The project MOHAVE tracer study: study design,data quality,and overview of results

In the winter and summer of 1992, atmospheric tracer studies were conducted in support of project MOHAVE, a visibility study in the southwestern United States. The primary goal of project MOHAVE is to determine the effects of the Mohave power plant and other sources upon visibility at Grand Canyon National Park. Perfluorocarbon tracers (PFTs) were released from the Mohave power plant and other locations and monitored at about 30 sites. The tracer data are being used for source attribution analysis and for evaluation of transport and dispersion models and receptor models. Collocated measurements showed the tracer data to be of high quality and suitable for source attribution analysis and model evaluation. The results showed strong influences of channeling by the Colorado River canyon during both winter and summer. Flow from the Mohave power plant was usually to the south, away from the Grand Canyon in winter and to the northeast, toward the Grand Canyon in summer. Tracer released at Lake Powell in winter was found to often travel downstream through the entire length of the Grand Canyon. Data from summer tracer releases in southern California demonstrated the existence of a convergence zone in the western Mohave Desert.     

Multi-elements atmospheric deposition study in Albania

For the first time, the moss biomonitoring technique and inductively coupled plasma–atomic emission spectrometric (ICP-AES) analytical technique were applied to study multi-element atmospheric deposition in Albania. Moss samples (Hypnum cupressiforme) were collected during the summer of 2011 and September–October 2010 from 62 sites, evenly distributed over the country. Sampling was performed in accordance with the LRTAP Convention–ICP Vegetation protocol and sampling strategy of the European Programme on Biomonitoring of Heavy Metal Atmospheric Deposition. ICP-AES analysis made it possible to determine concentrations of 19 elements including key toxic metals such as Pb, Cd, As, and Cu. Cluster and factor analysis with varimax rotation was applied to distinguish elements mainly of anthropogenic origin from those predominantly originating from natural sources. Geographical distribution maps of the elements over the sampled territory were constructed using GIS technology. The median values of the elements in moss samples of Albania were high for Al, Cr, Ni, Fe, and V and low for Cd, Cu, and Zn compared to other European countries, but generally were of a similar level as some of the neighboring countries such as Bulgaria, Croatia, Kosovo, Macedonia, and Romania. This study was conducted in the framework of ICP Vegetation in order to provide a reliable assessment of air quality throughout Albania and to produce information needed for better identification of contamination sources and improving the potential for assessing environmental and health risks in Albania, associated with toxic metals.     

The Asian nitrogen cycle case study

We analyzed nitrogen budgets at national and regional levels on a timeline from 1961-2030 using a model, IAP-N 1.0. The model was designed based upon the Inter-governmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) methods using Asia-specific parameters and a Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) database. In this paper we discuss new reactive-nitrogen and its various fates, and environmental nitrogen enrichment and its driving forces. The anthropogenic reactive nitrogen of Asia dramatically increased from approximately 14.4 Tg N yr-1 in 1961 to approximately 67.7 Tg N yr-1 in 2000 and is likely to be 105.3 Tg N yr-1 by 2030. Most of the anthropogenic reactive-nitrogen has accumulated in the environment. We found that an increasing demand for food and energy supplies and the lack of effective measures to improve the efficiency of fertilizer nitrogen use, as well as effective measures for the prevention of NOx emissions from fossil-fuel combustion, are the principal drivers behind the environmental nitrogen-enrichment problem. This problem may be finally solved by substituting synthetic nitrogen fertilizers with new high-efficiency nitrogen sources, but solutions are dependent on advances in biological technology.     

High-mileage study of on-board diagnostic emissions

The 1990 Clean Air Act amendments require the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to set guidelines for states to follow in designing and running vehicle inspection and maintenance (I/M) programs. Included in this charge was a requirement to implement an on-board diagnostic (OBD) test for both basic and enhanced I/M programs. This paper provides the results to date of an ongoing EPA study undertaken to assess the durability of the OBD system as vehicles age and as mileage is accrued. The primary results of this effort indicate the points described below. First, the majority of high-mileage vehicles tested had emission levels within their certification limits, and their malfunction indicator light (MIL) was not illuminated, indicating that the systems are capable of working throughout the life of a vehicle. Second, OBD provides better air quality benefits than an IM240 test (using the federal test procedure [FTP] as the benchmark comparison). This statement is based on greater emissions reductions from OBD-directed repairs than reductions associated with IM240-identified repairs. In general, the benefits of repairing the OBD fails were smaller, but the aggregate benefits were greater, indicating that OBD tests find both the high-emitting and a number of marginally high-emitting vehicles without false failures that can occur with any tailpipe test. Third, vehicles that truly had high-tailpipe emissions as confirmed by laboratory IM240 and FTP testing also had illuminated MILs at a statistically significant level. Last, field data from state programs have demonstrated MIL illumination rates comparable with those seen in this work, suggesting that the vehicles sampled in this study were representative of the larger fleet. Nonetheless, it is important to continue the testing of high-mileage OBD vehicles into the foreseeable future to ensure that the systems are operating correctly as the fleet ages and as changes in emission certification levels take effect.     

低温等离子体杀菌的实验研究

由于传统的化学水处理方式有化学成分残留和环境污染问题，因而迫切需要开发新型的水处理技术。本研究针对现有杀菌消毒方法的不足之处，利用低温等离子体进行杀菌处理的实验研究，对电压、水层厚度、气体种类及电极形式的影响进行考察。结果表明，低温等离子体用于杀菌不仅效果显著，而且使用方便、快捷、安全并无残留，因而适于饮用水或者生活污水的杀菌处理。     

Reproduction study of toxaphene in the rat

The purpose of the present study was to investigate in rats the reproductive effects of toxaphene, an insecticidal mixture which has been identified as a pollutant in the Great Lakes ecosystem. Groups of 30 female and 15 male weanling rats were given toxaphene in the diets at 0, 4.0, 20, 100 or 500 ppm in a 1 generation 2 litter reproduction study. Toxaphene treatment at the levels studied had no effects on the litter size, pup weight, fertility, or gestation and survival indices. Toxic effects in the parental rats included depressed weight gain, elevated serum cholesterol, and increased liver and kidney weight and hepatic microsomal enzyme activities. Most of these effects were associated only with 500 ppm toxaphene treatment. Treatment-related histological changes in the liver, thyroid and kidney of adult rats were observed at levels as low as 20 ppm. Based on the data presented, the no observable adverse effect dose of toxaphene was considered to be 4.0 ppm in the diet (0.29-0.38 mg/kg b.w./day depending on the amount of dietary intake).     

South Philadelphia passive sampler and sensor study

From June 2013 to March 2015, in total 41 passive sampler deployments of 2 wk duration each were conducted at 17 sites in South Philadelphia, PA, with results for benzene discussed here. Complementary time-resolved measurements with lower cost prototype fenceline sensors and an open-path ultraviolet differential optical absorption spectrometer were also conducted. Minimum passive sampler benzene concentrations for each sampling period ranged from 0.08 ppbv to 0.65 ppbv, with a mean of 0.25 ppbv, and were negatively correlated with ambient temperature (–0.01 ppbv/°C, R² = 0.68). Co-deployed duplicate passive sampler pairs (N = 609) demonstrated good precision with an average and maximum percent difference of 1.5% and 34%, respectively. A group of passive samplers located within 50 m of a refinery fenceline had a study mean benzene concentration of 1.22 ppbv, whereas a group of samplers located in communities >1 km distant from facilities had a mean of 0.29 ppbv. The difference in the means of these groups was statistically significant at the 95% confidence level (p < 0.001). A decreasing gradient in benzene concentrations moving away from the facilities was observed, as was a significant period-to-period variation. The highest recorded 2-wk average benzene concentration for the fenceline group was 3.11 ppbv. During this period, time-resolved data from the prototype sensors and the open-path spectrometer detected a benzene signal from the west on one day in particular, with the highest 5-min path-averaged benzene concentration measured at 24 ppbv.

Implications: Using a variation of EPA’s passive sampler refinery fenceline monitoring method, coupled with time-resolved measurements, a multiyear study in South Philadelphia informed benzene concentrations near facilities and in communities. The combination of measurement strategies can assist facilities in identification and mitigation of emissions from fugitive sources and improve information on air quality complex air sheds.     

石油污染土壤的生物修复室内模拟实验研究

在实验室模拟的条件下,利用从克拉玛依的石油污染土壤中筛选出的4株高效降解菌,以石油烃降解率、脱氢酶活性、呼吸强度、微生物量碳氮和土壤毒性作为评价指标,研究不加生物菌剂不翻耕、不加生物菌剂翻耕、加生物菌剂不翻耕、加生物菌剂翻耕、加固定化菌剂不翻耕和加固定化菌剂翻耕6种不同实验条件对石油污染土壤修复的效果。结果表明,在63 d的修复过程中,加固定化菌剂翻耕实验F组的石油去除率达到了78.7%,比不加生物菌剂不翻耕实验A组的石油去除率提高了49.5%。随着土壤毒性逐渐降低,玉米(Zea mays L.)和赤子爱胜蚓(Eisenia fetida)可以在F组土壤中良好的生长,达到了修复的效果。     

Comparative study of accessibility of distinctive pesticides

Interactions of micro-contaminants with soil may play a crucial role in their environmental fate and possible harmful effects. Major goals of our investigations were to model the availability of widely used pesticides and characterize adsorption capabilities of distinctive soil types by the accomplishment of extensive comparative studies and application of several extraction methods. Environmental and biological relevance of these examinations is enhanced by the fact that intrinsic features and specific details of pesticide accessibility have not been revealed so far by a comparative approach. Five different experimental methods were assessed for modelling accessibility of five selected pesticides. The applied models for regaining the pesticides showed diverse efficiency in extraction capability in cases of the different soil types (sandy, brown forest and alluvial soils). The amounts of the obtained pesticides were determined by using gas-chromatography coupled to mass spectrometry (GC-MS) and high pressure liquid chromatography coupled to mass spectrometry (HPLC-MS). Accessibility of pesticides was also compared in cases of sterilized and real soil samples in order to estimate the extent of the influence of microflora. Aqueous extraction solvents proved to be suitable for accurate assessment of the accessible amounts of pesticides, as their effectivity was at least as high as that of the applied organic solvents. In our studies pesticide-soil interactions have comprehensively been characterized, and possible influences of environmental factors on the accessibility have also been revealed. Our study might be regarded as a tentative approach to model some significant circumstances playing key roles in pesticides' possible bioavailability.     

Human-derived cell lines to study xenobiotic metabolism

In vitro systems make for rapid identification of xenobiotic effects and can be used to study cellular and subcellular toxicity mechanisms. In this report the metabolic competence of two human-derived cell lines, a hepatic (Hep G2) and a pulmonary one (A549) was tested. In the two cell systems the capability to activate Benzo[a]Pyrene through the cytochrome P450 enzyme system and to form reactive metabolites was analysed. ³H-BaP and the scintillation counting analysis were used to show the differences of the metabolic activity in Hep G2 and A549. A similar time course of ³H-BaP uptake was observed in the cell systems. Nevertheless, in the two cell lines the distribution of radioactive metabolites seemed to reflect a specific tissue response to toxicity.     

大气中二（口/恶）（口/英）研究进展

二（口/恶）（口/英）是世界公认的强致癌物质,对人体健康危害极大.近年来,大气中二（口/恶）（口/英）的研究已成为各国环境化学家研究的热点.本文总结了近年来国际上有关大气中二（口/恶）（口/英）研究的进展情况,以及所取得的主要研究成果,并在此基础上指出了我国目前研究中存在的问题及以后所应开展的工作.     

Experimental study of cross-flow wet electrostatic precipitator

This paper reports development and testing of a novel cross-flow wet electrostatic precipitator (WESP), recently patented at Ohio University, that utilizes vertical columns of permeable material in the form of polypropylene ropes placed in a cross-flow configuration within a flue gas stream. The cross-flow design has large surface area, which provides scrubbing action; therefore, it has the potential for removing multiple pollutants, including particulates, gases, vapors, and mists. In this new method, the ropes are kept wet by the liquid (water) introduced from the top of the cells running downward on the ropes by capillary action, making the permeable materials act as the ground electrode for capturing particles from the flue gas. Preliminary testing has shown an efficiency of well above 80% using two cells and three sets of discharge electrodes. Since the material of construction is primarily corrosion-resistant polymeric material, both weight and cost reductions are expected from this new design.

Implications: The newly invented cross-flow WESP exhibit particulate collection efficiency of well above 80% when introduced in particulate-laden exhaust flow. This value was obtained using a two cells and three discharge electrodes configuration. The electric field strength has a substantial effect on the collection efficiency. Also, the pressure drop test results indicate that there is a potential to increase the collection area, which, in turn, will increase the collection efficiency further.     

间硝基氯苯的分离及其可行性研究

探讨、分析了对、邻硝基氯苯生产废料中间硝基氯苯的可能分离方法 ,确定采用恒沸减压精馏法为最佳。通过大量的实验 ,筛选出了一种合适的恒沸剂 ,并确定了恒沸减压精馏的最佳工艺条件 ,同时还对年产 2 0 0t间硝基氯苯的生产工艺进行了详细的可行性研究 ,结果表明 ,该项目投资小、能耗低、收益高 ,工业化前景广阔。     

环境内分泌干扰物--邻苯二甲酸酯的研究

介绍了环境内分泌干扰物的生殖毒性，综述了不同环境样品中邻苯二甲酸酯类内分泌干扰物的前处理技术和分析测试技术，并指出环境中邻苯二甲酸酯的污染状况。     

硅微粉的提纯实验研究

采用选择性絮凝法对硅微粉进行提纯处理,分别探索了分散剂、絮凝剂种类及用量、pH值和沉降时间等因素对提纯效果的影响,实验结果表明,当聚乙烯吡咯烷酮、油酸钠的投加量分别80 g/t和1 824 g/t硅微粉,体系pH5.3,沉降时间50 min时,硅微粉中二氧化硅的含量从74%提高到了90.9%,提纯效果显著。     

生物质型煤成型技术开发实验研究

通过原有成型方式的工业成型观察和模压成型实验，提出并验证了完全利用生物质纤维的交联作用实现成型的新机制。其于中高压下物料的不可再压缩性和单向挤压也会导致更高的成型压力的新认识，设计和研制成按新机制成型的型轮。经此改进的工业成型试验达到了比模压成型更好的效果：不用预实送料，且成型性能；成型压力降至120MPa以下，成型许可水分成倍提高，适合的生物质配比范围15％－60％；仅利用送料螺旋的预实功能，即可实现纯生物质型块的成型。     

Vermicomposting of winery wastes: a laboratory study

In Mediterranean countries, millions of tons of wastes from viticulture and winery industries are produced every year. This study describes the ability of the earthworm Eisenia andrei to compost different winery wastes (spent grape marc, vinasse biosolids, lees cakes, and vine shoots) into valuable agricultural products. The evolution of earthworm biomass and enzyme activities was tracked for 16 weeks of vermicomposting, on a laboratory scale. Increases in earthworm biomass for all winery wastes proved lower than in manure. Changes in hydrolytic enzymes and overall microbial activities during the vermicomposting process indicated the biodegradation of the winery wastes. Vermicomposting improved the agronomic value of the winery wastes by reducing the C:N ratio, conductivity and phytotoxicity, while increasing the humic materials, nutrient contents, and pH in all cases. Thus, winery wastes show potential as raw substrates in vermicomposting, although further research is needed to evaluate the feasibility of such wastes in large-scale vermicomposting systems.     

室内环境污染研究进展

介绍了室内环境污染问题的由来及危害、研究对象及内容 ,并对国内外在室内环境这一新兴学科领域所开展的研究工作进行了综述 ,同时指出了我国进行室内环境污染系统研究的必要性。     

植物-微生物联合修复石油污染土壤的实验研究

筛选高效石油降解菌并考察菌株的石油降解能力,通过植物-微生物联合修复石油污染土壤室内实验,在修复过程中测定了土壤中细菌和固氮菌,碱解氮、速效磷和速效钾的含量变化,同时采用傅立叶变换离子回旋共振质谱(ESI FT-ICR MS)考察了植物-微生物联合修复效果。结果表明,菌株3#、4#的生长适应性较强,其混合菌的降解效果最好,将其混合菌液与植物进行植物-微生物联合修复不同浓度的石油污染土壤,经过150 d的温室降解,最高降解率达到73.47%。ESI FT-ICR MS分析结果表明,与空白组相比,植物组的O1、O2和N1类等化合物相对丰度都发生了显著变化,石油污染物得到一定程度的生物降解。     

The Danish incinerator dioxin study. Part 1

During the last two years an extensive series of dioxin measurements has been conducted on Danish municipal and hospital solid waste incinerators. The study was directed toward finding the total annual dioxin emissions from MSWI in Denmark, now estimated to be 3 kg. of dioxines and furanes. This sum is equivalent to 50 g. of 2,3,7,8-TCDD according to the Nordic Equivalents. Measurements were carried out according to a statistical design following a plan of pre-randomized sampling. This procedure allowed causal interpretation of the correlations found between the dioxin emissions and certain operating parameters. The statistical model obtained describes the emissions by variations between incinerators, by variation in time, and by changes in the load, the excess air and the HCl concentration in the flue gas.