| 1. |
- Balk, Lennart, et al.
(författare)
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Wild birds of declining European species are dying from a thiamine deficiency syndrome.
- 2009
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Ingår i: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America. - : Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. - 0027-8424 .- 1091-6490. ; 106:29, s. 12001-12006
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Wild birds of several species are dying in large numbers from an idiopathic paralytic disease in the Baltic Sea area. Here, we demonstrate strong relationships between this disease, breeding failure, and thiamine (vitamin B(1)) deficiency in eggs, pulli, and full-grown individuals. Thiamine is essential for vertebrates, and its diphosphorylated form functions as a cofactor for several life sustaining enzymes, whereas the triphosphorylated form is necessary for the functioning of neuronal membranes. Paralyzed individuals were remedied by thiamine treatment. Moreover, thiamine deficiency and detrimental effects on thiamine-dependent enzymes were demonstrated in the yolk, liver, and brain. We propose that the mortality and breeding failure are part of a thiamine deficiency syndrome, which may have contributed significantly to declines in many bird populations during the last decades.
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| 2. |
- Bergknut, Magnus, 1973-
(författare)
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Characterization of PAH-contaminated soils focusing on availability, chemical composition and biological effects
- 2006
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- The risks associated with a soil contaminated by polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) are generally assessed by measuring individual PAHs in the soil and correlating the obtained amounts to known adverse biological effects of the PAHs. The validity of such a risk estimation is dependent on the presence of additional compounds, the availability of the compounds (including the PAHs), and the methods used to correlate the measured chemical data and biological effects. In the work underlying this thesis the availability, chemical composition and biological effects of PAHs in samples of soils from PAH-contaminated environments were examined. It can be concluded from the results presented in the included papers that the PAHs in the studied soils from industrial sites were not generally physically trapped in soil material, indicating that the availability of the PAHs was not restricted in this sense. However, the bioavailable fraction of the PAHs, as assessed by bioassays with the earthworm Eisenia Fetida, could not be assessed by a number of abiotic techniques (including: solid phase micro extraction, SPME; use of semi-permeable membrane devices, SPMDs; leaching with various solvent mixtures, leaching using additives, and sequential leaching) and it seems to be difficult to find a chemical method that can accurately assess the bioavailability of PAHs. Furthermore, it was shown that PAH-polluted samples may be extensively chemically characterized by GC-TOFMS using peak deconvolution, and over 900 components can be resolved in a single run. The chemical characterization also revealed that samples that appeared to be similar in terms of their PAH composition were heterogeneous in terms of their overall composition. Finally, single compounds from this large set of compounds, which correlated with different biological effects, could be identified using the multivariate technique partial least squares projections to latent structures (PLS). This indicates that PLS may provide a valid alternative to Effect Directed Analysis (EDA), an established method for finding single compounds that correlate to the toxicity of environmental samples. Thus, the instrumentation and data evaluation tools used in this thesis are clearly capable of providing a broad chemical characterization as well as linking the obtained chemical data to results from bioassays. However, the link between the chemical analyses and the biological tests could be improved as as an organic solvent that solubilised virtually all of the contaminants was used during the chemical analysis while the biological tests were performed in an aqueous solution with limited solubility for a number of compounds. Consequently the compounds probably have a different impact in the biological tests than their relative abundance in profiles obtained by standard chemical analyses suggests. The availability and bioavailability of contaminants in soil also has to be studied further, and such future studies should focus on the molecular interactions between the contaminants and different compartments of the soil. By doing so, detailed knowledge could be obtained which could be applied to a number of different contaminants and soil types. Such studies would generate the data needed for molecular-based modelling of availability and bioavailability, which would be a big step forward compared to current risk assessment practices.
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| 3. |
- Cato, Ingemar, et al.
(författare)
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DIOXINS AND OTHER POPS IN THE BALTIC SEA – TRENDS AND CURRENT
- 2009
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Ingår i: 29th International Symposium on Halogenated Persistent Organic Pollutants (Dioxin 2009) in Bejing, China, August 25-30, 2009.
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Konferensbidrag (refereegranskat)abstract
- This paper summarizes a project that was initiated by the Swedish Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in 2006. It involved several field studies and fate model calculations with the aim to better understand the present contamination situation of dioxins and other persistent organic pollutants (POPs) in the Baltic Sea region. Atmospheric inputs were found to be the dominant external source for all of the selected POPs (dioxins, PCBs and HCB). The model also predicted a significant decline of POP-levels in Baltic surface water if atmospheric concentrations are reduced. This issue is highly prioritized by the Swedish EPA since TEQ-levels of fatty fish exceed maximum residue limits set by the EU. Dioxin source regions were identified by air measurements and analysis of air mass origin. It was found that air that had passed over the European continent contained the highest concentrations, and the congener composition indicated that several major sources types may exist. This research has high relevance for the Swedish EPA, and continued efforts for resolving the dioxin issue of the Baltic Sea will follow.
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| 4. |
- Cornelissen, Gerard, et al.
(författare)
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Freely Dissolved Concentrations and Sediment-Water Activity Ratios of PCDD/Fs and PCBs in the Open Baltic Sea
- 2008
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Ingår i: Environmental Science and Technology. - : American Chemical Society (ACS). - 0013-936X .- 1520-5851. ; 42:23, s. 8733-8739
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Aqueous concentrations of polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins and -furans (PCDD/Fs) as well as polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) in the open sea have heretofore been measured by filtering. and extracting large amounts of water. Measurement of freely dissolved concentrations with this technique is difficult because of corrections for sorption to dissolved organic matter. In this study we use a novel, more economic technique using equilibrium passive samplers consisting of 17-mu m thin polyoxymethylene (POM-17), capable of measuring freely dissolved aqueous concentrations (C-W) in pristine (i.e., background) locations. POM-17 was employed in an extensive field campaign at five stations in the open Baltic sea to obtain C-W at two depths (1 m above the seafloor and 25 m below the surface). Median C-W in the overlying water was 2.3 pg toxic equivalents (TEQ)/m(3) PCDD/Fs and 15 pg/L sum 7-PCB, with generally less than a factor two variation among sites and depths. Also freely dissolved concentrations of native compounds in the surface sediment porewater (C-PW) were determined in laboratory batch experiments. The data were used to derive sediment-water activity ratios, which indicate the diffusive flux direction. It was found that the PCDD/Fs and PCBs were in close equilibrium between the sediment porewater and the overlying water. Comparison of C-PW with total sediment concentrations indicated that more than 90% of the compounds were sorbed to sedimentary black carbon.
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| 5. |
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| 6. |
- Cornelissen, Gerard, et al.
(författare)
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Utvärdering av analysmetoder för fritt lösta organiska ämnen : Fördelning mellan jord/sediment och vatten
- 2008
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Rapport (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Trots den omfattande användningen av värden på fördelningsförhållanden mellan jord/sediment och vatten varierar KOC-värden för hydrofoba organiska ämnen (HOC) avsevärt. Dessa värden kan i själva verket variera med faktorer upp till 10-100 [1-5]. För HOC förklaras denna variation i KOC -värden huvudsakligen med sotinnehållet i den fasta matrisen [1,4,6]. Denna variation i K-värden har en ofantlig betydelse på hur pass korrekta human- och ekotoxikologiska riskbedömningar man kan göra eftersom SQC sålunda kan felbedömas med en faktor 10-100 [1,4,7-9]. För att komma förbi problemet med den inkorrekta användningen av dessa ovan nämnda allmänna distributionsförhållanden bör koncentrationen av fritt lösta miljögifter i jordar och sediment mätas. På så sätt kan man erhålla platsspecifika distributionsförhållanden mellan jord/sediment och vatten. Dessa erbjuder pålitliga kemiska indikationer på human- och ekotoxikologiska risker [1,7,8,10]. I den föreliggande studien har vi mätt platsspecifika KOC-värden för fältprovsrelevanta PAH, PCB och PCDD/F i jord- och sedimentprover från flera svenska lokaler. Dessa värden jämförs med de allmänna värdena på fördelningsförhållanden vilka används i riskbedömningar och som grundas på totalt jord- eller sedimentinnehåll av HOC. På provtagningslokalerna var skillnaderna mellan de platsspecifika och de allmänna värdena på KOC som följer (tabell 1). Det är viktigt att notera att traditionell riskbedömning, baserad på allmänna KOC -värden, skulle leda till överskattningar av potentiellt biotillgänglig fraktion med dessa faktorer! Resultaten bekräftar att potentiellt biotillgänglig fraktion överskattas vid användandet av allmänna KOC-värden, beroende på en stark sorption av HOC till sot vilket resulterar i minskad biotillgänglighet. Denna överskattning är en faktor 10-30 för PAH, PCB och PCDD/F i svenska jordar och sediment. Det är tillrådligt att mäta koncentrationen av fritt lösta HOC med hjälp av passiva provtagare, istället för mätning av totala HOC-koncentration i jord eller sediment. Analyser med dessa passiva provtagare innebär samma kostnader som konventionella totalextraktioner men ger mycket mer relevant information om potentiellt biotillgänglig fraktion.
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| 7. |
- Ishaq, R., et al.
(författare)
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PCNs, PCDD/Fs, and Non-orthoPCBs, in Water and Bottom Sediments from the Industrialized Norwegian Grenlandsfjords
- 2009
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Ingår i: Environmental Science and Technology. - : American Chemical Society (ACS). - 0013-936X .- 1520-5851. ; 43:10, s. 3442-3447
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Chlorinated toxic planar aromatic compounds were analyzed in the heavily industrialized Grenlandsfjords, which is a system of silled fjords in southern Norway. Surface water samples contained 7.4-160 ng/m(3) polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins and furans (PCDD/Fs), 14-410 ng/m(3) polychlorinated naphthalenes (PCNs), and 0.31-2.4 ng/m(3) non-orthochlorinated biphenyls (non-orthoPCBs). The concentrations of PCDD/Fs were about 300 times higher than in the Baltic Sea. Highest level of the compounds was found near a magnesium production plant. Hepta-CDFs and penta-CNs dominated in the inner-fiord waters, and tetra-CB77 was the major non-orthoPCB congener. Sediment samples had PCDD/F concentration of 25-730 ng/g dw. Highest concentration was detected close to the magnesium plant. Octa-CDF dominated in the fjord sediments, especially near the magnesium plant, indicating a discharge-specific contamination with this congener. The isomer composition of PCDD/Fs and of PCNs, was unchanged when comparing samples from different layers of a sediment core from the deep anoxic water. This concludes that essentially zero degradation had occurred during similar to 50 years in this environment
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| 8. |
- Jahnke, Annika, et al.
(författare)
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Possibilities and limitations of equilibrium sampling using polydimethylsiloxane in fish tissue.
- 2009
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Ingår i: Chemosphere. - : Elsevier BV. - 0045-6535 .- 1879-1298. ; 77:6, s. 764-70
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) has been used for passive equilibrium sampling in numerous abiotic environmental matrices. Recently, this approach was extended to lipid-rich tissue. This work investigated the possibilities and limitations of using PDMS thin-film extraction for in tissue equilibrium sampling in fish species of varying lipid content. Polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) were used as model lipophilic organic pollutants. PDMS thin-films were inserted in intact fish tissue for differing time periods (1h up to 1 week). The thin-films were then solvent-extracted and the extracts were analyzed using gas chromatography coupled to mass spectrometry. Whether equilibrium had been established was investigated either by using PDMS thin-films of multiple thicknesses (140-620 microm) or by assessing kinetics by means of time series. Equilibration was found to be rapid (i.e. in the range of hours) in lipid-rich fish whereas equilibrium was not achieved within one week in tissues with low or medium lipid content (i.e. up to 2% lipids). Regarding lipid-rich fish, the newly developed method was found to be sufficiently sensitive to determine equilibrium partitioning concentrations of PCBs in lipids of samples from the Baltic Sea, and it is a promising approach for any kind of fatty tissue.
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| 9. |
- Magnér, Jörgen A, et al.
(författare)
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Evaluation of poly(ethylene-co-vinyl acetate-co-carbon monoxide) and polydimethylsiloxane for equilibrium sampling of polar organic contaminants in water.
- 2009
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Ingår i: Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry. - : Wiley. - 0730-7268 .- 1552-8618. ; 28:9, s. 1874-80
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The aim of the present study was to develop a passive absorptive equilibrium sampler that would enable the determination of the concentrations of polar organic compound (POC) in water more efficiently than existing techniques. To this end, a novel plastic material, poly(ethylene-co-vinyl acetate-co-carbon monoxide) (PEVAC), was evaluated and the results were compared with an existing silicone-based passive absorptive equilibrium device. Seven compounds (imidacloprid, carbendazim, metoprolol, atrazin, carbamazepine, diazinon, and chlorpyrifos), a mixture of pharmaceuticals, and pesticides with a logarithmic octanol-water partition coefficient ranging from 0.2 to 4.77 were selected as model substances for the experiments. The results showed that six of the seven selected POCs reached distribution equilibrium within 4 d in the two materials tested. A linear relation with a regression coefficient of more than 0.8906 between the established logarithmic absorbent-water partition coefficient and the calculated logarithmic dissociation partition coefficient of the selected compounds in the two polymers was observed. The correlation between these two coefficients was within one order of magnitude for the compounds that reached equilibrium in the two polymers, which demonstrates that both materials are suitable for mimicking biological uptake of POCs. The PEVAC material showed an enhanced sorption for all selected compounds compared to the silicone material and up to five times higher enrichment for the most polar compound. Fluorescence analysis of the sampler cross-section, following the uptake of fluoranthene, and proof that the sorption was independent of surface area variations demonstrated that the PEVAC polymer possessed absorptive rather than adsorptive enrichment of organic compounds.
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| 10. |
- Magnér, Jörgen, 1971-, et al.
(författare)
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Bag-SPE – A convenient extraction method for screening of pharmaceutical-residues in influent and effluent water from sewage treatment plants
- 2009
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Ingår i: Analytical and Bioanalytical Chemistry. - : Springer. - 1618-2642 .- 1618-2650. ; 395:5, s. 1481-1489
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Bag-SPE is a solid phase extraction (SPE) technique here applied to sample pharmaceutical residues in wastewater. The device consisting of 20 mg polystyrene-divinylbenzene (PS-DVB) enclosed in a woven polyester-fabric was immersed into 20 mL sample. Extraction of the analytes was performed under gentle rotation (25 rpm) until distribution equilibrium was achieved (4 hours). The extraction efficiency for thirteen pharmaceuticals was evaluated for the bag-SPE sampler compared to a conventional SPE cartridge (Oasis HLB). All analyzes were determined on an ultra performance liquid chromatography (UPLC) coupled to a quadrupole time of flight (QToF) mass spectrometer. The detection limit of the bag-SPE technique for the analytes in wastewater ranged from 15-100 ng/L with recoveries between 20.7-58.2 % and ion-suppressions between 2.2-53.2 %. Although the extraction efficiencies were lower with the bag-SPE sampler compared to the SPE technique, the two methods showed similar detection limits due to the lower ion-suppression experienced with the bag-SPE. The results demonstrate that bag-SPE is an attractive alternative to the more, in terms of manual handling, demanding SPE-technique.
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