A comparative study of US EPA 1996 and 1999 emission inventories in the west Gulf of Mexico coast region, USA

Emission inventory is one of the required inputs to air quality models. To assist in the urban and regional modeling efforts, United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has compiled a National Emission Inventory (NEI) for criterion pollutants, and the precursors of ozone and particulate matter (PM). In December 2002, EPA released the 1999 NEI estimates (NEI99), which represent the most recent national emission data. However, the data sets are not in model-ready format for air quality simulations. This present work converts the NEI99 Final Version 2 data sets into Inventory Data Analyzer (IDA) format and processes the data using the Sparse Matrix Operator Kernel Emissions (SMOKE) modeling system to generate a gridded emission inventory in a domain covering the west Gulf Coast Region, USA. The spatial and diurnal emission characteristics of the gridded emission inventories are then assessed and compared with those of the National Emission Trend 1996 (NET96). The NEI99 database contains more complete emission records in both area and point sources. It is also found that NEI99 data exhibit greater emissions with respect to point and mobile sources but smaller emissions with respect to area sources when compared to the corresponding gridded NET96 data in the same study domain. The most distinct differences between the NEI99 and NET96 databases are CO emission of mobile sources, SO2 emissions of point sources, and VOC/PM/NH3/NOx emissions of area and non-road sources. The gridded NEI99 data show low VOC/NOx ratios (<2-5) in the urban areas of the study domain.     

Contamination status and potential release of trace metals in a mangrove forest sediment in Ho Chi Minh City,Vietnam

Can Gio district is located in the coastal area of Ho Chi Minh City, southern Vietnam. Discharge of wastewater from Ho Chi Minh City and neighboring provinces to the rivers of Can Gio has led to concerns about the accumulation of trace metals (As, Cu, Cr, Ni, Pb, and Zn) in the coastal sediments. The main objective of this study was to assess the distribution of As, Cu, Cr, Ni, Pb, and Zn in surface and core sediments and to evaluate the contamination status in relation to local background values, as well as the potential release of these selected trace metals from sediments to the water environment. Sediment characteristization, including determination of fine fraction, pH, organic matter, and major elements (Al, Fe, Ca, K, Mg, and S), was carried out to investigate which parameters affect the trace metal enrichment. Fine fraction and Al contents were found to be the controlling proxies affecting the distribution of trace metals while other sediment characteristics did not show any clear influence on trace metals’ distribution. Although As concentrations in the sediments were much higher compared to its reference value in other areas, the enrichment factor based on local background values suggests minor contamination of this element as well as for Cr, Cu, and Pb. Risk assessment suggested a medium to very high risk of Mn, Zn, and Ni under acidification. Of importance is also that trace metals in sediments were not easily mobilized by organic complexation based on their low extractabilities by ammonium-EDTA extraction.

     

Utilization of coal fly ash in China: a mini-review on challenges and future directions

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - The rapid economic development in China places a large demand for energy, and as a result, thermal power plants in China are producing an enormous...     

Control of aliphatic halogenated DBP precursors with multiple drinking water treatment processes: Formation potential and integrated toxicity

The comprehensive control efficiency for the formation potentials(FPs) of a range of regulated and unregulated halogenated disinfection by-products(DBPs)(including carbonaceous DBPs(C-DBPs), nitrogenous DBPs(N-DBPs), and iodinated DBPs(I-DBPs)) with the multiple drinking water treatment processes, including pre-ozonation, conventional treatment(coagulation–sedimentation, pre-sand filtration), ozone-biological activated carbon(O_3-BAC) advanced treatment, and post-sand filtration, was investigated. The potential toxic risks of DBPs by combing their FPs and toxicity values were also evaluated.The results showed that the multiple drinking water treatment processes had superior performance in removing organic/inorganic precursors and reducing the formation of a range of halogenated DBPs. Therein, ozonation significantly removed bromide and iodide,and thus reduced the formation of brominated and iodinated DBPs. The removal of organic carbon and nitrogen precursors by the conventional treatment processes was substantially improved by O_3-BAC advanced treatment, and thus prevented the formation of chlorinated C-DBPs and N-DBPs. However, BAC filtration leads to the increased formation of brominated C-DBPs and N-DBPs due to the increase of bromide/DOC and bromide/DON.After the whole multiple treatment processes, the rank order for integrated toxic risk values caused by these halogenated DBPs was haloacetonitriles(HANs)》haloacetamides(HAMs) haloacetic acids(HAAs) trihalomethanes(THMs) halonitromethanes(HNMs) 》I-DBPs(I-HAMs and I-THMs). I-DBPs failed to cause high integrated toxic risk because of their very low FPs. The significant higher integrated toxic risk value caused by HANs than other halogenated DBPs cannot be ignored.     

O3/H2O2降解水中扑灭通效能研究

利用拟一级降解速率常数表征O3/H2O2对扑灭通(Prometon)的氧化效能,探讨了n(H2O2)/n(O3)、pH值、水质和碳酸氢根离子对去除的影响,对有机氧化产物进行了气相和液相质谱分析,以离子色谱法测定了反应过程中产生的NO3-,在此基础上对扑灭通降解途径进行了研究.结果表明,扑灭通初始浓度2 mg.L-1,反应温度25℃,O3投量13 mg.L-1时,最佳反应条件为n(H2O2)/n(O3)=0.7,体系pH为7～8;扑灭通在自来水中的去除效果好于纯水;HCO3-浓度>50 mg.L-1时,对扑灭通的氧化有明显的抑制作用.液质和气质的分析结果表明扑灭通并未开环,氧化过程中扑灭通三嗪环支链上的2个异丙基首先被氧化脱去,离子色谱检测到的NO3-是三嗪环支链胺基氧化的产物.     

炼铝作业氟化物接触剂量与发病关系的分析

目的 了解炼铝作业氟的危害状况,为工业性氟病的防治提供依据.方法 对氟作业环境作职业卫生学调查.采用剂量患病率寿命表法对866名电解铝作业工人工业性氟病的发病情况进行流行病学调查,并作相关回归分析.结果 该厂接氟工人工业性氟病的总患病率为1.73%,且患病率随累积接氟量的增加而升高,呈高度正相关(r＝0.997,P＜0.01).并据所求得回归方程(y＝10.34InD-18.21)推算出接氟工人控制患病率时的允许连续工作年限和今后的发病趋势.结论 该厂电解铝车间氟危害较重,应加强卫生防护措施,并建议将车间氟最高容许浓度从目前1 mg/m3降为0.5 mg/m3为宜.     

低温水解酸化-A~2/O（PACT）-混凝沉淀处理印染废水

低温条件下对水解酸化-A2/O（PACT）-混凝沉淀组合工艺处理印染废水进行了中试研究。考察印染废水中COD和色度去除效果,结果表明：低温对工艺负面影响较大,未加粉末活性炭时好氧段COD和色度的去除率分别为42.6%和58.9%;投加粉末活性炭后,去除率分别达55.8%和65.4%,提高了13.2%和6.5%,显示出低...     

Pentachlorotoluene and pentabromotoluene: Results of a subacute and a subchronic toxicity study in the rat

Abstract

Pentachlorotoluene (PCT) and pentabromotoiuene (PBT) are environmental contaminants detected in the Great Lakes ecosystem. In view of the paucity of toxicity data and the potential for human exposure, a subacute (28 day) and a subchronic (91 day) study were conducted in the rat. In the subacute study, groups of 10 male and 10 female rats were fed the diet containing PCT or PBT at 0, 0.5, 5.0, 50 or 500 ppm for 28‐days. In the subchronic study, the group size was increased to 15, the dose levels were 0, 0.05, 0.5, 5.0, 50 and 500 ppm in the diet and the exposure period was 91 days. Growth rate and food consumption were not affected by exposure to either chemical in the subacute and subchronic study. Clinical observations revealed no abnormalities. Decreased hemoglobin was observed in female rats fed 5.0 ppm PCT and higher levels in the subacute (28 day) study. In the same study the hematocrit value and erythrocyte numbers of females fed 5.0 or 500 ppm PCT diets were significantly lower than the control. In both subacute and subchronic studies mild dose‐dependent histopathological changes were observed in the thyroid, liver and kidney of rats fed PCT and PBT diets. In general male rats were more susceptible than females to the treatment of PCT and PBT. Based on these data, it was concluded that the no observable adverse effect level for PCT was 50 ppm in the diet (3.5 mg/kg b.w./day) and that of PBT was 5.0 ppm (0.35 mg/kg b.w./day).     

Optimization of hydrogen distribution systems with pressure constraints

Hydrogenation units are often operated at high pressure, requiring the use of compressors which are one of the most expensive chemical processing equipment. Optimizing a hydrogen network should therefore take into consideration not only purity and flowrate constraints but also pressure requirements. In this paper, based on the hydrogen surplus diagram approach, the average pressure profiles of hydrogen sources and sinks are proposed through the introduction of a system’s minimum pressure drop Δp. Combined with the traditional purity profiles, whether a source can meet a sink either for hydrogen concentration or for pressure requirements can be determined intuitively. In cases where the pressure of a source is not sufficient for a sink, installing a hydrogen compressor or using another source with higher purity and pressure could be potential solutions. A cost equation is established to determine which of the two solutions is economically more viable. For different matching situations between sources and sinks, strategies for optimum placement of compression equipment within a given hydrogen network are proposed. A case study is used to illustrate the application and effectiveness of the proposed method.