Stormwater management by low impact development practices

Due to the effects of climate change, urban and suburban expansion, and urban pollutants on runoff quality and quantity, applying contemporary stormwater management approaches in urban areas have become more critical. Low impact development (LID) practices are environmentally friendly stormwater management methods, seeking to replicate the natural hydrologic regimes in urban areas. They have become popular methods to reduce/prevent adverse stormwater runoff impacts in urban catchments, mainly by improving on-site infiltration or harvesting and reusing runoff. This study introduces LID practices and the importance of using them. Thereafter, the structure, benefits, and limitations of common LID practices are explained to help water resource engineers and urban planners have a better understanding of these practices, and choose the most suitable LID practice based on the needs of the project and features of the site.

Mobility and storage of hydrophobic urban pollutants in an agricultural river in southwestern Germany (Ammer River)

<p>Hydrophobic pollutants in rivers are transported to varying degrees either in the dissolved or particle-bound phase. For either very turbid rivers or very strongly sorbing compounds, transport dynamics are closely coupled to the cascading sediment movement throught the stream network. Hence, an understanding of sediment storage and mobilisation/movement, including the interaction of suspended and bed sediment phases is the basis for properly discribing contaminant transport.</p><p>Suspened sediments from the Ammer River in southwestern Germany show a gradual decrease of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH) loadings in a downstream direction, reflecting urban sources in the headwaters. The decrease of PAH loading is, however, only weak which we attribute to only moderate inputs of more or less clean sediments along the river profile, capable of diluting the contaminant signal. The bed sediments of the river comprise a large fraction of grain sizes < 250 µm and constitute an important storage compartment for hydrophobic contaminants. Transformation or leaching into the water phase may reduce the stored amounts. Furthermore, the particle-bound mobility of the stored contaminants clearly depends on the distribution among grain size fractions. We have, therefore, also sampled the bed sediments < 250 µm along the river profile and separated into four grain size fractions (< 19 µm, 19-54 µm, 54-100 µm, 100-250 µm) using vacuum filtration and fine stainless steel meshes. The fractions have been analyzed for urban pollutants of different origins (PAH, heavy metals and the musk fragrance galaxolide) and particulate organic carbon (POC) content. First results show that POC is enriched in the 19-54 µm fraction and that metal contents are neither correlated with POC nor with grain size. This contradicts the common assumption that compounds typically sorbing to surfaces acumulate in the finest fractions due to the large specific surface area. Final results for PAH and galaxolide concentrations as a function of POC contents and particle sizes will also be presented (analysis still pending). At least for PAH a strong affinity to organic carbon is anticipated, while not much is known to date about the sorption and storage behaviour of galoxolide.</p><p>The results will give further insights into the environmental behaviour of the investigated compound groups. Comparison with data from suspended sediment sampling will enhance our understanding of mobile and immobile phase interactions and, hence, the transport dynamics of these sediment-associated pollutants.</p>

The Potential Application of Ecklonia cava Extract in Scalp Protection

The scalp is exposed to environmental hazards including airborne pollutants, which exert adverse effects on skin health. Therefore, compounds for defending skin from pollutants have attracted interest in the cosmeceutical community. We investigated whether Ecklonia cava exhibited prophylactic effects against urban pollutants by measuring cell viability and cell cycle distribution in human follicle dermal papilla cells (HFDPC). The effect of E. cava on pollutant-induced damage to skin barrier was determined by measuring filaggrin and MMP-1 expression in both keratinocytes and in a skin explant model. In a clinical trial, the effect of E. cava on scalp skin of patients with scalp scale was observed by evaluating hydration and redness after 4 weeks of daily treatment with a shampoo containing E. cava extract. E. cava extract recovered the loss of cell viability and abnormal cell cycle distribution induced by urban pollutants in HFDPCs. It also attenuated pollutant-induced damage to skin barrier by decreasing MMP-1 and increasing filaggrin expression in keratinocytes and the epidermis of skin explants. Moreover, E. cava showed soothing effects on human scalp by increasing hydration and decreasing redness in a clinical trial. Collectively, E. cava extract may be a good candidate for therapeutic applications designed to repair or protect hair scalp.