PCBs) are persistent organic pollutants with significant bioaccumulation in the global environment. Owing to their high toxicity and lipophilic property, PCBs are potential threat to the human and ecological system.

The objective of this work was to investigate the polychlorinated biphenyls in seawater and blue mussels Mytilus galloprovincialis collected in the eastern coastal side of the Algiers bay. Surface and bottom water samples were collected at six different periods from July to October 2002 in the port of Tamentfoust and four locations around the port. Mussel samples were collected from Tamentfoust port and Surcouf beach. After extraction, the PCBs levels were determined in marine water and biological samples by gas chromatography with electron capture detector. Total polychlorinated biphenyls concentrations varied from 4.0 to 18.8 ng · L^?1 in surface and from 4.4 to 16.6 ng · L^?1 in bottom seawater and were relatively high in August (30th and 45th days).

In mussels that concentrate the organochlorinated compounds in their tissues, the sum of ICES 7 PCBs concentrations was relatively high. It ranged from 64.2 to 185.8 ng · g^?1 dw (average 125.8 ng · g^?1 dw) in samples collected from Surcouf. The level of contamination in Tamentfoust port mussels was about twice higher (225.2 ng · g^?1 dw).

The observed PCBs distribution was close to that of common commercial mixture and suggests an industrial origin of this pollution emitted from a continental source in addition to the port activities. Although the use of target compounds has been banned for more than three decades, they are still persistent in Algiers Bay.     

Simple methodology coupling microwave-assisted extraction to SPE/GC/MS for the analysis of natural steroids in biological tissues: Application to the monitoring of endogenous steroids in marine mussels Mytilus sp.

A simple analytical procedure for the simultaneous determination of eight endogenous steroids (testosterone, androstenedione, 17β-estradiol, estrone, pregnenolone, progesterone, dihydroandrostenedione, and dihydrotestosterone) in aquatic molluscs by solid-phase extraction (SPE) and gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (GC-MS) has been developed. After a microwave-assisted extraction, samples were further extracted and purified using two successive SPE (EnviChrom-P and NH₂) cartridges. Steroids were derivatized with a mixture of N-methyl-N(trimethylsilyl)trifluoroacetamide (MSTFA)/mercaptoethanol/ammonium iodide (NH₄I) and determined by GC-MS in selective ion monitoring mode. Recoveries were in the range 85-114%, although slightly lower for dihydrotestosterone, and the repeatability of the procedure, expressed as the coefficient of variation, was lower than 16%. The limits of detection determined in digestive glands of mussels were in the range 0.1-0.4 ng g⁻¹ wet weight for all the steroids. The developed procedure was then applied to the monitoring of steroid profiles in the digestive glands of mussels from the Arcachon Bay (France) during two reproductive cycles. In parallel, two physiological parameters (lipid content and the condition index of mussels) were also monitored, as well as the seawater temperature and salinity. Only progesterone and pregnenolone were detected in the digestive glands of mussels, and the seasonal variations of progesterone levels seemed to be related to the spawning periods of Mytilus sp. in the Bay. The current challenge for the determination of natural steroids in aquatic invertebrates is also briefly discussed.     

中微子非标准相互作用对大亚湾实验的影响

大亚湾中微子实验的目标是测量中微子混合矩阵中的最小混合角θ13.如果考虑中微子的非标准相互作用(NSIs),中微子的振荡概率公式要做相应的改写,其效应将和θ13纠缠在一起,从而降低了实验对θ13的敏感度(sensitivity).讨论了在NSIs存在的情况下大亚湾实验对θ13的敏感度,发现这个实验不可能同时测量出NSIs和θ13的值.由于当θ13=0时反应堆产生的反中微子将没有振荡现象(NSIs的效应也将消失),如果大亚湾实验测量到了中微子振荡效应,那将表明θ13≠0;但是,由于非零的θ13的效应和NSIs的效应有可能抵消而导致中微子没有振荡.如果大亚湾实验没有测量到中微子振荡,不能排除非零的θ13.     

Design and preliminary test results of Daya Bay RPC modules

Resistive Plate Chamber (RPC) modules will be used as one part of the cosmic muon veto system in the Daya Bay reactor neutrino experiment. A total of 189 RPC modules will cover the three water pools in the experiment. To achieve track reconstruction and high efficiency, each module consists of 4 layers, each of which contains two sizes of bare chambers. The placement of bare chambers is reversed in different layers to reduce the overlapping dead areas. The module efficiency and patch efficiency were studied both in simulation and test of the data analysis. 143 modules have been constructed and tested. The preliminary study shows that the module and patch 3 out of 4 layers efficiency reaches about 98%.