Beyond Substantial Equivalence: Ethical Equivalence

The concept of substantial equivalence,introduced for the risk assessment of geneticallymodified (GM) food, is a reducing concept because itignores the context in which these products have beenproduced and brought to the consumer at the end of thefood chain. Food quality cannot be restricted to meresubstance and food acts on human beings not only atthe level of nutrition but also through theirrelationship to environment and society. To make thiscontext explicit, I will introduce an ``equivalencescale' for the evaluation of food chains (GM or notGM). By contrast with substantial equivalence, whichinvolves mainly quantitative, analytical methods ofevaluation, ``qualitative equivalence' refers to ``less'or non-substantial factors that require new methodsof evaluation based on qualitative principles.``Ethical equivalence' refers to factors that show themoral value contained in food products. To analyze thedifferent levels at which ethics is needed in foodchains, I will use the French principles: ``Liberty,Equality, Fraternity,' or freedom, equality,solidarity, and add a fourth principle:sustainability. Sustainability, solidarity, andfreedom can be applied to the evaluation ofenvironmental, socio-economic, and socio-culturalethical equivalence, respectively. Equality refers tojustice and should operate so as to guarantee thatsustainability, solidarity, and freedom are satisfied.I suggest that ethics can provide a basis for arenewal of the food chain concept. Besides QualityAssurance, it is now essential to develop an ``EthicalAssurance' and this equivalence scale could provide abasis to set up ``Ethical Assurance Standards' (EAS)for food chains.     

Are the Precautionary Principle and the International Trade of Genetically Modified Organisms Reconcilable?

This paper seeks to find possibilities forreconciliation of the implementation of theprecautionary principle and the promotion ofinternational trade of genetically modified organisms,based on the assumption that a sustainabledevelopment is a right objective to strive for. Itstarts with an explanation of the background and therole of the precautionary principle, and describes inwhat way measures based on the precautionary principlecan easily lead to the creation of trade barriers. Thearticle then examines to what extent the WTO (WorldTrade Organisation) Agreements allow theimplementation of the precautionary principle. Inaddition, structural conflicts between the perceptionof the precautionary principle and the concept oftrade liberalisation will be evoked. The last sectionof the paper analyses to what extent the WTO rulesprovide possibilities to avoid or solve theseconflicts in order to attempt to answer the mainquestion: are the precautionary principle and theinternational trade of genetically modified organismsreconcilable?     

改性土壤对模拟含油废水中油的吸附

研究季铵盐阳离子表面活性剂四甲基铵离子 ( TMA)和十六烷基三甲基铵离子 ( HDTMA)改性的土壤 (黑土、黄棕壤、红壤 )对水中油的吸附作用 .结果表明 :改性土壤和未改性土壤均可吸附水中的油 ,但改性土壤对水中油的吸附能力明显高于未改性土壤 .改性土壤吸附油能力的顺序依次为 :1 CEC- HDTMA黑土 >1 CEC-HDTMA黄棕壤 >1 CEC- HDTMA红壤 >1 CEC-TMA黑土 >1 CEC-TMA黄棕壤 >1 CEC- TMA红壤 .未改性土壤和 HDTMA改性土壤对油的吸附通过分配来进行 ,吸附等温线可由 Henry方程表示 ,得出 logK_SOM为 2.69,logK_HDTMA为 3.35;TMA改性土壤对油的吸附符合 Langmuir方程 ,其对油的饱和吸附量分别为 1150 mg/kg( TMA黑土 ) ,751 mg/kg( TMA黄棕壤 ) ,172 mg/kg( TMA红壤 )     

硝基苯在碳纳米管修饰电极上的电化学行为及其分析应用

硝基苯在碳纳米管修饰电极上的电化学行为表明,硝基苯在-0.50V有一灵敏的还原峰,为硝基苯得到四个电子还原为苯胲所形成,电位继续负移,苯胲能继续还原为苯胺.在扫描速度为100mV·s-1,pH=5.0和富集时间为2min的条件下,-0.50V处的还原峰电流与硝基苯在1.5—150mg·l-1范围内线性关系良好,线性系数为0.99992,检测限为0.3mg·l-1.应用于实际废水中硝基苯的测定,相对标准偏差小于5%(n=10),相对误差为-5%— 5%.     

固定化改性蒙脱土对苯酚吸附性能的研究

利用十六烷基三甲基溴化铵对天然蒙脱土进行改性,并用聚乙烯醇对改性蒙脱土进行固定化处理,然后进行柱状吸附和振荡条件的吸附试验。研究结果表明,HDTMA改性蒙脱土固定化后能有效吸附苯酚,不同环境条件对苯酚的柱状吸附能力产生不同的影响。在pH4~8的范围内,固定化改性蒙脱土对苯酚的吸附效果无显著性差异,pH在10以上,其吸附能力明显下降;温度对吸附效果影响不大;进水苯酚浓度越高,改性蒙脱土对苯酚的吸附量越大,但出水苯酚浓度也高;苯酚的流速越小,吸附容量越高,吸附效果越好。     

改性氧化铝微波诱导氧化处理雅格素蓝BF-BR染料废水的研究

采用微波诱导氧化工艺(MIOP)技术,以改性氧化铝为催化剂,对雅格素蓝BF-BR染料模拟废水进行氧化处理．优化了处理工艺条件,实验在固液质量比为1：10(50mL雅格素蓝BF-BR水溶液中投加5．0g改性氧化铝)、微波功率为400W的条件下微波辐照处理5min．在此工艺条件下,对水中雅格素蓝BF-BR的脱色率可达到98％,COD去除率为87．4％．改性氧化铝在重复使用9次后仍能保持很高的脱色率．进一步研究表明在微波辐射场中废水中的有机污染物在改性氧化铝表面通过吸附．氧化协同作用而被迅速降解．反应动力学研究表明,该氧化过程符合一级反应动力学规律,反应速率常数k=0995min^-1,反应半衰期t1/2=0．697min．实验结果显示,在本实验中改性氧化铝比颗粒活性炭具有更高的催化活性．     

TMA改性粘土矿物对模拟地下水中苯系物的吸附

用短链季铵盐阳离子表面活性剂四甲基铵离子（ＴＭＡ）改性膨润土和凹凸棒土,研究它们对模拟地下水中苯系物的吸附作用。二种ＴＭＡ改性粘土矿物均可以有效地吸附模拟地下水中的苯系物,吸附机理较复杂,主要以表面吸附为主。     

改性膨润土处理造纸废水的研究

以钠基膨润土为原料,合成了镍锫—无机柱撑、镍锆—有机柱撑系列改性膨润土,比较了不同改性膨润土对造纸废水的处理效果,并确定了各改性膨润土处理废水的投加量、pH值、搅拌时间等最佳条件。结果表明;有机柱撑膨润土对造纸废水的处理效果最好,当搅拌时间为20min,pH值为12,改性土用量为0.8g/L时,其COD的去除率可达77.8％,同时其色度、浊度去除率分别为94％和97.4％。     

植物镉耐性/富集基因的筛选方法

植物耐受/富集镉（Cd）是一个复杂的过程,涉及转运蛋白家族、螯合蛋白家族、抗氧化系统等多个方面的参与。文章综述了植物Cd耐性/富集基因的筛选方法,包括抗性表达文库、Cd抗性突变体的图位克隆、基因差异表达、电子克隆。筛选Cd抗性植物cDNA酵母表达文库可鉴定与金属束缚、隔离及外排相关的膜转运蛋白;筛选重金属敏感拟南芥突变体和图位克隆突变基因可鉴定与谷胱甘肽和植物螯合肽合成相关的酶;第二代测序技术、基因差异表达分析则是鉴定Cd响应基因以及揭示金属型植物与非耐性植物表型差异分子基础的有效方法;电子克隆也被应用在模式植物中鉴定重金属转运蛋白家族的编码基因。在此基础上,简述了Cd耐性/富集基因在改良植物Cd耐性或富集上的应用。     

信号分子强化改性挂膜沸石持续抑制沉积物中氨氮释放

为寻找一种长期有效的底泥修复方式,对沸石进行了改性并挂膜的实验.考察了 4种铝盐[AlCl3、Al(NO3)3、Al2(SO4)3和KAl(SO4)2]改性挂膜沸石对上覆水中氨氮的去除情况.结果表明,AlCl3改性挂膜沸石效果最佳,且最佳改性浓度为0.8 mol·L-1.进一步分析添加信号分子OHHL后,AlCl3改性...