The Ethical Contract as a Tool in Organic Animal Husbandry

This article explores what an ethicfor organic animal husbandry might look like,departing from the assumption that organicfarming is substantially based in ecocentricethics. We argue that farm animals arenecessary functional partners in sustainableagroecosystems. This opens up additional waysto argue for their moral standing. We suggestan ethical contract to be used as acomplementary to the ecocentric framework. Weexpound the content of the contract and end bysuggesting how to apply this contract inpractice. The contract enjoins us to share thewealth created in the agroecosystem (by ourjoint contributions) by enjoining us to carefor the welfare and needs of the individualanimal, and to protect them from exploitation(just as human co-workers should not beexploited). The contract makes promoting goodanimal welfare a necessary condition forbenefiting farm animals. Animals for their partare guaranteed coverage under the contract solong as they continue to contribute to thesystem with products and services.     

NITROGEN AND ORGANIC MATTER LOSSES IN NO‐TILL CORN CROPPING SYSTEMS1

ABSTRACT: Intensive cropping systems based on mechanical movement of soil have induced land degradation in most agricultural areas due to soil erosion and soil fertility losses. Thus, farmers have been increasing fertilization rates to maintain an economically competitive crop yield. This practice has resulted in water quality degradation and lake eutrophication in many agricultural watersheds. Research was conducted in the Patzcuaro watershed in central Mexico to develop appropriate technology that prevents nonpoint source pollution from fertilizers. Organic matter (OM) and nitrogen (N) losses in runoff and nitrate (NO₃‐N) percolation in Andisols with corn under conventional till (CT) and no‐till (NT) treatments using variable percentages of crop residue as soil cover were investigated for steep‐slope agriculture. USLE type runoff plots were used to collect water runoff, while suction tubes with porous caps at 30, 60, and 90 cm depth were used to sample soil water solutes for NO₃‐N analyses. Results indicated a significant reduction of N and OM losses in runoff as residue cover increased in the NT treatments. Inorganic N in runoff was 25 kg/ha for NT without residue cover (NT‐0) and 6 kg/ha for the NT with 100 percent residue cover (NT‐100). Organic matter losses in runoff were 157 and 24 kg/ha for the NT‐0 and NT‐100 treatments, respectively. Nitrate‐N percolation was evident in CT and NT with 100 percent residue cover (NT‐100). However, NT‐100 had higher NO₃‐N concentration at the root zone, suggesting the possibility of reducing fertilization rates with the use of NT treatments.     

气浮+生物接触氧化工艺处理食品加工废水

通过气浮 生物接触氧化工艺处理速冻食品加工废水的实验、设计和工程运行,结果表明:废水COD去除率能达到97%以上,使得最终出水的COD＜100mg/l.该工艺对冲击负荷有较强的适应性.     

茶粕有机肥的开发与利用

论述了生物有机肥在发展农业生产中的重要地位,以及生产中存在着的大量使用集约化畜禽养殖场的畜禽粪对土壤、水体等环境质量和农产品质量安全产生严重影响的问题,提出以茶粕作为原料生产有机肥具有生产过程相对安全、克服有机肥二次污染的优点.此外,茶叶次生代谢物茶多酚、茶色素、茶皂素和茶皂甙等具有抗氧化、清除自由基、络合金属离子、调节植物生长和生物防虫、灭虫等独特生理功效,将极大地提高茶粕有机肥的生物有效性,显示出其广阔的应用前景.     

新疆发展有机食品生产与可持续发展

从地域优势、农产品特征、生态条件等方面,论述了新疆发展有机食品生产的适宜性和重要意义.认为新疆发展有机食品生产可以利用得天独厚的气候、水土等自然资源,以及工业污染环境影响较小的有利条件,保护和改善农村生态环境,充分发挥独特的农产品资源优势,提高农产品附加值,变资源优势为经济优势,并结合新疆区情,从多方面提出了新疆发展有机食品的思路和措施.     

室内有毒易爆气体的检测

随着城市生活水平的提高,室内装修装饰日益普及.各种新材料的引入,使得室内的各种有害气体总量日益增加.长期生活在这样的环境下,会对人体健康产生极为不利的影响.居民生活用煤气,在给人们生活带来便利的同时,作为一种可燃性、有毒气体,也具有极强的危害性.因此,研制一种能检测多种有害气体的实用仪器,具有很大的应用价值.本仪器为便携式多功能仪器,采用可充电电池供电,可以检测ppb的挥发性气体,显示气体浓度值,也可检测煤气,并具有声光报警功能.     

The rise of glyphosate and new opportunities for biosentinel early‐warning studies

Glyphosate has become the most commonly used herbicide worldwide and is reputedly environmentally benign, nontoxic, and safe for use near wildlife and humans. However, studies indicate its toxicity is underestimated and its persistence in the environment is greater than once thought. Its actions as a neurotoxin and endocrine disruptor indicate its potential to act in similar ways to persistent organic pollutants such as the organochlorines dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane (DDT) and dioxin. Exposure to glyphosate and glyphosate‐based herbicides for both wildlife and people is likely to be chronic and at sublethal levels, with multiple and ongoing exposure events occurring in urban and agricultural landscapes. Despite this, there has been little research on the impact of glyphosate on wildlife populations, and existing studies appear in the agricultural, toxicology, and water‐chemistry literature that may have limited visibility among wildlife biologists. These studies clearly demonstrate a link between chronic exposure and neurotoxicity, endocrine disruption, cell damage, and immune suppression. There is a strong case for the recognition of glyphosate as an emerging organic contaminant and substantial potential exists for collaborative research among ecologists, toxicologists, and chemists to quantify the impact of glyphosate on wildlife and to evaluate the role of biosentinel species in a preemptive move to mitigate downstream impacts on people. There is scope to develop a decision framework to aid the choice of species to biomonitor and analysis methods based on the target contaminant, spatial and temporal extent of contamination, and perceived risk. Birds in particular offer considerable potential in this role because they span agricultural and urban environments, coastal, inland, and wetland ecosystems where glyphosate residues are known to be present.     

柴油机微粒中可溶性有机成分的真空干燥条件

柴油机碳烟颗粒(PM)中可溶性有机组分(SOF)含量是其重要的特性参数,而真空干燥法可方便、高效、可靠地分析颗粒SOF含量,对其干燥条件的探索具有重要的研究意义和应用价值。首先采用模拟的柴油机颗粒,分析不同的干燥条件对模拟SOF(柴油、润滑油)挥发率的影响规律,得出模拟的SOF分析的最佳干燥条件;在此基础上,探索了真实柴油机颗粒SOF分析的最佳干燥条件为:干燥温度220℃、干燥时间3 h、真空度98 kPa,得知SOF组分干燥的难易程度介于柴油和润滑油之间;同时,根据此干燥条件,分析了排气管末端采集的真实碳烟颗粒的SOF含量特性。     

Using multivariate regression modeling for sampling and predicting chemical characteristics of mixed waste in old landfills

Municipal solid waste landfills pose a threat on environment and human health, especially old landfills which lack facilities for collection and treatment of landfill gas and leachate. Consequently, missing information about emission flows prevent site-specific environmental risk assessments. To overcome this gap, the combination of waste sampling and analysis with statistical modeling is one option for estimating present and future emission potentials. Optimizing the tradeoff between investigation costs and reliable results requires knowledge about both: the number of samples to be taken and variables to be analyzed.This article aims to identify the optimized number of waste samples and variables in order to predict a larger set of variables. Therefore, we introduce a multivariate linear regression model and tested the applicability by usage of two case studies. Landfill A was used to set up and calibrate the model based on 50 waste samples and twelve variables. The calibrated model was applied to Landfill B including 36 waste samples and twelve variables with four predictor variables.The case study results are twofold: first, the reliable and accurate prediction of the twelve variables can be achieved with the knowledge of four predictor variables (Loi, EC, pH and Cl). For the second Landfill B, only ten full measurements would be needed for a reliable prediction of most response variables. The four predictor variables would exhibit comparably low analytical costs in comparison to the full set of measurements. This cost reduction could be used to increase the number of samples yielding an improved understanding of the spatial waste heterogeneity in landfills.Concluding, the future application of the developed model potentially improves the reliability of predicted emission potentials. The model could become a standard screening tool for old landfills if its applicability and reliability would be tested in additional case studies.     

催化氧化技术治理苯化工装置和罐区含氮挥发性有机物废气

采用催化氧化技术对某石化企业苯胺、硝基苯等生产装置和罐区的含氮挥发性有机物(NVOCs)废气进行集中处理,建成了一套20 000 Nm~3/h规模的安全高效处理装置。采用自主研发的WSH-2N型蜂窝状Pt-Pd-Ce催化剂,在高效氧化有机物的同时,高选择性地将有机氮转化为N_2。运行结果表明,净化气非甲烷总烃质量浓度低于15 mg/m~3,非甲烷总烃去除率大于99%,NO_x质量浓度低于10 mg/m~3,苯、苯胺、硝基苯、环己烷等特征有机污染物浓度均低于检出限,各项指标优于国内外现有技术。