The levels of mercury in terrestrial ecosystems are generally very low, but the strong accumulation in some species of macrofungi is an exception from this rule. Mercury contents of 41 samples of edible mushrooms fruiting bodies representing eight species (six wild and two cultivated) were determined by an anodic stripping voltammetric technique (ASV) using a gold disc as the working electrode. Wild fungi were collected in unpolluted and polluted areas in the Province of Lugo (NW Spain). Influence of some factors (ecology, species, traffic pollution, and morphological portion) and the importance of mushrooms as a dietary source of mercury have been studied. Wild saprophytic species showed higher levels (ppm DW) than mycorrhizals species, with the exception of Boletus pinicola. There were significant differences according to the species analyzed (p < 0.001), the highest average content of mercury was found in Boletus pinicola (7.37 ppm DW), and the range was 0.35-33.07 ppm DW for hymenophore and 0.18-20.30 ppm DW for the rest of the fruit body. The cultivated species accumulated lower than wild species because the mean life is shorter. The traffic pollution factor did not show significant differences, so mushrooms are not realiable bioindicators of traffic pollution by mercury. Hymenophore was always the morphological portion that contained the highest mercury levels (p < 0.05), and the mean ratio of hymenophore/rest of the fruit body was 2.13. The mercury concentrations were compared to literature data and levels set by legislation, and the contribution of mushrooms to the weekly intake of mercury per person was evaluated. The possible health risk for people is pointed out.
Land-use changes often have significant impact on the water cycle, including changing groundwater/surface-water interactions, modifying groundwater recharge zones, and increasing risk of contamination. Surface runoff in particular is significantly impacted by land cover. As surface runoff can act as a carrier for contaminants found at the surface, it is important to characterize runoff dynamics in anthropogenic environments. In this study, the relationship between surface runoff and groundwater recharge in urban areas is explored using a top-down water balance approach. Two empirical models were used to estimate runoff: (1) an updated, advanced method based on curve number, followed by (2) bivariate hydrograph separation. Modifications were added to each method in an attempt to better capture continuous soil-moisture processes and explicitly account for runoff from impervious surfaces. Differences between the resulting runoff estimates shed light on the complexity of the rainfall–runoff relationship, and highlight the importance of understanding soil-moisture dynamics and their control on hydro(geo)logical responses. These results were then used as input in a water balance to calculate groundwater recharge. Two approaches were used to assess the accuracy of these groundwater balance estimates: (1) comparison to calculations of groundwater recharge using the calibrated conceptual HBV Light model, and (2) comparison to groundwater recharge estimates from physically similar catchments in Switzerland that are found in the literature. In all cases, recharge is estimated at approximately 40–45% of annual precipitation. These conditions were found to closely echo those results from Swiss catchments of similar characteristics.
With the aim of assessing the potability of drinking water, 31 different springs sited along the road to Santiago "The French Way" in Galicia (NW Spain) were studied. Twenty-one parameters, according to Spanish Legislation have been determined by Official Methods. It was observed that the parameters: pH, nitrate, ammonia, total coliforms, fecal coliforms and fecal streptococcus did not always comply with the levels established by Spanish Legislation. The bacteriological characters were the most restrictive of the sanitary quality of drinking water, only 19% of the springs were drinkable during all the study. According to the Factorial Analysis in Principal Component applied to the obtained results, it was concluded that the parameters: conductivity, hardness, dry residue, nitrate and fecal coliforms can be very indicative for assessing water sanitary quality.
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