Trace metals in Norwegian surface waters, soils, and lake sediments - relation to atmospheric deposition

Årsliste 2006This report presents results from simultaneous trace metal surveys 1995 in Norway on atmospheric deposition based on moss analysis, the humic layer of soils, lake sediments, and surface waters. The samples of sediment and water were not taken at the same geographical locations as the moss and soil samples, but a direct comparison of the data sets is still feasible. Retrospective studies indicate that long-range transport has been a significant source of heavy metal contamination in southern Norway for the last couple of centuries, but has been considerably reduced over the last 20 years. Long-range transboundary air-pollution (LRTAP) is a very important source of of heavy metal contamination in the Norwegian environment, in particular for As, Cd, Sb, Hg, Pb, and Bi but also to some extent for V, Zn, Se, Mo, Sn, Te, and Tl. The corresponding geographic trend is reflected in samples of moss, surface soil, lake sediment, and lake water. A similar geographic trend is also indicated in the water samples for Be and Co, but not in samples of moss or soil humus. This is interpreted as a possible result of higher acidic deposition in the south wich leads to enhanced weathering of mineral matter and subsequent leaching to the lakes.Norges forskningsråd, (PROFO

Carbonaceous aerosols in Norwegian urban areas

Little is known regarding levels and source strength of carbonaceous aerosols in Scandinavia. In the present study, ambient aerosol (PM<sub>10</sub> and PM<sub>2.5</sub>) concentrations of elemental carbon (EC), organic carbon (OC), water-insoluble organic carbon (WINSOC), and water-soluble organic carbon (WSOC) are reported for a curbside site, an urban background site, and a suburban site in Norway in order to investigate their spatial and seasonal variations. Aerosol filter samples were collected using tandem filter sampling to correct for the positive sampling artefact introduced by volatile and semivolatile OC. Analyses were performed using the thermal optical transmission (TOT) instrument from Sunset Lab Inc., which corrects for charring during analysis. Finally, we estimated the relative contribution of OC from wood burning based on the samples content of levoglucosan. <br><br> Levels of EC varied by more than one order of magnitude between sites, likely due to the higher impact of vehicular traffic at the curbside and the urban background sites. In winter, the level of particulate organic carbon (OC<sub><i>p</i></sub>) at the suburban site was equal to (for PM<sub>10</sub>) or even higher (for PM<sub>2.5</sub>) than the levels observed at the curbside and the urban background sites. This finding was attributed to the impact of residential wood burning at the suburban site in winter, which was confirmed by a high mean concentration of levoglucosan (407 ng m<sup>−3</sup>). This finding indicates that exposure to primary combustion derived OC<sub><i>p</i></sub> could be equally high in residential areas as in a city center. It is demonstrated that OC<sub><i>p</i></sub> from wood burning (OC<sub>wood</sub>) accounted for almost all OC<sub><i>p</i></sub> at the suburban site in winter, allowing a new estimate of the ratio TC<sub><i>p</i></sub>/levoglucosan for both PM<sub>10</sub> and PM<sub>2.5</sub>. Particulate carbonaceous material (PCM=Organic matter+Elemental matter) accounted for 46–83% of PM<sub>10</sub> at the sites studied, thus being the major fraction

Jordforgiftning fra gruveavfall i Konnerud, Drammen

Langs vassdraget fra Stordammen til Bremsa i Konnerud er det store mengder avfallsmateriale fra tidligere gruvedrift. Mange steder er det klare forgiftningssymptomer på vegetasjonen, og på små flater mangler høyere planter fullstendig. Innholdet av sink, kopper, mangan, bly og kadmium er meget stort i avfallsmassene. Det bør utføres grundigere undersøkelser med tanke på eventuelle helsefarer for dyr og mennesker

Heavy metal and nitrogen concentrations in mosses are declining across Europe whilst some “hotspots” remain in 2010

In recent decades, naturally growing mosses have been used successfully as biomonitors of atmospheric deposition of heavy metals and nitrogen. Since 1990, the European moss survey has been repeated at five-yearly intervals. In 2010, the lowest concentrations of metals and nitrogen in mosses were generally found in northern Europe, whereas the highest concentrations were observed in (south-)eastern Europe for metals and the central belt for nitrogen. Averaged across Europe, since 1990, the median concentration in mosses has declined the most for lead (77%), followed by vanadium (55%), cadmium (51%), chromium (43%), zinc (34%), nickel (33%), iron (27%), arsenic (21%, since 1995), mercury (14%, since 1995) and copper (11%). Between 2005 and 2010, the decline ranged from 6% for copper to 36% for lead; for nitrogen the decline was 5%. Despite the Europe-wide decline, no changes or increases have been observed between 2005 and 2010 in some (regions of) countries

How to use the world's scarce selenium resources efficiently to increase the selenium concentration in food

The world's rare selenium resources need to be managed carefully. Selenium is extracted as a by-product of copper mining and there are no deposits that can be mined for selenium alone. Selenium has unique properties as a semi-conductor, making it of special value to industry, but it is also an essential nutrient for humans and animals and may promote plant growth and quality. Selenium deficiency is regarded as a major health problem for 0.5 to 1 billion people worldwide, while an even larger number may consume less selenium than required for optimal protection against cancer, cardiovascular diseases and severe infectious diseases including HIV disease. Efficient recycling of selenium is difficult. Selenium is added in some commercial fertilizers, but only a small proportion is taken up by plants and much of the remainder is lost for future utilization. Large biofortification programmes with selenium added to commercial fertilizers may therefore be a fortification method that is too wasteful to be applied to large areas of our planet. Direct addition of selenium compounds to food (process fortification) can be undertaken by the food industry. If selenomethionine is added directly to food, however, oxidation due to heat processing needs to be avoided. New ways to biofortify food products are needed, and it is generally observed that there is less wastage if selenium is added late in the production chain rather than early. On these bases we have proposed adding selenium-enriched, sprouted cereal grain during food processing as an efficient way to introduce this nutrient into deficient diets. Selenium is a non-renewable resource. There is now an enormous wastage of selenium associated with large-scale mining and industrial processing. We recommend that this must be changed and that much of the selenium that is extracted should be stockpiled for use as a nutrient by future generations

Political fragmentation and land use changes in the Interior Plains

Recent years have witnessed growing interest in the critical role of local/regional governance structures in shaping physical land development and associated natural resource management processes. This article investigates how political fragmentation in local governance can affect land use patterns through a watershed-level analysis of population and employment density changes in the Interior Plains, the largest physiographic division of the US. Population density change rates are found to be negatively associated with a higher degree of political fragmentation, while employment density does not show such a clear relationship with political fragmentation. This finding shows that political fragmentation may present significant challenges to land and water resource management, a result consistent with the previous empirical research

Modelling spatial patterns of correlations between concentrations of heavy metals in mosses and atmospheric deposition in 2010 across Europe

BackgroundThis paper aims to investigate the correlations between the concentrations of nine heavy metals in moss and atmospheric deposition within ecological land classes covering Europe. Additionally, it is examined to what extent the statistical relations are affected by the land use around the moss sampling sites. Based on moss data collected in 2010/2011 throughout Europe and data on total atmospheric deposition modelled by two chemical transport models (EMEP MSC-E, LOTOS-EUROS), correlation coefficients between concentrations of heavy metals in moss and in modelled atmospheric deposition were specified for spatial subsamples defined by ecological land classes of Europe (ELCE) as a spatial reference system. Linear discriminant analysis (LDA) and logistic regression (LR) were then used to separate moss sampling sites regarding their contribution to the strength of correlation considering the areal percentage of urban, agricultural and forestry land use around the sampling location. After verification LDA models by LR, LDA models were used to transform spatial information on the land use to maps of potential correlation levels, applicable for future network planning in the European Moss Survey.ResultsCorrelations between concentrations of heavy metals in moss and in modelled atmospheric deposition were found to be specific for elements and ELCE units. Land use around the sampling sites mainly influences the correlation level. Small radiuses around the sampling sites examined (5km) are more relevant for Cd, Cu, Ni, and Zn, while the areal percentage of urban and agricultural land use within large radiuses (75-100km) is more relevant for As, Cr, Hg, Pb, and V. Most valid LDA models pattern with error rates of <40% were found for As, Cr, Cu, Hg, Pb, and V. Land use-dependent predictions of spatial patterns split up Europe into investigation areas revealing potentially high (=above-average) or low (=below-average) correlation coefficients.ConclusionsLDA is an eligible method identifying and ranking boundary conditions of correlations between atmospheric deposition and respective concentrations of heavy metals in moss and related mapping considering the influence of the land use around moss sampling sites