Pollution and Oral Bioaccessibility of Pb in Soils of Villages and Cities with a Long Habitation History.

The Dutch cities Utrecht and Wijk bij Duurstede were founded by the Romans around 50 B.C. and the village Fijnaart and Graft-De Rijp around 1600 A.D. The soils of these villages are polluted with Pb (up to ~5000 mg/kg). Lead isotope ratios were used to trace the sources of Pb pollution in the urban soils. In ~75% of the urban soils the source of the Pb pollution was a mixture of glazed potsherd, sherds of glazed roof tiles, building remnants (Pb sheets), metal slag, Pb-based paint flakes and coal ashes. These anthropogenic Pb sources most likely entered the urban soils due to historical smelting activities, renovation and demolition of houses, disposal of coal ashes and raising and fertilization of land with city waste. Since many houses still contain Pb-based building materials, careless renovation or demolition can cause new or more extensive Pb pollution in urban soils. In ~25% of the studied urban topsoils, Pb isotope compositions suggest Pb pollution was caused by incinerator ash and/or gasoline Pb suggesting atmospheric deposition as the major source. The bioaccessible Pb fraction of 14 selected urban soils was determined with an in vitro test and varied from 16% to 82% of total Pb. The bioaccessibility appears related to the chemical composition and grain size of the primary Pb phases and pollution age. Risk assessment based on the in vitro test results imply that risk to children may be underestimated in ~90% of the studied sample sites (13 out of 14).

Urban residential refuse composition and generation rates for the 20th century.

Examination of historical data shows that 3.5 x 10(8) tonnes (t) of residential refuse was discarded in New York City (NYC) during the 20th century. Maximum and minimum rates of per capita mass discard of residential refuse during this time are reported in 1940 (940 kg per capita yr(-1)) and 1961, 1963 (320 kg per capita yr(-1)), respectively. Since 1980, per capita residential refuse discard rates have been steady and comparatively low (430 kg per capita yr(-1) +/- 2.5%). Fuel ash accounted for approximately 34% of residential refuse in NYC during the century. A decline of refuse bulk density (as collected) from approximately 500 to 200 kg m(-3) and an increase in refuse organic matter content from 20% to 80% (by mass) is reported between 1920 and 1990 and is due largely to mass fraction reductions forfuel ash and increases for paper and plastic. Approximately 4.9 x 10(8) t of refuse was disposed in NYC during the 20th century (including commercial and residential refuse), representing a total pool of about 8.0 x 10(7) t of organic carbon (as C) that has entered city landfills and incinerators.

Nitrogen use in the United States from 1961-2000 and potential future trends.

Nitrogen inputs to the US from human activity doubled between 1961 and 1997, with most of the increase in the 1960s and 1970s. The largest increase was in use of inorganic N fertilizer, but emissions of NOx from fossil-fuel combustion also increased substantially. In 1961, N fixation in agricultural systems was the largest single source of reactive N in the US. By 1997, even though N fixation had increased, fertilizer use and NOx emissions had increased more rapidly and were both larger inputs. In both 1961 and 1997, two thirds of reactive N inputs were denitrified or stored in soils and biota, while one third was exported. The largest export was in riverine flux to coastal oceans, followed by export in food and feeds, and atmospheric advection to the oceans. The consumption of meat protein is a major driver behind N use in agriculture in the US Without change in diet or agricultural practices, fertilizer use will increase over next 30 years, and fluxes to coastal oceans may increase by another 30%. However, substantial reductions are possible.