Determination of 15 phthalate esters in air by gas-phase and particle-phase simultaneous sampling

Based on previous research, the sampling and analysis methods for phthalate esters (PAEs) were improved by increasing the sampling flow of indoor air from 1 to 4 L/min, shortening the sampling duration from 8 to 2 hr. Meanwhile, through the optimization of chromatographic conditions, the concentrations of 9 additional PAE pollutants in indoor air were measured. The optimized chromatographic conditions required a similar amount of time for analysis as before, but gave high responsivity, the capability of simultaneously distinguishing 15 kinds of PAEs, and a high level of discrimination between individual sample peaks, as well as stable peak generation. The recovery rate of all gas-phase and particle-phase samples of the 15 kinds of PAEs ranged from 91.26% to 109.42%, meeting the quantitative analysis requirements for indoor and outdoor air sampling and analysis. For the first time, investigation of the concentration levels as well as characteristics of 15 kinds of PAEs in the indoor air from four different traffic micro-environments (private vehicles, busses, taxis and subways) was carried out, along with validation of the optimized sampling and analytical method. The results show that all the 9 additional PAEs could be detected at relatively high pollution levels in the indoor air from the four traffic micro-environments. As none of the pollution levels of the 15 kinds of PAEs in the indoor air from the 4 traffic micro-environments should be neglected, it is of great significance to increase the types of PAEs able to be detected in indoor air.     

Influence of agricultural activities, forest fires and agro-industries on air quality in Thailand

Annual and monthly-based emission inventories in northern, central and north-eastern provinces in Thailand, where agriculture and related agro-industries are very intensive, were estimated to evaluate the contribution of agricultural activity, including crop residue burning, forest fires and related agro-industries on air quality monitored in corresponding provinces. The monthly-based emission inventories of air pollutants, or, particulate matter (PM), NOx and SO₂, for various agricultural crops were estimated based on information on the level of production of typical crops: rice, corn, sugarcane, cassava, soybeans and potatoes using emission factors and other parameters related to country-specific values taking into account crop type and the local residue burning period. The estimated monthly emission inventory was compared with air monitoring data obtained at monitoring stations operated by the Pollution Control Department, Thailand (PCD) for validating the estimated emission inventory. The agro-industry that has the greatest impact on the regions being evaluated, is the sugar processing industry, which uses sugarcane as a raw material and its residue as fuel for the boiler. The backward trajectory analysis of the air mass arriving at the PCD station was calculated to confirm this influence. For the provinces being evaluated which are located in the upper northern, lower northern and northeast in Thailand, agricultural activities and forest fires were shown to be closely correlated to the ambient PM concentration while their contribution to the production of gaseous pollutants is much less.     

1025t/h四角切圆煤粉炉内空气过量系数对NO生成的影响

文章采用计算流体力学软件Fluent数值模拟了1 025 t/h四角切圆煤粉炉内的湍流扩散燃烧,分析了空气过量系数对炉内烟气速度、烟气温度和氮氧化物组分的影响。结果表明:空气过量系数会对炉内流场的空气动力学特性和温度场分布均匀性产生显著影响。煤粉炉膛最佳空气过量系数为1.07,此时炉内温度场、速度场和浓度场的分布可使燃烧中间产物HCN和NH_3较好的将燃料型NO还原为N_2,来充分发挥空气分级燃烧降低NO排放的功效。     

《大气污染防治法(修订草案)》的若干修改建议

《大气污染防治法》(修订草案)有很多突破,但是针对性、策略性、特色性和可实施性均存在欠缺,需要进一步把生态文明、绿色化、区域协同发展的要求纳入立法目的,体现在体制制度和机制的设计中;理顺立法体例,保证规定的逻辑性;坚持空间管控和多规合一,坚持空气质量目标管理的思路,采取实际大气环境容量和实时排放流量控制相结合的工作模式;明确行动计划与现行环境保护规划、各专项环保规划的关系;理顺监管体制,创新区域联合防治的制度和机制,弥补侵权法律责任和法律救济规定的不足,保持信息公开申请和环境民事公益诉讼提起条件的前后贯通性。只有这样,才能既体现立法修改的必要性和针对性,又体现立法规定的时代性和特色性,展现法律措施的严格性和法律责任的严厉性。     

Auto-adaptive Air Distribution and Structure Optimization of Ejector Burner for Biomass Alcohol Fuels

A plenty of studies on the utilization of biomass alcohol fuels have been conducted, but combustion efficiency and stability of this fuels still need to be improved. Based on biomass alcohol fuels (bio-methanol and bio-ethanol), this paper studied auto-adaptive air distribution characteristics and optimum structure parameters of an ejector burner by numerical simulation method. Also, an experiment was conducted to verify the numerical results. The results show that the mole air entrainment ratio (MAER) keeps almost constant when the ejector fuel nozzle exit locates at the segment between the ejector throat and the suction chamber entrance, but a bigger ratio α would lead to a higher MAER till the α is bigger than 8.5 for bio-methanol and 11.5 for bio-ethanol. The bio-ethanol fuel is more beneficial for air carrying role because of its big molecular weight. Operation pressure (P_w) has a little impact on MAER of the two fuels, but the rise of back pressure (P_b) would lead to rapid decrease of MAER for the two fuels. For the optimum structure burners, the MAER can be maintained at the value of theoretical complete combustion. Its changing rate is less than 2.3% for bio-methanol and 2.5% for bio-ethanol when the burner load changes from 30% to 120%, which is highly consistent with the experimental results. The optimum burner can distribute air supply automatically with the changing of burner load.     

Pollution levels and characteristics of phthalate esters in indoor air in hospitals

The concentrations of phthalate esters(PAEs) in Chinese hospitals were investigated by simultaneously determining concentrations of gas- and particle-phase PAEs. PAEs were detected in two third-class first-grade hospitals, two second-class first-grade hospitals, and a community health service center. Hospital drugstores had the highest concentration(24.19 μg/m3), which was 1.54 times that of newly decorated houses. The second highest concentration was found in the transfusion rooms, averaging 21.89 μg/m3; this was followed by the concentrations of PAEs in the nurse's workstations, the wards, and the doctor's offices, with mean concentrations of 20.66, 20.0, and 16.92 μg/m3, respectively. The lowest concentrations were found in the hallways(16.30 μg/m3). Of the six different kinds of PAEs found, major pollutants included diethyl phthalates, dibutyl phthalates, butylbenzyl phthalates and di(2-ethylhexyl) phthalates, comprising more than 80% of all PAEs present.Meanwhile, a comparison between different wards showed that PAE concentrations in the maternity wards were 1.63 times higher than in the main wards. Based on known health hazards, our results suggest that the PAEs seriously influence the health of the pregnant women and babies; therefore, it is of great importance to take the phthalate concentrations in hospitals into consideration. In addition, hospital indoor air was more seriously contaminated than the air of newly decorated houses.     

纳氏试剂比色法中样品的预处理

氨是一种无色且有强烈刺激性臭味的气体,居住区大气中有害物质最高容许浓度氨的一次限值是0．2mg／m3。本文研究了环境空气监测中氨的测定方法,分析氨的预处理对监测结果的影响。     

水库渗漏水流溶解氧与水温沿程恢复的试验研究

水库底层低温低氧水从坝体下泄或渗漏,可能对下游生态产生不利影响。通过对湖北温峡水库下游温峡河225 km河段的野外试验,测量溶解氧、水温等指标的日变化和沿程变化,开展复氧试验研究阶梯深潭结构和沙洲对溶解氧的影响,并取样分析大型底栖无脊椎动物的沿程分布。结果表明,流速对水温与溶解氧日变化规律无明显影响。试验河段水温和溶解氧恢复很快,经过17 km的河段,水温从123℃升高至300℃,且溶解氧饱和度基本达到饱和。河宽对水温恢复起重要作用,对溶解氧影响较小,对复氧速度基本无影响。流量通过改变淹没程度影响阶梯深潭的复氧能力。溶解氧在沙洲下游存在横向分布,滞水区溶解氧高于左右汊道。溶解氧是水库下游水生态的控制因素,物种多样性随溶解氧的升高而增加     

人工曝气复氧整治污染河流

向受到严重有机污染的河流充入溶解氧可以有效消除水体的黑臭,改善水质和恢复生态平衡。文章总结了纯氧增氧系统、鼓风机———微孔布气管曝气系统、叶轮吸气推流式曝气器和水下射流曝气设备等多种使用于河道人工曝气复氧的技术;并列举大量国内外的相关工程实例说明这些技术在实践中的有效性。     

Enhancing consultation practices on Air Quality Management in local authorities

Schedule 11 of the Environment Act 1995 underpins the requirement for consultation on air quality issues. The ongoing air quality review and assessment process represents one of the largest locally based science policy and communication initiatives ever undertaken in the UK. This paper outlines the practice of consultation and communication for Air Quality Management (AQM) and reviews the interaction between Environmental Health professionals, as the leading actor in the AQM process and other stakeholders involved in air quality consultation, including the public. Results are presented from a widespread questionnaire survey of English local authorities. Data indicate that the majority of air quality consultation has been carried out with statutory consultees (by sending the review and assessment reports) and the public (via websites and leaflets) in the form of information dissemination.