Total arsenic in foods after sequential wet digestion, dry ashing, coprecipitation with ammonium pyrrolidine dithiocarbamate, and graphite-furnace atomic absorption spectrometry

A graphite-furnace atomic absorption (GFAAS) method is described for determining total arsenic (organic and inorganic compounds) in foods. Samples ranging from 1 to 40 g (depending on moisture content) were digested with HNO3 and dry-ashed at 500 degrees C overnight after addition of MgO. After dissolution in HCl, the arsenic was reduced with iodide and ascorbic acid and precipitated with ammonium pyrrolidine dithiocarbamate (APDC) in the presence of nickel carrier. Precipitates were collected on 0.3 micron cellulose acetate filters and dissolved in 10% HNO3 containing modifier. Ba(NO3)2 was added to remove a sulfate interference resulting from decomposition of APDC. Arsenic was determined using GFAAS. Accuracy of the method was good for 7 U.S. National Bureau of Standards (NBS) Standard Reference Materials and 3 National Research Council of Canada (NRCC) round-robin samples. Recovery of arsenic(V) from foods averaged 99.2% for peak heights and 97.1% for peak areas, with relative standard deviations (RSD) of 2.2% for peak heights and 3.3% for peak areas for all NBS and NRCC materials. Detection limit of the method was ca 10 ng arsenic.     

Adsorption of sulphate and fluoride by variable charge soils

The adsorption of sulphate and fluoride by three variable charge soils was studied. Adsorption increased with increase in the amount of sulphate added at constant _pH, and decreased with increase of _pH.
The ratios of the amount of released OH⁻to that of the adsorbed SO^2-₄ at pH 5–0 were 0.12, 0.14 and 0.20 for the three soils, respectively, much lower than the corresponding OH⁻/F⁻ ratios which ranged from 0.3 to 1.0. For a ferric acrisol the OH⁻ released accounted, on average, for only 15% of the SO^2-₄ adsorbed, leaving more than 60% to be explained by the decrease in positive charge and the increase in negative charge carried by the soil.     

Retarded leaching of nitrate measured in monolith lysimeters in south-east Nigeria

At Onne in South-east Nigeria, drainage water was collected from four monolith lysimeters and analysed for nitrate. The lysimeters contained an acid sandy loam. At the start of the first rainy season two lysimeters received urea labelled with ¹⁵NO₃^– and two received no nitrogen fertilizer; all four were uncropped in the first year.
The peak concentrations of ¹⁵NO₃^– and of unlabelled (soil) NO₃^– were found after 2.5 pore volumes of water had passed through the lysimeters. Using the same soil in the laboratory after fine sieving, the peak concentration of tritiated water was found at 1 pore volume whereas nitrate leaching was retarded. The pattern of nitrate leaching was well described by miscible and immiscible models which included an adsorption coefficient for nitrate. Over the 2 years 81.4% of the ¹⁵N added at the start of the first rainy season was recovered in the drainage water.     

High-performance liquid chromatographic determination of strychnine in grain baits.l.

A simple and rapid high-performance liquid chromatographic procedure is described for the determination of strychnine. Grain baits containing strychnine alkaloid are ground, mixed, and extracted by shaking with chloroform. Without further cleanup, extract filtrates are injected directly into a liquid chromatograph. Chromatography is complete within 7 min and peak heights are used for quantitation. Separations were made on a 30 cm times 4 mm id stainless steel column packed with mu Porasil (8-12 mum silica). The eluting solvent was methanol-chloroform (10+90) at a flow rate of 2.0 ml/min. Recovery of spiked samples ranged from 91.5 to 95.2%. Confirmation of strychnine from a commercial sample was made by high resolution mass spectrometry with mass agreement to 1.2 ppm.     

Let's re‐write the scientific paper

The European Journal of Soil Science rapidly established itself as a leader, strong in most branches of soil science. Nevertheless, it would be even more attractive if authors would break away from the misleading formalism and stultifying style of the conventional scientific paper. Let us report our research more nearly as it happened; let us overcome our fear of revealing our humanity, our good luck, even our failings, and acknowledge the contributions from our intuition and imagination as well as the hard graft in the field and at the bench. Let us also liven our prose by writing more in the active voice and so that readers can know who did what and who is responsible. Let us convey the wonder of discovery in our writing without sacrificing scientific rigour; then soil research would be seen to be exciting with a bright future.     

In-field calibration of a dielectric soil moisture meter designed for use in an access tube

Abstract. The in-field calibration of a dielectric probe to measure soil water content is described. The probe uses an access tube analogous to that of the neutron probe. The dielectric constant was measured at soil depths of 10, 20, 30, 40, 60 and 100 cm. Cores of soil were then taken from the face of pits dug 30 cm from the access tube and their soil water contents determined by oven drying. The dielectric constant values measured by the probe were calibrated against water contents from these cores. We found that sensor depth needed to be included to achieve a good calibration model that explained 72% of the variance. It is argued that depth needs to be included because of artefacts introduced during the installation of the access tube.     

Availability of Cadmium in some Phosphorus Fertilizers to Field-Grown Lettuce

Although evaluations of the availability of cadmium (Cd) contaminants in phosphate fertilizers have been made, few have examined the transfer efficiency of Cd from fertilizers to plants, especially under field conditions. This 2-year field study determined the transfer of added Cd to lettuce (Lactuca sativa L.) (Royal Green) from a western phosphate rock (PR) and a triple superphosphate (TSP) as affected by liming and rate of fertilizer (or Cd) input. A readily soluble Cd salt, CdCl₂, was included in the study for comparison. The cumulative amounts of Cd added from the fertilizers and CdCl₂ over the 2-year period ranged from 0 to 1440 g ha^–1. Lettuce yield increased with increasing TSP rates, but was unaffected by PR. Significant (P < 0.01) effects of Cd source and rate, lime, and year were found on Cd accumulation by lettuce. The transfer of the added Cd was consistently higher for CdCl₂ than for the fertilizers regardless of lime rate. A contrasting year effect was also found between the two P fertilizers. In the second year of application, the Cd transfer efficiency increased in the soil treated with the PR, but decreased in the soil treated with the TSP. The Cd transfer efficiency for the plant was better measured with DTPA–Cd (r ²= 0.78 – 0.80) or CaCl₂–Cd (r ²= 0.57 – 0.76) than with soil total Cd (r ²= 0.39 to 0.54) across all Cd sources and lime rates. This is because DTPA–Cd or CaCl₂–Cd reflected the influences of the amount of Cd added, Cd source, and lime rate on Cd accumulation by the plant better than did the soil total Cd. Of the amount of Cd added from the fertilizers an average of 1.0% or less was accumulated in the harvested lettuce tissue. Applications of the fertilizers at high rates could result in increased Cd accumulation in the soil over time.     

Modelling compaction of agricultural subsoils by tracked heavy construction machinery under various moisture conditions in Switzerland

In recent years, agricultural land in Switzerland has been increasingly used as temporary access ways for heavy machinery in road and pipeline construction operations. The Swiss soil protection law requires that measures are taken to prevent soil compaction in such operations, but gives no criteria to determine tolerable loads. We studied the compaction sensitivity of a loess soil (Haplic Luvisol) at different soil moisture conditions in a field traffic experiment and by a numerical model on the computer using finite element analysis. Two plots, one wetted by sprinkling and one left dry (no sprinkling), were traversed by heavy caterpillar vehicles during construction of a large overland gas pipeline. Compaction effects were determined by comparing precompression stresses of samples taken from trafficked and non-trafficked soil. A finite element model with a constitutive relation, based on the concept of critical state soil mechanics, was used to interpret the outcome of the field trials.

We found significantly higher precompression stresses in the trafficked (median 97 kPa) compared with the non-trafficked (median 41 kPa) topsoil of the wet plot. No effect was evident in the topsoil of the dry plot as well as in the subsoils of the wet and the dry plot. The observed compaction effects were in agreement with the model predictions if the soil was assumed to be partially drained, but disagreed for the wet subsoil if fully drained conditions were assumed. Agreement between model and experimental results also required that the moisture dependence of the precompression stress was taken into account.     

Evidence from tag recapture experiments that fish learn to avoid fishing gear

We found evidence that tagging induced trap shyness in snapper (Pagrus auratus), i.e., tagged fish had a reduced probability of recapture by the method by which they had originally been caught. Tagging experiments in 1985 and 1994 involving single release over a short period and single recapture were conducted on a closed population (SNA 1: East Northland-Hauraki Gulf-Bay of Plenty). Initial capture was by trawling and by line fishing, while recapture over an extended period included other methods. A test for trap shyness that removed the possible effects of spatial and fish size heterogeneity gave a significant result for both years. The data suggested that the trap shyness effect might have been smaller for trawl-released fish than for line-released fish. However, we estimated a single trap shyness factor (0.71). There was also some evidence for attenuation of trap shyness over time.     

Volatile flavor components of stored nonfat dry milk.

Nonfat dry milk (NDM) is widely used both as an ingredient in other preparations and for direct consumption. Flavor quality of NDM is a critical parameter because it can directly impact final product quality. Flavors can be formed in NDM during subsequent storage. Identification of compounds responsible for storage-induced flavors is necessary to correlate sensory quality with potential sources of the flavors. Six NDM samples were selected for volatile flavor analysis based on sensory analysis and storage time. Volatile components were extracted by direct solvent extraction/high vacuum distillation. Volatile extracts were separated into neutral/basic and acidic fractions and analyzed by gas chromatography-olfactometry (GCO) and aroma extract dilution analysis (AEDA). A variety of aldehydes, ketones, and free fatty acids were responsible for generation of flavors in stored NDM. The following compounds exhibited high aroma impact by AEDA: 3-(methylthio)propanal (boiled potato); o-aminoacetophenone (corn tortilla); 2,5-dimethyl-4-hydroxy-3(2H)-furanone and 2-methyl-3-hydroxy-4H-pyran-4-one (burnt sugar); butanoic acid (cheesy); pentanoic acid (sweaty); acetic and hexanoic acids (sour/vinegar); octanoic, decanoic, and dodecanoic acids (waxy); p-cresol (cowy/barny); 3-methylindole (fecal); dimethyl trisulfide (cabbage); (E,E)-2,4-decadienal (fried/fatty); furfuryl alcohol (rubber/vitamin); phenylacetic acid (rose-like); and 1-octen-3-one (mushroom).