Impact of environmentally based chemical hardness on uranium speciation and toxicity in six aquatic species.

Treated effluent discharge from uranium (U) mines and mills elevates the concentrations of U, calcium (Ca), magnesium (Mg), and sulfate (SO4 (2-) ) above natural levels in receiving waters. Many investigations on the effect of hardness on U toxicity have been experiments on the combined effects of changes in hardness, pH, and alkalinity, which do not represent water chemistry downstream of U mines and mills. Therefore, more toxicity studies with water chemistry encountered downstream of U mines and mills are necessary to support predictive assessments of impacts of U discharge to the environment.

Screening pyrene metabolites in the hemolymph of dungeness crabs (Cancer magister) with synchronous fluorescence spectrometry: method development and application.

The present study examined the metabolic pathways of pyrene in dungeness crabs (Cancer magister) in the laboratory and the potential of using synchronous fluorescence spectrometry (SFS) to determine pyrene metabolite concentrations in the hemolymph of crabs exposed to polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in the field. Pyrene was metabolized by crabs mainly to 1-hydroxypyrene and pyrene-1-glucoside. Both pyrene metabolites could be detected by SFS in the hemolymph of crabs.

Determination of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in dungeness crabs (Cancer magister) near an aluminum smelter in Kitimat Arm, British Columbia, Canada.

An aluminum smelter situated at the head of Kitimat Arm (BC, Canada) has discharged polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) into the receiving waters since 1954. The purpose of the present study was to examine the distribution of PAHs contaminants in dungeness crabs (Cancer magister) collected in Kitimat Arm and Douglas Channel (BC, Canada) by determining the concentrations of PAHs in the hepatopancreas and muscle tissues of crabs by using gas chromatography-mass spectrometry. Crabs were collected at specific sites down the Arm from the smelter on four separate occasions over a three-year period.