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Chemicals and wildlife

Short paper that reviews some of the facts about effects of insecticides on wildlife and states principles that should be followed for maximum safety in treatment. These principles include minimal doses, good ground-to-plane control to avoid overdoses, and least possible pollution of water areas.

Alabama Conservation↗

Contaminant Hazard Reviews (compilation)

This compact disc (CD) contains the 35 reports in the Contaminant Hazard Reviews (CHR) that were published originally between 1985 and 1999 in the U.S. Department of the Interior Biological Report series. The CD was produced because printed supplies of these reviews--a total of 105,000--became exhausted and demand remained high. Each review was prepared at the request of environmental specialists of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and each contained specific information on the following: mirex, cadmium, carbofuran, toxaphene, selenium, chromium, polychlorinated biphenyls, dioxins, diazinon, mercury, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, arsenic, chlorpyrifos, lead, tin, index issue, pentachlorophenol, atrazine, molybdenum, boron, chlordane, paraquat, cyanide, fenvalerate, diflubenzuron, zinc, famphur, acrolein, radiation, sodium monofluoroacetate, planar PCBs, silver, copper, nickel, and a cumulative index to chemicals and species. Each report reviewed and synthesized the technical literature on a single contaminant and its effects on terrestrial plants and invertebrates, aquatic plants and animals, avian and mammalian wildlife, and other natural resources. The subtopics include contaminant sources and uses; physical, chemical, and metabolic properties; concentrations in field collections of abiotic materials and living organisms; deficiency effects, where appropriate; lethal and sublethal effects, including effects on survival, growth, reproduction, metabolism, mutagenicity, teratogenicity, and carcinogenicity; proposed criteria for the protection of human health and sensitive natural resources; and recommendations for additional research.

Contaminant Hazard Reviews↗

Connectivity of streams and wetlands to downstream waters: An integrated systems framework

Interest in connectivity has increased in the aquatic sciences, partly because of its relevance to the Clean Water Act. This paper has two objectives: (1) provide a framework to understand hydrological, chemical, and biological connectivity, focusing on how headwater streams and wetlands connect to and contribute to rivers; and (2) briefly review methods to quantify hydrological and chemical connectivity. Streams and wetlands affect river structure and function by altering material and biological fluxes to the river; this depends on two factors: (1) functions within streams and wetlands that affect material fluxes; and (2) connectivity (or isolation) from streams and wetlands to rivers that allows (or prevents) material transport between systems. Connectivity can be described in terms of frequency, magnitude, duration, timing, and rate of change. It results from physical characteristics of a system, e.g., climate, soils, geology, topography, and the spatial distribution of aquatic components. Biological connectivity is also affected by traits and behavior of the biota. Connectivity can be altered by human impacts, often in complex ways. Because of variability in these factors, connectivity is not constant but varies over time and space. Connectivity can be quantified with field‐based methods, modeling, and remote sensing. Further studies using these methods are needed to classify and quantify connectivity of aquatic ecosystems and to understand how impacts affect connectivity.

Journal of the American Water Resources Associatio↗

Prioritizing pesticide compounds for analytical methods development

The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) has a periodic need to re-evaluate pesticide compounds in terms of priorities for inclusion in monitoring and studies and, thus, must also assess the current analytical capabilities for pesticide detection. To meet this need, a strategy has been developed to prioritize pesticides and degradates for analytical methods development. Screening procedures were developed to separately prioritize pesticide compounds in water and sediment. The procedures evaluate pesticide compounds in existing USGS analytical methods for water and sediment and compounds for which recent agricultural-use information was available. Measured occurrence (detection frequency and concentrations) in water and sediment, predicted concentrations in water and predicted likelihood of occurrence in sediment, potential toxicity to aquatic life or humans, and priorities of other agencies or organizations, regulatory or otherwise, were considered. Several existing strategies for prioritizing chemicals for various purposes were reviewed, including those that identify and prioritize persistent, bioaccumulative, and toxic compounds, and those that determine candidates for future regulation of drinking-water contaminants. The systematic procedures developed and used in this study rely on concepts common to many previously established strategies. The evaluation of pesticide compounds resulted in the classification of compounds into three groups: Tier 1 for high priority compounds, Tier 2 for moderate priority compounds, and Tier 3 for low priority compounds. For water, a total of 247 pesticide compounds were classified as Tier 1 and, thus, are high priority for inclusion in analytical methods for monitoring and studies. Of these, about three-quarters are included in some USGS analytical method; however, many of these compounds are included on research methods that are expensive and for which there are few data on environmental samples. The remaining quarter of Tier 1 compounds are high priority as new analytes. The objective for analytical methods development is to design an integrated analytical strategy that includes as many of the Tier 1 pesticide compounds as possible in a relatively few, cost-effective methods. More than 60 percent of the Tier 1 compounds are high priority because they are anticipated to be present at concentrations approaching levels that could be of concern to human health or aquatic life in surface water or groundwater. An additional 17 percent of Tier 1 compounds were frequently detected in monitoring studies, but either were not measured at levels potentially relevant to humans or aquatic organisms, or do not have benchmarks available with which to compare concentrations. The remaining 21 percent are pesticide degradates that were included because their parent pesticides were in Tier 1. Tier 1 pesticide compounds for water span all major pesticide use groups and a diverse range of chemical classes, with herbicides and their degradates composing half of compounds. Many of the high priority pesticide compounds also are in several national regulatory programs for water, including those that are regulated in drinking water by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency under the Safe Drinking Water Act and those that are on the latest Contaminant Candidate List. For sediment, a total of 175 pesticide compounds were classified as Tier 1 and, thus, are high priority for inclusion in analytical methods available for monitoring and studies. More than 60 percent of these compounds are included in some USGS analytical method; however, some are spread across several research methods that are expensive to perform, and monitoring data are not extensive for many compounds. The remaining Tier 1 compounds for sediment are high priority as new analytes. The objective for analytical methods development for sediment is to enhance an existing analytical method that currently includes nearly half of the pesticide compounds in Tier 1 by adding as many additional Tier 1 compounds as are analytically compatible. About 35 percent of the Tier 1 compounds for sediment are high priority on the basis of measured occurrence. A total of 74 compounds, or 42 percent, are high priority on the basis of predicted likelihood of occurrence according to physical-chemical properties, and either have potential toxicity to aquatic life, high pesticide useage, or both. The remaining 22 percent of Tier 1 pesticide compounds were either degradates of Tier 1 parent compounds or included for other reasons. As with water, the Tier 1 pesticide compounds for sediment are distributed across the major pesticide-use groups; insecticides and their degradates are the largest fraction, making up 45 percent of Tier 1. In contrast to water, organochlorines, at 17 percent, are the largest chemical class for Tier 1 in sediment, which is to be expected because there is continued widespread detection in sediments of persistent organochlorine pesticides and their degradates at concentrations high enough for potential effects on aquatic life. Compared to water, there are fewer available benchmarks with which to compare contaminant concentrations in sediment, but a total of 19 Tier 1 compounds have at least one sediment benchmark or screening value for aquatic organisms. Of the 175 compounds in Tier 1, 77 percent have high aquatic-life toxicity, as defined for this process. This evaluation of pesticides and degradates resulted in two lists of compounds that are priorities for USGS analytical methods development, one for water and one for sediment. These lists will be used as the basis for redesigning and enhancing USGS analytical capabilities for pesticides in order to capture as many high-priority pesticide compounds as possible using an economically feasible approach.

Scientific Investigations Report↗

Ground-water quality in Nevada -- A proposed monitoring program

A program was designed for the systematic monitoring of ground-water quality in Nevada. Basic hydrologic and water-quality principles are discussed in the formulation of a rational approach to developing a statewide monitoring program. A review of ground-water monitoring efforts in Nevada through 1977 indicates that few requirements for an effective statewide program are being met. A suggested program has been developed that consists of five major elements: (1) A Background-Quality Network to assess the existing water quality in Nevada aquifers, (2) a Contamination Source Inventory of known or potential threats to ground-water quality, (3) Surveillance Networks to monitor ground-water quality in selected hydrographic areas, (4) Intensive Surveys of individual instances of known or potential ground-water contamination, and (5) Ground-Water Data File to manage data generated by the other monitoring elements. Two indices have been developed to help assign rational priorities for monitoring ground water in the 255 hydrographic areas of Nevada: (1) A Hydrographic-Area Priority Index for surveillance monitoring, and (2) A Development-Potential Index for background monitoring of areas with little or no current development. Requirements for efficient management of data from ground-water monitoring are discussed and the three major systems containing Nevada ground-water data are reviewed. More than 11,000 chemical analyses of ground water have been acquired from existing systems and incorporated into a prototype data base.

Nevada↗

Evaluation of ground-water quality data from Kentucky

The report reviews and summarizes 10,578 chemical analyses, from 2,362 wells and springs in Kentucky. These water-quality data were collected prior to September 30, 1981, and are available in computer files of the U.S. Geological Survey. The principal water-bearing rocks in Kentucky were combined into 10 major groups to aid in data summary preparation and general description of the ground-water quality of the State. Ground water in Kentucky is generally fresh near the outcrop of the rocks comprising the aquifer. Slightly saline to briny water occurs at variable depths beneath the freshwater. Preparation of quadrilinear diagrams revealed three principal geochemical processes in the aquifers of Kentucky: (1) mixing of freshwater and saline water in an interface zone; (2) dedolomitization of the Devonian and Silurian and Lower Mississippian carbonate rocks; (3) sodium for calcium exchange in the freshwater sections of many of the sandstone-shale aquifers. A number of errors and deficiencies were found in the data base. The principal deficiencies were: (1) very few complete analyses which included important field measurements; (2) inadequate definition of the chemistry of the freshwater-saline water interface zone throughout much of the State; (3) no analyses of stable isotopes and dissolved gases; (4) fewer than 10 analyses of most trace metals, radionuclides, and man-made organic chemicals; and (5) no data on bacteria in ground water from any aquifer in the State. (USGS)

Kentucky↗

Trace organic compounds in wet atmospheric deposition: an overview

An overview of the occurrence of organic compounds in wet atmospheric deposition is given. Multiplicity of sources and problems associated with source identification are discussed. Available literature is reviewed by using citations from Chemical Abstracts and Water Resources Abstracts through June 1985 and includes reports published through December 1984 that summarize current knowledge. Approaches to the chemical determination of organic compounds in precipitation are examined in addition to aspects of sampling protocols. Best methods for sample collection and preparation for instrumental analysis continue to be discussed among various investigators. Automatic wet-deposition-only devices for collection and extraction are preferred. Classes of organic compounds that have been identified in precipitation include a spectrum of compounds with differing properties of acidity or basicity, polarity, and water solubility. Those compounds that have been reported in rainfall, snowfall, and ice include hydrocarbons (both aromatic and nonaromatic), chlorinated derivatives of these hydrocarbons, carbonyl compounds (both acidic and nonacidic), and carboxylic acids and esters. Formic and acetic are the most abundant organic acids present. Cloudwater, fogwater, and mist also have been collected and analyzed for organic composition.

Water-Resources Investigations Report↗

How sensitive are bats to insecticides?

Concern about the loss of bat populations to insecticides, first stated by Mohr (1953) has stimulated toxicological research to quantify the sensitivity of bats to these chemicals. This report is a review of results of research to date and a discussion of implications for bats in the wild.

Wildlife Society Bulletin↗

Evaluation of the sensitivity of a federally endangered freshwater mussel (Venustaconcha trabalis) to selected chemicals

Protection of critically endangered species requires identification of factors limiting their survival and growth. Previous studies have demonstrated that unionid mussels are sensitive to some chemicals and the sensitivity was similar among different taxonomic families and tribes of mussels. However, common species of mussels were generally used in these previous studies; little is known about the sensitivity of endangered and threatened mussels relative to common species. The objective of this study was to evaluate the sensitivity of a critically endangered mussel (Tennessee bean, Venustaconcha trabalis ) to seven chemicals with different modes of toxic action (ammonia, chloride, nitrite, potassium, cobalt, manganese, nickel) in acute 96-h exposures and to three chemicals (nitrite, cobalt, iron) in chronic 28-d exposures conducted following standard methods. A commonly tested mussel (fatmucket, Lampsilis siliquoidea ) was also tested side-by-side with Tennessee bean in chronic exposures. Test chemicals were selected based on (1) chemicals of potential concern found in a review of existing data for the river where a population of Tennessee bean occurs or was historically present, (2) chemicals to which other mussels are sensitive, or (3) chemicals that had not been previously tested with mussels. Acute 50% effect concentrations (EC50s) for the seven chemicals from the Tennessee bean tests were within or close to the range of EC50s for other mussel species tested in previous studies, and chronic 20% effect concentrations for the three chemicals were similar between Tennessee bean and fatmucket, indicating the endangered species has sensitivity similar to other tested mussel species. Inclusion of the new mussel data in existing toxicity databases for freshwater organisms would rank one or more mussel species among the four most sensitive species to ammonia, chloride, potassium, and nickel in acute exposures and to nitrite, cobalt, and iron in chronic exposures.

Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry↗

Impacts of chemicals on waterfowl reproduction and survival

Residues of organochlorine pesticides, PCB's, heavy metals, and other toxic chemicals are ubiquitous in the biosphere and are commonly found in tissues and eggs of wild birds. This paper reviews research on the effects of these chemicals, with particular reference to waterfowl. Extensive mortality of waterfowl has occurred in the Gulf Coast region as a result of ingestion of aldrin-treated rice seed. Populations of fulvous tree ducks (Dendrocygna bicolor) have declined in recent years in that area. DDE impaired reproduction of both mallards (Anas platyrhynchos) and black ducks (Arias rubripes) in experimental studies, resulting in thin shells, cracked eggs, and poor hatching success. Eggs incubated by the hens broke and cracked more frequently than those in incubators. In the field, residues are higher in ducks that feed on animal material than in vegetarians; differences are pronounced both geographically and among species. Mercury at levels that occur in certain heavily polluted areas in the United States and Canada has, in experimental studies, lowered the reproductive success of mallards and black ducks and reduced the survival of ducklings. Oil spills have killed many waterfowl as a result of oiled feathers and the intake of oil and more indirect physiological effects have been shown experimentally. Pollutants may affect waterfowl indirectly by changing the habitat and directly as a result of intake of toxic substances. They are unlikely to have been directly limiting factors in populations of such species as mallards. Their involvement with problem of other species, including canvasbacks (Aythya valisineria) and mergansers has still to be explored.

International Waterfowl Symposium↗

Environmental Contaminants in Wildlife: Interpreting Tissue Concentrations

Covers the complex issue of how to evaluate contaminants in wildlife. This comprehensive resource deals with the question: 'How much of a chemical in the tissues of an animal is harmful?' Features: Authoritative and sound advice is provided on many environmental contaminants, including what the contaminants are and how to interpret the data on them. Each chapter includes a review of the literature on a specific chemical, followed by a clear technical summary that provides research guidance. Direction is given on how to interpret data that are sometimes conflicting or insufficient. Data are presented in easy to use tables. Primary attention is given to toxic concentrations of contaminants such as organochlorine pesticides, PCBs, dioxins, PAHs, metals, and fluorides.

SETAC Special Publications Series.↗

Geology of the salt deposits and the salt industry of northern Chile

The study of the salt deposits of northern Chile is a cooperative project of the Institute de Investigaciones Geologicas (IIG) of Chile and the United Nations Special Fund and is part of a mineral resources survey, undertaken by these two organizations, of selected regions of northern Chile, during 1960-1963. The writer, an employee of the United States Geological Survey, worked in cooperation with the IIG and its predecessor organization, the Seccion Geologica of the Corporacion de Foment de la Produccion, during the period December 1954-March 1962, under the auspices of the United States Technical Aid program (AID). The work on salt deposits, which was started during 1961, has been under the auspices of the United Nations since April 1962, during completion of field work and preparation of this report. This report summarizes the data gathered during the field investigation, including information on reserves, production, and composition of salts supplied by private companies and government bureaus. As such, it is in the nature of a progress report, lacking: 1) a comprehensive review of the literature which, at least in regard to the well-known nitrate deposits, is extensive; 2) completion of laboratory investigations of chemical, mineralogical, and isotopic composition; and 3) a review of theories of origin of the salts, mainly nitrate. The salt deposits of northern Chile comprise the well-known nitrate deposits as well as salars that have been exploited principally for sodium chloride, sodium sulfate, and borate; bedded salt deposits and salt domes, and secondary salt deposits formed in the oxidation zone of metalliferous sulfide deposits. This report will discuss the nitrate deposits and associated sodium sulfate deposits, salars, and those secondary deposits, such as aluminum-magnesium sulfates or iron sulfates, which have been exploited for chemical use. Bedded salt deposits and salt domes, consisting mainly of halite and evidently restricted to one small area, were not studied. The numerous and important secondary copper deposits, as well as other metalliferous salt deposits, are beyond the scope of the report.

northern Chile↗

Hydrologic framework and characterization of the Little Colorado River alluvial aquifer near Leupp, Arizona

The Little Colorado River alluvial aquifer near Leupp, Arizona, was investigated as a possible source of irrigation water for the Leupp and Birdsprings Chapters of the Navajo Nation. The physical, chemical, and hydraulic characteristics of the alluvial aquifer were studied using geophysical surveys, installation of observation wells, water-level measurements, chemical analyses, groundwater pumping simulations, and review of previous investigations. Geophysical surveys and well borings revealed that the aquifer ranges in thickness from near 0 feet around its periphery to about 100 feet in its thickest parts. Water levels were monitored in nine alluvial wells within the study area and compared with earlier measurements collected in 1998 and 1999. Comparison of those earlier water levels with water levels collected as part of this study showed a decline of between about 5 and 12 feet has occurred in the last 23 years. The water chemistry of the aquifer was analyzed for salinity hazard, sodium-adsorption hazard, and specific-ion toxicity. The sodium-adsorption hazard and specific-ion toxicity of alluvial aquifer water were found to be low. However, the salinity hazard was high enough in most areas that it could negatively affect salt-sensitive crops. Well-field pumping scenarios conducted for this study demonstrated that using groundwater from the alluvial aquifer for irrigated agriculture is theoretically possible but may be economically challenging owing to the hydraulic properties of the aquifer.

Arizona↗

Atomic weights of the elements. Review 2000 (IUPAC Technical Report)

A consistent set of internationally accepted atomic weights has long been an essential aim of the scientific community because of the relevance of these values to science and technology, as well as to trade and commerce subject to ethical, legal, and international standards. The standard atomic weights of the elements are regularly evaluated, recommended, and published in updated tables by the Commission on Atomic Weights and Isotopic Abundances (CAWIA) of the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (IUPAC). These values are invariably associated with carefully evaluated uncertainties. Atomic weights were originally determined by mass ratio measurements coupled with an understanding of chemical stoichiometry, but are now based almost exclusively on knowledge of the isotopic composition (derived from isotope-abundance ratio measurements) and the atomic masses of the isotopes of the elements. Atomic weights and atomic masses are now scaled to a numerical value of exactly 12 for the mass of the carbon isotope of mass number 12. Technological advances in mass spectrometry and nuclear-reaction energies have enabled atomic masses to be determined with a relative uncertainty of better than 1 ×10−7 . Isotope abundances for an increasing number of elements can be measured to better than 1 ×10−3 . The excellent precision of such measurements led to the discovery that many elements, in different specimens, display significant variations in their isotope-abundance ratios, caused by a variety of natural and industrial physicochemical processes. While such variations increasingly place a constraint on the uncertainties with which some standard atomic weights can be stated, they provide numerous opportunities for investigating a range of important phenomena in physical, chemical, cosmological, biological, and industrial processes. This review reflects the current and increasing interest of science in the measured differences between source-specific and even sample-specific atomic weights. These relative comparisons can often be made with a smaller uncertainty than is achieved in the best calibrated “absolute ” (=SI-traceable) atomic-weight determinations. Accurate determinations of the atomic weights of certain elements also influence the values of fundamental constants such as the Avogadro, Faraday, and universal gas constants. This review is in two parts: the first summarizes the development of the science of atomic-weight determinations during the 20th century; the second summarizes the changes and variations that have been recognized in the values and uncertainties of atomic weights, on an element-by-element basis, in the latter part of the 20th century.

Pure and Applied Chemistry↗

Springs of California

In 1903 the United States Geological Survey began an investigation of the underground water of California, generally with financial cooperation on the part of the State. Since that year ten papers on the underground water of the State have been issued by the Survey, each representing an investigation that has been completed. The field work which is to serve as the basis for two additional papers has also been done and the reports are in preparation. Investigations have been begun in two other areas in the State and their results will eventually be assembled and published. Since a period soon after the inception of the California work those responsible for its conduct have realized the desirability of a special study of the springs, particularly those which yield mineral waters and which are utilized to a greater or less extent by citizens of the State and by tourists as recreation and health resorts. It did not become practicable to begin this work until the summer of 1908, when Mr. G. A. Waring, who had assisted in some of the earlier California studies and had investigated for the Survey certain areas in southern Oregon and Washington, was assigned to the task of collecting and assembling the necessary data. California, with an area of 158,000 square miles, is the second largest State in the Union. It exhibits wide geographic diversity, since it includes the lowest area in the United States Death Valley, 276 feet below sea level and the highest Mount Whitney, 14,501 feet above the sea; and accompanying this geographic diversity there is a corresponding range in scenic effects, climate, and vegetation. The records obtained at meteorological stations in the Salton Sink indicate a maximum temperature of 130° in the shade, the highest of record within the continental United States. It is probable that minimum temperatures on the higher peaks, like Mount Whitney and Mount Shasta, approach the minimum within our boundaries. Rainfall records in the most arid sections of the southern deserts of the State represent the extreme of aridity in the United States, with averages of less than 3 inches per annum and periods of 12 months or more with only traces of rain, whereas the precipitation in northwestern California is very heavy, an annual average of close to 100 inches being recorded at a few stations in Mendocino and Del Norte counties. The immensity of the area of the State has made the collection of the field data required for the report a task of considerable magnitude, though its diversity has added greatly to the interest of the work. In the original plan it was estimated that two years of field studies would prove sufficient. Mr. Waring succeeded in visiting the more important localities during this period, although some of his examinations were, of necessity, rather cursory. In midsummer, 1910, after the completion of the field work and the assembling of the greater portion of his data in manuscript form he was called by the Government of Brazil to take charge of general water supply investigations in the northeastern arid portion of that South American republic. The task of reviewing, editing, and supplementing in some respects, the results of his studies was thus unavoidably left to others. This task was rendered light by the systematic form in which Mr. Waring's material was left. It was a matter of regret to Mr. Waring, as it has been to those associated with him, that the financial limitations which controlled his work made it impracticable to procure the large number of new analyses which are particularly important in a paper of this type, in which waters of unusual chemical characteristics are discussed. Such analyses as are available have been assembled from all possible sources and combined with those which were prepared especially in connection with this investigation. The result, although it is in some respects unsatisfactory, furnishes a basis for a general view of the characteristics of the spring waters and serves to permit, their classification in a general way. Mr. Herman Stabler has reviewed the chemical data and rearranged and interpreted the available analyses. It is hoped that the report, setting forth as it does the results of impartial observations upon one of the important present and more important prospective resources of the State, will prove of value to its citizens as well as to its visitors, and that the assembled material will not be without interest to physicians, chemists, geologists, and teachers who may have especial need for the information contained in the volume.

California↗

Hyperspectral remote sensing of white mica: A review of imaging and point-based spectrometer studies for mineral resources, with spectrometer design considerations

Over the past ~30 years, hyperspectral remote sensing of chemical variations in white mica have proven to be useful for ore deposit studies in a range of deposit types. To better understand mineral deposits and to guide spectrometer design, this contribution reviews relevant papers from the fields of remote sensing, spectroscopy, and geology that have utilized spectral changes caused by chemical variation in white micas. This contribution reviews spectral studies conducted at the following types of mineral deposits: base metal sulfide, epithermal, porphyry, sedimentary rock hosted gold deposits, orogenic gold, iron oxide copper gold, and unconformity-related uranium. The structure, chemical composition, and spectral features of white micas, in this contribution defined as muscovite, paragonite, celadonite, phengite, illite, and sericite, are given. Reviewed laboratory spectral studies determined that shifts in the position of the white mica 2200 nm combination feature of 1 nm correspond to a change in Al oct content of approximately ±1.05%. Many of the reviewed spectral studies indicated that a shift in the position of the white mica 2200 nm combination feature of 1 nm was geologically significant. A sensitivity analysis of spectrometer characteristics; bandpass, sampling interval, and channel position, is conducted using spectra of 19 white micas with deep absorption features to determine minimum characteristics required to accurately measure a shift in the position of the white mica 2200 nm combination feature. It was determined that a sampling interval < 16.3 nm and bandpass <17.5 nm are needed to achieve a root mean square error (RMSE) of 2 nm, whereas a sampling interval < 8.8 nm and bandpass <9.8 nm are needed to achieve a RMSE of 1 nm. For comparison, commonly used imaging spectrometers HyMap, AVIRIS-Classic, SpecTIR®'s AisaFENIX 1K, and HySpex tm SWIR 384 have 2.1, 1.2, 0.96, and 0.95 nm RMSE in determining the position of the 2200 nm white mica combination feature, respectively. An additional sensitivity analysis is conducted to determine the effect of signal to noise ratio (SNR) on the RMSE of the position of the white mica 2200 nm combination feature, using spectra of 18 white micas with deep absorption features. For a spectrometer with sampling interval and bandpass of 1 nm, we estimate that RMSEs of 1 and 1.5 nm are achievable with spectra having a minimum SNR of approximately 246 and 64, respectively. For a spectrometer with sampling interval and bandpass of 5 nm, we estimate that RMSEs of 1 and 1.5 nm are attainable with spectra having a minimum SNR of approximately 431 and 84, respectively. When using a spectrometer with a sampling interval 8.8 nm and a bandpass of 9.8 nm, a RMSE of 1 is only achievable with convolved, noiseless reference spectra. For the 8.8_9.8 nm spectrometer, spectra with SNR of 250 and 100 result in RMSE of 1.1 and 1.3, respectively. Therefore, fine spectral resolution characteristics achieve RMSEs better than 1 nm for high SNR spectra while spectrometers with coarse spectral resolution have larger RMSE, perform well with noisy data, and are useful for white mica studies if RMSE of 1.1 to 1.5 nm is acceptable.

Remote Sensing of Environment↗

Chlordane Hazards to Fish, Wildlife, and Invertebrates: A Synoptic Review

Technical chlordane is an organochlorine compound first introduced into the United States in 1947 in a variety of formulations for use as a broad-spectrum pesticide. By 1974, about 9.5 million kilograms of chlordane were produced annually. Concern over the potential carcinogenicity of chlordane has led to sharply curtailed production. Since 1983, chlordane use in the United States has been prohibited, except for control of underground termites. Chlordane is readily absorbed by warmblooded animals through skin, diet, and inhalation, and distributed throughout the body. In general, residues of chlordane and its metabolites are not measurable in tissues 4 to 8 weeks after exposure, although metabolism rates varied significantly between species. Food chain biomagnification is usually low, except in some marine mammals. In most mammals, the metabolite oxychlordane has proven much more toxic and persistent than the parent chemical.

Contaminant Hazard Reviews↗